07-13-2008, 10:56 AM
I too have found Dan to be a great friend and source face to face! If he plans some events and pulls them off, great. We did something similar with CivWar Groups, but the more successful ones had seperate organizational commanders and event commanders, as well as matrices that shared leadership at all levels, including event commander. Having organized a number of events now, I can tell you it is INFINITELY easier to run the event if you have a fellow Centurio run the drillls and soldiers, and you sit back as camp prefect or even as a private and run the event. Makes for good lasting friendships too when you invite another Centurio to be "The" Centurio for your event.
Basic idea of the Matrix was that every unit, of __ men or larger got a command slot at an event in a certain order (that could run several years depending on the number of "national" events). Other positions were also based on the matrix as well as how many troops you brought. So the CO rotated every event, as did the XO and any higher ranks, to a different unit and were always from different units. The lower ranks, usually corp-capt were based on attendance (actual attendance). So everyone got a chance to lead.
Problem we have is that we are still very small. Most of the CivWar "Brigades" could field a 300-400 man "Battalion" at the largest events (CIVWAR runs in 5 year cycles that are on track with battle anniversaries, at least for the real big events). I have rarely seen us manage to get near 100. And that was before gas hit $4-5 a gallon here in the states.
Until we reach a critical mass, it will be very difficult to pull off more than one big "universal" event a year, and Lafe seems to have our loyalty for now!
Oh yea, there was one big catch most big brigades have, the person planning the event cannot command at that event... they have to run it. Usually the planner at one event would be the "Colonel" at the next event. This taught the value of coordinating with the event leader. Unlike an event I was at where a guest leader insisted on using his own command set... that none of us knew... sigh...
Anyway, the best way to start would be to see what it takes...
Here are some links
http://westernbrigade.org/
http://www.armyofthepacific.com/ (Probably the best IMHO... and I was Western Brigade!)
http://www.armyoftheohio.com/
There are others, and there is still some infighting too. I listed the federal units because they tended to be more democratically run, as there were fewer Federal re-enactors at most events. There are some similar southern groups, I am just not familiar with them.
The ISPA/LOSEUS Articles of Cooperation sort of cover this, though we saw no need of adopting a matrix until we can reasonably expect to field a Cohort, though in all honesty we ISPA groups have never really enforced the Articles since inception, they were based on the articles of the SouthEast Federals and are a pretty solid start point. SEF was another mega unit that has since folded into Western Brigade.
http://legvi.tripod.com/ispa/id13.html
Rusty
Basic idea of the Matrix was that every unit, of __ men or larger got a command slot at an event in a certain order (that could run several years depending on the number of "national" events). Other positions were also based on the matrix as well as how many troops you brought. So the CO rotated every event, as did the XO and any higher ranks, to a different unit and were always from different units. The lower ranks, usually corp-capt were based on attendance (actual attendance). So everyone got a chance to lead.
Problem we have is that we are still very small. Most of the CivWar "Brigades" could field a 300-400 man "Battalion" at the largest events (CIVWAR runs in 5 year cycles that are on track with battle anniversaries, at least for the real big events). I have rarely seen us manage to get near 100. And that was before gas hit $4-5 a gallon here in the states.
Until we reach a critical mass, it will be very difficult to pull off more than one big "universal" event a year, and Lafe seems to have our loyalty for now!
Oh yea, there was one big catch most big brigades have, the person planning the event cannot command at that event... they have to run it. Usually the planner at one event would be the "Colonel" at the next event. This taught the value of coordinating with the event leader. Unlike an event I was at where a guest leader insisted on using his own command set... that none of us knew... sigh...
Anyway, the best way to start would be to see what it takes...
Here are some links
http://westernbrigade.org/
http://www.armyofthepacific.com/ (Probably the best IMHO... and I was Western Brigade!)
http://www.armyoftheohio.com/
There are others, and there is still some infighting too. I listed the federal units because they tended to be more democratically run, as there were fewer Federal re-enactors at most events. There are some similar southern groups, I am just not familiar with them.
The ISPA/LOSEUS Articles of Cooperation sort of cover this, though we saw no need of adopting a matrix until we can reasonably expect to field a Cohort, though in all honesty we ISPA groups have never really enforced the Articles since inception, they were based on the articles of the SouthEast Federals and are a pretty solid start point. SEF was another mega unit that has since folded into Western Brigade.
http://legvi.tripod.com/ispa/id13.html
Rusty
