"Who Keeps a Reserve?" Topic

Historically, Napoleonic battles often depended on reserves—fresh troops held back to plug gaps, exploit success or deliver the decisive blow. Very often, these were the best troops: Guard formations, grenadiers, reliable veteran battalions.

On the tabletop, though, good game sense is often the reverse.
Your best troops are usually committed early, because you want their combat power where it matters most, while second-rate units are left in the back line holding ground and staying out of trouble.
The "reserve" becomes less a decisive force and more somewhere to park weaker troops.

Do our games actually reward keeping a true reserve or do rules and table size push us toward committing quality troops as soon as possible?
Should elite troops be held back historically or is early use simply better game tactics?
How do your rules handle reserves, and do you genuinely keep one?

I always desire a reserve and plan for one, but in games I have played time limits the ability to need a reserve. It is time to pack up and decide who might have won before it is time to send in the Guard.

My troops go 'All In'. Death or Glory!

Dave

Its size of table that may permit a reserve, or troops appear on turn x.
But seems in games everythrows in everyy figure asap.

Rusty Musket hits the issue on the head. Time.
Another factor is whether fighting units get worn down. If I fight all of your army with 2/3 of mine they get smacked and the remaining 1/3 can't do much to save the day of your whole army still fights like it's mostly fresh. That's for battlefield level reserve formations. Local reserves (a few units in the second line to counter breakthroughs or provide a rear support bonus are a different question.

For some of our games we delay unit entry which I guess would count as a reserve

As to committing troops, at least for SYW there is a bit of a risk putting in second rate troops first 'cause if they break and flee and the line of battle is compromised it can be pretty tough to fix that – not the case I would say necessarily for Napoleonics or ACW

When I play the Zulus in Sword and the Flame, I always start with all my troops in line. Then, when the vagaries of the dice movement sorts them out, the slower moving troops become my reserve.
Believe it or not, it works.