Hi
Could somebody help me on this please - what does the Unit Strength value indicate in terms of actual numbers of soldiers - does 1 = 20? So a unit with a value of 20 is about 400 men?
Thanks
Kev
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[FS] Feltan
- Sergeant
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:30 pm
- Location: Kansas
I have the same question.
The manual is silent on this.
There are regiments composed of companies. Each regiment has a combat strength. Furthermore, there seems to be a "slider" that indicated relative strength of the unit diplayed on the regimental picture. The correlation between combat strength and unit size, and unit losses is a mystery.
Regards,
Feltan
The manual is silent on this.
There are regiments composed of companies. Each regiment has a combat strength. Furthermore, there seems to be a "slider" that indicated relative strength of the unit diplayed on the regimental picture. The correlation between combat strength and unit size, and unit losses is a mystery.
Regards,
Feltan
"Fishcakes" the other F-word.
[FS] is the tag for the Mighty Free Soldiers on-line gaming clan. Visit at http://www.freesoldiers.net
[FS] is the tag for the Mighty Free Soldiers on-line gaming clan. Visit at http://www.freesoldiers.net
there is not a fixed number of men for each company, this varied too much in the era. Whats is important to know is:
1. each unit, eg a regiment, an indian tribe, a naval squadron can have up to 4 elements (call them companies, warband, ship of the line, artillery battery).
2. each element is defined by a score of statistics. One of them is the hit point. Click on the some NATO symbol in the rightmost window, and you will get what is called the "detail window". In this detail window the small hearts are the current hit points, but there is a bunch of other stats to look at.
3. the overall combat strength, shown in the tooltip, is an agregated value of the stats of the unit, but its just an approximation. In combat a regiment wont use say a 32 combat value, but instead each of his company will fire, according to the offensive fire, initiative rating, rate of fire, etc. that is shown in the detail window... The battle engine is very precise when he computes battle in fact.
Feel free to ask other questions, if there is still understanding problems.
1. each unit, eg a regiment, an indian tribe, a naval squadron can have up to 4 elements (call them companies, warband, ship of the line, artillery battery).
2. each element is defined by a score of statistics. One of them is the hit point. Click on the some NATO symbol in the rightmost window, and you will get what is called the "detail window". In this detail window the small hearts are the current hit points, but there is a bunch of other stats to look at.
3. the overall combat strength, shown in the tooltip, is an agregated value of the stats of the unit, but its just an approximation. In combat a regiment wont use say a 32 combat value, but instead each of his company will fire, according to the offensive fire, initiative rating, rate of fire, etc. that is shown in the detail window... The battle engine is very precise when he computes battle in fact.
Feel free to ask other questions, if there is still understanding problems.
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."
FYI, when searching through the historical data, I stumbled on figures for "Regiments" that varied between 600 and 1800 men, according to nations, time, recruitment and a wealth of other factors..
And this was when the said regiment was at nominal strength, which was almost never the case...
As a rule of thumb, consider 1 strength point = 25 men more or less. A British Regular company has 8 strength points, i.e. more or less 200 men, putting the regiment at a size of 800 men...on paper of course
And this was when the said regiment was at nominal strength, which was almost never the case...
As a rule of thumb, consider 1 strength point = 25 men more or less. A British Regular company has 8 strength points, i.e. more or less 200 men, putting the regiment at a size of 800 men...on paper of course
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[FS] Feltan
- Sergeant
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:30 pm
- Location: Kansas
I have a couple of reference books at home on the topic of unit strength of regiments in the US Revolution.
It seems, as was pointed out, that there is a major difference between paper and actual strength. According to my references, Colonial regiments had a paper strength of around 600, and British of around 500. Makes little difference, because the muster strength for both seemed to hover around 300. I have no data for French or Spanish regiments at hand.
So, I am not hung up about "actual" strength, i.e., how many men are in each regiment at any given time....having it divided into 4 components seem reasonable. Given the scope of the game, and the variance among units, it is something that needs a level of abstraction.
However, I would like a better explanation of some things.
The battle reports show losses....that has to mean something in game terms. The "fire" and "assault" loss areas indicate one of two things: either a NATO representation of militia, infantry, irregular of several "units" that have been lost, and I am assuming those are companies (or components) of regiments, secondly there is either in conjunction with the NATO unit symbol or by itself a buch of little "red hearts" and I have absolutely no idea what they represent.
When suffering attrition, you take "hits." Are those hits companies? Is taking 16 hits of attrition the rough equivalent of 4 regiments of loss spread out over a given force?
In the log, replacements are raised and apportioned to Colonial regiments automatically. However, the term used is "battalion." In military terms, a battalion usually means three or more companies, but I suspect that in game terms a "battalion" is loosely phrased, and really means component -- but I may be incorrect in that assumption. So, what is a "battalion" in game terms, and does it differ from "company" in game terms?
In general, I fully expected a level of abstraction in this game. You would go nuts developing it if you had to count or approximate the actual number of people. However, the terminology you adopted does not seem to be consistent, and that causes some confusion. Also, one battle result diagram/picture in the manual with arrows showing what things mean would have been most helpful.
Regards,
Feltan
It seems, as was pointed out, that there is a major difference between paper and actual strength. According to my references, Colonial regiments had a paper strength of around 600, and British of around 500. Makes little difference, because the muster strength for both seemed to hover around 300. I have no data for French or Spanish regiments at hand.
So, I am not hung up about "actual" strength, i.e., how many men are in each regiment at any given time....having it divided into 4 components seem reasonable. Given the scope of the game, and the variance among units, it is something that needs a level of abstraction.
However, I would like a better explanation of some things.
The battle reports show losses....that has to mean something in game terms. The "fire" and "assault" loss areas indicate one of two things: either a NATO representation of militia, infantry, irregular of several "units" that have been lost, and I am assuming those are companies (or components) of regiments, secondly there is either in conjunction with the NATO unit symbol or by itself a buch of little "red hearts" and I have absolutely no idea what they represent.
When suffering attrition, you take "hits." Are those hits companies? Is taking 16 hits of attrition the rough equivalent of 4 regiments of loss spread out over a given force?
In the log, replacements are raised and apportioned to Colonial regiments automatically. However, the term used is "battalion." In military terms, a battalion usually means three or more companies, but I suspect that in game terms a "battalion" is loosely phrased, and really means component -- but I may be incorrect in that assumption. So, what is a "battalion" in game terms, and does it differ from "company" in game terms?
In general, I fully expected a level of abstraction in this game. You would go nuts developing it if you had to count or approximate the actual number of people. However, the terminology you adopted does not seem to be consistent, and that causes some confusion. Also, one battle result diagram/picture in the manual with arrows showing what things mean would have been most helpful.
Regards,
Feltan
"Fishcakes" the other F-word.
[FS] is the tag for the Mighty Free Soldiers on-line gaming clan. Visit at http://www.freesoldiers.net
[FS] is the tag for the Mighty Free Soldiers on-line gaming clan. Visit at http://www.freesoldiers.net
you are quite correct in most of your assumption:
the NATO symbols used in the battle report are the same elements that make regiments units (4 elements make a regiments, or an artillery).
The small hearts have a tooltip (I dont think you noticed). Each small heart equal to 10 hits done.
An element has hit points (hits), see my earlier post on how to access the detail window of each element.
Attritition speaking of hits: we are refering here of the hits of elements, knowing that roughly (for the majority) one element = 8 hits, if you suffer 16 hits in your whole army, then half of the strength of a regiment is gone (but the losses are spread).
A replacement replace one element. The message speak of battalion, but the correct, more generic term, is element, has you can receive one replacement for a dragoon cavalry eg.
On the battle report, move the mouse over the combat indicators, there is a tooltip.
Hope this clarify a bit some of the problems ... and discrepancies.
the NATO symbols used in the battle report are the same elements that make regiments units (4 elements make a regiments, or an artillery).
The small hearts have a tooltip (I dont think you noticed). Each small heart equal to 10 hits done.
An element has hit points (hits), see my earlier post on how to access the detail window of each element.
Attritition speaking of hits: we are refering here of the hits of elements, knowing that roughly (for the majority) one element = 8 hits, if you suffer 16 hits in your whole army, then half of the strength of a regiment is gone (but the losses are spread).
A replacement replace one element. The message speak of battalion, but the correct, more generic term, is element, has you can receive one replacement for a dragoon cavalry eg.
On the battle report, move the mouse over the combat indicators, there is a tooltip.
Hope this clarify a bit some of the problems ... and discrepancies.
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."
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