Line infantry
In most cases, a piece is simply removed from the map when it has lost all its hitpoints. An exception to this is line infantry. Line infantry had a special function in early 19th century warfare. On the battlefield, infantry stood close together in long lines facing the enemy. A key tactical purpose of a line of infantry was to obstruct the advance of enemy troops. When the line suffered casualties, this resulted in the formation of openings through which enemy troops could slip through. If the defender didn't have reserve infantrymen with which to plug the openings, this was a disaster, as then the enemy could move through the openings to isolate and flank his troops. To represent this phenomenon on the game map, the game provides "exchange pieces" for infantry half-battalion pieces. An exchange piece resembles a regular half-battalion piece but is marked with the fraction or , which signifies that the half-battalion in question has lost either one sixth or two sixths of its men. The exchange pieces are commensurately smaller in length. So if a half-battalion piece in a line of such pieces is replaced with an exchange piece, this will create a gap in the line. Furthermore, a half-battalion piece is removed from the map when it loses half of its hitpoints, because a half-battalion that had lost half of its men was considered ineffective in combat (and typically the men just fled the battlefield).