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William
Presumably your battalion is in column, (frontage 20 - 50m depending on Nationality), cavalry, single squadron, in 2-rank line, the game doesn't distinguish between line and column for cavalry of course. However, the worst case would be cavalry passing by first line infantry battalions to engage the enemy. In this case the cavalry would be in two rank line, preparing for the squadrons to ploy into whatever attack formation they intended to use - single line, double line, echelonned, checkered - whatever the formation, their minimum frontage would be that of a single squadron, typically 80m.
So I don't think there would be a 50m gap between the units in the hex, in fact there probably wouldn't be room for both to pass without interference.
I'm not sure why you see this as a problem for the mixed unit advance guards. Cavalry and infantry co-ordinate their activities, but that doesn't mean they need to be in the same hex.
On another thread there are comments about different battalion formations being able to co-exist in the same hex without disorder. Some thoughts on this, to execute a passage of lines, the battalion in second line formed square and approached the rear of the first line battalion that was in line formation. The battalion in line took its centre companies and moved them to left and right behind the flank companies of the battalion to create a gap in the centre. In effect creating two small columns of two company depth, on either flank. The second rank battalion passed between these in column and continued to advance with the (former) first rank battalion reforming line behind it. When the battalion was about 200m in advance of the original first rank, the battalion now in the second line would form column so as to be ready to manoeuvre as required.
Surely the only reason for moving a battalion in column into the same hex as one in line is to pass beyond it as you can not fire behind a battalion in line. Similarly, why move a battalion in line into a hex behind a battalion in column, if we claim that it is lower in the stack (behind the column) then strictly speaking we should prohibit it from firing, or restrict it to 50% fire, because of the column in front. Ah! Now doesn't disorder reduce fire by 50%[;)]
On formation changes to different formations, these were quite complex manoevres and required a lot of space to execute. An Allied open column had a frontage of only 20m but a depth of as much as 190m !
Mathematically we could work out positioning within a hex and argue the case that if this battalion was here, in column with this facing, it could change to square, provided the cavalry passed through in this direction, but their movement would need to be restricted because there wasn't room for them to pass before the formation change had completed and so on and so on...
But your best bet is, given that each unit throws a ZoC into the 2 hexes it faces, is to set your front line with battalions in every other hex. You still have an impenetrable line of ZoCs and your cavalry, infantry in other formations and artillery can pass between these gaps. The units that would have been in these hexes then form up in your second line, 2-300m behind the first, waiting to take their turn on the firing line when you rotate fatigued, disordered or heaven forbid, routed units away from the firing line.
That, after all, was the basis of warfare in Napoleon's time.
Regards
Mark
VII Corps
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