Are Chasseurs A Cheval the most OP thing ever?

Nothing has provided me with as much frustration as the chasseurs of cheval. I swear to god these guys are like Rambo, who can fire their carbines with near perfect accuracy at full gallop and can easilly kill off even my bests cavalry. Only thing they can't beat are squares.
Why hasn't CA balanced them yet? They annoy me to no end.

I'd have to agree there. They seem to kick the snot out of even my heavy cavalry on a regular basis. Guess something like Napoleon Total Realism is what's needed here. Or maybe it exists already? *goes to search the mods forum*

Well there's a reason artillery is so accurate.

Originally Posted by Super Sea Otter

Well there's a reason artillery is so accurate.

My backside accurate, firing canister shots is a pain, they rarely hit their target.

Originally Posted by Basileos Leandros I

My backside accurate, firing canister shots is a pain, they rarely hit their target.

True, it's absolutely strange. They seem to aim for the edge of an enemy unit, instead of the middle. And I'm not sure but I think this was introduced with a patch...

Mosy wargame rules have them as pretty average LC. Perhaps they are used to give the French a bit more strength here. I find my Peninsula cavalry deal with them ok but the carbine volleys are ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Jihada

Mosy wargame rules have them as pretty average LC. Perhaps they are used to give the French a bit more strength here. I find my Peninsula cavalry deal with them ok but the carbine volleys are ridiculous.

A bit more? They have the Old Guard, good artillery and good light infantry! Cavalry should be a weak spot.

Originally Posted by ♔EmperorBatman999♔

Cavalry should be a weak spot.

Actually it shouldn't. You see, unlike the British, French had extremely professional cavalry with very good battle records (at least form what I've read in various sources) and rightfully so it is implemented in the game.

Originally Posted by Qitbuqa

Actually it shouldn't. You see, unlike the British, French had extremely professional cavalry with very good battle records (at least form what I've read in various sources) and rightfully so it is implemented in the game.

You sure about that ?
http://www.pns1814.co.uk/Sahagun.htm

A common problem with British cavalry was their unwillingness to regroup after a successful charge,which left them winded and liable to counter attack. Waterloo,Balaclava etc.

Originally Posted by Jihada

You sure about that ?
http://www.pns1814.co.uk/Sahagun.htm

The French were universally accepted to have the finest cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars until after the Russian Campaign decemated its veterans and killed its horses. This wasn't because the French cavalry was better mounted, or because their troopers were better riders, or even because they had numerical superiority for their victories: it has more to do with their organization which allowed for more efficient tactical maneuvering and a superior command structure which allowed the senior leaders to properly employ follow on elements and reserves.

In comparison, the British cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars was usually much better mounted and a better rider. However, even Wellesly noted their lack of discipline. This is what made them a rather ineffective arm when compared to the French cavalry.

Originally Posted by Jihada

You sure about that ?
http://www.pns1814.co.uk/Sahagun.htm

A common problem with British cavalry was their unwillingness to regroup after a successful charge,which left them winded and liable to counter attack. Waterloo,Balaclava etc.

I was talking about professionalism wich means acting as a unit or as a group of units and yes, I'm aware of that battle, but are you seriously stating your whole argument on one battle? French cavalry defeated cavalry of other nations on numerous occasions and I don't think I need to start linking, do I?

On the subject of something being overpowered - this whole game is rather simple when it comes to moving units about both infantry and cavalry. In fact it is really arcade as it is focused on mass buyer who doens't give a jack about how charge was conducted (everyone runs around at full speed changing directions like they were ping pong ball on any kind of terrain and so on), how regiments were composed (all lancers have lances, none of them have sabers, carbines and rifles when in reality only 1st rank would have lances and troopers on the flanks would have carbines or rifles while 2nd rank would have sabers), infantry will fight untill they lose like 2/3 of their intial strength while in reality they would most likely flee after 10% casualites Also light infantry could form squares same way line could and etc.

In the context of this game I don't think French cavalry is overpowered given the fact their infantry is lacking compared to Brits or Prussians when you take into account price. I don't even talk about Russians - everyone and their grandma's cat is overpowered compared to them.

hahaha I love the chassuers a Cheval

Actually, I find them quite useless....

They are pretty bad at melee and often shoot and kill themselves when engaged (hence, I have to always micromanage them---thus being more of a liability than an asset).

Apart from their initial shot, they do seem a bit useless to have. Plus, they are supposed to be scouts and recon, but you can't do this in this game (try having an all cavalry and horse artillery army and fight a vanguard battle against a balanced AI---you get slaughtered---unless you micromanage like mad!)

Originally Posted by Erkli Pasha

Actually, I find them quite useless....

They are pretty bad at melee and often shoot and kill themselves when engaged (hence, I have to always micromanage them---thus being more of a liability than an asset).

Apart from their initial shot, they do seem a bit useless to have. Plus, they are supposed to be scouts and recon, but you can't do this in this game (try having an all cavalry and horse artillery army and fight a vanguard battle against a balanced AI---you get slaughtered---unless you micromanage like mad!)

They always seem to whip the enemy dragoons. Their volley before clashing always weakens the opposing force.

In the Egypt Campaign I used about 10 units of them to capture the bedowin town. Not only did they completely massacre the innitial bedowin army, they held off 4 more full stacks of camel jockeys, a mameluke army, and when the second marmeluke army showed, I had only about 15 Chassuer left, plus the town garrison. The term bulls#!t victory comes to mind. I eventually rode them out of the desert, after attrition there was only a unit of 5 and one unit of 1. Once replenished their veterancy level, plus the general's command level were shockingly high. General was basically Napoleon 2 with every cavalry bonus perk.

You can easily take out 2 units of Chasseurs A Cheval with a single unit of Lancers.

Just sayin'. It happens every day in multiplayer.

They are indeed overpowered particularly considering that that they are the level 1 unit for France.

However when they are out of ammo (I normally use mine to stand behind my cannon and fire over their heads) they seem considerably less effective so it is the unhistorical mounted volley firing that is the key factor

All Napoleonic light cavalry except lancers as well as dragoons and even some heavies had carbines or muskets and could fire from the saddle (and even lancers generally had a pistol or two) - however there is no evidence I am aware of cavalry regiments or squadrons firing in volleys while mounted.

In fact the only cavalry who seem to have used firearms extensively in battle (rather than in skirmishes or acting as mounted infantry) were the Egyptian mamelukes: each of whom was a walking (or rather riding) arsenal of carbines, blunderbusses and pistols and had to be accompanied by several mounted servants to whom they could hand or throw each of their used weapons before switching to the next.

And this tactical system doesn't appear to have worked at all well for them against the French....

I must admit I have considered recruiting a whole stack of CaCs so I can use their ability to move invisibly across the campaign map to raid and loot enemy cities - I suspect you could even get them all the way to Moscow - but that seems too much like cheating.

In Sp i just try and blast them away with my artillery before i send my own cavalry into the fray because yes they are overpowered and they need their melee stats reduced and the firing accuracy/reload reduced.

What about ottoman light missile cavalry that has 25% more men for only 550pts? Sweden also has cheap missile cavalry with 25% more troops, Russia has similar missile cavalry with better melee/moral OR the Camel gunners that scare horses but have medium speed for 500 pts? What about English King German light Dragoons that are the only light cavalry with resistance to morale shock? Maybe Cossacs the cheapest lancers cavalry for only 440 pts is what you are looking for?

However There is only one cavalry unit thats the best by far: Dutch Lancers for not only their high attack/charge BUT also for their 14 morale as fast cavalry. Only if their numbers suddenly reduce to less than 20% can they actually break; Otherwise expect them to break only if less than 5% is remaining (usually they fight to the last man). They might cost 1000+ pts but using them with 1 more super cavalry unit as france can be more than enough at times.

Accuracy from horseback should be hideously low and reloading was almost impossible. I guess there's a reason why it wasn't really done in history apart from pre-loaded pistols fired before charge.

As I was told by our historians, most cavalry units had their guns for scouting and guard duties. When scouting they would occasionally try a pot shot at some target, then run away.