With the campaign moving into a new month it is time to calculate the number of newly raised reinforcements for each army.
Each square on the map is allocated a value. This is based on what is contained within that square. e.g. a rural square with no inhabitants will have a minimum value recognising a purely agricultural contribution, whereas a heavily populated town with industrial units will have the opposite. A capital will contain a bonus so it is important that countries maintain possession of that.
Captured territory will deny that country of its Value Units (VU's) with the victor gaining 25% of those lost.
At the start of play on the 1st of the month, calculations are made for each country who then spend their VU's on reinforcements replacing losses in existing units. All those relevant units are identified at this stage (much to the pleasure of their commanders!) and the number of new recruits allotted.
All regular recruits are classed as 2nd Line. i.e. trained but inexperienced. Recruits to militia units are conscripts. Needless to say, 2nd Line troops are more expensive than conscripts. Artillery crews and cavalry also attract a premium. Too many new recruits joining a unit could downgrade its quality. e.g. a veteran battalion that receives 50% or more recruits are reduced to 'line' status.
When that has all been calculated it is time to determine when those recruits arrive at their respective units. To keep this simple, I roll one D6 for each force. A force being all those units represented by one counter on the map. Each pip on the dice represents one day after the 1st day of the month. So a '3' will mean they arrive on the 4th of the month.
When they arrive they are simply added to the rosters. I appreciate that it would seem a little odd that all recruits from whichever nation all arrive within the first week of each month but to make it completely realistic would be a logistical nightmare.
To give some idea of the numbers involved, on this occasion the French, with by far the largest number of VU's at 735, are able to purchase around 300 replacements. They have lost far more (1,200 to be precise)! So this is not a game changer but allows some units to avoid extinction. The Prussians are down to 268 VU's purchasing a little over 100 figures having lost 2,210.
Turning now to the map moves for these 2 days -
Continued -
