Chris Brown
The central questions in command realism are: 1. What did the historical commander know about the situation?
2. When did the historical commander make decisions about the situation?
3. How were those decisions implemented?
Typically a historical commander knew almost everything about the battle situation- eventually. More often this was later rather sooner, and too late to do anything about it. Marshal de Tallard lost Blenheim because his reserve had been stripped away from his center, and he found out about it just before the Duke crashed through his 64 squadrons and 8 battalions with 81 squadrons and 18 battalions splitting his army in two. He lacked time to make other arrangements. The tactical genius of Wellington and Bonaparte lay in the ability to foresee what was going to happen and still having time to something about it. (E .g: Wellesley dispatching the 48th Foot to shore up his center at Talavera, and similar maneuver with the independent Portuguese brigades at Salamanca.) This was thinking in the future, not the present, because the present was -- for command purposes -- already past.
When does the commander make a decision? Obviously when the battlefield situation changes in such a way that there is either a threat to be dealt with, or an opportunity that must be exploited. This is a matter of time based on how soon the commander is aware, how fast he can think on his feet, and issue appropriate orders, and how fast can this orders be transmitted and implemented. When these factors are analyzed, in here lies the way to command realism.
How do you simulate this? Actually it's not that difficult ... you have to be willing to write orders and you have to playing with a group of people who are honest, or have a referee, (but who can find those?). In a nut shell you have to move from a based turn to an event based turn, because events and not time were the battlefield commander's point of decision.
Therefore I highly recommend Dennis & Knight's Napoleonic Rules for a Large Scale Wargame Using Small Scale Miniatures. This is a simple playable event-based turn system. It costs $5.00 by mail, published by Hard Cover Designs.
I'll give you a quick overview. The defender decides his dispositions and places those units only where they could be seen by the attacker. The rest of the defender's units are not placed on the table. The defender may, if he wishes, write orders, perhaps to take that dominate terrain that is not within his defense perimeter. The attacker surveys the situation ono doubt on a grey horse, Ed.] then writes his orders for each Corps, and each division contained in the Corps. (If you are playing a divisional command you would only write for your brigades.) The attacker now places his units on the table that would be visible to the defender.
These are the first changes of situation or event in the battle and the defender may write orders for his troops in response to the event. (Napoleonic Rules Etc. specifies what qualifies as an event and what responses are available.) What is important is an event is only an event to the commanders who can perceive it. The commander cannot be aware of it through a subordinate observing the event, and until the commander is aware, he cannot issue a precautionarv order. (Sounds like a multi player game. Ed] You see that honesty is, very critical, withou it this system will not work.
The game progresses from event to event. There is no fixed turn or bound. Rather movement and formation changes cover the time elapsed. during interval between events. Example your division marches for 40 min. scale time at n inches. [One inch every 5 minutes? Ed ] Now once it is in range of the opposing division, this becomes an event, movement stops and both players write new orders for their divisions. The defending Corps commander cannot issue any new orders tc the divisional commander, because he is unaware of the enemy division's approach. In the next 15 mint. he will become aware, and that becomes an event for him, and he may now issue orders to hit corps, but those two divisions are already locked in combat, for 10 of those 15 min.
Thus a round, turn, or bound, might only represent 10 minutes of time - the events are happening quickly, or three hours - eve is just resting and regrouping. This status would continue until an event changed it.
This is a very different way at looking at simulating a battle. It's a very simple way of doing it, which for me, captures command realism, elegantly. The system rewards good simple planning that is historically sound: you must have your commanders in places where they see as much as the field as possible, and moving commanders to the units, makes sure that orders are implemented immediately. The event based turn also speeds up the battle and that is always nice for ft gamer ... I really recommend Napoleon Rules Etc. to those who wish to experiment with a radically different approach to command control. For the price of $5.00 the 22 page rule book is a worthwhile investment.
Clifford Burgess
I have been playing miniature games since 1980. I started with Napoleomcs and since then I have tried nearly all the available commercial games of this period. Also since 1980 I have pursued a career in the Army. Over the past decade and a half I have, through professional training, continued wargaming and the study of military history have come to the following conclusions which I offer to simulation designers:
1. Planning is two levels down. Battalion issues orders to companies, but plan down to the platoon level. Likewise corps HQs will issue orders down to divisions, and plan down to brigade level. Therefore it follows if you are simulating the command of a corps you should only be concerned with as far down as the brigade level activities. (I've been saying this for years. Rich de Rosa, please take note, Ed.]
2. At the Armor Officer Advanced course, our instruction in the planning and execution of up to brigade size actions/mission concentrated on broad brush strokes, not fine detail. This abstract approach is applicable to warfare simulation as much as it is to actual mission planning and execution. A common quote is "Tell em to suck eggs, not how to suck em." Let your subordinates do their jobs and focus on your own level of responsibilities.
3. Remember designers, time is the most precious commodity. Most gainers have other major concerns besides gaming. Therefore simulations that are not only easy to learn but are capable of reaching a seticfhctory conclusion in a reasonable amount of time are extremely valuable. As an example: Napoleon's Battles offers both.
These opinions came from THE MINIATURES PAGE
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