Adding on to the last post.

The elements of each brigade, the battalions, are to have individual Strength Points which represent both the number and potential fighting abilities of the unit. In larger-scale games, where corps and armies are represented on the field, then the only necessary addition required for the current iteration of my combat system to work, is to show the actual SPs per battalion, for the purposes of casualties.

Yes, I could easily forego this, but a critical aspect of my design intent is to allow the military forces of each of the countries in my imagi-nations campaign to grow over time. Thus, brigades and divisions will not be created at the start, but rather companies (for skirmish) and battalions (for field battles).

Currently, I have decided to show SPs as an additional portion of the brigade roster, with a row of boxes added for each battalion, one box per SP.

As units are formed, trained, and then suffer attrition, a typical battalion will shrink in numbers over time, but increase in combat potential as the surviving members of the unit gain experience and increase in skills. That may not be exactly true to real-life, but for my campaign I’m going to assume that it is largely true.

Thus, a raw unit will have greater numbers than a veteran, but the veteran battalion will have greater combat potential overall, leading to the ranking of

• Elite +2
• Veteran +1
• Experienced +0
• Trained -1
• Raw -2

The strength points of each battalion is determined similarly, but with a variation.

• Raw: 5SP
• Trained: 4/5SP
• Experienced: 3/4SP
• Veteran: 3/4SP
• Elite: 2/3SP

Where a battalion can have a variable SP, when the quality of the unit changes, a die roll is made to establish its new SP value. It is assumed that the battalion will lose an SP, but on a die result of 5 or 6, the higher SP number is retained.

This mechanism does not prevent a player (me) from amalgamating two elite battalions of 2SP into a single battalion of 4SP. I am placing an upper limit of 5SP for each battalion as there comes a point where large battalions are simply too unwieldy. My assumption is that a single SP is ~200 men, at the brigade level manuever element, but is ~100 men when the battalion is the manuever element.

I am considering “big battalions” as a national trait, allowing for an additional SP for all quality levels, but I feel that 6SP is the highest I would go.

I should mention that the above all applies to infantry battalions.

My thoughts for cavalry are more inclined to

• Raw/Trained: 4SP
• Experienced/Veteran: 3SP
• Elite: 2SP

For artillery, given that artillerists require technical skills and training above and beyond the average infantryman, that the quality level of a battery or group of batteries are relative to each other. So, the number of SPs is instead determined by the type of artillery unit.

• Foot: 3SP
• Horse: 2SP

For heavy foot artillery and siege artillery, I am considering 4SP, as well as a national trait of “large batteries” that would add an additional SP. The Napoleonic Era Russian batteries, in real-life, tended to be larger, at least on paper, than those of the other combatants.

The Strength Point or SP mechanic lends itself not just to combat, but also for the economic and logistical side of a campaign. More on that later.