Role of Army Commander

Russian and French Army each with four corps

Current Role

Issue orders to each corps commander at the start of the game, and amend them as necessary during the game

There are two parts to each order

First state the objective, for example “take the hill in the centre”

Second confirm how he should do so, for example Hold, Move, Engage, Attack or Retreat

Only he can change either the objective or the role, and to do so he must be in base contact with the corps commander

Command Points (CP)

At the start of his turn he rolls 1D10 and adds 1 if he is a Poor commander, 2 if Average and 3 if gifted.   The total determines how many orders he can issue that turn.

He can move a maximum of 16”, and must use 1CP to do so

The number of CP required to change corps orders depends on the ability of the corps commander.  1CP if Gifted, 2 if Average and 3 if Poor.

Problem

It takes too long for the army commander to reach the corps commander and change his orders.   This in turn slows down the game and makes it difficult to increase the tempo from Move to Engage to Attack.   Even if ADC are used it can take two or three game moves to reach the corps commander

New Role

He will continue to issue objective and role at the start of the game

He will continue to change both if in contact with the corps commander

However the corps commander can now change Move, Engage and Attack.  Only the army commander can change Hold and Retreat.

The army commander can take command of any brigade within 8” and can form a new reserve or group.  For example he can group artillery to form a Grand Battery, or cavalry or infantry to form a new reserve.   However these brigades must remain within 8” for the remainder of the game.   This will reduce his ability to move around the battlefield, but will give him a new tactical role.

Any brigade within 4” of him will receive plus 1 on their morale throw.   This will allow him to influence the morale of a particular corps by his presence