Battle Tactics Guide

Hello, I've been a ETW MP player for a few months now, but have been unable to do any MP for about a month now. In an attempt to alleviate my boredom and impart some knowledge to newer members, I am writing a guide on tactics. Precluding procrastination, you can expect to see guides on cavalry and artillery soonish (TM).

Please note that I am no Synoptic or Prince Of Macedon, so I will be more than happy to update this guide per suggestions from the community. Also, my Firefox is apparently British...

Infantry Tactics

There are about four different types of infantry: Irregulars and Ranged as well as Regular and Elite infantry.

Irregulars and Ranged Infantry:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Irregulars (IR) are infantry who adopt a dispersed formation but remain standing, as opposed to the crouching of light infantry doctrine.

Ranged infantry include light infantry (LI) and the elite skirmishers (ES) that we all know and hate/love.

I don't typically obsess over statistics or prices, and as such I generally use LI over IR. But few people use either of those unit types because of their perceived weakness when compared to Line infantry (Line) and ES. This comparison of LI to other units in a head on fight is short sighted, simply because LI and IR infantry are not really supposed to be fighting their foes head on.

Instead of sticking LI or IR inf right in front of your line, as is often done with ES, put them on your semi-distant flanks in such a manner that they are not part of your line but can be supported by your cavalry if need be.

This way, they can plink away at the enemy flanks with relative impunity. This positioning is a superior prospect than having them in front of your Line as ineffective 'meat shields', as many of the rounds that fail to hit your LI will go on to hit your Line.

If the enemy sends cav after your flanking LI or IR, simply use your supporting cav (Light Dragoons do a great job for this) to hold the enemy in place while your flanking LI/IR plus any other units focus fire to destroy the enemy units. If he sends infantry, then pull back your flanking units so that he is either chasing one of them away from the fight (while getting shot by the other) or until your flanking unit(s) reach a point where they can potentially out shoot the enemy.

This leads me to my final point about LI and IR infantry. If they are in a position to get shot at you must use the terrain to minimize the damage they take. Forests, stone walls, bluffs and good micro, even those wooden fences will stop some of the enemy bullets from hitting your men, which will give them the advantage they need to out shoot (or at least render combat ineffective) the tenacious (or forgotten) enemy unit. If he charges you, simply use LI/IR's superior stamina and speed to out run the enemy.

This leads up to ES, and they should be treated similarly to LI and IR. However, Instead of starting out on your flanks, they should be placed along the enemy's advance so as to inflict heavy(ish) casualties on him. When your forces finally do engage, bring your ES off to the flanks and avoid leaving them just in front of your line as this will also lead to the 2 kills for '1' bullet scenario.

A few final pointers about these special infantry units:

  1. Always, always, always support them with cavalry. If you fail to do this they will be slaughtered by the first horse that so much as looks at them, even if you have a unit of Line there to 'support' them.
  2. Stakes should only be used to stop/discourage charges or slow down combat on a weak flank, as they stop bullets going both ways. Thus you should consider whose advantage it is to have a slow fire fight.



Regular and Elite Infantry:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Regular Line infantry (Line) are your regular dudes with muskets.

Elite Line Infantry were regular dudes with muskets, but took steroids and can now shoot faster and bash skulls in harder than anyone else on the battle field. Grenadiers fall into this category.


Obviously, Line make up your main battle line. There are a myriad of ways you can use them, and I won't attempt to enumerate all possible tactics with them, just a few of my own. A few of the typical tactics involve lengthening your line to surround and destroy your opponents, rushing into melee when out gunned, and various flanking/avoiding flanking manoeuvres.

Elite Infantry are a whole different can of worms. Sure, they're better than Line one on one, and maybe even two on one, but having too many elite infantry is a sure recipe for disaster, as after a few rank volleys they'll get decimated.



Instead, you should have them on the flanks, to help ensure that they outlast your opponents. This way, your guard units avoid being outgunned in a firefight (which platoon fire renders them ill-equipped to handle), but will instead allow your flank to either outlast your opponents or to at least give you enough time to prepare for a collapse. Sticking my Elite inf in the centre is not something I typically do, unless I intend to smash through the enemy centre, which leads me to:


Grenadiers, Columns, and 'I Accidentally The Enemy Line'

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
One of my favorite tactics involves Grenadiers and alternatively 2 columns of Elite inf or 3 columns of Line (That build is a bit spammy).

Considering the small size of Grenadiers, I try to avoid using them as cannon fodder, and instead keep them behind my line with an Elite Unit of Militia MeatSh--Men of Valour. Once our lines have engaged, I typically run the Militia into melee with the unfortunate enemy units (I try to get them to engage 2 separate units) who are then unable to escape a few volleys of grenades and are thus destroyed.

Once the enemy centre has been literally vaporized by the grenades, I typically send my grenadiers on a mad rush to the rear of the enemy, as my line forums up in an attempt to split the enemy force. Since I have never (Never) seen anyone keep significant reserves in this game, they normally get slaughtered when the grenadiers breach their line.

The columns of Elite or Line infantry are basically the same idea, except that they go right into melee without any militia. Also, instead of targeting two or more units, I focus on just one enemy unit to be attacked. When the columns crash into that unit, not only do they receive the casualties of a full on charge of one unit (If you give the columns sufficient width), but they spread casualties out among the attacking units, and will often spread the enemy unit out and thus make it next to impossible for the enemy unit to extricate itself from the melee.


In conclusion, Line infantry will make up the bulk of your army, but you shouldn't neglect (nor overdo) skirmishers and elite units.