Hangunners

[drillmaster]

Does anybody have any tactics for using these guys in battle? I mean they are powerfull but they get only 2-3 shots before they must retreat. I really prefer archers/crossbows. They fire faster and they fire indirect.
How do you guys use them? I never used them correctly in M2TW either.

Thanks a lot.

[Revan The Great]

I'm not a big fan of handgunners myself, really.

Whenever you do use them, make sure you widen their ranks so that they're only two deep (any more and the guys behind the first two ranks won't get to fire). There might also be something to be said for using them on castle walls during sieges in a place where there would be reasonable expectation of them not being attacked by wall-stormers whilst still having clear shots into the bulk of the enemy army.

Also, though this last one depends alot on luck, if you can manage to find a battlefield with a steep(ish) hill then deploy your battle line at or near the base of the hill with your handgunners a little way up the hill. If done right, the elevation will allow your handgunners to continue to volley into the enemy over the heads of your men which is always pretty devastating in a drawn out, pitched battle.

[drillmaster]

I'm not a big fan of handgunners myself, really.

Whenever you do use them, make sure you widen their ranks so that they're only two deep (any more and the guys behind the first two ranks won't get to fire). There might also be something to be said for using them on castle walls during sieges in a place where there would be reasonable expectation of them not being attacked by wall-stormers whilst still having clear shots into the bulk of the enemy army.

Also, though this last one depends alot on luck, if you can manage to find a battlefield with a steep(ish) hill then deploy your battle line at or near the base of the hill with your handgunners a little way up the hill. If done right, the elevation will allow your handgunners to continue to volley into the enemy over the heads of your men which is always pretty devastating in a drawn out, pitched battle.

Yes this is the only reason I can see for using them. However in most field battles they need a lot of micromanagement. I tried positioning them on my flanks to prevent any flanking moves. They manage to rout the first unit or two but they quickly become a target if they do not hide behind my line. In general I try to avoid gunpowder units. I don't know why but I am more accustomed to the hammer and anvil tactic using bows to soften the enemy up. Pistoliers are the masters of battle though!!!!!

[Mr. Sorrow]

I use them always, it makes battles more challenging and thirty-years war like. They are Warhammer ...

[Beregond]

they are one of my favorite units in CoW, really. I hated them in vanilla, but here they deal much damage and if you position them well (see Revan's post) they have a devastating effect on enemy morale.

[Mr. Sorrow]

they are one of my favorite units in CoW, really. I hated them in vanilla, but here they deal much damage and if you position them well (see Revan's post) they have a devastating effect on enemy morale.

So very true. The only thing I miss are drummers to play for my last attack, when I march with whole army to crush the remains of the enemy.

[Valiant Champion]

I gave them skirmish mode cause it allows them to fire at a faster rate. One rank fires than drops while the second rank behind them fires.

When not skirmishing first rank must move back while second rank moves forward and then they reload and fire.

The morale effect is one big reason to use them.

Currently my problem is with crossbows are not much good when archers can outrange and have a higher rate of fire than crossbows. I am not even sure if crossbow bolts even have ap.

So very true. The only thing I miss are drummers to play for my last attack, when I march with whole army to crush the remains of the enemy.

That can be arranged easily. What is even better is if you could get the sound of drums mixed in.

[randir14]

What I hate about them is they take forever to retreat, if they're in the middle of reloading they sit there and finish instead of running away when I tell them to. This goes for crossbow units as well.

[Revan The Great]

Really I'm not sure that this game is well designed for incorporating musket soldiers, or even cannons to a lesser extent.

Though there are a couple of ways to use them effectively, I only use them for the novelty of it and little more. Just today I was playing a siege battle and I had handgunners up on the wall and only about 2 out of 10 bothered to try and shoot the mass of Orcs right in front of them. Sometimes the the AI really can get infuriating...

[Byz]

They can be useful along with the hellfire artillery when defending a settlement. You basically put one or two units to the side of the gate, one or two units facing the gate, and the gunners/artillery a little bit away from the gate on the other side. While your melee units keep the enemy pinned at the gate and they start to mass up you can volley into the enemy mass and kill quite a few. My hellfire artillery had over 100 kills in this way and the friendly fire wasn't out of hand since the missiles were direct fire and had to tear through the enemy before they got to me.

[Valiant Champion]

I seem to have pretty decent luck with them myself.

[Outlawstar15a2]

If your attacking and there is no elevated terrain near the melee then take your handgunners and position them to the sides of the melee close enough to fire but far enough away to give reaction time in case you need it keep a unit of light cavalry or your general and use them to screen any breakaway infantry or cavalry. Though I never had a problem with the AI breaking from the melee. Foot handgunners are killers in defensive bridge battles I literally watched a few units of my handgunners do a stand by on several hundred Chaos Marauders. I felt sorry for them I really did. However for open field battles use mounted gunners like pistoliers. Ever see a gallop by? It ain't pretty...

[Beregond]

hadgunners badly need an open flat ground to be effective. And for God's sake don't position them on the walls. This 'never-firing-gunnrs-on-the-walls' is an old vanilla bug

a bit offtopic: yesterday I found that the best artillery is hellblaster decimating almost two stacks of Blood Dragons is smth

[Mr. Sorrow]

hadgunners badly need an open flat ground to be effective. And for God's sake don't position them on the walls. This 'never-firing-gunnrs-on-the-walls' is an old vanilla bug

a bit offtopic: yesterday I found that the best artillery is hellblaster decimating almost two stacks of Blood Dragons is smth

You took that out of my mouth! Long live Hellblaster, taking Chaos Chosen like wind of destruction.

[Outlawstar15a2]

Hellblasters, eh? I got to try them in the Hochland game I'm planning to do. I tried the Hochland Gunners in custom battle they remind me of real life medieval gunners having to use a stick or pole to stablize what must be a heavy gun. I also pitted them against Kislev's foot handgunners all I can say "Awesome to the extreme!"

[Grakl]

I've used Handgunners to decent effect but they seem as much like vanilla as I remember. Ultimately they seem to be niche and only useful in precise circumstances (elevated behind your lines). The AI has a passion for hunting down your gunners and they'll easily throw away entire units of cavalry to get them so I've started using them as bait for the AI generals.

Hellblasters targeting the gate when the enemy sallies out...just...wow.

[Warmaster Tibs]

I usualy play the glorius Empire for as long as I can before CTDs and if I have the option I always bring handgunners. Though they do die alot because of theyre being weak against range and getting rammed into cavarly because they had to finish reloading a shot they will never fire. Though they can very good death dealers in certain places or suck balls much like cannons. However the main reason is I am the Empire who always uses gunpowder and it wouldent feel right without them.

[Mile83]

When you have gunners on the wall let them attack the enemy furthest away (instead of having them attack the closest which is default for when you do nothing).

[TheLastHeretic]

Personally i've never liked handgunners much, but i do usually find myself taking 1 or 2 units (armoured) to stand in a line 2 deep just infront of my infantry. Giving a volley just before taking/starting an infantry charge seems to pretty much certify an advantage in moral for when the melee kicks off.
Other than that...just don't see a great amount of use for them :/ the fire rate is awful so archers are more effective at whittling down lighter infantry, and as crossbows are effect against armour with a higher rate of fire and cheaper and able to fire indirect...

[awoodenchair]

I'd also like to point out that most battles I fight I never drop by handgunners back. They stay right up front where parts of their line can keep on firing and typically have as high of a melee kill count as my units of pike and halberd that back them up if you keep them on the defense and supported properly with pike/halberd behind. They are especially deadly once their experience is up into tripple silver chevrons and properly upgraded with cuirass.

Yeah now and then I lose a unit of gunners but the artillery and firearms in Warhammer vastly outshine typical medieval II.