Greg,
The 4 rank formation is probably only really reflected in the game with the minority of British battalions which have over 600 men, and therefore start in the 'shortened line' formation. They fire at 75% strength unless they go into 'extended line' formation, when they fire at 50% increased effectiveness, just like the rest of the smaller 2-rank normal line units. The big Nassau battalions are also in shortened line (800 lower limit for 3-rank infantry), but as they don't use the 2 rank line I'm not sure they have the same penalties or bonuses (the manual only lists modifiers for 2-rank line formation). In the Talonsoft game the British guards also had the shortened/extended line feature, as far as I remember, but in the HPS game these big battalions have been divided into two units in the OOB, linked only by name, so they are now too small to fall under these conditions. Of course, if you stack the two half battalions together I suppose you have your 4 rank formation simulated again.
So in summary the 4 rank formation is simulated only in a) the big battalions with 'shortened line', firing at 75% strength, b) stacking two normal line battalions together, firing at 50% strength (as only one unit in line can fire in game terms).
<center>[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/Napoleonic/nap.htm"]Lieutenant Colonel Antony Barlow[/url]
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