The tactical regulator

If ever there was a book written that described in the minutiae of detail the movement and timings of a Georgian infantry battalion then this work is at the top.  Lieutenant John Russell was a man of obsession when it came to distances, timings and cadence of pace, recorded in this book and "Approved by the highest authority" this alone formulates a complete picture of the battalion and indeed brigades and more in motion.

The veil of smoke that has prevented , for me at least, having a clear picture and full understanding of the battalion deployed is now lifted.  This for me answer many questions.  In respect to the game of war clearly, this is invaluable.

Link here

As an addition to the above, it is also well worth a look at Russells experiments, 1806, link here.

Once you start looking at such things, you get drawn to others :) instructions on the eigtheen manouveres, 3rd ed. 1814 here.

Tactics

I confess I spend too much time reading historical texts on military drill and tactics.  Usually I read a bit and think, 'interesting, I will add that to my favourites' and move to the next page.

I will start to share what I read in this thread.  I came across these two comments in the following article, found in the Royal Militay Chronicle,  1810  on a Course of Tactics, follow link here.



"...in England,  the officers enter the army without any military knowledge whatever. They have everything to learn."


"I regret to say; but France is still the school of war, and by her science, more than even by her numbers, has conquered the Continent. "

An interesting contemporary article on the capability of British army officers.  Further to this again another link from Hoyt's Rules and Regulations for Cavalry, dated 1813, here provides a catalogue of reading for our contemporary officer.  A must read.

progress... ? maybe...!

Well, I thought I would write an update if , for no other reason, to write something on my blog.

I have come to realize that it is a bit cold in my garage so my enthusiasm to finish my 'red battalion' has waned somewhat.  That said i have been planning my next stage.  I think for clarity it is worth putting some of my thoughts in blog, since my last post on where I want to go with my little project.

I have for many many years had a specific interest in British army drill of the early 19th century.  I have had the honour of drilling up to company strength military enthusiasts in the world of reenactment and it is from this experience that I have come to recognise the skill in the battalion, brigade and divisional commanders and so on; in the movement of men on the Napoleonic field of battle.

Kriegsspiel is a field I have taken a great interest and it is from this that I have taken inspiration in focusing the game of war at battalion level.

I want to see at a scale of 3mm a battalion in full being moved in formation on representative terrain in order to get a feel for the challenges faced by the battalion commander.

Specifically, I think these will be understanding the terrain, distances and timing. Akin to sailing a large oil tanker.  The ship movement must be planned well ahead to ensure that the formation arrives at its destination in order and at the right time.  If that makes sense !?

The challenge therefore is also doing this in the face of opposing forces and achieving the  target objectives assigned as part of the game play.

All too often i see Napoleonic wargames with clusters of infantry being manouvered around the table randomly at times and I feel that it doesn't really represent actual conditions or challenges faced.

Anyway , I have recently ordered john curry's recent book volume 2 on kriegsspiel the game of war for further background reading.  Follow link here.

I am also now thinking of the board.  I would like this to be transportable , a bit like the original concept. So, I am thinking of making tiles in the same fashion - plaster of paris painted accordingly as in the original kriegsspiel

More on that later ...

start up

So, after years (and I mean years) of thinking on how to bring to a table top game the principles of Napoleonic tactics and movement I have finally started.

After reading several posts on the 3mm Napoleonic wargame's yahoo group I decided that this was the scale for me and lets face it the figures are great !

My first challenge is to prepare my battalion of the line.  Having not touched a paint brush in near twenty 20yrs it was somewhat of a daunting task but I think I have done OK!?

School boy error not getting enough command bases so whilst my companies are all painted I don't have enough bases to base the full ten companies.   So, only six companies complete.

In the spirit of kriegspiel, this is the first part of my red army !