A hard fall

I have been researching the numbers set by the 'Napoleon' rule set into why Light cavalry units are 12 figures and Heavy Regiments are 16. I have found that there isn't really any reason for this as all Cavalry units (on paper anyway) were about four Squadrons. Both Light Cavalry and Heavy Cavalry were the same, even Hussars were formed of four Squadrons. I know that by posting this post and spending three hours researching, I have gone too far. I have stumbled off the track of gaming, like many a war gamer and started to wade into the bog of facts and figures. I'm sure it's just be a game mechanic to increase game enjoyment and give a taste of the era, but It bugged me that I couldn't find the reason for It.

Of course, none of this really matters for numbers on the field were all over the place and the figures for units at Waterloo are very varied indeed. Some poor Cuirassier units could only field two Squadrons on the day.

As It stands at the moment I have increased my 'Heavies' to 16 per Regiment (four Squadrons) and my 'Lights' stand at 14 per Regiment, putting them just under full strength. As I am building a Waterloo based Army, I was relieved to see many Line Lancer and Chasseur a Cheval Regiments of four Squadrons were present on the day.