Save the cannons!

[civildude892]

Hello people of the forums.

I just wanted to know what other people use as strategies to defend and keep your cannons from getting wasted.

I was defending a city under seige last night and the opposing army was about the same size as mine, but had 2 additional units of cavalry.

My initial setup was to set my cannons behind earthworks on the left side of my line with a house protecting its left flank. to the right i spread my infantry and put them all behind earthworks as well.

The AI went with a two pronged assault and charged their cavalry all straight at my cannon while their infantry flanked mine to the right making all of my earthworks worthless.

I eventually won the battle, but I could not protect my cannons as they were swarmed right off the bat.

Any tips on cannon positioning on a flat field and in a static defensive position?

[Kip]

Maybe you could position them between a couple line infantries, so they have a clear field of fire in front of them. Then, your crew would be behind the line, which means that an enemy charge will be intercepted by your infanty. Like this:

_______..._________...________
...........II................II...............

The ______ is a regiment of infantry, while the I's are each a cannon (ignore the .'s, they're just for spacing). What I would do is position the muzzles of the cannon exactly in line with the front of your infantry (too hard to show it precisely in typing), and then either close the gaps when the enemy closes, or just have the crews fall back.

Keep in mind I haven't played the game yet, that's just my initial thinking about how I'll go about it.

[Gordon Of Khartoum]

hey man, its a tricky one cos they're so damn slow (foot arty anyway) and need to limber/unlimber which is a pain if they are misaligned when you click. i tend to keep my big guns slightly behind my centre if there is an elevation, with a unit of melee cav to support. i think terrain is the critical element in arty positioning, and i dont use earthworks but i love anti-cav stakes! retaining mobility will keep you the initiative in big open maps so i tend to go no cannon or just one unit of horse cannon and more inf/cav with a puckle gun or 2. but thats just me...

hope some of that was helpful

[civildude892]

Sound suggestion, I will just have to practice the timing of it so that I am not shooting cannisters into the back of my own units. I am getting fire by rank soon once I get home from work so that will hopefully help to prevent cavalry from closing.

[zerathule]

So far i had 3 full stack battles in my French campaign, and didnt loose a men in my canon units.
I either deploy them on higher ground, or if none available, on the flanks, covered by units on each side and behind.

[remosu37]

So far i had 3 full stack battles in my French campaign, and didnt loose a men in my canon units.
I either deploy them on higher ground, or if none available, on the flanks, covered by units on each side and behind.

agreed. Where there's high ground, I place my cannons on the appex, anchoring one of my flanks. then place my infantry line lower down on the slope. Also, I place my cavalry (or if not available, an infantry unit in reserve behind or beside the cannon incase the cavalry try a wheeling flank manuever.

If there's a LOT of cavalry that the opponent has, I go for placing the cannon in the middle of the line.

Where I have no high ground I usually use a formation that looks like this:
(____ infantry line)
(+ cannon)
(^ cavalry)

___________+++__________
^^^ _______ ^

the 2nd line of infantry provides a mobile reserve unit in case the enemy attempts to breakthrough, and in an emergency, can rush forwards with bayonets to protect the artillery.

[civildude892]

I think I just have a bad habit of sacrificing arty and ignoring them while I move my infantry.

So far what I have noticed is that the AI like to group up their infantry and hit one of the flanks hard, quickly closing from ranged to melee.

What I have been doing is keeping my line very long and thin so that once that hard punch of infantry hits one spot my line uses that as an anchor point and rotates around the enemy. This pretty much puts their entire force in a semi circle of fire while they try to melee through 1-2 of my units.

I am sure the fact that I have researched up to socket bayonets while they are not using any is a key point in this as my units stuck in melee can hold their own for a long time.

[Skyblaze]

Well for starters I'm very happy that cannons can now hide. On topic now, during a battle with Sweden for Norway (they took it from Denmark-Norway) with me as Prussia. I put one set of cannons on the forests edge still hid and then I put another one on this small hill then hid my single Cavalry and 3 Line Infantry units in front of the hill (in the main part of the forest).

[Hamil]

I have two different strategies:

1) Keep the cannons in the middle of the lineinfantry. If cavalry charges switch to grapeshot and let them come.

2) Keep the cannons somewhat behind the main infantry line. Flank with your cavalry. So to the front they are protected by infantry and the flanks can be secured by your own cavalry. And teh cannons can shoot over the infantry as long as the lines are not too close.

[Arkhan]

And teh cannons can shoot over the infantry as long as the lines are not too close.

Very important.... to close and you shoot your own men. If friendly troops are not out in front of the Arty the canister shot works wonders... a few volleys will break all but the most hardened troops.

[civildude892]

I used an L formation with my infantry last night and had my cannon sitting on the corner of the L. The way the enemy approached placed them right in the middle of L. With the 4 cannons shooting cannister shot into their mob while my infantry, that had been recently upgraded with rank fire, just blazing away, their entire force was quickly pulverized.

I had very few casualties and thankfully lost no artillery men.

I think only one of their charging units managed to get to my line to engage in a short melee before becoming shattered and running away.

[Conquistatore]

I usually place my cannons on the flanks of my infantry line. Guard them with a unit of infantry or cavalry. Seems to work well for me. If possible though, the best spot is on top of a hill with the infantry spread out around the base, covering all points of entry.

[Wondaboy]

I am such a noob at this game....I hunger for knowledge. I will try this in a few custom battles. Thanx guys

[keith moons liver]

I put them right in the line, between lines of infantry. Once the enemy gets into a shootout with my infantry, switch to cannister shot and its over.

I put some of them on the flanks so they can hit the enemy at an angle. I'll usually put my calvary on the flanks right behind them, so if the enemy tries to hit them with calvary I can intercept them. I also keep infantry nearby to engage anybody who tries to attack them.

[Loiro]

What I do is:

1. Maybe put anti cav defences infront of my artillery (Which almost always is in the center of the line. This holds off the cavalry to a good extent and I ahve yet to see the defences crumble due to artillery fire.

2. Have Melee inf or Line infantry unit (fire at will disabled) directly behind the artillery to charge anyone who tries to charge your artillery. And when you see an enemy unit trying to charge your artillery, pause the game, order your arty boys to melee attack something, unpause and pause again, they will now be standing free of their cannons and can haul ass to safer ground.

3. As stated earlier, use canister shot But make sure theyre fully loaded when the enemy is in range.

My 2 cents.

[Toorima]

I notoriously loose my artillery too. I'd say, watch out for the enemy's cavalry and use your own cavalry defensively or employ a reserve regiment (which always serves useful in any occasion).

[Jayzilla]

Howitzers. Howitzers. Howitzers. Howitzers.

you'll never use a boring 'normal' cannon again. basic explosive shot, hitting dead on, gets 30 kills. and they shoot over your lines, so no worries about direct cav charges. It's much more consistent than boring canister shots.

[Sigurd Fåvnesbane]

Place a howitzer in the middle of a squareformation Havent tried this, so its just one on my funny ideas.