Hi. I've been lurking on the board for a while now, have finally got a copy of "Republic to Empire" and have been trying them out solo before we give them a go at the club.
The only issue I have at the moment is regarding Light Battalions and from what I've read I believe this is all Clarence's fault

When a light battalion goes into limited, half or full deployment of skirmishers (or reverse of same) is that classed as deploying/recalling skirmishers or a formation change with a form command. I think they are the same MP cost, but with the latter they can't do anything else that move?

Secondly. When a light battalion in any of the above deployments has to retire to a formed body, does that mean the supports of a half/limited deployed battalion have to retire too, or does the skirmish element retire to/behind that formed element of its own battalion?

Thanks,
Neal

Hello.
I also had some problems with this question, and I need a carefull reading of the rulebook to find my own interpretation of the rule:

As I see it, a Light or Line battalion can deploy or recall skirmishers, using the Individual Action "Form", paying MP in the process and sending more or less men to the skirmish line. After that, the unit can take more actions, using the "Explotation" process. Really, after a "Form" order the unit can do many more actions, if the player has enough MP (I think that prohibition ("the unit can´t do more actions in the turn...") is, perhaps, confused).

Besides, I think that a Light battalion retires its skirmishers to the formed part of the unit (because it is a formed body), forming around it.

But this is only my opinion about this topic. "Republic to Empire" is a very good rulebook but needs a carefull reading and some games to catch all the concepts.

Yours,
Juan

A slight correction that may get "re=corrected" lol

But If a single unit uses form, you cant make multiple activations on an individual or brigade level, so once you choose form thats it for the turn.

Check the single unit action orders on page 44. This caught me out a few times as well by reading the brigade ones and applying it to single units as well.

hope this helps

cheers

I agree with you, but in the extensive example of page 50 the british battalions made a change of formation (using a "Form" order, I think) and then move under their ADVANCE order and then move against under their ADVANCE order and then receive an ATTACK order and, finally, two of the battalions change their formation to line...

I think I read in this forum that there was an errata in pag 44, but I´m not sure.

About the skirmishers, I think they need, always, a "Form" order to deploy/recall.

Cheers,

Juan

YES GUYS IT IS MOSTLY CLARENCE'S FAULT for modelling the Light Division and then making me write rules that would help him win only kidding

The deployment and recall of skirmishers by any battalion is NOT classed as a formation change.
Skirmishers not from a specialist light battalion will retire to 'other' friendly formed troops including their own parent body. The light battalion skirmishers can retire to their own parent body - the close order reserve.

The close order reserve also existed with deployed light companies in Line regiments but the quantity of men is too small to model on the table top and is in fact the reason why the number of skirmishers deployed is ALWAYS less than the number of combat groups detached from a parent line unit. The 'missing men' are imagined to be forming the close order reserve behind the skirmish line but do not physically appear on the table.

Hope this helps

cheers

B

It is my fault... the skirmisher rules were one paragraph in the initial manuscript. My sole collection at the time was the Light Division and I kept sending Barry e-mails, "What about this or that?" or "At such-and-such battle entire battalions deployed into skirmish order" and the like until he relented and wrote some proper rules to allow me to field a DIVISION made up legitimately of entirely Veteran and Veteran Elite units all capable of skirmishing!

Sounds like some Warhammer tournament army list...

Thanks chaps - I think I'm with it now

I beg your pardon, because I am very clumsy and, now, I´m not sure about some points:

They deployment and recall of skirmishers is not a formation change, ok. Do I need a "Form" order to deploy/recall skirmishers (as in page 44)? Can this unit make more actions (using an Explotation) in the same Manoeuvre Step (as in page 65)?

Thank you very much for your patience.

Juan

Juan,

They way I have always played and understood it is that deploying or recalling skirmishers is a Single Unit Action.

Regards,

Jim

Jim.. correct.

Juan.. you do not need to put any order tokens down for single unit actions just specify what they are doing.. DEPLOY SKIRMISHERS is the order and therefore not FORM.. hope that explains

cheers

Crystal clear, thank you very much. At the moment, I´m the standard-bearer of "Republic to Empire" in my local club so I need to have very, very clear the most important concepts to explain them to my mates, fortified in the old "Empire" or the new "Black Powder" school, and the skirmish screen is one of these concepts.

Cheers,

Juan

PS: When are you going to finish the Waterloo game article? I would like to see that British Cavalry crushing the Frenchs...

I've spotted how I got confused over the form command. The single unit action specifies deployment of skirmishers, but of course this is from march column - got to get some new specs.javascript:emoticon(':oops:')

Am I right in thinking that as the rules say after a form command a unit can do nothing else, this includes being unable to fire?

Cheers,
Neal

????!!!!
I´m thinking it´s better to read the rulebook only once...