Army Composition

[Silius Saurus]

How do you folks make up your stacks? I fight as a European power, so here is what I came up with for a full stack.

Commander
2 units of dragoons or light horse
2 units heavy horse
9 line infantry bn.'s organized into brigades of 3 each
1 bn. grenadiers (in reserve for crucial situations)
2 units rangers or light infantry (if I haven't the tech, then I use natives or extra grenadiers)
3 batteries of arty

I organize by brigades as two in battle line, one in reserve, so I can react once the enemy's intentions are understood.

[muffinhead]

1 Commander
2 Heavy Cav
1 Light Dragoons (would carry more but im not too good with them)
3 Howitzers
1 Puckle Gun
1 24/12 pound cannon (love the shrapnel and canister too much to leave alone)
2 Grenadiers

If I am fighting an army that typically has long range (ie. Native Americans)

2 Long Range Infantry
7 Line Infantry

If I am not

9 Infantry

[Hannibolico]

1 commander
2 curaissers
2 hussars
3 6-lb horse artillery
2 grenadiers
2 light infantry
8 line infantry
I haven't actually used this type of army in a battle yet, i've just been pumping them out in my prussian campaign

[Empire3194]

1 commander
2 or 3 units of heavy calvary, maybe one of them being a dragoon
1 or 2 units or artillery, depending on situations (art is that important contrary to wat most think)
2 grenadiers usually guarding my flanks
6 or 7 line infantry (as many as i can get really)
maybe 2 or 3 units of skirmishers

[Akbar]

General
2 Curassiers
2 24lb cannon
2 Pucklers
3 Mortars
4 Riflemen
6 Line infantry

Works pretty well against.....well, anything. Sometimes replace one or to units for some Dragoons

[Yodarkore]

1 General
2-3 heavy cav
2-3 6lb horse arty
1 12 then 24lb howitzer
1 machinegun (mostly for fun, since i find 6lb horse arty more versatile)
3 grenadiers, usually between each "brigade" of 3 line inf
2-4 light inf (depend who i am fighting, i use them 1 on each side or by teams of 2 for crossfire)
9 (ideally, sometime more, sometime less) line inf, as said above i also use them as a 3 unit U shaped formation, with arty/grenadiers at each down and/or top corner of the "U" formation.

My cav is often parked near the heavy static guns waiting for the good time to strike and anti enemy cav, and, if possible, i try to spare a "guarding" inf unit to prevent AI suicidal arty rushes with its cav.

Edit: I didnt mention "elite" inf since we cant get as much as we want, but if i have one in the stack, they are usualy at center of my formation, like the spider waiting at the center of the web.

[Mahatma Gandhi]

1 general
2 light horse (East Indian/Uhlans)
4 Hvy horse
4 cannon (horse)
2 light infantry
2 grenidiers
5 line infantry

I'll drop grens for puckles from time to time, esp, if I feel I'll be doing a good deal of defending, or if I think the oppostion will be doing alotta of garrisoning. I think cannons-puckles should get XP for killing those units even if they dont leave the building.

[Deathofjams]

As the Prussians, in campaign I tend to go for-

1 general
2 Hussars (for hunting routers and getting artillery)
3-4 cannons (either 24-pounders or horse artillery)
2 units of guards
3 units of line infantry (usually 1-2 in reserve)
3-4 units of Prussian Jaegers (who I stretch out in front of my main line)
2 Grenadiers (on the flanks or in reserve)
2 Light Dragoons (who either sit behind the line infantry firing over their heads or are used to counter flanks)

In custom battles I swap out the Hussars for Household Cavalry or Cuirassiers, since catching routers doesn't really have an effect in them- the punch from the heavy cavalry is better.

I tend to go for concentrate firepower- a short line of tough infantry firing through skirmishers, with dragoons firing over them. On the defense I put the cannons in between the infantry on the front line, on the attack I'll go for a mobile battery defended by the cavalry and the grenadiers.

It doesn't work so well against large armies, as they can flank and I don't have enough line infantry to deal with them (I'll probably drop some of the cannon in return for some more in future battles) but it totally shreds any front-on assault.

[caldwell77]

Personally, I'm starting to lean against Grenadiers. When circumstances favor them, they are awesome, but they require a lot of finesse to get their worth out of them. Though I admit they do well on the flanks.

As for artillery, I favor 12 lbers for sieges, but I aggree with Empire3194 that their value on the battle field is over rated (at least until you have very advanced tech). Like grenadiers, grape shot is pivital if you can get the bad guys to cooperate by walking into it, but usually it's more trouble than it's worth.

I haven't been able to keep a campaign going long enough to get to later infantry. So far all of my campaigns have ended in recurrent CTDs. But it's been hard for me to find any substitute for the good old, tried and true, ever faithful and highly combat experienced line infantry. Give me 12 regiments in brigades of 3 and I'll use blunt firepower to overcome what ever challenges me.

Cavalry to cover my flanks and competant general to lead them and I will carry forth my banner to the farthest reaches of Europe and the new world! Hear me Oh sons and daughters of the revolution! Who will join me in this: our greatest hour?! Who will stand...

Ahem. um... Well that is, I mean until the next crash reduces me to throwing staplers across the room and starting over.

[Varaaki]

1 general
12 line infantry
4 light infantry
3 horse artillery of the largest calibre available

Works like a charm every time.

[Kazang]

My ottoman stacks

1 General
2 24lb howtizer
3 24lb Cannon
4 Siphas Lancer Cavalry
8 line infantry (normally 3 Janissaries and 5 regular)
2 grenadier