Colonial Campaigns Club (CCC)

In the Optional House Rules there is a feature that states that all companies of a regiment be adjacent to each other.
I wanted to discuss the minimum amount of men needed to fulfill this requirement.
NOTE: This is a house rule and I am not speaking for the cabinet here.
I would say that 20 men should be the minimum the make up any hex. Thus any regiment that has as its average size for companies, 20 men, should be fine for one company stacking but any regiment that has smaller companies should occupy a fewer amount of hexes.
Here are some suggestions on the frontages:
1. Regiment total is 80 men. Each company is approx. 10 men. 4 hexes each having two companies.
2. Regiment total is 40. Average company size is 5. Regiment occupies 2 hexes.
Obviously regiments that are over 80 men would continue to use maximum frontage if desired or retract the frontage and go with the maximum stacking allowed.
This rule would stop 8 men from blocking the route of say 200 men. While 20 men is not alot either it is a better number to work with - is easy to remember than say 37.
And of course this being a House Rule you can set the size that you want. Maybe 50 men or 40 if you like although I think that a bit high.
100 would be a ridiculous rule while 10 is too small. 20-40 seems about right.
The regiments waits when part of it is caught in a thicket to dress its lines and so on. If part of it moves through terrain which disrupts it then the rest must also move at the reduced rate until the disrupted company regains order.
Leader's orders - the regiment cannot just dash off to some obsure point on the map. Make a roster of your regiments and batteries and give them orders. To change orders requires four turns if the leader of the regiment is in command and control range, two turns if adjacent or stacked with the brigade commander. Also Division/Wing commanders range is no longer unlimited but is 30 hexes (or whatever you want to set it to). This of course just for orders.
So you give your regiment an order to attack an objective or persue an enemy unit. Then if you need to change it you can do something else. This way careful battlefield orders must be drafted just like in the period.

Maj. Bill Peters, Morgan's Rifles, American Army
Commander of French Dept.

In 1776 2-rk troops should max out at 96 men per hex, if you're British and use Howe's instructions then you would only use 48 men per hex.

Yes the formations are going to be one hex wide, but that's the breaks.

Reduce ground scale if you want every unit to be a multi-hex linear formation.

Lt. Col. Al Amos
1st U.S. Dragoons 1812-R

Al - your suggestion reminds me of one part of the Jess Norris ACW BG Variant - less men per hex means less melees as you wont have as much of an advantage over your opponent and thus firing will more or less be the order of the day - which is how I like to play anyway - rout the buggers and watch them run and fall on the flank of the neighbor units.
Would you suggest a house rule in the linear formation idea that you have to perform a wheel with the entire regiment in order to change facing or to flank an opponent? My thought was that in the above example if a unit routs that you would either persue it or attempt to turn the flank of the neighboring regiment. Hence my question on right/left wheel above.
Did you ever play the miniature rules "1776" which came out in the 1970's? Simple rules for portraying the period.

Maj. Bill Peters, Morgan's Rifles, American Army
Commander of French Dept.

Al, (and Bill),

The British in the American Revoltion fought in two rank line. This practice dates from Wolfe's success in the 7 year war. (Actually Amherst could be credited his orders of July 9 1759 state: "During the coming campaign the regulars were to be 'drawn up on all services two deep' because' the enemy have very few regular troops to oppose us, and no yelling of Indians, or fire of Canadians, can possibly withstand two ranks, if the men are silent, attentive, and Obedient to their Officers.")
This was contrary to the German school of solid three rank lines used on the continent. It also ran contrary to the thinking of a young David Dundas (He would become the authority on British Infantry tactics, publishing his ideas in 1788 and seing them adopted as the Regulations of 1792) who served in Cuba. He was shocked to see 500 light troops (who had left their bayonets on the boats) stand up to a Spanish cavalry charge. The troopers we stopped at 60 yards.

"Dundas had to wait the termination of another, less glorious American war for the opportunity to preach his tactical gospel to a wider congregation. From Bunker Hill to Guiliford Court House, the redcoats had fought in the thin line first employed by the 'American Army' of the previous conflict [7 Year War]. This formation had been adopted at the urging of Wolfe's disciple William Howe, who gained command of Britain's North American army of 1776. Howe's successor, Sir Henry Clinton, was a product of the rival 'German' school of tactics. While disapproving of the 'open flimsy order of two deep in line', Clinton none the less retained it because the American rebels employed it themselves and fielded few cavalry to menace such a formation [<i>The American Revolution, Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775-1782...</i> ed. WB Willcox (New Haven, 1954)] The redcoats performed well during the Revolutionary War, and Britain's ultimate defeat stemmed from strategic rather than tactical shortcommings. However Dundas Maintained that one legacy of the war was a regrettable lack of solidity amongst the redcoats, who instead favored a 'loose and irregular system' more calculated for Virginia than Flanders' [Col. D. Dundas, <i>Principles of Military Movement, Chiefly Applied to Infantry...</i>, (London, 1788)]" [Brumwell, <i>Redcoats</i>, (Cambridge, 2002)]

It would be good to know in what the formation the Hessians and French fought. (And would the British, opposed by 3 rank French, fight in 3 rank? I would assume that teh tactical flexibility of the British would allow that.) I assume that the Germans fought in America in 3 rank. If this is the case, then perhaps there should be a weapon type for 3-R muskets, that is reduced in effectiveness by 1/3, but has a melee bonus.

I see now that I have completely digressed from Bill's original topic so....

Lt. Colonel Mike Cox
New Jersey Militia
(1st Hunterdon Cty)
AdC American Army
Training Staff
All Around Nice Guy

Edited by - Mike Cox on 06/21/2002 23:01:49

Mike yes 2 ranks for Brits and Colonials. We've covered this before. Bill may want to get caught up by reading the Yanks in two ranks thread. A three rank limit would be 144. Therfore a stacking limit in the pdt file of 150 coupled with player disciplne would suffice to allow all three linear densities to co-exist comfortably.

Lt. Col. Al Amos
1st U.S. Dragoons 1812-R

To get back to Bill's point here, I would say that it makes sense in a game that is fought using the optional rule. Battalion/regimental frontages should be shrunk to meet a minimum body requirement (the max being: 125 feet x 12 inches = 1500 inches 1500 inches / 22 - 26 inches per man (varies by country and source) = 115 - 136 men per hex in two ranks.) From that, I would think that a minimum requirement would be higher than the 20 you suggest. There would be too much room between the companies/firing platoons. I think your 40 or 50 would be more like it. (And of course open order and x order would open another can of worms.)

Just my two cents...

Lt. Colonel Mike Cox
New Jersey Militia
(1st Hunterdon Cty)
AdC American Army
Training Staff
All Around Nice Guy

Edited by - Mike Cox on 06/21/2002 22:58:50

I was able to follow the two-three rank line thread but forgot about it settling the frontage/stacking issue. Thanks Al and I will use this in a new version of Long Island I am going to put together tonite at Richard Walker's suggestion. We are playing Long Island and he and I think a variant would be better. Otherwise the Americans have to hold onto the objectives and die in place!
Will use 150 as the unit (nice round number). I like it as it allows the players to still have SOME melee power but will restrict the players to keeping with the House Rules which will be highly suggested in playing the battle.
Also will do versions of Branywine, Germantown and Monmouth this way.
I am working on a spreadsheet that will calculate the points system I describe in my earlier email. So far I was able to get Excel to build an equation formula with fill in the blanks cells. Have to figure out how to offer it the morale values in one IF statement. Does anyone know Excel here?

Maj. Bill Peters, Morgan's Rifles, American Army
Commander of French Dept.