barrage: what's the use?

Has anyone figured out what's the use of the artillery ability 'barrage'? I tried it and it seems just like a regular salvo.

Any input appreciated.

barrage used at a crucial point (i.e. right before engagement in lines with a nice bit of canister shot) can tip the scales.

Barrage can take out a giant chunk of enemy cavalry... =)

It's particularly effective whe used with 12 Ibr batteries, as they are slow at reloading under normal circs.

In case you were wondering what 'barrage' means in game terms, the gun crews will simply go all out for a minute or two to maximize rate of fire.

i always been suspicious about the barrage ability. The other day i fired up my stopwatch and actually checked how many shots a 12 pounder fires with and without the barrage... It was exactly 3 in both cases.

Measuring started from just before the first shot when the gunners touched the hole.

Official firing tests showed a 6 pounder can shoot 7-8 times a minute for a short time in training ground. Battle of curse was a whole different story...

HWick

Check a unit's stats (in battle) before and during their barrage ability. Their reloading skill is massively improved.
In case of a howitzer's targeted fire ability their accuracy are improved and in the case of a general's inspire ability a unit's reloading skill and morale are improved iirc.

Originally Posted by HWick

i always been suspicious about the barrage ability. The other day i fired up my stopwatch and actually checked how many shots a 12 pounder fires with and without the barrage... It was exactly 3 in both cases.

Measuring started from just before the first shot when the gunners touched the hole.

Official firing tests showed a 6 pounder can shoot 7-8 times a minute for a short time in training ground. Battle of curse was a whole different story...

HWick

Back when I was testing the ability out, I did not measure according to shots per minute, rather I simply counted the number of times the gun crew swabbed the cannon between rounds. IIRC, a standard 12lb gun required 20 swabs between reloads and with the barrage ability activated this was cut down to a mere 6 swabs. This comes out to only a couple seconds difference in reload, and very well may result in the shots per minute between the two modes being the same. However, the cannon under the 'barrage' ability will certainly get those three shots out faster, which can prove crucial when enemy infantry is advancing on your guns.

With 6lb guns though, I did not see any difference between having the 'barrage' on or off; both situations required 6 swabs between reloads. Makes me wonder if perhaps 6 swabs is hard-coded as the absolute minimum required.