Howitzers, Foot Arty, and Hills

[Lanissum]

Heyo,

The other day, I fought my second MP napoleon battle. It was on Prussian hills (basically Syrian ridge, but with grass). This time, my opponent managed to get his line to the hill as my skirmishers were just getting there, so I ceded him the summit.

However, he only had horse artillery, which he didn't put on the summit. While I unlimbered my howetzers at the base of the hill, my skirmishers traded fire with his troops, and my line finally got into position behind the skirmishers.

Then once my howitzers unlimbered, they literally cleared the hill of the enemy (it was basically howi point blank range), and the battle was over 2 minutes later: 91 deaths and 450 kills for me.

I recorded the battle, and posted it on Youtube, but I messed up the sound levels so my narration is impossible to hear. I'll repost it w/ corrected sound shortly.

However, this battle raised a few questions for me:
1. What decides which infantry get to a hill/target (assuming equal distance) first? I normally line my guys up as close as I can and order them to run asap.

2. Are howitzers best on hilly terrain, or does it depend on the foot/horse arty getting to a summit?

3. How do you best maintain situational awareness? While I focused on the center of the map, I failed to dedicate much attention to the flanks, which could've resulted in excessive casualties for me; I even forgot about 2 dragoons on my left flank!! Which is rather annoying, as cavalry/flank units doing nothing = wasted money...

[Aanker]

1. What decides which infantry get to a hill/target (assuming equal distance) first? I normally line my guys up as close as I can and order them to run asap.

2. Are howitzers best on hilly terrain, or does it depend on the foot/horse arty getting to a summit?

3. How do you best maintain situational awareness? While I focused on the center of the map, I failed to dedicate much attention to the flanks, which could've resulted in excessive casualties for me; I even forgot about 2 dragoons on my left flank!! Which is rather annoying, as cavalry/flank units doing nothing = wasted money...

Okay...

1. Well, as the maps are generally balanced in terms of distances to hills and chokepoints, it's not so much about the speed of your infantry, rather which units you send towards the hill. Cavalry would of course be the first choice - unmatched speed and great in melee. They can take cover behind the slope to avoid enemy artillery fire if such would be present. Do note that Dragoons can be unmounted and hold a position for a sufficient amount of time.

Also, it is wise to bring some mobile horse artillery to support your cavalry. Four cannons or so loaded with cannister will keep the enemy busy enough until your bulk can secure the hill.

2. Theoretically, yes. I haven't really been experimenting with howitzers, but they should do better in hills. If you place some cannon on the crest of a hill or down in a valley, with some surrounding cliffs towering above them, you can't rapidly re-arrange them to fire on a flanking enemy, for instance. Howitzers 'make cover irrelevant', and can quickly switch to a target marching on the other side of a cliff (there is still a possibility that enemy units can hide directly behind a cliff and therefore be sufficiently protected).

3. By playing. It takes time to gain control of the battlefield, and a general rule of thumb is to regularly check the radar and also try to monitor your troops from as good angles as possible.

[aletoledo]

In terms of getting to an objective first, I like to scare my opponent off. I'll send some cav charging at it and it will usually cause the enemy to pause, even if simply to line his troops up to shoot at me. High ground is much more important in NTW and you really want to get it.

[Lanissum]

Well, hills can sometimes backfire...

[sambasam]

"Howitzers, Foot Arty, and Hill", sounds like TLG

[blonkers1234]

"Howitzers, Foot Arty, and Hill", sounds like TLG

[hannibalic]

1. If you mean what decides the race between you and your opponent if you are both the same distance from your objective and running the same troop types, it would just be a matter of who gives the orders faster, but terrrain would play a part too. If your side of the hill was steeper for example, it would probably take you a bit longer to get to the top. I'm not sure deployment zones are really balanced like that though.

2. Howitzers are better for hilly terrain due to indirect fire. The problem with cannons is finding good firing positions since they can't shoot over obstacles. If you put cannons on a hill and fire down onto someone, the shots will dig into the ground more rather than bounce making it less effective. Instead of rushing to take the hill, bring howitzers and fire over it or on it once your opponent takes it. I could see using horse artillery for their speed to support cavalry in taking hills though.

3. Try not to spread out too much untill you get faster jumping back and forth. You'll get a little faster each game. Some people only view their army from the enemy's perspective. You could try that maybe.