NPCs and Military Appointments

[Ymbert Montgomery]

At the moment, it's the case I only track Etat-Majors.

However, the NPC appointments would obviously be taken from the existing ranks.

Would people like me to track these?

It would add to the "real" feel of Liminal and might actually open up military appointments more often as people die etc.

But it would mean more bookkeeping, so if people don't care enough it wouldn't be worth it!

[Jacques Bougiedure]

Am I to assume that PCs would be eligible for "off-cycle" appointments?

Would consideration for "vacancy" appointments be automatic like regiment and company command selections or would we need to specify during pre-monthly applications?

Would this come up outside of the Summer Campaign season? How likely is it that a "vacancy" would appear when not on campaign?

I like the idea of a more dynamic game but am sensitive to your increased workload.

[Ymbert Montgomery]

Apr 29, 2020 13:19:27 GMT Jacques Bougiedure said:

Am I to assume that PCs would be eligible for "off-cycle" appointments?

Yes, they would be. (Much like regimental adjudant positions currently).

Would consideration for "vacancy" appointments be automatic like regiment and company command selections or would we need to specify during pre-monthly applications?

You'd need to specify, but I'd add any vacancies to the Wednesday calender.

Would this come up outside of the Summer Campaign season? How likely is it that a "vacancy" would appear when not on campaign?

Reasonably actually, because of the rules on their being four frontier areas and regiments being sent to them outside of Summer.

I like the idea of a more dynamic game but am sensitive to your increased workload.

I'm not sure but I 'think' the increase would be top heavy. It's mostly setting it up, after that it's not that hard to track.

The big thing it would need is working out how many NPC staff officers currently exist in Paris.

[Jacques Bougiedure]

If you are willing to take on the tracking work, then I am all for it.

Side Note:
What happens when a PC/NPC is promoted to Brigadier? The original EG! rules were a bit vague leaving me to believe that they were no longer in their regiment and if they did not secure an appointment they were strap-hangers on some military or royal staff with no additional status or pay beyond that of their rank.

[gaston]

Apr 29, 2020 14:06:36 GMT Jacques Bougiedure said:

Side Note:
What happens when a PC/NPC is promoted to Brigadier? The original EG! rules were a bit vague leaving me to believe that they were no longer in their regiment and if they did not secure an appointment they were strap-hangers on some military or royal staff with no additional status or pay beyond that of their rank.

When a Colonel is promoted to Bvt Brigadier he may seek command of his |(and his only) Brigade.

If he secures that appointment he commands the Brigade, but still keeps his Colonel's slot in his his regiment (though active command of the regiment devolves to his 2-i-C, who cannot be promoted to Colonel until the Bvt Brigadier is promoted).

If the Bvt.Brigdier is promoted (to full Brigadier and Brevet Marechal de Camp), then he leaves the regiment behind.  If he fails to gain a promotion over the year of his brevet, and fails to gain another appointment requiring Bvt Brigadier rank, then he reverts to Colonel and takes back direct command of his regiment.

[Ymbert Montgomery]

If was going to do this, I'd need to work out how many NPCs there are of each ranks.

My instincts:

There are (up to) 22 Colonels, all of whom can become acting BGs.

16 BGs, 6 brevet and 10 full.

12 Marshal de Camps 4 Brevet and 8 Full

6 Marshal de France, 3 Brevet and 3 Full

Do those sound about right to people?

[Jacques Bougiedure]

Apr 29, 2020 20:01:01 GMT gaston said:

Apr 29, 2020 14:06:36 GMT Jacques Bougiedure said:

Side Note:
What happens when a PC/NPC is promoted to Brigadier? The original EG! rules were a bit vague leaving me to believe that they were no longer in their regiment and if they did not secure an appointment they were strap-hangers on some military or royal staff with no additional status or pay beyond that of their rank.

When a Colonel is promoted to Bvt Brigadier he may seek command of his |(and his only) Brigade.

If he secures that appointment he commands the Brigade, but still keeps his Colonel's slot in his his regiment (though active command of the regiment devolves to his 2-i-C, who cannot be promoted to Colonel until the Bvt Brigadier is promoted).

If the Bvt.Brigdier is promoted (to full Brigadier and Brevet Marechal de Camp), then he leaves the regiment behind.  If he fails to gain a promotion over the year of his brevet, and fails to gain another appointment requiring Bvt Brigadier rank, then he reverts to Colonel and takes back direct command of his regiment.

Let me see if I understand. 


1.  A brevet Brigadier must acquire a Brigadier-level appointment or revert back to Colonel.
2.  A full Brigadier will retain his rank even if he doesn't acquire a Brigadier-level appointment.
3.  A brevet Brigadier continues to occupy the Colonel's position in his regiment, effectively blocking promotion to Colonel in that regiment.
4.  Once promoted to full Brigadier, the Colonel's position in the Brigadier's former regiment will be open for promotion or purchase.

For purpose of RP what happens to a full Brigadier who fails to acquire a Brigadier-level appointment?

[huillaume]

Apr 29, 2020 22:55:04 GMT Jacques Bougiedure said:

For purpose of RP what happens to a full Brigadier who fails to acquire a Brigadier-level appointment?

He remains in Paris, as a Brigadier while waiting for a post. a kind of reserve...

[Ymbert Montgomery]

Apr 29, 2020 22:55:04 GMT Jacques Bougiedure said:

1.  A brevet Brigadier must acquire a Brigadier-level appointment or revert back to Colonel.
2.  A full Brigadier will retain his rank even if he doesn't acquire a Brigadier-level appointment.
3.  A brevet Brigadier continues to occupy the Colonel's position in his regiment, effectively blocking promotion to Colonel in that regiment.
4.  Once promoted to full Brigadier, the Colonel's position in the Brigadier's former regiment will be open for promotion or purchase.

That's all correct.

For purpose of RP what happens to a full Brigadier who fails to acquire a Brigadier-level appointment?

This is actually standard. There's more staff ranks than there are positions.

A member of the staff command can effectively choose to retire, simply by choosing to stop applying for appointments.

Some will also use their position to move into civil appointments instead.

[gaston]

2. A full Brigadier will retain his rank even if he doesn't acquire a Brigadier-level appointment.

A couple of things which may need clarifying...

In order to be promoted to full Brigadier, a Bvt Brigadier must be in command of his brigade (ie have the command appointment) at the time of the promotion.  A Bvt Brigadier who doesn't command his brigade, and who is still just in command of his regiment,   can't get promoted further and just gets an extra MiD instead if he gets a promotion result. 

A full brigadier can seek command of any brigade, not just his own, and  whilst a Bvt Marshal de Camp can seek MdC appointments as well.  If his brevet to MdC lapses without further promotion, then he becomes a full brigadier (and nothing else) and must seek a brigade command and further promotion in order to progress further up the military ladder. 

[Jacques Bougiedure]

Apr 29, 2020 22:26:38 GMT Ymbert Montgomery said:

If was going to do this, I'd need to work out how many NPCs there are of each ranks.

My instincts:

There are (up to) 22 Colonels, all of whom can become acting BGs.

16 BGs, 6 brevet and 10 full.

12 Marshal de Camps 4 Brevet and 8 Full

6 Marshal de France, 3 Brevet and 3 Full

Do those sound about right to people?

I understand how you arrived at 22 Colonels (1 per Regiment) but the others are less clear

Since the rank for frontier command varies based on level of conflict, we can't count on those for any particular rank.  The same for the 8 military governors.  The number of Armies on duty could vary from 0 to 4 depending on the level of conflict in the Frontiers, which impacts the number of QM Generals, Division Commanders, and Large Army Commanders.  If we remove these, I get the following "permanent" appointments:

22 Colonels (1 per Regiment)
9 Brigadiers (8 Brigade Commanders, 1 Frontier QM General)
2 Marshal de Camps (2 Inspector Generals)
1 Marshal de France (Adjutant General)

Adding in 4 Frontier Commanders (assumes HL 2+ on all Frontiers) and 8 Military Governors, totals 24 flag officers (BG, MdC, MdF) short of the 34 in your count.

Can you give an accounting for the positions in each of the flag officer ranks?

[Ymbert Montgomery]

Apr 30, 2020 0:52:58 GMT Jacques Bougiedure said:

I understand how you arrived at 22 Colonels (1 per Regiment) but the others are less clear

Since the rank for frontier command varies based on level of conflict, we can't count on those for any particular rank.  The same for the 8 military governors.  The number of Armies on duty could vary from 0 to 4 depending on the level of conflict in the Frontiers, which impacts the number of QM Generals, Division Commanders, and Large Army Commanders.  If we remove these, I get the following "permanent" appointments:

22 Colonels (1 per Regiment)
9 Brigadiers (8 Brigade Commanders, 1 Frontier QM General)
2 Marshal de Camps (2 Inspector Generals)
1 Marshal de France (Adjutant General)

Adding in 4 Frontier Commanders (assumes HL 2+ on all Frontiers) and 8 Military Governors, totals 24 flag officers (BG, MdC, MdF) short of the 34 in your count.

Can you give an accounting for the positions in each of the flag officer ranks?

I decided through whim and happenstance, not any kind of serious calculation!

My thoughts are:

There would be retired officers, especially of permanent rank who are doing things like civil appointments instead.

We want to make sure always to have replacements if someone dies.

As an aside, it's worth noting that the Governor appointment is also available to Chevaliers+ and Bishops, so not all those roles will be filled by military NPCs.

[huillaume]

Apr 30, 2020 0:52:58 GMT Jacques Bougiedure said:

Apr 29, 2020 22:26:38 GMT Ymbert Montgomery said:

If was going to do this, I'd need to work out how many NPCs there are of each ranks.

My instincts:

There are (up to) 22 Colonels, all of whom can become acting BGs.

16 BGs, 6 brevet and 10 full.

12 Marshal de Camps 4 Brevet and 8 Full

6 Marshal de France, 3 Brevet and 3 Full

Do those sound about right to people?

I understand how you arrived at 22 Colonels (1 per Regiment) but the others are less clear

Since the rank for frontier command varies based on level of conflict, we can't count on those for any particular rank.  The same for the 8 military governors.  The number of Armies on duty could vary from 0 to 4 depending on the level of conflict in the Frontiers, which impacts the number of QM Generals, Division Commanders, and Large Army Commanders.  If we remove these, I get the following "permanent" appointments:

22 Colonels (1 per Regiment)
9 Brigadiers (8 Brigade Commanders, 1 Frontier QM General)
2 Marshal de Camps (2 Inspector Generals)
1 Marshal de France (Adjutant General)

Adding in 4 Frontier Commanders (assumes HL 2+ on all Frontiers) and 8 Military Governors, totals 24 flag officers (BG, MdC, MdF) short of the 34 in your count.

Can you give an accounting for the positions in each of the flag officer ranks?

See that the GM numbers would include:

• 22 Colonels, 6 of them Brevet Brigadiers
• 16 Brigadiers: 6 Brevet (so Colonels in their Regiments), 10 full, 8 as Brigade Commanders, 1 Frontier QM, 1 not actig as such (maybe intendent of war?). BTW, 4 of them are Brevet Marshal de Champ.
• 12 Mashals de Champ, 4 of them Brevet (so probably in Brigadier positions), 8 full (3 of them Brevet Marechals de France), acting as 7 provinical governors, 2 division commanders, 1 cituy Military Governor, 2 inspector Generals (OMG, we need more, even byusing all brevets...)
• 6 Marshals of France, 3 Brevet (probably in MdC positions, as we saw we need them), 3 full, acting as Army Commander (in Flanders, as now we havve a large army), Frontier Commander and Adjutant General.

So, we have a total of 27 Staff officers (as all brevets are in two of those places), and we have posts for everyone. In fact, I'd expect to be more, as they are those who have reached the rank, not those in such positions. You can expect some Brigadiers to becom intedents, and some MdC becoming ministers, orother court appointments...

[huillaume]

Another suggestion with NPC Military Commanders:

As to keep with their updated MA, should they roll high enough as to increase it, would require too much bookkeeping, I'd suggest to increase them, if it applies, as whole numbers, be it by rolling again with 1/4 possibility to increase (e.g. 9+ on 2d6, that represents 10/36 possibilities, so about 28%) or by rolling 1d6 against his MA, wit ha 6 alaways meaning increase and 1 allways meaning not to increase.

e.g.;

The NPC commander of a division has MA 4. He rolls a 6 as roll, meaning a BR 2. As he rooles a 6 it would increase his MA by 0.25, but, being an NPC, i ncreases are done as whole points, so the GM rolls again:

• on the first possibility, the GM would roll 2d6, and on a 9+ the MA of the NPC Commander would increase to 5.
• On the second option, the GM would roll 1d6, and the NPC MA would increase to 5 on a 5-6.

I guess this way the NPC commanders may also increase their MAs (to the benefit of those under their command) while reducing the bookkeeping by not keeping the fractions to their increases (after all, NPCs are always treated in less detail than PCs).

[Ymbert Montgomery]

I think that can be done the normal way when I do that list of NPCs we've talked about!