Actually leaders in combat rarely carried plans with them. I would agree that captured leaders never have a chance to escape and certainly if the officer was captured and then the capturing troops were isolated that there could be a chance of escape. Or the leader could not be taken captive by infantry ... etc. But I wouldnt look for John to change the game concerning capture.
For the allies it was a slipshod affair in the early wars. Maps were left at HQ. Remember that they didnt have a very good staff system. Sometimes order were verbal. And no officer of this period is going to divulge his orders to his captors.
For the French - if you capture the HQ (which we dont have in the game but figure its Berthier) you would have access to a multitude of correspondance.
For each French Corps commander you might find orders from Napoelon. Same would work for each Allied Corps/Wing commander.
However, to code such a change would mean alot of work for John. Also, the POSITION of the troops was sometimes not even known by the captured officer (in detail). The ORDERS were. What you might do with your opponent is agree that if a CORPS commander is captured, roll a die. On a 6 the orders are captured with him and your opponent must tell you his destination for that corps.
This can be done without involving John Tiller I believe. At best folks would be a bit upset by the rule. In the end another adventure in countless numbers of posts and emails to me and Rich H.
So the conclusion: work it out with your opponent. I honestly think that alot of things are left out of the game that the players themselves could be doing to add some spice to the battle.
Orders, couriers and so on are not a normal part of our process. We respond too quickly to events on the other side of the board when in fact the relation of those events could take hours or even not known a day or so later.
For Eckmuhl, Waterloo and Jena big map battles where there are large distances between forces - I suggest an honor system. Make out orders BEFORE you start the corps moving and stick to them. Use a distance calculation to determine courier arrival and also have a percentage chance that the courier arrives late. Then the courier must arrive with new orders before entire columns are magically whisked off to go help out some other column in trouble.
Bill Peters
Armee du Rhin - V Corps, 5ème Division, 20ème légère Brigade de Cavalerie, 13ème Hussar Regiment
HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram, Jena-Auerstaedt and ... more to come)
[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]
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