6 pound foot

For some time, I disregarded these cannons, trying to replace them with horse artillery ASAP. However, the more I play with them, the more I like them. Their higher accuracy and higher reload speed makes them truly deadly. They regularly come out at the top of my killer lists (unlike my 12-pounders)...

What's your experience?

They must be doing something right. Usually I just point them and let them go until the enemy is within canister range, then click again. I have taken slick guns in and come off with three stripers.

I have some with 5 stripes after four battles. There is no other artillery that seems to gain experience as fast, so they must be killing something.

Brilliant demoralising effect makes them doubly useful if you deploy them correctly.

Originally Posted by Josst

Brilliant demoralising effect makes them doubly useful if you deploy them correctly.

Please share...

Originally Posted by Slaists

Please share...

Terrain is really the key to a proper use of artillery. Just always make sure that your piece has a clear line of fire (+zoom to the unit and look at the battlefield through eyes of the artillery crew - to see that there are no obstacles - especially within the cannister range - 150 m).
There was a great artillery guide on Empire forum.
To summon up - try to aim your guns manually! (meaning -do not target units, target areas)
If you shoot with round shots try to aim a bit in front of the unit - if it is marching, consider it... (the only exeption is when you shoot on a cavalry unit - you might aim a bit behind the unit, because it makes more damage to horses when a cannonball flies through the unit).
If you shoot a cannister shot, try to aim a bit behind enemy regiment. You can time the exact moment of the shot when watching the artillery unit. One proper volley from three-guns-unit, even 6th pounders, can destroy the entire line infantry (causing casualties cca 40 - 60 men from 120 and routing the rest).
And as it was said above - combination of focused artillery fire and musket fire is devastating for morale. Even the Old Guard will run soon...

Originally Posted by ztn3

To summon up - try to aim your guns manually! (meaning -do not target units, target areas)

Yup! What this means is that you can even engage artillery that is nominally OUT of range of your 6 lb cannons because often cannon balls will just 'bounce' quite a bit further than their effective range. They don't normally kill any infantry that way, but they do kill cavalry and destroy enemy artillery pieces.

They're pretty good.

In my Hessen campaign, they had sieged Alsace-Lorraine and all I had was a few Line Infantry units and a single 6lber cannon unit. I made use of streets and narrow corridors where "their numbers count for nothing". However, I didn't have enough units with those sandbag-type-things to cover all the flanks so I positioned the single 6lber at the rear of my defensive circle. I honestly didn't think they'd last when the French sent a whole Fusilier unit round. However, I held fire and waited till they were pretty much face to face then let off canister shot.

The whole unit routed. The whole unit.

After that, I'll never discount those units. That said, I suppose I could have done it with other artillery units, but the fact remains - the early cannon units are very effective when used properly.

they are pretty good but the 8-lb and 12-lb have greater range and should performed equally well in close combat.

Originally Posted by kokonut666

they are pretty good but the 8-lb and 12-lb have greater range and should performed equally well in close combat.

The heavier calibers are much slower. It appears, it's not only the reloading skill that determines the reload speed but also the gun type. 6 calibers are the fastest, given all gun crews have the same reload skill.

with cannons its reload vs range
i go for reload as the 12-pdrs never hit my art anyway plus the 6-pdrs are cheaper

I dont know why, but my artillery usually never kills many men. I guess its mainly for morale damage.

I prefer to use howitzers.

Well, they don't necessarily have to do a lot of the killing. It's enough if they force the enemy to go on the offensive.

I prefer 12 pndrs for the range over acc & reload, as france your cannon have good stats anyhow certainly after they gain some chevrons.

The range allows me to limit enemy troop movement and dominate the course of battle, whilst if their cannon outrange my 6 lbs i'm the one being limited and who usually would have to move whilst being under fire which i obviously don't like; ofc if the terrain isn't totally flat i could try to use that but i can't always depend on that.

about the cannister shot; the 12pounders have more shot&more spread up close vs the more accurate but less powerfull 6pounder so that goes about evenly up close i'd say.

And yes howitzers are great, do loads of damage, can shoot over hills and walls etc, but less range .. it's a trade-off, they aren't the same type of cannon and thus are handy in different encounters imo.

i say 12lbs > 6lbs :p !

All in all I don't mind having a mix, either. Having even one 12 pounder is enough to outrange any army without them, then you can use 6-pounders and howitzers to do the actual damage.

I was looking over their stats today and they have the best accuracy and reload skills of any standard piece.

I had a small ambush today. Do you know what two batteries of those using only round shot will do to an infantry unit in cross fire?

Bloody Awesome!

Hmm, must be only for you.

Unicorns/howitzers/12 pounders normally work best for me.

I prefer 8/9 pounders; best balance of all stats and abilities.

Howitzers and Unicorns don’t enter into this. Those come late and are supplements.

Having one or more longer ranged guns is also a good idea.

Everyone has slightly different tactical ideas.

It is just a question of whether you like range or speed and accuracy. I think the speed and accuracy mean more kills...but that is only a guess.

It only means more kills if the enemy is within range... so yeah it's obviously a choice between range or higher reload/acc.
I don't like a too mixed army but i recon a mix of long & short arty is the best, just as a varied army is more flexible and thus usually better.

Well i would mass artillery on all my armys with a third being artillery in ETW and NTW and its just really fun choosing one and just one unit for alll my cannons to shoot at, and if i manually aim it properly i sometimes kill more than half of a regiment, and if its say a 8 or 12 pounder i have sometimes wiped out entire units!