Leaders

[Tom Bridges]

I'm trying to understand how command and control work in Waterloo. I see each leader has both a Leadersip rating and a Command rating. What is the difference between these two ratings? What situations does each influence? Does the Leadership rating influence recovery from disruption and the Command rating influence recovery from rout?:hmmm:

[Gary McClellan]

Leadership is recovery from rout.
Command is the chance of that unit passing the command bonus on to a unit for the purpose of recovering from disorder.

[Tom Bridges]

Thanks, Gary. I must have read the manual 10 times but for some reason this issue has always confused me... :nuts:

[Gary McClellan]

Let's see if I can thin the mud slighlty :laugh:

The Leadership is pretty straightforward. If a leader is stacked with a unit trying to recover from rout, that's the modifier it'll give to that unit.

Command is a bit more complex.

At the start of each turn, a die is rolled for the Army Commander. If the die roll is less than, or equal to, the numerical value of his rating, he's considered in command.

Then, it goes to the next leader down the chain of command, and does the same. If the previous leader made his command role, this leader gets a +1 modifier to his own command roll.

Once you get to Division and Brigade level commanders (in the Nap engine), then you have to concern yourself with command radius. A Brigade Commander can only get a command bonus from a Division Commander if he's in Command Range. Likewise, he can only GIVE his command bonus to his units, if they are in his command radius.

Now, all those bonuses are "additive". That is. Napoleon is in Command, which gives Lannes (a Corps level leader in Wagram), a +1 bonus. He passes his command roll, and gives a +2 to a division commander, who passes and gives a +3 to his Brigade commander, who also passes and gives a +4 Modifier to a unit trying to recover from disorder.

However, if that chain is broken at any point, either because someone fails their roll, or someone isn't in command range, the bonuses from the "upper levels" do not pass on.

So, Napoleon, Lannes and the Division Commander can all be "in command" but if the Brigade commander botches the roll, his units get nothing.

[Tom Bridges]

The Leadership is pretty straightforward. If a leader is stacked with a unit trying to recover from rout, that's the modifier it'll give to that unit.

Does the Leader actually have to be stacked in the same hex with the routed unit?

[Gary McClellan]

Here's the rule quoted from the manual

If the unit is stacked with a Leader of the same organization or a higher organization as the unit and if the Leadership rating of the Leader is higher than the Morale value, the Morale value is set equal to that rating. If the Leadership rating is already equal to the Morale value, then 1 is added to the Morale value.

[Tom Bridges]

Thanks again. I always thought a leader could influence recovery from rout if it was in command range of the routed unit. I didn't realize they had to be stacked in the same hex.

[Gary McClellan]

One approach, is if you have a "safe" zone, is use your Corps Commanders for this. Move your routed troops to a place out of LOS and let them do their thing. You can also do it with your Divisional commanders, though it's a hair harder, since you need to worry about keeping their Brigade leaders in command.

[Tom Bridges]

Great idea! Why don't I ever think of these things?

[FM WarB]

Corps leaders and above affect units for route recovery purposes that are stacked with them or adjacent to them.

[Tom Bridges]

Thanks for the clarification. Seems to me that it is an in-depth understanding of these smaller details that really add up to make the difference between an expert player and the rest of us.

Appreciate everyone sharing their experience. :salute:

[Sgt_Rock]

The rules also note that a Corps Commander or higher, if adjacent to routed units and if its a Day turn, will add +1 to the die roll for rout recovery.

For disordered units - its a base "1" no matter what the unit is, that is the base value for recovery. Thus if your unit is not in command control range it probably will take many turns to recovery unless it gets lucky.

You will note that some of the games in the series have extra leaders in the Brigade or Division or Corps or Army level. These extra leaders (such as the extra Division level leaders in NRC) do not help in the Command Control Test. Only the main leader. Those leaders CAN help with Rout recovery though and that is where their value is best used. Even if the Leadership rating of a bonus leader is not higher than the unit if its the same it adds +1 to the morale rating.

[Tom Bridges]

Another great tip....keep 'em coming :hail::hail::hail:

[rahamy]

The extra leaders can also be used in melee's, giving a bonus there, and protecting your primary leader.

[Tom Bridges]

That will work great in Jena...lots of extra French leaders.