AUSTERLITZ 1805
here above: I representend - still in the fog - the attack of the French 14th Régiment de Ligne on the village of Pratze defended by some Musketeers of the 2nd Battalion of the Novgorod Regiment.
here underneath: the initial assault.
Note that the French unit simply represents a 1:1 ratio Company
here underneath: the initial assault.
Note that the French unit simply represents a 1:1 ratio Company
One of the main things important to point out is the actual size of a French unit.
In the period of the Battle of Austerlitz, every Infantry battalion (ligne) was formed up by 8 musketeers company of 120 men circa, + 1 company of Grenadiers; (the voltigeurs were ordered to be formed, but at the time of the battle of Austerlitz probably not as a distiguished company and surely not with different uniforms)
So it is easy to calculate that a theoretical Battalion strenght was of about 1.100 men, and so a Regiment was of 2.200 men.
Reading the actual strenght for instance of the 14 Regiment at that battle (http://www.pousse-pion.fr/blog/wan/ordre-de-bataille-austerlitz/) it results evident that that Regiment on 2 battalions had just 1551 men, i.e. 775 men/battalion. Considering that Napoleon ordered that the companies had the same number of men it is quite easy to calculate that a sigle company was of about 86 men in total (NCO and officers included).
This - in wargaming - represents a fact that just very seldom in considered: above all not in the nominal strenght of the unit but concerning its width on the battlefield.
For this reason I represented here 2 examples of a Company at its theoretical strength and the real one: the difference is quite evident and huge.
In the period of the Battle of Austerlitz, every Infantry battalion (ligne) was formed up by 8 musketeers company of 120 men circa, + 1 company of Grenadiers; (the voltigeurs were ordered to be formed, but at the time of the battle of Austerlitz probably not as a distiguished company and surely not with different uniforms)
So it is easy to calculate that a theoretical Battalion strenght was of about 1.100 men, and so a Regiment was of 2.200 men.
Reading the actual strenght for instance of the 14 Regiment at that battle (http://www.pousse-pion.fr/blog/wan/ordre-de-bataille-austerlitz/) it results evident that that Regiment on 2 battalions had just 1551 men, i.e. 775 men/battalion. Considering that Napoleon ordered that the companies had the same number of men it is quite easy to calculate that a sigle company was of about 86 men in total (NCO and officers included).
This - in wargaming - represents a fact that just very seldom in considered: above all not in the nominal strenght of the unit but concerning its width on the battlefield.
For this reason I represented here 2 examples of a Company at its theoretical strength and the real one: the difference is quite evident and huge.
