Colonial Campaigns Club (CCC)

Historical, according to orderly books, armies formed guard and fatigue details or parties. Guard details would stand guard, and if you fell asleep you would be shot, doesn't sound much like a party to me. Fatigue details built, cleaned or moved things, again no party, but awfully fatigue-ing ([:D]).

These details could be organized at bn/rgt level, bde level or army level depending on who wanted some work done. Troops could miss a good day's fight if they happened to be detailed out that day, or they may be the first in a fight if the enemy attacked the day they were on guard duty!

These groups were properly commanded, and drawn from various units. Guard details ranged in size from 6-8 men to guard the regiment's HQ tent, to 200-300 men to occupy a defensive work to guard an army.

Fatigue parties may be as few as 2-3 men to break camp, or wash stuff, or move supplies to 100-200 men to build fortifications, or dig trenches, or build boats.

Our oobs do not reflect these detachments because our scenarios have no base camps for them to operate in, even though in some of the scenarios the army's camp would be on the map.

Dseigning scenarios with proper camps, and writing oobs with proper 'daily' task oriented groups is not hard, and would make the battles more realistic, and in my opinion more fun. It jsut hasn't been done.

These rear area troops would be the ones 'detailed' out to intercept any raiding parties. I would predict however, that instead of keeping these small detachments back in the camp, many players would bring them up to scout or raid or plug gaps or lend a ZOC to surround kill someone or some such 'other duty.'

Still, it is my desire to continue to build oobs and maps that give more historical/realistic feel to them, and if someone wants to take thier camp guard out to join the battle, then they best not cry if my raiding party trashes their base. [:D]