I would like to know more about the game mechanics, especially how the units behave. Could you please explain how the battalions and divisions function in the game?
Well, as a player, you’re a corps commander. First thing to note is that orders are persistent, you tell a division to do X and they continue to do X until they can’t or they successfully complete it or you tell them to do something else. This makes it a very “think multiple moves ahead game”.
Battalions (and other tactical units) are mostly an observational concern. What I mean by that is that players don’t manage battalions but battalions still exist. You send a division forward and you care if its battalions are all busted up or routing, but you don’t care exactly how they contact the enemy or what their exact placement is as the tactical concerns generally have no impact on the combat resolution. Battalions win and lose combats as individual units so they still provide “personality” in that way and aren’t just one of several stands that make up a division.
Statuses of stuff in the game nearly all follow a “play it as it lies” philosophy. Each division has a rear area, when a unit (battalion for instance) routs, it is placed in that rear area so there is no measuring for rout moves and no rout marker, you know that a battalion is routed by its placement. Divisional rear area (called a Reformation Area) can therefore be marked by a small diorama like a supply wagon or caisson. This general method got rid of all the tabletop markers but the order cards – which could be kept off-table if you so chose.
You can get a lot more high level description of how things work on the website: http://www.thewargamingcompany.com/etsansresultat or ask away.
Cheers,
The Bandit
