More Ranks = Melee Bonus ?

As a 2 rank line will defeat a 3 or 4 rank line in a fire fight between 2 otherwise equal infantry units ( more muskets brought to bear ), is the converse true in an infantry or cavalry melee ? That is, would a 4 or 5 rank infantry unit win when charging into melee with a 3 rank unit ( more ranks = greater momentum ) ?

Instinctively, you would think so. Napoleonic French Infantry doctrine was built around this premise; firing accuracy & line formation was neglected in favour of the bayonet & deep columnar tactics. This concept was successfull against all except the most disciplined & well-drilled infantry which used line formation ( the British & British-trained troops ).

Has anyone experienced successfull results when going into melee with deep formations against more linear ones ( you will have noticed the AI habitually adopts line formations ) ? If the answer is yes, then this would bring a whole new dynamic to battle tactics.

Nope. But while charging column is the best formation because line is slower and often suffer more casualities than columns.
Also another annoying thing with lines is that they often turn direction in middle of the charge wasting time and suffering additional casualites.
Columns also allow the unit to penetrate deeper into enemy line.

If anything, I've seen my columns being taken out my three-men deep ranks.

I charge them and they do not shatter the ranks and divide the linear formations. If anything, the column stops and gets itself surrounded when the linear formation wraps around them. This causes a morale drop and it shatters.

I think CA did well with most of the battle mechanics except these. A line should be really slow to manoeuvre (keep a line isn't easy--just try it), while a column should shock enemy soldiers (seeing a horde running towards you is no easy sight). The column should also move faster but should be hard to tell it to move laterally when it's already charging. Nevertheless, for the sake of realism, I really try to implement l'ordre mixte whenever I play. It's not so much about winning for me, but about looking as historically real as possible.

Melee in deep formations is effective, but not necessarily in the way one might think. Remember that melee combat in TW games are still on basically simulating on a one-on-one basis, so my tactics for column melee takes advantage of this to allow weaker troops to last longer in a fight against stronger ones. Let's say the Old Guard is engaging my regular line in melee, who normally has no chance to defeat the Old Guard in melee; if I form deeper ranks, only the line infantry in the first rank (and perhaps on the flanks, you don't want to form too deep a column or your risk getting enveloped by a single enemy unit, which can be bad for morale) will be engaged in melee, while those in the center and rear of the regiment hold fast. This allows the line unit to last longer in the fight (even if only by seconds, heh), as the Old Guard will have to defeat the regiment rank by rank, hopefully wearing them out and allowing me to bring up support in time. On the other hand, if I had kept the line infantry in a line, then the majority of the unit would be engaged in melee combat all at once; combat they are unlikely to win and thus leading to more casualties in a shorter period.

Columns are also effective for blunting the effectiveness of an enemy charge. For example, if you are Britain and thus do not have lancers, and are faced with an opponent who does have them, you are almost immediately at a disadvantage as the lancers can charge your cavalry freely and will wreak havoc on any cavalry regiment holding the standard 3 rank cavalry formation. However, by having your cavalry adopt a column formation and face the enemy lancers head-on, any charge by the lancers at your cavalry will kill the first rank of horsemen (only 4 men with the deepest column formation), but leave the rest unscathed and ready to engage in melee which British cavalry have a chance at winning (do not counter-charge an incoming lancer charge though, or the momentum of your charge combined with the lancer's will send more ranks into the spears of the lancers, which is bad; just let the lancers come at you). You can do the same thing against infantry charges; if the enemy line comes charging down the hill and your own line cannot withdraw in time, form a column so that the bare minimum of men are hit by the charge.

Originally Posted by Keiichi

melee combat in TW games are still on basically simulating on a one-on-one basis

*Cough*

the Old Guard will have to defeat the regiment rank by rank

Hmmm... won't the Old Guard be likely to wrap around your column though, so you'll be having more men in flanked melee combat?

Columns are also effective for blunting the effectiveness of an enemy charge.

Hmmm, very good, never thought of that. Although I tend to not have time to form column if I see the enemy charging, my usual reaction is a countercharge.

Originally Posted by daniu

*Cough*

Oh dear, here, have a cough drop! While kill chances improve due to numbers, the fact remains that the kill animations still occur at a one-to-one basis, so anything that can help delay each following animation means the unit can last that bit longer in combat. In any case, if a unit is in a situation where they're so outnumbered that it becomes a factor in melee, that unit is doomed regardless (and probably should have been ordered to run ).

Hmmm... won't the Old Guard be likely to wrap around your column though, so you'll be having more men in flanked melee combat?

Indeed, and thus my qualifier "you don't want to form too deep a column or your risk getting enveloped by a single enemy unit." You don't necessarily need to form a column, just deeper ranks than the usual 2 rank norm.

Hmmm, very good, never thought of that. Although I tend to not have time to form column if I see the enemy charging, my usual reaction is a countercharge.

Yeah, I used to do the same but it's really the worst thing you can do (if your cavalry are non-lancers, that is). Even in a column, if a unit of dragoons tries to counter-charge lancers they can expect to lose a third of the unit. If they hold and take the hit, they lose the first, maybe the second rank (4 horsemen per rank) and then you can spread the unit out and order melee.