Handbook of the Musketier
(Also known as the School of the Platoon)
The public drill book is a guide created to serve as a public resource for members of the Napoleonic wars community to use for their regiment. This drill book contains an extensive collection of commands for lines fighting in double ranks, put together from the manuals of the 1stEPI, 19te, 4teSLR, and the old 1tesPmrs. The original formations, and the original diagrams, as well as the original name "School of the Platoon" are all made by the glorious Argus of the 1stWFI. Walko of the 4teSLR has taken the original school of the platoon, and modified it slightly to make it the "School of the Platoon", which was further modified by myself into the "Handbook of the Musketier" to apply to the new 1tesPmrs. Thank you for reading, if you would like to use this particular drill book, please do as you will need no permission from me. I would like to state again, I did not come up with these maneuvers, and I would like to thank all of the regiments previous to me that have gone through so much work to create these formations.
This training manual, and the ideas that it expresses, is dedicated to the wonderful 1stEPI. The EPI are the ones that wrote the book on double line formations. I would like to thank them for all they have done for the community as a whole. None of this would be possible without them.
"Platoon, Form on my Left/Right"
To form the platoon, the officer will take position and call for the platoon to fall in and the platoon will fall in on his left or right in files of two. The end files of the line should be made by men the rank of Gefreiter (Private First Class) or above. After the Gefreiters fall in the rest of the line will fall in one at a time, with 3/4th's of a man spacing in-between each file of two men. Once all men have formed in this fashion, the line is ready to move out.
"Platoon, By guide Right Prepare to Move Out. Forward March"
When the platoon has formed, and moves out in line, the officer will give the command, "By guide right forward march". This means that the most right hand file will begins marching forward as soon as the officer gives the march command. Once The rear ranking man of rightmost file has moved out and pass the shoulder of the man to his left , the file to the left of them will begin to move, once they have moved out the file to their left will move out, so on and so forth.
"Platoon, Prepare to Hold. Platoon Hold"
When advancing by guide right and the officer wants to bring the line to a hold he will give the command "Prepare to Hold" notifying the men that they will be stopping, continued by, "Hold". When the command "Hold" is given, the files fall in one at a time to the officers left. Each file making sure to be 3/4th's of a man to the left of the file to their right.
"Platoon, Right Wheel, March"
If the needs arises to change the angle in which the line is facing, the officer will order a wheel. When the officers calls, "Right wheel" the man on the extreme right of the line will move forward and hold his musket in the air to signify the angle of the wheel (the angle will be a 90º unless there is an obvious target such as a line, in which the man will align the wheel to face the line directly). On "March" his file partner will march to meet the lead man. Once he has gone the file to his left will take up position on the rightmost file's left. Once the man in the second rank of a file has passed the shoulder of the front rank man to his left, that file will then go. This process will continue until the entire line is facing right instead of center.
"Platoon, Right Wheel, March"
When moving our by guide right, the line can be ordered to do a right wheel while marching, allowing line to change from marching forward to marching to the right. When the order is given, the line will swing around to be on the officers left, who has pivoted a 90º to his right. The line will continue to move and function as it did during a normal by guide right movement.
"Platoon, Right Face, Prepare to Move Out, Forward March"
Instead of moving out by files right, a formed up line can choose to move out in a column of files. To do so the officer will simply give the order, "Right Face" and the line will face right. At "Prepare to move out, forward march" the column of files will all begin marching forward, one file after another.
"Platoon, by files left, March"
Moving out in a column of files, the platoon can maneuver by wheels. On the order "Right wheel, march" the officer will make a 90º turn to his right, as will each set of files that comes into column behind him. No file should cut corners, and all should be making a sharp 90º turn exactly where the officer does his.
"Platoon, Counter Wheel, March"
When the line is forced to turn around abruptly, the command "Counter wheel, march" will be used to turn the line completely around. The officer will also signify which direction the counter wheel will be turning. For example, a counter wheel left will be to the left side of the line, and vice-versa. Like a regular wheel on the move, the men will not cut in line, but wait to wheel where the officer has.
"Platoon, Deploy Line on My Left, March"
When the line needs to deploy from a column of files into line, the officer will give the command, "deploy line on my left, march" and the platoon will switch from a column to a line. The left hand column will form the front rank of the line, and the right column will form the rear rank. The movement is a front to back movement, with the file directly behind the officer moving to form on his left first, and then continuing on after that. Once the movement is complete, the platoon will be positioned on the officers left in a double rank line.
That concludes the Handbook of the Musketier! All credit goes to the EPI for making this drill book possible.
Rank Responsibilities
The officers of the kompanie have a diverse set of responsibilities, both on and off the field. The officers of the regiment are expected to be both kind and respectful to members of the regiment, both above and below them on the chain of command, and to members of other regiments and the community. When a member of the regiment becomes an officer, he accepts that he now have responsibilities to the regiment that he must fulfill these obligations, or be removed from his position. These responsibilities are dependent on rank, but all officers above the rank of unteroffizier will be obligated to do their part. The responsibilities of the officers, and description of their ranks are as follows:
Officers:
Kapitan (Kpt): The Hauptmann is a captain of a musketeer company. It is his job to run the company as a whole. On the battlefield, his duty serves in leading the company's first platoon. He is also in charge of placing and directing his subordinates, from his fellow officers, to the NCO's. He must make sure that each platoons is functioning, and that each unit has the ability to fight alone, and together as a company. The Hauptmann is also in charge of designating what drills and maneuvers his company will be doing. During linebattles he leads his platoon personally, or he over watches a placed leader.
Premierleutnant (Plt): The premierleutnant, or the 1st lieutenant is the commander of the musketeer company's second platoon. It is his responsibility to watch after his platoon. Like the Hauptmann, the zug is his responsibility, so he must personally oversee it's training and performance on the field. He is in charge of his platoons sections, training his NCO's and making sure that section 1 and section 2 are balanced. He trains his platoon as a whole, making sure that everyone knows what they are doing in the field. During linebattles he leads his platoon personally, or he over watches a placed leader.
Leutnant (Lt): The lieutenant is the junior officer in charge of commanding either platoon upon the death or disappearance of their commanding officer. He would naturally have less experience then their commanding officer, but should be able to command his platoon with ease. It is his responsibility to monitor his platoon and assist his senior commanding officer with the management of said platoon. He is in charge of assisting it's training and keeping it's combat effectiveness. He helps trains his platoon as a whole, making sure that everyone knows what they are doing in the field. During linebattles he leads his platoon upon the death of his commanding officer, as well as regulate order alongside his commanding officer.
Junior Officers:
OberFeldwebel (Ofw): The Oberfedwebel is the most senior NCO in the company. As he is the most senior NCO, he needs to have the most experience of all of the NCO's. He handles many of the administrative duties on the company level, including the initiation of potential recruits into the regiment. It is the duty of the Oberfeldwebel to help the Hauptmann run the company, in any way possible. In the absence of the Hauptmann, the Oberfeldwebel is in charge of regulation training, running the company level exercises, and supervising the platoon level drills. The Oberfeldwebel should have the ability to run the company alone without the Hauptmann present.
Feldwebel (Fw): The Feldwebel is the Platoon sergeant of the zug. Each zug will be assigned one Feldwebel. The Feldwebel has many administrative duties, as well as responsibilities on the field. He is meant to serve as an assistant to the officer of the zug. His duties include taking attendance, watching the sections during training, enforcing the code of conduct of the regiment, and is in charge of discipline within his platoon. As the Feldwebel is an experienced member of the regiment, methods of punishment will be up to him. The Feldwebel is meant to serve as the assistant to his officer.
The Non-Commissioned Officers of the kompanie are chosen to perform management and administrative duties within the regiment, assist and conduct trainings alongside the officers, set examples for the rankers in the regiment, and work towards presenting and representing the kompanie to the rest of the community. They must be experienced with the game, as well as the regiment. Additionally, someone can not expect themselves to become a Non-Commissioned Officer without first dedicating time to the kompanie and showing its officers their worth over time.
Unteroffizer (Uffz): The Responsibility of an Unteroffizer is to be the leader of one of the sections of a musketeer platoon. It is his duty to help make section and platoon decisions, and to help the regiment to the best of his ability. His section is his responsibility, and it his duty to make it the most combat effective unit that he can. He is in charge of training his section, and making sure new recruits understand the working of the regiment. If needed the Unteroffizier will also lead the section in combat, when the platoon does a split maneuver. Because of the fact that his section will consist of about 16-20 men, the Unteroffizier will be expected to know each man personally, and offer advice to each soldier about being more successful on the field and in the regiment in general.
Korporal (Kpl): As I stated before, it is a Korporal's responsibility to help run one of the individual sections of the platoon. He is in charge of helping the Unteroffizier in any way possible. He is second in command of a section, and must be able to lead that section. During training, he will supervise the line, and check on individuals to make sure that they fully understand what is being taught. During linebattles, he will stand at either the front, or the back of the section's column to take over if necessary. The Korporal has administrative duties as well, including handling the sections attendance spreadsheet, and updating the roster in teamspeak, and on the forums.
The majority of the members of the unit will be part of the rank and file of the kompanie. The rank and file have a smaller responsibility to the regiment, but still are responsible for their own actions. Every member of the unit is expected to be responsible for himself, and to abide by the code of conduct of the regiment. The primary thing that rankers should focus on when looking for advancement is their in-game skill at melee, shooting, and knowledge of the commands given. Rankers who spend the most time in public servers refining their skills will be set apart from the others in the eyes of the officers and thought of better for it. All rankers must show maturity if they expect to advance further.
Gefreiter (Gfr): The Gefreiter is a distinguished private. One step above your regular soldier. This is a rank awarded to those who have begun to show their proficiency, and have been in the regiment for some time. The Gefreiter will also serve to help the Korporal by setting an example. It will be his job to flawlessly execute the officers commands.
Gemeiner (Gmnr): The average ranker of the regiment. It is his duty to attend as many events as he can. It is his job to understand basic working of the regiment. It is his responsibility to prove that his promotion past recruit was just. It is his job to make up the main fighting force of the regiment.
Rekrut (Rek): I Rekrut is someone who has just joined the regiment, and is going through a two week period of evaluation. If they show their ability, they will be promoted to Gmnr.
A special thanks to the 4te for letting us use an altered version of their rank explanation!
