Friendly Fire

[Servius]

How does FF work in ETW?

Let's say you have 2 units, each 3 ranks deep, one behind the other, like this...

1111111111111
2222222222222
3333333333333


4444444444444
5555555555555
6666666666666

If they're on level ground, will Rank #4 shoot Rank #3 in the back? I have seen this happen, but seems maybe 2-3 FF kills per volley. Nothing like the pilum-in-the-back FF from RTW.

Without Fire by Rank or any of those other cool technologies, will any ranks besides 1 and 4 fire?

[Wausser]

When you have no techs at all, then only the front rank of a unit will fire IIRC

[littlejames]

On a similar note, if you have several units in a line with one unit slightly ahead engaged in melee combat with a single enemy unit (a cavalry unit for example). With the bulk of an enemy force advancing in line behind.

Will your line units shoot at the closest enemy unit (the cavalry unit engaged in melee with your advance unit) and risk friendly fire, or will they shoot at the advancing line.

[magnum]

In the case of artillery, they'll often shoot the engaged. One of the things that I've started to notice is that once a unit targets an enemy unit they stay focused on that unit. Doesn't matter if the enemy unit enters melee, routs or takes up firing positions. To get units to re-evaluate who they are firing at I've started to simply click the halt button. When you do that they re-acquire targets and so re-evaluate who they are firing at. They tend to avoid routing and engaged units when they are initially acquiring targets.

[Melvish]

Without Fire by Rank or any of those other cool technologies, will any ranks besides 1 and 4 fire?

Yes they can! ... On very special case only: in a slope the soldiers that have clear line of sight with the enemy (and are in range) will fire no matter how deep in the rank they are or how many units are in front of them. It makes high ground quite a strategic place.

You don't have to have any tech to do this.


Also note that units firing at units paced on the high groud and correctly placed in the low ground (not in a up hill slope) to have line of sight will also do this : I call that the Austerlitz setup.


I've notice that the firing unit ai is quite solid, they try not shooting their comrades if you tell them to shoot in a melee and they can successfully avoid major casualty if you position them right. If positioned behind a house only the soldier than have line of sight will shoot, no more pointless fire at wall. Also units positioned one behind another will not shoot the unit in front in the back... most of the time, so to be sure turn off auto fire for the second rank.

In the case of artillery it is quite another story, well that kind of paradoxal because it look like artillery use the same behavior than infantry, only problem is that a cannon is no sniping tool (cannister shot into a melee, outch...). So when thing get into melee switch off artillery and manually set the targets.

[Wausser]

lol thanks, didn´t knew that, I´ll definately gonna try it out