dragoons: useless or awesome?

[Pfundner]

Cant decide if these are useless and overpriced or useful. anyone used them effectively? they look awesome and the concept is wicked but are they really worth the dosh?

[Mr. Shaboobies]

Well the garrison policing bonus is really good, get a few units of dragoons to follow your main army around to stay behind and keep revolts down. The bad thing is their low combat skills and high recruitment/upkeep, but then again they do have more men per unit. I'd say they are most valuable for policing bonuses, especially enemy capitals that are very susceptible to uprisings.

[Okmin]

I find light dragoons a lot more useful. They're cheaper, have better stats, can fire while mounted, plus the policing bonus.

[Shneckie]

Light Dragoons are definitely worth it since they can fire from horseback. Dragoons or Colonial Dragoons are only useful for policing or raising a quick army, otherwise don't bother.

[lolIsuck]

dragoons aren't really useful, maybe at the start but light cavalry like light dragoons and chasseurs a cheval are better.

[Archimonday]

For me Dragoons are used to stall enemy forces in fruitless long range engagements while artillery cuts them to bits. As melee cavalry they are pretty easily defeated, other than that, dismounting them is quite the most useful feature.

Of course in the latest version of my mod every cavalry unit is able to dismount, making it possible for them to assault buildings if needed.

Nah, just the policing bonus. haha

[Aristotle's Folly]

Hmmm . . . I really like dragoons, particulalry early game.

When I first started playing ETW, and watched my dragoons dismount, fire, mount up again . . . well suffice it to say I lost a number of dragoon units when I couldn't get them mounted up in time to avoid a charging enemy.

Then I hit upon a strategy that works very nicely, particularly in India and North America (I mostly use Colonial Dragoons).

Assume a small to medium battle of six to ten units, evenly matched. Four units of line infantry, two units of dragoons, one general. Maybe two cannon batteries.

Infantry deploys in a regiment line, four ranks deep. General deploys to the rear. Cannon are hill or rise. Dragoons deploy on the left (or right) flank, wide, but even with the infantry line.

Advance infantry until enemy engages. Once enemy is firing upon your line infantry (which are cheaper and easier to replace), circle your dragoons around to a point where they are facing the flank or slightly to the rear of the enemy. Deploy two ranks deep, if space allows. Dismount and fire.

Two units of dragoons targeting into one unit of enemy infantry will have them routing shortly. If you fire deep enough into the enemy line (I usually try to target the second unit inside the enemy line), more than one unit will route.

Mount up and run the down. Early game, my dragoons gain experience much faster than other units.

You do have to watch them closely, as charging infantry - particularly native americans - will cut them to pieces in no time. Good idea to group them as a single unit.

~ Dani ~

[Hopit]

they're awesome

[♔DARTH LEGO♔]

I find light dragoons a lot more useful. They're cheaper, have better stats, can fire while mounted, plus the policing bonus.

this.....

+
I have never gained any battle deciding advantage with them. Although i blame the engine and kooky unit movement for their lack of contribution to the overall battlefield.

In theory they are fantastic,IMHO, ETW's depiction of them is very limited to 'a guy carrying a gun on a horse to a guy carrying a sword on a horse'...with a ranged attack stat thrown in

now if they had skirmisher stats! then i would say that it would make them far more effective and actually useful in a battle, and just maybe a real flank threatening unit.

But now i barely have a few units across an entire Army.....


...did i mention the mount/dismount needs some serious attention too....oh well there it is.

[Veliky Kaiser Theos]

Dragoons are great. Use the regular ones as light infantry and mount to cut down flee-ers. Light dragoons are even better.

[MarKusDib]

i use them to keep the public order and prevent revolts
otherwise , in combat , i´d rather other kinds of cavalry , like heavy cavalry and light dragoons

[Lumina]

Light Dragoons, use them behind lines, hunt down specific units like enemy cavalry, or artillery. They've amazingly effective at both. Vs Artillery you just hide them off to the side some where until the enemy infantry leaves the enemy artillery defenseless then rush them in though be careful not to over lap them or they'd shoot eachother.

Vs other Cavalry you just chase after individual regiments with 1 regiment of Dragoos, fire a volley into them and run away, light dragoons are faster than most cavalry in the game, so you can easily get away, just keep pecking at the enemy cavalry and they're doomed, or better yet micro manage two dragoon regiments and send them to pick on individual cavalry regiments one volley from each light dragoon regiment normally makes any enemy cavalry regiment now useless.

Back when Lights had 90 Range they used to be the absolutely best Cavalry in the game, well worth their cost, now they have to be babied a bit more, but they're still amazingly effective against none range troops, and still effective vs range troops if you do not go at them directly.

Light Dragoons are the only Cavalry I ever use on the battlefield if I have a choice. I normally only deploy two regiments per army, but those two regiments seem to be able to handle most any enemy cavalry threat, just keep them out of a melee fight. As the tutorial General guy says "Bullets work equally well vs elites as they do the rest of the rabble." or something like that. hehe

[PotentSchraphlon]

I'm not sure they're more cost effective than taking full cavalry or another line regiment, but they're handy if you can't get any proper cavalry, eg in your colonies early on, and the versatility of being able to fight on foot and then chase down fleeing units, or being able to mount and charge against weaker units, is good.

[Delyon]

I once created an army of dragoons as Poland. I needed an army that could go across the vast steppe of russia quickly to attack Georgia but still pack enough punch to fight a regular army. I ended up with 1x General, 4x Heavy Cav. 1x Light Cav. 2x Horse Arty. and the rest were Dragoons. When a battle took place I would dismount all of my dragoons and use them as regular line infantry. It worked a treat and now i use it all the time.

[THE_BK]

Are useful because your army disposal is almost always adversely for the fabulous AI that does not possible to verify the position of your enemy! (at the start of the battle). Dragoons then serve to cancel your weakened flank quickly

Light Dragoons are pursuing and increase the number of enemy casualties when they are defeated. In the battle of course.

[Halvars-XII]

Awesome.

The usual dragoons I dont care anything fore, but the light one's. They are one of the best units in the game!
Usualy I use my light dragoons to kill enemy cannons, support my lines, but most often to attack the enemy in the back. Usualy in a way wich the enemy cant strike back at the dragoons. Hammering them in this way a few time can change the entire outcome of the battle.

Also light dragoons can run much more than normal cavalary, wich make them better for chasing a lot of diffrent units across the battlefield.

[Sphere]

I like to set up a flying-artillery detachment that consists of 1-2 horse drawn artillery units, and 2 units of dragoons and maybe a heavy cav unit. I race them out to a good enfilade position and unlimber. Sometimes the enemy will send maybe a unit or two to dislodge them, but cannister shot and dismounted dragoons giving volley fire will rout them easily.

Then you use the enfilade artillery fire to tear up the enemy lines as they advance towards your main line. you can even remount the dragoons and send after routers.

[Slaticus]

I have been playing with DMUC lately as the Russians and I have to say...up till then I had no idea what a light dragoon could do. I use their Cossacks as a light dragoon, and usually have 2 to 4 units with any full stack that I have. Mounted or dismounted, they wreck most units. The only real issue is the lack of ammo.

I generally use them for quick engagements, to soften up pikemen and the like, or to crush annoying, unguarded arty.

[percydanvers]

I always like to have a good few light dragoons opperating in a theatre. They have the garrison bonus and in battle, once the enemy routs, they can turn the retreat of any enemy into utter anihilation for them. They are so useful for mopping up.

[Smid]

I haven't used them often in battles, but I am starting to try them out a bit, especially for the public order bonus... I'm finding that to be quite useful.