Battlelines moving from line into column

aventine · Post by **aventine** » Sat May 09, 2009 2:11 pm

I played a game the other night that involved me wishing to move my entire pike line to the left. The line had 5 BGs of pike each 8 bases in 4 ranks. I had a general with the middle BG. I turned each through 90degrees and discovered that there was a gap of 20mm between each BG. We discussed the possible double move of the battleline and decided that the entire formation should close up and move as normal. We also decided that when it turned back to the front it would form up on the lead BG dropping the remaining BGs backwards. as there isn't room to turn each BG in place.(complex tests were all passed for the move after turn)

Seemed a sensible approach but is this allowed. It mattered little to the game anyway.

Should I had spent a move closing the BGs up into a solid column before moving off and then another turn openiong the gaps up when they turned about again.

I can see arguements for both eg could pike or spear deep formations even do a 90degree turn? or the game represents a formation and not the precise location of each man on the battlefield, a bit like adjusting bases when turning to face a flank contact.

ta

petedalby · Post by **petedalby** » Sat May 09, 2009 3:42 pm

A Battle Line can only do an advance. See page 41.

So you'd need to move each BG individually - with no 2nd move available.

Pete

aventine · Post by **aventine** » Sat May 09, 2009 4:15 pm

Yes I get that but what about the gaps created when they turn, do you close up to form a battleline in column with side edge contact. This would allow the battleline to double move the next turn. Then what happens when you turn at the end of the lateral move, do the BG's get pushed back to allow the wider formations?

Pikes 4 deep are 80mm wide and 60mm deep therefore in column they are 300mm deep and 400mm wide if in line.

marioslaz · Post by **marioslaz** » Sat May 09, 2009 5:21 pm

aventine wrote:Yes I get that but what about the gaps created when they turn, do you close up to form a battleline in column with side edge contact. This would allow the battleline to double move the next turn. Then what happens when you turn at the end of the lateral move, do the BG's get pushed back to allow the wider formations?

Pikes 4 deep are 80mm wide and 60mm deep therefore in column they are 300mm deep and 400mm wide if in line.

Pikes in such formation when turn don't become a column. If your formation has a flank longer than a base deep, when you turn your BG 90 degree on that flank the BG must assume a formation 2 bases wide. See rules and diagram on P44 of Rulebook. Likely you know this, but I'm not sure because it's not clear for me what do you call a column. When you turn in such way your BG are spaced. You can try to close the gaps immediately. When you turn, first BG do it stationary (simple move), next BG can try a CMT to turn and make a simple advance thereafter, closing the gap. If it fails, BG can anyway perform a stationary turn. With a good dose of luck you can end movement with a new battle line formed by pikes BG turned 90 degree. But there is a problem: what about turning again to original facing? In a such formation you haven't enough space...

aventine · Post by **aventine** » Sat May 09, 2009 8:13 pm

I think it best to say that you can't do this and leave it at that. Cheers

shall · Post by **shall** » Sun May 10, 2009 6:26 am

All turns are by BG and the troops are where they re at the end of their move. So you have to do them by BG, and if you want to re-create a BL it will take time and effort.

I think anyone in the military will tell you how much harder it is to turn a regiment than a battalion than a company than a squad. The BL rules reflect this. BLs are in the main designed to go forward en-masse with just shifts and wheels.

Si

marioslaz · Post by **marioslaz** » Sun May 10, 2009 7:07 am

shall wrote:All turns are by BG and the troops are where they re at the end of their move. So you have to do them by BG, and if you want to re-create a BL it will take time and effort.

I think anyone in the military will tell you how much harder it is to turn a regiment than a battalion than a company than a squad. The BL rules reflect this. BLs are in the main designed to go forward en-masse with just shifts and wheels.

Si

And anyway, FWIW I think you must deploy pikes with great attention because, of all troop types, they are those which are less manoeuvrable.
I like pike armies, but not for pike itself, but because they usually have good troops to deploy at pikes flank with which you can do a lot of tactics.

aventine · Post by **aventine** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:17 pm

Thank you. I thought that was how it would pan out but wanted to see what others thought. I agree that a pike line has to be in the right place at the time of deployment but this is not always the case. I was fighting a larger Pike line and wanted to place mine at one end of his. He was deploying second and I was unable to do this at deployment.

To do this I will move each BG leaving the gaps and moving only single moves before turning back into line if I have to do this again.

In the game it made no difference anyway.

Ta

Keith

Polkovnik · Post by **Polkovnik** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:27 pm

You're better off not closing up the gaps and moving in single moves, so that when you turn 90 again you will be a battle line again.
But if you're a big battle line, of a few BGs, you really don't want to be doing this. If you're trying to manoeuvre to face the enemy, then by the time you've shifted your whole line sideways, the enemy will probably have moved out of the way anyway.
Normally you'd be better off wheeling and advancing in double moves to close the gap with the enemy as soon as possible.