Battles ?

[drumstickNL]

Heya.

Will the battles be something like lining up ur troops and see who has the most hits and firepower ? I think that would be boring. Who agree's ?

[Chevalier IX]

A student of this period acknowledges the need for linear combat based upon inaccuracy of arms,but they also realise that this was far and away not the only technique in use,the battlefields had a rather inate tendency to explode into chaos and frenzy at a moments notice,casting the participants in disarry with the same level frantic action that could be found in the medieval era and its bloody clashes.Line changes,maneuvers,cavalry charges and spirited bayonet combat were the order of the day just as much as the standard linear aspect of the fray.Check out the battle sequence at the end of the patriot(in know it is not the most accurate piece of film around,I know)for a general idea as to what may lay in store,I would aslo direct you to the battle of Borodino as seen in the russian version of war and peace.

[Spartacus the Irish]

Liken the battles of the period to a game of chess, or paper-scissors-rock.
Line infantry beat column infantry (usually), but cavalry massacre line infantry. So if cavalry is nearby, infantry must form square, and then become very vulnerable to artillery or enemy infantry.

It is perhaps the very pinnacle of combined arms tactics, as not one of the arms is overpowering. In certain situations, each arm of the Army (infantry, cavalry, and artillery) can defeat the others, and in other situations cannot. I believe it will be much more a test of a player's strategic nous than the previous TW games. I look forward to the challenge...

[Domen123]

Excellent description of the Battle of Kalisz - 1706:

http://www.northernwars.com/Kalisz.pdf

Swedish-Polish-Lithuanian army versus Russian-Polish-Saxon army

Followers of Stanisław Leszczyński versus followers of August II Mocny

4,500 Swedes and 9,500 Poles and Lithuanians (with 10 cannons) against 18,500 Russians, 10,500 Poles and 6,000 Saxons (with 17 cannons + some small Russian mortars)

[Jihada]

The scissors-rock-paper analogy is quite correct at least for the Napoleonic period.I believe the earlier armies of the 18th century used mostly linear tactics but after the French Revolution the French had to devise column tactics to suit the masses of conscripts that faced the professional armies of her enemies.Column versus line became the normal type if warfare and the French usually got the better of it except against the British who formed in 2 files rather than the common 3 file line and trained regularly at volley fire.The other nations changed tactics to more column formations eventually.
Combined arms is theoretically the way to win but very hard to put into practise in a confused battle...e.g Ney couldn't manage it at Waterloo so it should be hard for us amateurs in ETW.OTOH this game is mostly about the 18th century so I expect it will be about lines firing , bayonets and cavalry charges until we get some Napoleonic mod...hopefully.

[Sun Devil]

until we get some Napoleonic mod...hopefully.

NTW2

[Sorkenlol]

Heya.

Will the battles be something like lining up ur troops and see who has the most hits and firepower ? I think that would be boring. Who agree's ?

I think that's up to you, total control right, so you can just sit it out in a forest shooting the enemy from each direction as far as I know. Unless you want a real 18th century battle.

[WILLIEHUNTZ]

NEVERMIND