What is the best name for the new Dispersed units?
We have lots of wrong answers. Help us out! What is the best thing to call these things?
This is what we’ve tried so far and the problem with them:
Dummy Units
Everybody seems to have PTSD over early Avalon Hill Dummy units. Nobody likes them.
Skirmishers
This doesn’t really fit the scale. Skirmishers are a part of each unit. Each block has a skirmish line deployed out front. This is a big part of what makes up the Field of Fire. (FoF) If we use this term, it will get confused with that.
Light Infantry
This could be a term but many times Light Infantry were massed into big formations. They were also usually elite units. That doesn’t fit.
Dispersed Troops
We thought this was a term with no issues but apparently not. Some other games must use this as a term for a unit’s status. Like when it gets badly disrupted. Pub Battles calls that “Spent”. Dispersed Troops are not a status that regular units become. They are there own special units. A unit type.
Scouts / Patrols
This is a good term from Kriegsspiel. Scouts and Patrols are only 1-5 man units. They can’t cover much ground or fight at all. They were also mounted. So people will get this confused. Murphy’s Law.
Columbia Games
Columbia Games call units like this: Static units, Garrisons or maybe Cadres. These terms might fit WW2 aplications better. I’m not sure if they fit well for a musket era battle.
So what exactly are they? Mostly, they are blank / decoy / dummy units. You use them primarily for strategic deception. You can also use them to screen. They can actually fight and slow down the enemy.
If this was a more modern era, I’d almost call them recon units. That doesn’t really fit the era though. Hmmmm….
I don’t know the best thing to call them but they are amazing and work great in the game. They give the game the perfect feel. -That IS historical and profoundly realistic.
I’m horrible with naming things. Help me out!