Thanks Ike

[PeterPerla]

Thank you for your response. I appreciate it.
Take care
Peter

[hammurabi70]

My original reading of the rules was that you took a half-battalion off the board if it suffered casualties equal to half its strength, that is, 45 of 90 points.

In addition, the ability of the infantry to deploy skirmish platoons makes me wonder how you handle that as well. If my half-battalion deploys its two skirmishers, do you reduce its firepower relative to the tabled results, or do you, as I think I understand the rules, leave its firepower unreduced, on the basis of the fact that really only the first two ranks fired effectively? Peter

As I understood it one of the reasons that the British were famed in the Napoleonic Wars for their two ranks rather than three ranks was they so often fought when campaign casualties had reduced troop numbers that could not be replaced but they still deployed on the usual frontage.
On that basis I:
(1) Prefer to mark casualties to a unit but do not reduce the area it occupies
(2) Maintain the fire-effect irrespective of early casualties (in the mode of detaching skirmishers)
(3) Make under-strength units brittle so they collapse suddenly in respect of casualties (not very original but I'll go with received wisdom!)