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Orange and I re-fought Saalfeld recently which raised a couple of small rule questions that kept us very happily shouting at each other for a few hours. I thought therefore that I might seek some clarifications so we can argue about a completely different set of trivia next time we meet.
1) Side movements of units and changing face
This has come up a few times with us in a variety of guises.
a) A unit is on a road traversing East-West but is deployed in line facing North. The unit wishes to march down the road to the West in column of companies. How much of a move does this require to change face and begin marching?
b) A unit has marched North in column of companies on tactical move orders in the last move and is still over 35cm from the nearest enemy. In the next move it wishes to deploy in line facing West. How much of a move does this require to change face and continue marching?
c) A unit in line facing North wishes to reposition 5cm to the West but still remain facing North. Is this ‘shuffle’ allowed? If not what manoever is allowed that would effectively achieve the same result?
2) Pushing out a skirmish screen whilst on HOLD orders.
A unit in line within its designated hold area is on HOLD orders and for reasons I won’t go into, has its own brigade skirmish screen positioned currently immediately to its rear. It is approached by enemy columns screened by skirmishers who approach to within 5cm of the line. Can the brigade skirmish screen deploy in front of the defending line and engage the enemy skirmish screen?
3) Routing/Retreating out of buildings
Two units have recently successfully assaulted a building from two faces. One enters the building the other remains positioned outside. The enemy ripostes with two new units and re-takes the building from the OTHER two sides of the building. The defenders are thrown out in rout. Which face of the building do they ROUT from? Is it via the face they entered into the building (which is currently free of figures) of do they recoil through BOTH faces and unform the other friendly formed unit stationed immediately outside on the other face?
[O argued here that as his attack was from two different angles, the defending unit had to rout out of the back of the building in an average spread and would thus catch the other defender on the way……hmmmm…my take was that as the unit had entered the building that way then that was the obvious and logical way back out!]
4) Using squares to block cavalry
Having rather fortunately gained cavalry superiority I had the urge to throw some spare Saxon hussars into the French rear (dastardly but rather fun idea I thought). O rather ingeniously stopped this by forming a wall of dancing squares that continually flitted back and forth effectively blocking the way as the gaps between units were always just millimeters smaller than my unit frontage. (OK….OK… I lost it a little at this point). Is this allowed? Can squares maneuver in the face of formed cavalry in this way? Can any unit saunter around in front of formed cavalry? Can cavalry fold around squares?
[I assume this to be a lost cause…but would like to know anyway]
As for the game….well…
O made some tweaks to the ORBAT (as always) which generously gave me (as the outnumbered Prussian-Saxons) use of attached battalion guns and some small increases in unit strengths. Although I managed to throw double 1 twice whilst firing two other batteries (rapidly eliminating them from play) the battalion guns, and some rather fortunate cavalry exchanges rather tipped the play in my favour and on this occasion Marshal Lannes got a bloody nose and Prince Ferdinand lived to morganatically maraud another day…….
The lesson here re-inforced the folly of representing battalion guns as artillery and not adhering exactly to the good DrB’s pretty rulebook. They should ONLY be represented as extra musket fire (immediately lost during retreat etc) as the extra firepower they deliver as 4pdrs makes the units disproportionately effective at holding off incoming. Hey Ho.
Nevertheless a splendid game and a real privilege to run out O’s beautifully painted Saxons. I enclose a rather hastily taken photo salvaged from my rather inadequately pixelled phone camera that shows the full might and scary sight of a full division of well figured French battalions approaching!

Cheers
M
PS:Morganatical: a marriage between people of unequal social rank…wiki wiki
1) Side movements of units and changing face
This has come up a few times with us in a variety of guises.
a) A unit is on a road traversing East-West but is deployed in line facing North. The unit wishes to march down the road to the West in column of companies. How much of a move does this require to change face and begin marching?
b) A unit has marched North in column of companies on tactical move orders in the last move and is still over 35cm from the nearest enemy. In the next move it wishes to deploy in line facing West. How much of a move does this require to change face and continue marching?
c) A unit in line facing North wishes to reposition 5cm to the West but still remain facing North. Is this ‘shuffle’ allowed? If not what manoever is allowed that would effectively achieve the same result?
2) Pushing out a skirmish screen whilst on HOLD orders.
A unit in line within its designated hold area is on HOLD orders and for reasons I won’t go into, has its own brigade skirmish screen positioned currently immediately to its rear. It is approached by enemy columns screened by skirmishers who approach to within 5cm of the line. Can the brigade skirmish screen deploy in front of the defending line and engage the enemy skirmish screen?
3) Routing/Retreating out of buildings
Two units have recently successfully assaulted a building from two faces. One enters the building the other remains positioned outside. The enemy ripostes with two new units and re-takes the building from the OTHER two sides of the building. The defenders are thrown out in rout. Which face of the building do they ROUT from? Is it via the face they entered into the building (which is currently free of figures) of do they recoil through BOTH faces and unform the other friendly formed unit stationed immediately outside on the other face?
[O argued here that as his attack was from two different angles, the defending unit had to rout out of the back of the building in an average spread and would thus catch the other defender on the way……hmmmm…my take was that as the unit had entered the building that way then that was the obvious and logical way back out!]
4) Using squares to block cavalry
Having rather fortunately gained cavalry superiority I had the urge to throw some spare Saxon hussars into the French rear (dastardly but rather fun idea I thought). O rather ingeniously stopped this by forming a wall of dancing squares that continually flitted back and forth effectively blocking the way as the gaps between units were always just millimeters smaller than my unit frontage. (OK….OK… I lost it a little at this point). Is this allowed? Can squares maneuver in the face of formed cavalry in this way? Can any unit saunter around in front of formed cavalry? Can cavalry fold around squares?
[I assume this to be a lost cause…but would like to know anyway]
As for the game….well…
O made some tweaks to the ORBAT (as always) which generously gave me (as the outnumbered Prussian-Saxons) use of attached battalion guns and some small increases in unit strengths. Although I managed to throw double 1 twice whilst firing two other batteries (rapidly eliminating them from play) the battalion guns, and some rather fortunate cavalry exchanges rather tipped the play in my favour and on this occasion Marshal Lannes got a bloody nose and Prince Ferdinand lived to morganatically maraud another day…….
The lesson here re-inforced the folly of representing battalion guns as artillery and not adhering exactly to the good DrB’s pretty rulebook. They should ONLY be represented as extra musket fire (immediately lost during retreat etc) as the extra firepower they deliver as 4pdrs makes the units disproportionately effective at holding off incoming. Hey Ho.
Nevertheless a splendid game and a real privilege to run out O’s beautifully painted Saxons. I enclose a rather hastily taken photo salvaged from my rather inadequately pixelled phone camera that shows the full might and scary sight of a full division of well figured French battalions approaching!

Cheers
M
PS:Morganatical: a marriage between people of unequal social rank…wiki wiki