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Thread: [TW Guide] ETW: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

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    Default [TW Guide] ETW: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot



    Author: coman
    Original Thread: Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot

    Company Man's Guide to ETW Foot
    Good morning lads and lasses,

    Today's topic covers the fun topic of Foot, not feet. No toes. No fetish (except for muskets and uniforms), just foot and some legs.

    I want to briefly cover the concepts of building an Army and using Foot properly in such an Army. Over the course of history there have been many organizational changes and structures of infantry (foot) units. In the olden days muskets reinforced pike, that then removed pike and replaced with bayonet.

    This is not a thread about history or proper units in period, but attempts to blend them into a format that your non-history student and ETW player can enjoy and learn from.

    For effective use of infantry, this guide will cover the movement of infantry battalions and their supporting battalion of artillery and company's of horse. This guide will contain screen shots and links to movies you can download to follow the material in the guide.

    The movies are quite large, but essential to fully grasping the specific methods.


    Organization

    Infantry squads are several men, usually 6-10. Several squads form a platoon. Several platoons form a company. Several companies form a battalion. Several battalions form a regiment. Several regiments (or several groups of battalions, or frankly whatever units you have, Army means either a structured set of regiments in a full stack, or interchangeably "whatever you have on the field") form an Army (Division is skipped for it's modernity and scale). The strategic unit card for each unit describes each unit as regiment, but as this guide and the author play in LARGE unit scale, 45 or 60 horse men do not comprise a logical regiment. I am not attempting to change the scale of the game, but only ensure consistent use of terms throughout the guide. (I had several problems with this, my apologies for early juxtaposition of battalion and brigade. Brigade has been removed and simplified with the single term "regiment", defining a pre-combined arms focus of a single discipline in force).

    In a change over M2TW and earlier games, Empire Total War begins to demonstrate the real value of moving, firing and acting as a cohesive Corps. On the tactical level this is even more lucrative an area of study to learn how to maneuver company level units as battalions, regiments and effectively as an Army. With new reinforcement points likely to put reinforcements behind enemies or with a much higher likelihood of ambushes, or the capability to intercept, Army's and their supporting scouts, van and guard become viable and strategically important. This article however focuses on the Infantry unit, or Foot and is principal in focus. (Several Army's or "stacks" working together on the campaign map form a Corps.)

    For proper definition in this guide, a battalion of foot infantry is three line infantry companies. Three battalion of foot infantry comprise a foot regiment. As I practice a later Empire period doctrine of detached Grenadiers this will not be covered in the initial guide. But two units of Grenadiers could supplant the third line company in the battalion.

    From this point forward, your infantry companies and battalions will always work cohesively as a single group. Where one goes, the other two go. In terms of grenadiers, since they are in game a smaller unit of men, two grenadiers count as one company. The grenadier companies will always work as a single unit (to be covered in a later part of this article).

    A horse squadron consists of 45-60 mounts and riders. For purposes of this guide any mounted melee unit or melee-capable unit will suffice, although true horse are Horse units, Cuirasser or Guard horse. Three horse squadrons create a company of horse. Three companies of horse creates a horse regiment (this would be 9 units of horse).

    For simplification purposes for artillery, I designate each artillery unit as a battery regardless of 3 or 4 guns per unit. Three batteries create an artillery battalion. Three artillery battalions create an artillery regiment (note this would be 9 units of artillery).

    For proper deployment of this guide, your Army should consist of:

    3 battalions of infantry (heavy foot)
    1 company of horse
    1 artillery battalion of matching pieces
    1 Grenadier detachment of 2 companies of Grenadiers

    OR:

    9 Line Infantry Companies
    3 Horse Units
    3 Artillery Units
    4 Grenadier Units
    1 General Unit


    Handling Your Army

    Grouping will be required multiple times in your use of this Guide. Not only will deploy in set pieces for the battle, by groups, but you may need to group specific units together to move in formation. Keeping track of your Army is important, so I suggest editing the names and learning them, or writing them down until you get the hang of it.

    Grouping will occur first on deployment, second while responding to the enemy and thirdly while planning marches. Lastly once you are ready to commit, you are free to once again group the units logically using the select left mouse + control key click. Then once the units are selected, assign a numeric hotkey to them, by control key +<1>-<10>.

    It really is fine to mix and match groups, but the principles of unit cohesion and fire and maneuver by regiment or battalion should be observed. Sometimes you will need to detach a single unit (squadron) of horse, or in some cases leave behind a garrison unit but the author suggests you maintain groups as much as possible. The general rule of thumb is within 50 yards for artillery, 100 yards for foot, or 200 yards for horse.

    On early artillery that is immovable, I will generally leave it unprotected or withdraw it from the field. More on this when working with Corps.

    Army Movement


    FIGURE 1: ARMY MOVING THROUGH DEFILADE VIA COLUMN (18mb DIVX avi) - YouTube Link


    It is key to proper employment that you move your Army quickly and effectively towards the enemy. I recommend you move in a screened column abreast with the horse company on either side, or on the side you wish to have the horse depart from. Your general should also be near the front and alongside the marching battalions.

    This allows your horse to break off quickly and allows you deploy your foot more rapidly once you reach your destination. Think of the column as the tip of your spear. You will not march the troops in grand column into contact with the enemy, like the French did for some time, but instead deploy the men into their regiments when you arrive at the point of combat.

    Controlling Your Infantry Units

    It is essential to understand the "brain" of the infantry company. While it presents itself in whatever formation you drag and drop, or file and rank with the buttons, it still operates on one axis. Right clicking on a target will cause the entire formation to bring that central axis directly in line on a target.

    Sometimes it is important to do such, as it will trigger chase and advance behavior in the unit. Most times, when operating at the battalion or regiment level you will not use Right-Click attack commands, but instead enable and disable "Fire At Will" <T>.

    It is also important to realize that sometimes the AI will do weird things, not quite what you expect. You have several options. If you're not at immediate risk, you can allow the AI to finish it's motion, or you can stop the process by hitting Halt Selected Units <Backspace> and manually rearrange the effected unit. I do not use pre-set group formations from the menu as it causes group AI to do all kinds of weird things to maintain formation.

    It is much easier to expand from a tight formation than it is to contract from a longer, narrow formation. The advent of the research "Square Formation" is key to executing a rapid formation change from a long column. By triggering the "Square Formation" your men know exactly where to go by pattern of the drill, much faster than simply dragging a box - especially when triggered from a long move by column. Using "Square Formation" to bring your column together, and then disabling Square Formation and bringing them into 3 or 5 ranks deep is highly efficient.


    FIGURE 2: DEPLOYING REGIMENTS AT POINT OF COMBAT INTO BATTALIONS (81mb DIVX avi) - YouTube Link

    Basic Concepts of Terrain and Infantry

    Wherever possible you will want to use terrain to your advantage; not only in attack and defense, but in maneuver. Using terrain and trees, instead of concealment and moving through them, move around them. Avoid fence lines for horse, use stone pasture fences and cover in parallel to your approach and perpendicular to your attack.

    The tactical terms Defilade & Enfilade are extremely important in the age of cannon and damaging direct fire weapons. Enfilade occurs when fire is brought to bear towards a unit's side and thus the fire presumably passes along the entire length, or ranks of the unit. Fire into an enemy flank, in effective enfilade results in nearly 75% accuracy at 3/4 range, versus 25% effectiveness face to face.

    At every safe opportunity, you want to push the enemy into such as position, or "fix in place" so that your second or third company can maneuver for a flank and effectively enfilade their position.

    In usage, a Defilade position is where your troops are on a down slope from enemy fire, or in some form of reverse height defense where the hard point is made at the base of a rise, the kill zone intended to be the top of the rise. Forcing an enemy to approach a slope and attack over it towards your guns, artillery or other defenses is extremely effective.

    In conjunction with a defilade defense, maneuvering or concealing units to one side of the defilade to provide reaching fire across the enemy as it advances provides the most effective zone of fire, or enfilade. An enfilade can also be caused by forcing the enemy in fire-by-rank formation to turn to one side, either in response to infantry, or more likely fast horse maneuvering towards the enemy's side and rear. If you have guns or units on two sides, the enemy must face one, or the other, or withdraw and try and hold back both.

    In most cases the benefits of fire and maneuver should be self-evident from the results. Provided you properly support a flanking unit and don't move them into an effective beaten zone, or expose them to hazards such as cannon or horse charges, victory will always be yours.


    FIGURE 3: DEPLOYING BATTALIONS FOR 'FIRE BY COMPANY' AND ENFILADE (190mb DIVX avi) - YouTube Link

    In reverse you would avoid attacking over a slope and down into a defilade, instead encircling or maneuvering around it. For tight maneuvers, ensure your foot are in 10-15 file wide and 15 or so deep rank. This smaller formation, while presenting fewer immediate muskets for fire, provides compact maneuvers, confidence to your men and instills shock in the enemy to see a tight mass of troops approaching.

    The enemy, whether player but to greater extend the AI is aware of the hazards of turning their ranks and exposing themselves to enfilade or charge from cavalry. Placing horse in the center or one exposed flank of the enemy, while maneuvering to the enemy flank with foot can result in the enemy having to make tough choices at every turn (pun intended).

    By continually using three infantry companies in conjunction as a battalion, you will be able to control the maximum amount of space before and alongside your units and protect your rear and flanks. When making contact with the enemy, generally speaking, they will target one of your units, allowing you to keep one in reserve and maneuver one to the enemy flank.

    In most cases I keep two companies of a battalion ready to engage at all times, in one or more facing and the third company in reserve ready to deploy to support, engage, flank or charge.

    This three-company approach is further carried over into the regimental level usage of three battalions. If you maneuver three battalions towards the same direction, each maintaining cohesion and safe fire zones, ready to support with units in reserve, you can crush any force in the world as a proper regiment of foot. Using Infantry in the assault and defense, with protection from horse squadrons and proper fire support from artillery batteries, you will become legendary if just in your own mind.

    The additional "weight" of the extra infantry units and close proximity not only provide bonuses to your morale, but prevents the enemy from trying to overwhelm and pick off your individual unit. Support in melee and firepower have a direct bearing in this game to the outcome of the battle. Prevent casualties and your units will gain vast experience early.


    FIGURE 4: FLANKING THE REGIMENT, THE 'WORKING' BATTALION (70 mb DIVX avi) - YouTube Link

    Deconstructing the Infantry Method of Firing

    The infantry unit can stand still, it can walk, it can run. It can hop over fences, rails, obstructions in its way, enter buildings, take cover behind walls and man fortifications. Line Infantry are tough, resistant to shock and have good stamina (but not additional stamina such as with a light infantry or irregular skirmish unit which can run for minutes at a time). Line infantry and heavy foot are your principal unit, which is why this guide, while incorporating horse and artillery is about the common leg infantry, the foot soldier.

    What this section focuses on are the actions and animations that directly effect your ability to command them at the second by second level. How long does it take to load, how long does it take to stop from a walk and fire? How long from a trot? The deconstruction of these steps are key to being a truly great tactical mind in the game and getting the very most out of your men; in Empire Total War, timing is everything.

    In real world elite units, soldiers were capable of firing a shot every 8 to 10 seconds. They followed standard drills and in most elite infantry units, fired by command and rote: prime the weapon for firing, both at the triggering point and then the muzzle, place the cartridge by hand into the barrel, draw the ramrod from under the barrel, then ram the musket ball down the barrel, present the weapon forward at the general "target", then fire on command.

    Units in Empire do not start with this level of discipline. Each man in the company will fire and load at will if you do not manage their fire. In early technologies on the front rank of the unit will discharge their weapons.

    In Empires, the infantry units make a gesture like priming the pan, then move immediately to the weapon being "about", or butt on the ground and begin ramming. Like cannon, the ramming period takes up the bulk of the reload and is where the animation reduces time for each level of experience.

    Basic infantry times for basic firing drills are to present arms and fire, then prime, then about the musket, then ram, then cock the weapon, present it and quickly fire. Timing of the basic musket drill is 30 seconds from firing to fire again, without delay from a misfire, or even a potential hang fire. Some muskets do not fire immediately when the weapon is triggered, but instead take several seconds longer. These are usually heard as a distinct, deeper "pop".


    FIGURE 5: REBUFFING COUNTER-ATTACK BY BATTALION (160 mb DIVX avi) - YouTube Link

    Basic Musket Drill

    Examining the basic musket drill is helpful in that only two out of three men in the front firing rank actually discharge their muskets when ordered. The additional third either have misfire, hangfires or are simply slow in firing. This results in a single volley taking up to 15 seconds to complete. Over time the volley fire from the basic musket drill spreads out where if left unchecked, the average reload and fire time will stay ~30 seconds per man, but the density of fire will be more like 4-5 shots every 4 or 5 seconds.

    Experience for firing works as follows: for every rank of experience (single chevron, double, etc) 2 points are added to reload and accuracy. Each point of accuracy is a 1% increase in the likelihood to hit. Accuracy is penalized by rank, condition of the unit's shock and morale (are they under fire, melee, artillery barrage, etc) and by range, cover, weather and facing to the enemy. I believe that accuracy bonuses effect the final number being applied to hitting, as experienced units are much more likely to hit than green units.

    Reloading works in reverse, a base reload time for artillery and musket appears to be about 60 seconds. Prussian Line Infantry have a base of 30 Reloading Skill. With a 30 in this skill, muskets require 28.4 seconds to fire, reload, fire and reload. With 32 Reloading Skill they only require 27.8 seconds. With 34 they require 26.8 seconds and so on. A reloading skill of 25 requires 32 seconds. A cannon with 5 Reloading Skill fires and reloads in 48 seconds.

    This is fine for keeping an enemy pinned, but I advise that volleys be fired on your command by toggling on "Fire At Will" <T>, allow a few moments for the hangfires to shoot, then disable "Fire At Will" <T>. The entire front rank will reload, and come to ready position when complete. Even though it adds a few extra seconds to the process, the ability to place 50 or more shots out of 60 on the target in a shorter period of time has greater tactical value.


    FIGURE 6: URBAN DEPLOYMENT BY BATTALION (284 mb DIVX avi) - YouTube Link
    * NOTE: My favorite moment, 3 minutes 40 seconds into this clip

    A principal tactic of the early battalion infantry approach is to Fire by Company (covered in detail in FIGURE 3). First, create a long double rank, preferably as wide as the unit will expand with the first rank having more men than the second. Then place a second company directly behind the first, no more than 5 paces apart. In open spaces this can be achieved easily. In tighter, urban quarters it is unlikely.

    Forming a first extended company slightly ahead of a second extended musket company allows for the two units to not only cover each other effectively and prevent a charge, but it nearly doubles the firepower of the two. It takes mere moments, if both companies have their muskets loaded and "Fire At Will" <T> (FAW from now on)disabled to move one into contact with the enemy, enable the FAW button, complete the firing drill, disable the FAW button, and either move the rear/loaded unit forward or move the front unit behind the loaded unit. This can be repeated safely, as long as you manage the FAW button.

    The easiest method to move these units, is to select the proper unit with the mouse, and use the forward arrow above the orders panel. This not only shows you in green highlights where the unit will move to, but issues the order precisely. Using the right mouse to issue fine movement orders in combat is ill advised when trying to direct concerted musket fire.

    Try practicing this and use pause if you must to perfect the technique. With line company poor accuracy, failing to disable the FAW can result in the rear rank firing into the front company and killing up to 15 or more men with one mistake.

    Effectively used, this technique will allow your entire infantry battalion or entire regiment of foot to close right up to an enemy and if they still maintain their position without breaking, both firing ranks should stop and the third company in the battalion can then charge into the enemy. I typically keep the third 'reserve' company 10-15 file wide and 10-12 rank deep and on one side of the two fire companies.

    Positioning the reserve company on the side closest to contact with the enemy unit not only reduces the distance of the charge, which should be ordered immediately after the second fire company discharges it's volley, but also frees the two firing companies to immediately flank around the engaged enemy.

    If the charging company makes contact quickly, the two fire companies can maneuver further around in the same direction and discharge their next volley directly into the enemy within 45 seconds, before your charging units reach 'Tired', which will greatly reduce their defense.

    FIGURE 7: BASIC MUSKET FIRING DRILL EXAMPLE
    (97 mb DIVX avi) - YouTube Link

    This concludes Part 1 of Several on Company Man's Guide to Foot.

    The smoke and blood mod, with sound effects and drum/fife is courtesy of Mech_Donald's fabulous work and compilation at:

    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=237457


    Links:
    1. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H8LCPHAK
    2. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P7Z6QPNY
    3. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZL54D59E
    4. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BUS6YGB6
    5. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DHO75W57
    6. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=54MZ5923
    7. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K76Y0ESN

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