Unit
Stacking
The
day after Lucius had met the new recruits in the training
camp, his superior (Primus Centurion) had ordered Lucius
to undertake a table top exercise on ‘Room for Manouevre’.
Lucius
had spent 5 years yelling commands in training camps or
on the battlefield and the explanation he had to give to
the new Centurions of the Legion was second nature to him,
none the less, he hated being the focus of attention.
The
sun was just breaking over the ridge in the distance as
Lucius pulled back the tent flap and walked up to the large
wicker table and the assembled Centurions. The Primus nodded
his acknowledgement and Lucius began –
"When
you take your men in to battle you need to know the principle
of “Room for manoeuvre”. To move one unit through
another requires you to check the concentration of troops
ahead of you."
The
first we will consider is charging your Legionaries through
the covering Light Infantry ahead of you.’
‘If
you give a command to pass our Heavy Infantry through a
screen of Light Infantry you need to know -
1
– A maximum of 80 Light Infantry (LI) can fit in
to one clear hex on their own and this is equivalent to
100% stacking.
2
– A maximum of 400 Heavy Infantry (HI) can fit in
to one clear hex on their own and this is equivalent to
100% stacking.
3
– At some point during the Events Phase the HI will
attempt to move on to the hex occupied by the LI. If the
combined stacking would exceed 100% then the HI will not
move through.’
Lucius
scanned his audience and saw nothing but blank or puzzled
faces. The Primus was smiling at Lucius’ discomfort
but Lucius ignored him and pushed on –
OK, let’s look at an example –
"I
have a double strength century of 120 HI under my command
and ahead of my men are a group of javelin men (40 of them)."
"We
know our Legionaries amount to 120/400 % (30%) stacking
and the LI equivalent to 40/80 % (50%). The sum of these
two is 80%. So we know our Legionaries can charge through
successfully."
"If
our century had belonged to a cohort unit of 240 men strong
then the HI charge would have been halted by our own Light
troops and the enemy would not have been reached."
"‘This
is why it is essential to know the amount of room you need
on the battlefield to avoid chaos. Even a disciplined army
can collapse in to chaos if the Centurion gives the wrong
commands."
Lucius
saw the first signs of understanding in their faces.
"OK.
Let’s look at this situation the other way. Let’s
say the LI screen wants to retire through your ranks of
Legionaries. Again, you have 120 HI. How many LI can get
through your ranks?"
Didomer
signalled he had the answer and Lucius nodded for him to
speak.
"A
maximum of 56 LI if our Legionaries are in clear terrain."
The beam on his face showed the confidence he expressed
in his answer.
"Correct"
Lucius replied. "Didomer’s 56 comes from
56/80 = 70% which when added to the 30% of the HI reaches
the maximum limit on any one hex at any one time of 100%."
The
Primus walked out of the tent, satisfied the lesson was
going well and moved to quench his thirst from a nearby
flask.
One
of the new Centurions raised a question –
"But,
what about non-Clear (Close) terrain?"
"You
can only achieve a maximum of 50% on the hex at any one
time." Replied Lucius.
"And
what about Interpenetration?’"came a voice
from the rear of the tent. Lucius turned and looked in to
the sullen eyes of his Tribune Scipio. Before Lucius could
speak, Scipio clapped him on the shoulder and said to the
rest "– I think that is for another time.
Centurions, dismissed !"
Scipio
turned to Lucius and began to whisper –
‘I
need to talk to you about the forth-coming battle. ….’
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