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Thread: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

  1. #21

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    This is excellent. At work ATM, but will watch the videos when I get home.

  2. #22

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Quote Originally Posted by coman View Post
    Frederf,

    I wrote the guide through the business day while fielding phone calls and capturing movies. My initial run of the text in several places used battalion where brigade existed and brigade where battalion existed. Please re-scan the text and see if it is any clearer. On cooler, more methodical editing, I have removed brigade and kept strictly with battalion -> regiment.

    Thanks,

    coman
    Sure. I don't mean to be a pill and by all means I do not have all the right answers. I admit that getting this "right" is strictly impossible for two reasons:

    1. ETW specifies very specific unit and relative unit-to-unit sizes and total army compositions in game mechanic terms.
    2. Every blasted nation of the 18th century had their own make up and was rather inconsistent even inside a single nation!

    Quote Originally Posted by Dalthius View Post
    I have to admit I'm a bit confused as to your organizational structure. Modern day Armies are squads, squads form platoons, platoons form companies, companies form battalions, and battalions form regiments. Everything I've ever read historically has them in the same format, including the Revolutionary time period (18th century). My data could be incorrect, however. Where are you getting your information from?
    The regimental layer is really confusing because it's not a strict tree structure. There are administrative, command, and tactical hierarchies and they are all rather different. You could be in the same platoon as a fellow soldier but a different regiment.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grimmy View Post
    That is true. Regiments are made of battalions.
    I believe regiment is used as the unit identifier in this game since at the time this game depicts, regiments were the lowest order maneuver unit. Battalions and lower were administrative constructs for the most part and did not, generally, act as independent maneuver elements.

    A brigade is, more or less, a regiment reinforced with attachments that are not normally inherent at regimental level.
    There are examples of regiments made of battalions and battalions made of regiments. I am confident that regiments (in most systems) were locality-based administrative units while battalions were the fighting formations. I think some regions would have very large recruitment and be able to form 2-3 battalions from their regiment while two other regiments were so small that they had to combine to form a single battalion.

    I've read repeatedly that the BN was the lowest maneuver unit.

    I am also confident that it was only during the French Revolutionary War that combined units were made down to the division level (inbetween brigade and corps) when previously I'm pretty sure that even up through the corps level all units were "pure." This would mean you'd have a cavalry corps, infantry corps, and an artillery corps. This is obviously an administrative unit since no pure force would fight this way.

    I can only conclude that the brigade level, 2 steps down from the corps level would also be pure. This is also reminding ourselves that cavalry and artillery tend to name their structures one size "too big." An infantry brigade would dwarf an artillery brigade for example. It is only in modern times that organic support and inter-mixing of force types has descended down to the brigade level in the form of the brigade combat team.

    I advise that one is really critical of where the source of structure comes from. Modern or even Napoleonic ideas of army organization are out of touch with those in ETW.

    It is difficult to find a set of descriptions that is all at once: not confusing, game-functional, historically reasonable, and unit-size sensitive.
    Last edited by Frederf; March 27, 2009 at 05:27 AM.

  3. #23

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    is there a Tl;dr version in the works?

  4. #24

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Quote Originally Posted by Hannibolico View Post
    very interesting, not too much of a role for cannons though
    Pt 2 Is about Grenadiers & Cannon
    Pt 3 is about Firing Methods
    Pt 4 is about Light Infantry

    And of course all the parts are based around foot.
    Last edited by coman; March 27, 2009 at 09:21 AM.

  5. #25

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Quote Originally Posted by Tacgnol View Post
    is there a Tl;dr version in the works?
    Haha. You're funny. Piss off.

  6. #26

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Excellent work.. I downloaded all the 720p's for keeps.

  7. #27

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Quote Originally Posted by EgyptianNecrophiliac View Post
    Excellent work.. I downloaded all the 720p's for keeps.
    Then I feel like the hours of making the video, compressing and uploading it were worth it. Thanks for letting me know.

  8. #28

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Quote Originally Posted by EgyptianNecrophiliac View Post
    Excellent work.. I downloaded all the 720p's for keeps.
    Did the same.

    One question though: I'm a little concerned when having my general in/near the front lines. Where exactly should he be placed during a conflict?

    Sorry for such a noobie question.

    Thanks for such the hard work. The videos helped a lot and was a great addition.

  9. #29

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Quote Originally Posted by tmsmith View Post
    Did the same.

    One question though: I'm a little concerned when having my general in/near the front lines. Where exactly should he be placed during a conflict?

    Sorry for such a noobie question.

    Thanks for such the hard work. The videos helped a lot and was a great addition.
    And thank you! It feels good to help.

    Put your general upfront and send him into a fight when the initial mess is over. An active general in the lead ends up being truly great after just a couple of battles.

    Just don't put him in the line of fire. You can see how I use my general in the videos. He's up there. Not in the firefight, but near fighting and near any melee.

  10. #30
    hull19's Avatar Ordinarius
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    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    good guide. Thanks a lot!
    SS 6.4, Eras 2.3, DotS Project
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  11. #31

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Just checking in to say thanks for the guide and that I appreciate the work you put in on those videos! That must have been a good chunk of time invested

  12. #32

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Sweet, Can see alot of hard work has gone into this... Much Appreciated

    'I always know when ive had enough to drink, but the realisation always comes 3 pints too late'

  13. #33

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Added a high definition wide screen video of the Battalion foot tactics in very close quarters combat.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxkc_v-U3Ko

    Not for the feint of heart!

  14. #34

    Icon5 Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Hi coman,

    your inf-guide is really fantastic! THX for ur effort!

    Can u pls describe how u master the volley-shots?

    I tried how do u described, but i failed for some reasons.

    When its time to press FIRE AT WILL and when disable this? what are signs to press the buttons? an animation? or do u count some sec?

    my soldiers fires one or two volleys and then reload without ending.

    A timer like battleships-cannons would be nice, but u have find a way

    THX

  15. #35

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Quote Originally Posted by ramses12 View Post
    When its time to press FIRE AT WILL and when disable this? what are signs to press the buttons? an animation? or do u count some sec?
    Take a look at the basic firing drill video; Figure 7 in the original post. Observe the timing and the use of the "Fire At Will" button. There are several volleys of "fire at will", then there are a couple of volleys delivered on command by toggling FAW on and off.

    There is also specific text in the guide about toggling this and timing the shots. To reiterate: I wait until a second or two after the main volley has discharged, then I toggle off FAW.

    Visually you can tell when a unit has their muskets loaded. They stand with the arms at ready, basically butt stock to hip, muzzle towards the enemy. If they are loading, or if you see any ramming, they are clearly not ready to fire.
    Last edited by coman; March 27, 2009 at 02:48 PM.

  16. #36

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    hey nice

    i will learn ur lesson!

    when can we read ur next chapters coman?
    Last edited by ramses12; March 27, 2009 at 03:04 PM.

  17. #37

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Quote Originally Posted by ramses12 View Post
    hey nice

    i will learn ur lesson!

    when can we read ur next chapters coman?
    I have friends in town staying with us this weekend, so I probably won't get to fire by rank and grenadier/hard points until Sunday afternoon.

    Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it.

  18. #38
    ♔GrinningManiac♔'s Avatar Centenarius
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    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Nope, sorry. Desipte all the really appreciated help one-on-one, this isnt working.

    I dont expect it to be perfect first-or-second time aorund, but I feel a little cheated when they just fire randomly at me and wiped out and break everyone.

    I played GB with three foot infantry, like on the vids. they were Poland-Lithuania, three infantry.

    I do the company fire thing, looks awesome, but they just stand there and open fire randomly.

    They dont even hokd fire untill all ready and then fire in a volley, they just randomly fire and pick off EVERYBODY.

    I even tried desperatly to juggle a three-company system with the backup to get more firepower in and a longer reloading time for the guys at the back.

    Nope, they just run away.

    sigh...

  19. #39

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Looking over the marching by column video I would think that instead of having all of your companies in long parallel columns you would have your companies at company or section (half company) width and each company ahead of the other. I probably wouldn't go down to platoon width (quarter company) due to the length on but extreme occasion. When deploying into line this method of column marching prevents a lot of men running through each other and even allows the lead company the quickest response to a sudden threat, providing support for the deployment of those behind. When deploying into line you might want to use a company not from the first in the column as your center to ensure the strongest center of BN formation.

    You also probably want to talk intervals between companies as this can really cut down on your artillery exposure during column maneuver with trade offs. This is of course only meaningful if companies are arranged one in front of the other and not side by side.

    I'm curious why you don't make more extensive use of Alt-RMB movement for BNs or even the arrow buttons for whole groups in your video of BN deployment "Figure 3" video (videos are figures now?); it looks like a lot of extra work. You might also mention line alternating techniques including stationary, advancing, and retrograde. It's not terribly historic (AFAIK) to exchange companies through each other in order to achieve these ends but hey it works.

    I was curious to see your BNs sizeably apart from one another which is an intruiging tactic. It appears to be about firing range distance which greatly simplifies fratricide concerns to only intra-BN.

    I'm really considering BNs of 2 line units and 2 other light units. I really consider line infantry units in ETW to be 2 companies which allows the half-size units to be single companies. The result is 6 company BNs which seems more right historically. It's all in my head of course since it's the exact same numbers of troops. This of course means each infantry BN would be 4 unit cards instead of 3 which reduces the otherall level of support outside of 3 BNs on the field from 11 to 9. Minus a general that's down to 8 for cavalry, artillery, and anything else.

  20. #40

    Default Re: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot - Now with Videos!

    Quote Originally Posted by GrinningManiac View Post
    Nope, they just run away.
    Could you perhaps take screen shots and post them here?

    The method words wonderfully for me. I use Prussian Infantry, who in my opinion, are the finest foot soldiers in history and in Empire Total War.

    What size army and mode of play are you testing this with?

    As we discussed in PM, the AI gets significant bonuses above Normal that makes an even fight very difficult.

    Let me brain storm here:

    1. You're firing your units selectively with a fully loaded volley and you're doing it first? Whoever fires first gets an edge. For a brief time after each volley as far as I can tell, the return fire is greatly effected.

    2. You are not using right click to maneuver and fire?

    3. Your third unit remains behind and on the flank of the front two companies when they receive their first volley?

    I can't say what else to do. I tested this on very hard, and the only real resulting difference is that my unit suffers much greater losses. The enemy is still routed but at much lower numbers.

    Outcome was still in my favor.

    coman

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