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Thread: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

  1. #1
    Incendio's Avatar Semisalis
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    Default Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    Do you know successful military tactics for both land battles or naval battles in Empire Total War? After doing again the game tutorial I have to say I didn't learn anything about military tactics! Besides the very basics knowledge of this game of using square formations against cavalry or chasing retreating infantry units with cavalry to cause more fatalities and lower the enemy morale, and also positioning my troops using terrain advantage in heights (as was usual in this period warfare), I would like to know other advanced tactics that can be applied in this game, also for naval combat. I would appreciate if someone can give me further advice. I don't find tutorial any useful in this regard.

  2. #2
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    It depends - which faction are you using, who are you fighting, which stage of the campaign are you in and are you using mods?

    Here are a few general suggestions to get the discussion going - I'm sorry if I'm telling you things you already know.

    As you said, terrain is important. Units can often hide in woods and woods provide a bit of cover from ranged fire.

    Flanking can be very effective. If the enemy infantry are in a long line, exchanging fire with your line infantry, and if you can get light infantry are firing along that line from an edge, the enemy are likely to take a lot of casualties. (Some factions can recruit light infantry in the early campaign, at least in North America and others can't - however, most should be able to at least recruit Native Musketmen Auxiliaries in the Americas). Stretching your infantry more thinly (for example, two deep instead of three, or three deep instead of four) reduces casualties and makes it easier to flank the enemy. Stretching your lines more thinly can feel like an exploit, and perhaps it is. However, as I understand it, historical generals sometimes did this - General Wolfe formed his infantry into "two-deep thin red lines" at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, for example (source).

    Cavalry are usually effective when used in rear or flanking charges or against infantry who are moving. Cavalry can usually destroy enemy artillery, which can force the enemy to advance towards you (if you have artillery and they don't), allowing you to trap them as they advance. Your artillery can work well as the point of a 'V' shape (with line infantry along the two sides of the V), drawing the enemy towards your cannon where they'll come into the cross-fire of your infantry and be blasted by canister shot, a devastating combination.

    If the enemy have artillery and your cavalry can't reach them (for example because the enemy guns are protected by infantry or superior enemy cavalry), you could move all or most of your army to attack one flank of the enemy. Look carefully at the ground - is there a shallow ridge, hill or forest which could protect your marching troops from enemy artillery fire?

    For sea battles, I like to bring a mixture of heavier and lighter ships (such as a mix of frigates and sloops in the early game, or ships of the line and frigates in the late game). I generally have two ways of dealing with a sea battle. One way is to engage the enemy at close range with roundshot in a general melee, concentrating two or three of my ships on one of theirs (until it surrenders, flees, sinks or explodes) and then target another. The other way is to sail my ships back and forth along a line, firing chain shot to cause a 'logjam' of enemy ships which can't move and then using round shot or grapeshot until they surrender. I don't usually try to board enemy vessels - it's more effective to keep firing until they surrender. However, boarding can be a useful way to put a major enemy ship out of action for a short time, at a crucial point. For example, if the enemy has one Second Rate ship ofthe line and a pair of frigates, while I have two Fourth Rates and a pair of frigates, then I could use one Fourth Rate to board the Second Rate (it probably won't win, but it will prevent the Second Rate from doing anything else for a while) while my other Fourth Rate and frigates defeat the enemy frigates. Then my remaining ships can all attack the Second Rate (probably by sailing ahead of it to stay out of its left and right firing arcs, turning occasionally to fire chain-shot and then, when the enemy battleship can't move, closing into rake it until it surrenders.)
    Last edited by Alwyn; May 28, 2019 at 09:56 AM.

  3. #3
    Incendio's Avatar Semisalis
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    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    Hi Alwyn,

    That are really good tactics, thank you for the detailed advice. Do you have any recommendation as to which faction is a good choice to start a campaign and put your advice in practice?

  4. #4
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    Hi Incendio,

    You're welcome! I suggest Britain, France or Spain. They all have a strong base in Europe, overseas colonies and, in effect, a 'client state' in the Americas (the Thirteen Colonies, New France and New Spain) which will fully re-join your faction if you meet the objectives of capturing certain regions. They all have access to some great units both in Europe and the Americas, including early access to light infantry in the Americas. (Of course, you can send those early light infantry to Europe by ship, giving your European armies an early advantage). Any of these three countries can become very wealthy by developing plantations in the Americas (this requires research as well as upgrading the relevant buildings), especially if you negotiate a few trade agreements and have a fleet protecting your main trade port in your home region.

    I mentioned some of the things I enjoyed in a France campaign in my 10th anniversary review of Empire. (I discuss faction selection in the review, too). As France, you face the threat of enemy warships blockading your northern trade port, which could ruin your economy. For me, the solution was to replace that trade port with a fishing port, to put militia in my northern ports to prevent enemy landings, to research technologies allowing me to expand my southern (Mediterranean) trade port and to defend that southern trade port from the Barbary pirates with a fleet. As France, I concentrated initially on defending my homeland while gradually expanding in north America, and expanding in Europe after I had defeated the Iroquois and British in America. With any faction, my view is that it's best to expand initally in one part of the campaign map (and fight defensively elsewhere) until you have a large empire. (Of course, other players might have different preferences or better strategies!)

    Britain offers plenty of opportunities for naval warfare (you'll need to protect the trade ports in your home regions) and colonial expansion. Their military port is unusually well-developed, as they can build Fourth Rate ships of the line from the start. Historically, as I understand it, all major European countries were already building ships of the line in the 17th century, before the campaign began, and British designs lagged behind those of the French navy for some time in the 1700s.

    Spain has some attractive advantages including galleons, which are both trade ships and powerful warships (watch out for the Caribbean pirates, they may send fleets of galleons but their islands are vulnerable to attack on land) and a good selection of light infantry. Regions in north Africa tend to be easy to capture (the factions holding them tend to have weak infantry), but hard to hold (rebellions often happen). You may want to take the north African regions to prevent the Barbary pirates from bothering you anymore. if you do this, it's best to bring a religious agent (or several) and to build religious buildings when you can, to reduce resistance to occupation.

    I'm sorry if I'm telling you things you already know. Good luck, I hope you enjoy your campaign. If you'd like to write about your experiences, you'd be welcome to create an AAR of your campaign in the Writers' Study. (An AAR can be written like a novel, but it doesn't have to be, it can simply be a report of the strategies and tactics you used and how they worked.)
    Last edited by Alwyn; June 04, 2019 at 12:22 PM.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    Dammit, paintbrush crashed from the strain...I'm on small laptop without ETW, so I have to try ASCII art.

    Land battles: for European factions that depend on artillery and infantry, the deployment is like this:


    C
    \
    L
    /
    G
    \
    L
    /
    G
    \
    L
    /
    G
    \
    L
    /
    C


    Legend:
    Enemy ----------->
    G-guns (direct fire artillery)
    /, \ -line infantry, possibly grenadiers on flanks
    L-light infantry
    C-cavalry

    There should also be a couple of howitzers, mortars or rocket troops behind your infantry to provide indirect fire support.

    The essence of this formation are three "artillery V's", joined by light infantry, which should be slightly recessed, so their firing arc is jsut about wedged between the surrounding line infantry regiments. This provides safety to exposed flanks of line infantry, while anyone trying to charge the light infantry gets mostly stuck on line infantry. By simply altering angles between the troops, it's possible to create line, convex or concave arrangement of your main battle line. This plan is based on overwhelming firepower, so your cavalry takes the backseat and is used mostly for short sorties, pursuing routers and as mobile reserve.

    For naval battles, I found that squadrons of more than four or five ships get too unwieldy and tend to get entagled with the enemy. Also, do not mix ships of different speed or maneuverability within one squadron. I tend to build my fleets along this composition: main line-4x 1st rate, heavy 1st rate, 2nd rate or 3rd rate, second line 5x 3rd or 4th rate, in light fleets sometimes heavy frigate types, then frigate wing, 5-6x frigate of choice, and sometimes squadron of auxiliary ships.

    Deploy as much leeward (opposite to direction of the wind) as possible, so enemy has to sail against the wind. Main line tries to position itself along the enemy line, as does second line, but farther out, firing through the gaps between first line, and eventually goes to crosss the T. Frigates should load chain shot and slow down the enemy by firing at max range, eventually crossing the T, disabling the lead enemy ships and then pursue the routers.

  6. #6
    Bran Mac Born's Avatar Artifex
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    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    Move in close and shoot up

  7. #7

    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    I managed to find an old screenie with my deployment...although it's from the mod with increased unit sizes. At ETW vanilla, IMO it's best to deploy cavalry in two lines, line infantry in three and light infantry in four.


  8. #8
    Incendio's Avatar Semisalis
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    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    Thank you for your advice. I am interested in a campaign with Spain. What's the best strategy to play with Spain? I see too many territories to protect/focus on.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    It's been quite a while so I'm rusty on details, but IIRC your best bet is to trade those territories off for something that you can hold better- Corsica and Carribean islands are best candidates. Do that on turn one-diplomacy is very weird in ETW, so save before trading and see what gets you best gain. Remember that after you end first turn, your king will die, launching war of spanish succession. Anyway, after doing the right trades, your best bet is to focus on navy, hit the Carribean hard to wipe out pirates and absorb New Spain through mission.
    Last edited by Sar1n; June 05, 2019 at 08:57 PM.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    Ill be the butthole in this situation:

    19 line infantry and a general.

    Of course i hear you say "Where is your arty? And cavalry? You maniac noob!", but trust me.

    Line infantry are, first of all, incredibly powerful overall, and become quite broken once you can get Fire-By-Rank against infantry (FBR does NOT work against cavalry; your units will only fire a sporadic volley upon seeing cavalry in range). Second of all, their morale is excellent for being only the standard units in the game. Third, in a wide extended line, even before FBR, they can destroy most enemy units, arty/cav or not. Let me tell you why:

    1.- Line infantry in extended, 3 deep lines across the map become a firing squad. The only way to counter them is with an equal amount of light infantry, and even then their slow load rate is what eventually makes them only partially useful. Any enemy unit, be it cavalry or infantry, moving forward to engage will have to endure three volleys of fire that can usually decimate them. Even if cavalry does engage in melee from the front or side there is no guarantee of victory either way.

    2.- With extended lines, cannon become a mere nuisance. The biggest problem in ETW is how weak artillery is (this was retconned in NTW where an army without arty is utterly useless), and in extended lines their cannon wont do much versus your thin ranks.

    3.- "But your lines are weak! They can overwhelm your middle!" Yes, they can, and extremely rarely, they do, and that is something really good for me. The units on the flanks can simply face both left and right and rake the flanks of the enemy who is about to break or already broke the middle. The middle can regroup and then push towards the now outflanked enemy center.

    4.- With extended lines, your own line infantry can overwhelm the shorter enemy line by outflanking it. Im no ASCII artist, but here is a small display:

    G
    CC CC

    cav cav cav
    I I
    I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
    I I
    IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

    G

    Where Blue is my enemy and Red is I, the enemy has already more than likely engaged your middle with cavalry and infantry, while my extended front with 3 or 4 line infantry begin to box in the enemy. As the enemy flanks begin to get wiped out, more infantry move upwards from the front into the flanks, now resembling the crescent moon of Cannae:



    G
    I CC CC I

    I cav I
    I I
    I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
    I I
    IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

    G

    Eventually, the northeastern and northwesternmost units converge on the rear of the enemy, who has by now more than likely failed his central attack and has few reserves left, get onto the rear of the enemy and form a line right behind them. the units on the flanks close in while the units in the center start to redeploy to more effective locations in the middle. Finally, the enemy is now in a box, with no chance of escape. In the worst case scenario, the enemy has already started to flee with some forces, but the bulk of the enemy army is now destroyed.

    I I I I I I I I I
    I Gx I
    I
    I
    I I cav I I
    I I I I I I I I
    I I I I I I I I I I I I I
    I I
    IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

    G

    EDIT: The ascii part doesnt work, how lame.
    Last edited by eugenioso; July 03, 2019 at 09:06 AM. Reason: ASCII art doesnt work
    Quote Originally Posted by Jean=A=Luc View Post
    What the hell is wrong with you people?

  11. #11

    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    I actually don't disagree. I've abandoned artillery completely. With Russia my cavalry consist of the mounted Strelki who give garrison bonus and are cheap. The rest of the army is infantry. As much line as I can find and the rest cossacks. Grenadiers are useful even ion vanilla, and become much better in mods.

    Tactically I like to force defensive engagements, ideally with field works. So rather than attacking a field army, try to attack a town ans siege it, forcing them to attack me. That way i can hide units and they are usually tired or worse by the time they reach my lines. Deploy behind a rise to nullify their artillery and bring out your cavalry to run down broken units or charge engaged units from the rear. In other armies I use provincial cavalry. They are cheap too but lack the policing bonus.

    As far as deploying, I use a big long line with a couple units help back in reserve. Usually grenadiers if i have them. I turn off their firing to avoid friendly fire and just charge them into melee usually. Or you can switch out units in the main like between waves of enemy.

    Navy I mostly avoid, but it usually involves sloops running around the map edge till the timer runs out.

  12. #12

    Default Re: Military tactics for Empire Total War?

    For land battles, bring cannon. Second, be sure you have reserves. What I mean by that is units (usually line infantry) deployed behind your main line, but ready to be moved to where they're needed. My full stack armies are usually 4 artillery (12 pounders non-horse seem to be good all-around), 8 line infantry, 2 howitzers, 5 cavalry (regiments of horse, old all-around cavalry, possibly replacing one of them with heavy cavalry), and a general. The biggest effect a general has, in my experience, is the accumulated morale bonuses from multiple battles.

    I typically deploy like this:


    C L L
    C A
    G H L
    L L A --the line infantry are the width of both center batteries together-
    A
    H L
    C A
    C L L

    Where C=cavalry, L=line infantry, A=cannons, H=howitzers, and G= general (it doesn't matter which side you put him on.)
    With the 5th cavalry preferably hiding in some woods well off to one side or the other, to get behind the enemy to either destroy artillery or run down the first fleeing units.

    Expect your "flank reserve" line infantry to usually be used to extend your line farther. An enemy line infantry engaged in front, if attacked by medium or heavily caverly in the flank and rear, normally breaks and runs. Be sure to get fire by rank as soon as possible, and make canister shot the first tech you research. Rank firing line infantry and plenty of canister combine to make the above an almost unbreakable defense and killing field.

    For naval battles, I usually rely on bringing more bigger ships to the fight. Naval battles tend to fall into two basic types - chain shot maximize prize money, and round shot be sure to win.

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