What do you think of this formation?

I saw an online battle the other day with someone with a formation like the one bellow and by using canister shoots it was unbreakable? I believe that some armies did used the artillery next to the infantry to max damage.

What do yo think?

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At the end of each wing the infantry can be placed in squares to prevent the a charge attack for the flanks. After the deployment of the steaks, the skirmish unit can be part of the battle. Even as an attacking formation i believe it is something almost unbreakable. Any weakness on this that you can find?

this works ok if you play against the AI. A human player though would almost invariably flank you one way or another forcing you to rotate the whole formation. In that process, the stakes would become an impediment for your own troops and mobile artillery...

Artillery would shoot skirmishers in the back. Also the player would have to win the artillery duel, which is not a given.

The weakness of this formation is inflexibility. The artillery grouped together make for an easy target for enemy artillery and it does hinder the freedom of your army to shift and rotate to meet a changing enemy. I like to swing my cavalry wider so they could thwart any cavalry/infantry attacks on either flank quickly, or quickly take the attack to the enemy.

Your formation/battle plan should depend on your enemy, terrain and situation so flexibility is one key to winning consistently.

You'd be better off creating sub units.

My 'formula' if you want to call it that usually starts off with something similar to below. By creating combined arms sub units you have more flexibility in positioning for maximum fire effectiveness and coverage and also for overlapping fields of fire for defense. I tend to use shallow V or half-V formations for the line infantry and the smaller sub units of infantry/cavalry that are in offset positions as reinforcements to cover the flanks of the larger sub units.

Obviously this representation doesn't take into consideration terrain or enemy formation and army makeup. It is my most basic template for a flexible defense oriented force.


Skirm=0
Infantry=#
Cavalry=^
Arty=X

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EDIT: OOPS This damn forum hates text that is not on the margin. Is there some way to post a Paint JPEG from my desktop?

yes, save it then use a photo hosting site, such as http://www.imageshack.us/ and copy the link over to the forum

Originally Posted by LdN

yes, save it then use a photo hosting site, such as http://www.imageshack.us/ and copy the link over to the forum

Thanks boyo.

it all depends on what units you have, and who you play against and how good you are.

I pity the enemy that comes to the field of battle with a system.

I like it.

This formation is better suited for defensive action. i would put my cavalry in the flanks staggered back to discourage flanking. You can also initiate flanking charges against enemy attacking formation when opportunity arise. I'll also put the skirmishers on skirmish mode at the corners to clear line of fire for the cannons unless you deploy on a front slope. i also keep a unit of infantry at the center as reserve as you did.

Would work well against the AI; if you had howitzers for artillery, you can keep the skirmishers there for a while, and then move them out of the way once the enemy gets close so the howitzers can finish them off with some canister shot.

Against a human player though, like everyone said, it'd be easy to break due to its inflexibility. Once the opponent gets around to your flank, it's a real hassle to shift the entire formation over, and it'll leave you really vulnerable.

Originally Posted by hitokiri2486

Would work well against the AI; if you had howitzers for artillery, you can keep the skirmishers there for a while, and then move them out of the way once the enemy gets close so the howitzers can finish them off with some canister shot.

You'd think yes. I once tried a formation like this (but the infantry was a straight line and the calvary was on the flanks as normal) and the AI rushed grenadiers into the arty and badly damaged the units.

And canister shot just doesn't seem as effective as it was in E:TW.

Given if there was enough space on your flanks, id split my foot and sandwich your army togather from the flanks, swing my cav around the back, and in the center since spikes are pathetic in this game and take your guns out.... your light troops wouldnet even make a differnce. But then again i use howies so with a static formation like this there might not be anything left for my troops to do but loot the bodies

Originally Posted by Red_legged_devils

Given if there was enough space on your flanks, id split my foot and sandwich your army togather from the flanks, swing my cav around the back, and in the center since spikes are pathetic in this game and take your guns out.... your light troops wouldnet even make a differnce. But then again i use howies so with a static formation like this there might not be anything left for my troops to do but loot the bodies

This. Only I would split my foot 70/30 and overload one flank.

A camper's wet dream, and pretty solid. Reminds me of phalanx days or Hannibal's cav in the back It all depends on the player, terrain and battle, when the shooting starts, plan A usually goes out the window.

But, it is quite immobile. I'm assuming this won't move forward as that would make flanking even easier. The options with arty are quite elaborate, so I'll stick to inf and cav.

The main thing to remember is that the enemy feels safe and powerful. If you have spare troops to be 'predictable', do so. He expects you to flank, no biggy, it is essential anyway. Go really wide. He won't give up his pretty formation, so he won't engage. Now, if he shifts the lot, he'll target you with arty, but become hopelessly exposed. In any case, if you can get on his flanks without too much casualties from arty, you have the initative... If the light infantry comes forward during this, simply charge them with cav.

Move in from the flanks and be firm. Shake things up as best you can. Now go for unpredictable and shock. Form a quick line but send in men right away. I would (thinking of woods here) also keep a last force up front or anywhere. Once he is fully engaged on his flanks and the front starts buckling, charge the line. As in bring the cook, the maids, everything

It's not so immobile as you might think, simply don't plant the stakes. 4 units of artillery shooting canister shot should be able to take care of anything approaching. Though if the enemy has a couple of braincells left, he would indeed split his forces making the formation quite useless, leaving a gap not only to the other side but both sides. Though then those stakes could be put to use. Again, enemy reforms and you've got horribly planted stakes, though

That looks very vunrerable to art, one slave from my standard Russian setup and the casualties will be horrific...

It's good all-around. But factions u play as/against, terrain, u play against AI (lol) or human player, all these things matter. It can be very good but very stupid.