Command & Control, and Commanders

[Gil R.]

Now that the map-making process is mostly out of my hands -- a major step towards completing the game, I'd note -- I finally have time to write some more about the game. So, as promised a while back, here is some information on c&c, as well as just what it is that generals and officers do. More posts on other aspects of the game to come soon.


C&C System

One of the main features of “Brother against Brother” is an elaborate and realistic command & control system in which every echelon level from regiment (or other unit) to army functions differently. The most important of these rules is that units need to be in-command of brigades, and in turn brigades, divisions and corps need to be in-command of the next echelon. This is determined by the location of headquarters units – each brigade, division, corps and army commander is attached to a small “staff & escort” cavalry unit of 5-20 men (bearing lousy weapons), with terrain and distance determining whether one can communicate with the other. Units that are out-of-command function at a penalty, so it is important to maintain good lines of communication at all levels. (The nature of the penalty varies depending on level. A unit outside of brigade command radius gets fewer movement points, for example, while a brigade that is OOC from its division has a reduced change to change brigade orders and coordinate with other brigades effectively, and if a corps is OOC from the army then scouting suffers.)

Here are some, but by no means all, of the rules and features that are specific to the different echelon levels:

Armies
• Give bonus movement to divisions

Corps
• Penetrate fog-of-war through a scouting check, but also can send out a number of scouts into nearby areas that still have fog-of-war
• Prepare units that are not yet ready for combat, so that they fight effectively and not at a severe penalty (Think of Longstreet getting his corps good and ready for an assault)
• Make full-corps assaults, which involve a period of reduced movement (for preparation) followed by a period of increased movement and successful coordination

Divisions
• Make an activation check to see if units can move that turn (One of the most fundamental difficulties in leading an assault was getting divisions to move when they were supposed to. All too often, division commanders did not receive or understand their orders, or got their orders but were unable to carry them out properly, with the result being piecemeal attacks. It is the intent of this rule to reflect that problem.)

Brigades
To reflect the importance of the brigade level, it is here that the player is given his main tactical options. At all times a brigade operates under a specific “brigade order,” and this dictates what the regiments and other units within that brigade will do. Brigade orders can be changed, but whether this occurs successfully depends on the commander’s ratings; also, this change can happen right away, or else be delayed until the end of the turn. The brigade orders are:
• March: For moving long distances in column formation, but units in this mode cannot come within six hexes of the enemy, enter line formation, or attack an enemy unit more than two hexes away.
• Advance: Intended for closing in on the enemy and maneuvering near him, this mode permits a regiment to enter line formation and get up to three hexes from the enemy, but the unit fights at a penalty.
• Attack: Units in brigades in attack mode move more slowly but can close with the enemy and do some real damage
• Mass Charge: To do even more damage, brigades can go into this mode, which gives units bonus movement points as well as a greater chance of driving back enemy units. However, charging units suffer 50% casualties and can only fire on short-range targets.
• Hold: Units move more slowly but can enter line formation. Since this is a defensive mode, units are less likely to be driven back by enemy units, but they also have a lesser chance of driving back the enemy.
• Fighting Withdrawal: Units take less damage but have a greater chance of being driven back.
• Rally: A way of trying to restore unit morale, but only when units are away from the enemy.

Regiments
• Can be given “charge” orders so that they either never charge, will charge if circumstances are favorable, or have to charge whenever possible.
• In addition to a commanding officer whose ratings impact performance (as well as subordinates), there are now abstracted captains who help with unit cohesion, and whose loss erodes it. Units that lose the majority of their captains are much more likely to suffer morale loss and become disordered – requiring a brigadier or one of his superiors to attempt to restore morale and rally the unit.



The Roles of Commanders

As I have noted in other threads, BAB will have far more commanders on the battlefield than “Forge of Freedom.” In addition to each army, corps, division, and brigade having a commander, the infantry, cavalry and artillery units will each have a commanding officer and 1-2 additional subordinate officers who are ready to step up if he is wounded or killed (or if he is promoted to take the place of the brigadier). As in FOF, these guys are rated in Leadership, Tactics, Initiative and Command, and we have also added new Cavalry and Artillery ratings for those who commanded such units. Rather than having these ratings always do the same thing, they are applied differently at the different levels of command. Some examples (but not a comprehensive list):
• Leadership at the brigade through army levels gives a chance at rallying a low-morale unit in close proximity; at the unit level, it can help to prevent panic and also to increase morale and the chance of becoming unfatigued or unshaken when rallying
• Tactical at the corps level determines how many scouts can be sent out, at the division level determines the chance for brigades to coordinate (i.e., for regiments in the same brigade that are flanking the enemy to do bonus damage) and regiments in those brigades to get a bonus counter-attack, and at the regimental level increases combat damage
• Initiative at the corps level determines how many units are “ready to fight,” at the division and regimental levels can provide bonus movement to all units (meaning that if both officers have high initiative ratings units will move especially well, one of a few instances of such synergy), and at brigade level can determine whether units make a bonus attack, while at both the corps and division levels it determines whether a division is able to receive and act on orders that turn
• Command at the army through brigade level determines the “command radius” (beyond which divisions will become out-of-command), at both the division and brigade level impacts the chance of a brigade successfully changing its orders, and at the regimental level it determines whether a unit can change formation and still have movement points left that turn

[Bamilus]

Looks awesome!

And lol @ your sig!

[berto]

Really interesting, and much needed.

What about C&C outside the normal chain of command, where for instance a corps commander might direct a division, brigade, or regiment detached from a different corps? With penalties and diminished effectiveness, of course. Under certain circumstances, do you allow for this?

[sol_invictus]

Sounds really interesting. I am looking forward to release.

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: berto

Really interesting, and much needed.

What about C&C outside the normal chain of command, where for instance a corps commander might direct a division, brigade, or regiment detached from a different corps? With penalties and diminished effectiveness, of course. Under certain circumstances, do you allow for this?

I left it out of my list, but we do have a mechanism for moving a regiment from its brigade to another without an OOC penalty, the justification for which is that this did indeed happen. At Williamsburg, for example, two regiments from Early's brigade were sent off to the fighting on the right, while the other four plunged into the woods for the attack on Hancock's flanking position on the left. We don't, however, have a similar mechanism for reassigning brigades or divisions. The reason for this is that BAB1 has battles with relatively small armies -- only at Williamsburg is there even a legitimate corps structure, and then it's just one side that has multiple corps involved -- so we don't really need it. It's one of several things we'll probably add for future releases, when much larger forces are involved.

[berto]

I was thinking in particular of the tangled mess of Confederate forces at Shiloh.

Also, not formal reassignment, but ad hoc, in-the-heat-of-battle C&C.

[berto]

Next up, I hope you feature a similarly detailed, historically plausible physical fatigue/combat fatigue mechanism. To mute our tendencies as game players--as opposed to real life, compassionate commanders with a larger picture in view--to overcommit and wear out our forces in pursuit of the short-sighted, all-important, current game victory.

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: berto

I was thinking in particular of the tangled mess of Confederate forces at Shiloh.

Also, not formal reassignment, but ad hoc, in-the-heat-of-battle C&C.

Nothing like that now. And I'm not sure we'd add something that does some random reassigning, since most players don't like it when something that important is suddenly taken out of their hands. And if we can have any corps commander commanding any nearby division or division commander in charge of a bunch of then the whole feature might become pointless. So we'd have to think of a way that makes sense. But it definitely wouldn't be for this release, for the reason mentioned in my previous post.

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: berto

Next up, I hope you feature a similarly detailed, historically plausible physical fatigue/combat fatigue mechanism. To mute our tendencies as game players--as opposed to real life, compassionate commanders with a larger picture in view--to overcommit and wear out our forces in pursuit of the short-sighted, all-important, current game victory.

Yes, there's fatigue, and it's more complicated than in FOF's tactical battles. For example, fighting on a hot day will now more quickly lead to fatigue. And we're using the data files to indicate which units should be "fatigue prone," reflecting that they've just made a forced march to get there, or have already been fighting (for mid-battle scenarios).

[berto]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

ORIGINAL: berto

I was thinking in particular of the tangled mess of Confederate forces at Shiloh.

Also, not formal reassignment, but ad hoc, in-the-heat-of-battle C&C.

Nothing like that now. And I'm not sure we'd add something that does some random reassigning, since most players don't like it when something that important is suddenly taken out of their hands. And if we can have any corps commander commanding any nearby division or division commander in charge of a bunch of then the whole feature might become pointless. So we'd have to think of a way that makes sense. But it definitely wouldn't be for this release, for the reason mentioned in my previous post.

"Under certain [limited] circumstances" [not random], and "with penalties and diminished effectiveness." Not so free-wheeling as to make the overall system pointless.

[berto]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

ORIGINAL: berto

Next up, I hope you feature a similarly detailed, historically plausible physical fatigue/combat fatigue mechanism. To mute our tendencies as game players--as opposed to real life, compassionate commanders with a larger picture in view--to overcommit and wear out our forces in pursuit of the short-sighted, all-important, current game victory.

Yes, there's fatigue, and it's more complicated than in FOF's tactical battles. For example, fighting on a hot day will now more quickly lead to fatigue. And we're using the data files to indicate which units should be "fatigue prone," reflecting that they've just made a forced march to get there, or have already been fighting (for mid-battle scenarios).

There's physical fatigue, then there's combat fatigue. Where a force won't commit because (a) it's dog-tired, sleep-deprived, hungry, etc. versus (b) it's shot-up, demoralized, fearful, etc. For example, having forced marched versus having suffered 50% casualties. The two types of fatigue are distinctly different, though their overall effects might tend to be the same: the troops can't--or won't--fight.

[Gil R.]

Gotcha. It's certainly possible. We wouldn't want to add it for this release, since in addition to the armies being smaller there is the practical factor that this would be another thing to add and test, and that would take time. But we'd consider it for a patch or the next release (which will either have Shiloh or be the one for the Seven Days + 2nd Manassas).

I definitely agree with where you're going, that the command hierarchies were not nearly as rigid as they seem when you read an OOB. But we need to strike a balance between reflecting this fluidity and maintaining our c&c system. Being able to detach regiments to other brigades is a start, and over time I'm pretty sure we'll do more.

[berto]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

I definitely agree with where you're going, that the command hierarchies were not nearly as rigid as they seem when you read an OOB. But we need to strike a balance between reflecting this fluidity and maintaining our c&c system. Being able to detach regiments to other brigades is a start, and over time I'm pretty sure we'll do more.

<thumbs up>

[sol_invictus]

To further touch on Berto's question on fatigue, both physical and combat, is the combat fatigue tracked seperately as cohesion loss or disorganization or some other category? Looking forward to some screenshots.

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: Arinvald

To further touch on Berto's question on fatigue, both physical and combat, is the combat fatigue tracked seperately as cohesion loss or disorganization or some other category? Looking forward to some screenshots.

Units can be fresh, fatigued, or in between. Fatigue is fatigue -- units that have been in the fighting too long tire and fight less effectively (i.e., at a penalty), requiring substantial rest before losing their fatigue. It may be factored into the calculations determining disorganization, and I'm pretty sure it impacts some of the other calculations, but it is still distinct.

[sol_invictus]

Thanks for the response. Now about those screenshots....[;)]

[Anthropoid]

Wow, this sounds great Gil! Really looking forward to this one

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: Anthropoid

Wow, this sounds great Gil! Really looking forward to this one

Thanks, but I'm concerned that you might not find it evil enough.