How do you use light infantry as screening force?

[gauch0]

Anyone have any tips on how to manage your light infantry if used as a screen in front of your main line? Won't your main line of infantry and artillery shoot them in the back? Do you need to turn off fire at will for the main line while the light infantry are out in front?

I tried using them a little bit in this way last night, but I wasn't understanding their usefulness, so I moved them back to the flanks to provide some concealed support against flanking cavalry. (I'm playing my first Great Britain campaign. In my Prussia campaign, which I finally won, I rarely used light infantry.)

[Fisherking]

Put them forward and hidden. Place them on skirmish of course and do turn off the fire at will for your main line.

I actually prefer to put them toward the flanks facing in. That way you don’t have to worry as much about the main line shooting them up.

[Marquis of Roland]

I use 4 units of light infantry in pretty much the same way I used peltasts in RTW. I don't really care if they get shot in the back (it doesn't happen too much, unless they happen to be standing up at the time, or on a reverse slope). I generally turn off skirmish mode and micro-manage it myself, it annoys me when they miss a volley by 1 second or so because they had to run away.

I used to use them on my flanks but found they attracted to much attention to my flanks. I have my best line units in the middle and, along with the riflemen, sucks the AI infantry into the center because they seem to be priority targets. Just makes it easier to flank later on with grenadiers or whatnot.

[Sheogorath]

If you hide them on the flanks, the enemy cavalry won't avoid them, and will attempt to run right through them.

If you turn on fire at will at just the right time, you can annihilate the enemies flanking force with minimal loss to yourself.

[Kraxis]

I actually found Light Infatry to be interesting to say the least.

In RTI I used those nice Rangers to hide out on my flanks, then rip the inevitable flankers to shreds, and finally swing in and rake the enemy with flanking fire. In particular I remember a fight with the French where I had two depleted line infantry engage two fresh french line infantry. Granted my men had a wall, so they would eventually have won. Trouble was just that I really needed them to win agianst the main french force which was perhaps losing, but it was giving my men a decidedly bad time.

Luckily I had a unit of Rangers nearby, so I ran them down and let them rip. In two volleys they had depleted the french enough to force a rout in one unit. The other unit crumbled fast after that.

It is exactly the deadly ranged capacity of the light infantry I use the most. I generally don't use skirmishing at all, nor even light infantry tactics, unless I'm attacking a position where the enemy won't budge from.
Of course you can't do it unless you have Fire by Ranks, vanilla fire is just not powerful enough.

I have had my lights rack up more kills than even my most experienced line infantry. In my main campaign as Prussia I have left Europe mostly alone after killing Poland, Denmark, Bavaria and Saxony. I have concentrated on America and India so I could get into some nasty wars in Europe. Too bad that Austria is stagnating, Würtemberg is beating France (has taken the second French province and is ravaging the French atlantic coast ), GB is being blocked by the French easily. And Spain is destitute due to being at war with everyone...

My massive Guard and Prussian Jäger (high hopes for them) army don't have any targets to test out against. I want a real challenge, but the AI seems dead set against allowing me proper enemies.

[Megas Methuselah]

My riflemen are able to fire a volley or two while ahead of the main line. Once the enemy starts closing in, I bring them behind the main line. After the big battle begins with my line infantry giving the enemy all they got and receiving the same response in return, I bring my riflemen around to the flanks and let them fire at will. Be sure to keep a couple units of line in reserve, in case something goes wrong.

[Kraxis]

That's usually the job of my Grenadiers. Their strong melee (and morale) and grenades makes them awesome as gap-pluggers. And their musketry shouldn't be discounted either, their are pretty powerful in ranged combat too. I used to use them as escorts for my light infantry. If nothing happened they would both unload into the flanks with devastating results.

While one ca argue their volleys aren't as powerful as a line unit, their smaller size does allow them to fire that much faster after changing positions.

[Marquis of Roland]

I would also like to add that with the current light infantry bug where they don't face forward makes it a little bit harder to control them on the flanks.