Quote Originally Posted by Ulstan
They did this right up to the American Civil War, then discovered that Napoleon era tactics with rifled muskets meant mass carnage.

Certainly for the time period the game covers massed infantry is entirely appropriate.

The british were really the only power that favored the long thin lines of troops - other nations would go for more heavily massed formations. See the endless debates over the british line vs french column formations during the napoleonic wars.
Uhm no. A battalion in column were not meant for exchanging fire. It was not used like that in Age of Reason, Napoleonic Wars nor American Civil War.

The Brits used lines and columns pretty much like everyone else did at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The main difference was a more extensive use of 2 rank than 3 rank line.

For more general info:
http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/in..._tactics_4.htm

And about line versus column
http://www.napoleon-series.org/milit...a/c_maida.html


CBR