Early game battle tactics

One of the biggest changes in Patch 3 (ETW v1.2) was arguably the rise in recruitment and upkeep cost of line infantry units. At the begininning of the game, i find i am unable to recruit many of them in one go, meaning my early armies (first 10-15 turns) are invariably composed of a mix of pike, militia and line infantry -with a little cavalry and some fixed arty.

Mid/late game tactics with full brigades of infantry, including light, line and grenadier companies abound, but the early game is somewhat under-discussed. I'd be interested to know what other players do as for me, it's the period of the game where the risks are highest and the benefits of getting an early campaign advantage over your rivals can be telling.

Below is an image of a typical early game formation -artillery would be positioned behind or to the side of the main line -on a hill or other suitable terrain.

http://img226.imagevenue.com/loc340/..._122_340lo.JPG
Key:
Red box = Pike
Blue line = militia / line infantry
Green box = cavalry (favouring cold-steel weapons)
Black box = general

In the very early game i tend to under-use artillery (at least untill i can recruit 12lber foot arty) and build my battle line around "anchoring" pike companies.

Borrowing from an excellent infantry guide on TWC, I form militia and line infantry units into a double rank formation (each company 2 men deep) such that after firing a volley, the unit in front can either be withdrawn behind or leapfrogged by the second line, in a crude immitation of rank firing or even fire and advance. Just remember to turn off fire at will for the units at the back!

Their flank shielded by pikemen (and cavalry) isolates the threat to militia/line infantry to the front -placing the enemy at the end of their gunsights.

Having no offensive capacity (other than a useless charge with side weapons), the Pikes should act as strong points around which your other infantry and cavalry maneuvre. Drawing the enemy onto a pike wall or square presents the opportunity for flank fire from infantry and cavalry charges (although be carefull not to kill your own troops on the pikes or in the charge).

The pikemen need to be watched carefully, their formation (square or wall) should of course be in function of their position in the line (Square more likely on the end of the line) -but most importantly that of the enemy and their attacking intentions.

The obvious weakness of this formation and plan comes from cavalry charges against militia/line inf head-on, in between pike companies. Despite being able to get one volley off, 2/3 or 3/4 of the attacking cav will likely crash into your first line; the only positive of this is that with the inf spread out, the cav will not be able to engage and charge the whole company as they can when the inf are in a more compact formation. Researching the square formation helps counter this though.

I've personaly found this formation and tactic very usefull against American indians, prior to the development of bayonnets or rank fire -and now without the ability to build forts in their territory.

Any other ideas or comments on this?

While i appear to be talking to myself here (it's refreshing to experience such enlightened discource), I might just mention that the above army correlates exactly with GB's available starting troops in Europe... Scary coincidence I know, but in my games I have been in the habit of shipping them off as an expeditionary force asap. As such, I've played the formation against Cherokee, Moroccan and US armies.

For colonial purposes, I've used Natives in the centre with any pike I can get, militia & colonial line formed up in a single line on each of the wings, with fixed cannon behind. THe plan is to entice the enemy to melee with my centre whilst I shoot them to death from the wings. If charged by cavalry I have to throw the pike forward to entice the horsies to charge at them, then quickly form them into the pike square thing.

Any skirmishers are obviously used to bait the enemy into coming into my firing deathzone.

Cavalry waits behind the wings in case of flanking or to deliver the death blow to wavering enemies...

Sorry this is so brief but I've found it effective, particularly if you can persuade a couple of enemy units to peel off from their formation & chase your skirmishers back to your waiting army.

Despite what everyone says, several (at least three or four) fixed cannon firing at once can devastate enemy morale.