trenches/stakes not working right?

[Prussian to the Iron]

for some reason my trenches/stakes will only go about 40 men long. i am playing on ultra unit size, and i get really pissed when im trying to defend and only half my front line has stakes or trenches in front. is there any way to get the trenches/stakes to cover my whole line?

on a sidenote, why are they called trenches? they are really just slanted walls, and sometimes my troops behind them get on top of them and do nothing, while the enemy shoots them.

[Negative]

As another interesting point, don't run your cannons over the trench walls. Every time I do the horses fall (I guess that's what happened) and the whole unit dies.

[Prussian to the Iron]

actually, i havent gotten to use horse artillery yet :\

[Mr Frost]

...on a sidenote, why are they called trenches? they are really just slanted walls...

They should be called berms , given that is what they actually are .

As for the specific issue , they really seem to not want folk playing at the unit scales that are possible {300 men per unit seems to be confirmed by one mod thus far} . The entrenchments and stakes should increase in maximum length not merely with each increase in scale setting {small to ultra} but rather by actual individual unit size {with 3 ranks as default} .

If the game has no trouble keeping track of individual soldiers number of kills {and from previous T.W.s , the type of unit killed given M.T.W. scored differently for at least 2 different unit types killed and also for captures when determining experience} , the age of at least the captain in each unit and then of cource the number of troops at that time and movement points of each unit on the campaign map ... then surely it could simply access this information for troop numbers at the start of the battle without straing a computer thus far able to run the game , divide that number by 3 and permit a berm or such of a length tailored for each specific unit .

[Callahan9119]

I only use medium units, so I have never noticed an over extension of units vs. structure length.

I find all of the defensive structures mostly useless though, as I normally have to leave that area anyway.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

How do yo build those defenses? I have only seen scirmishers who are able to put up stakes.

[Megas Methuselah]

How do yo build those defenses? I have only seen scirmishers who are able to put up stakes.

You can only do this if your army is dug in; on the campaign map, this is represented by your army having a small ring of stakes sorrounding it. To attain this, your army must remain immobile for a couple turns, and must be fightin a defensive battle.

Once that battle is in play, your troops (not all of them) may be able to build these defenses in the deployment phase.

[loony]

I love trenches.
Last night destroyed 2 full stacks of enemies losing like 2 or three units...
You have to make them where you expect to be involved in a shooting match; i.e. when the enemy attacks with low melee stat units and you just don't see going to melee as a viable option (they have a lot of cav?). Then the barricades are a life saver.

The best part is that dug-in artillery does not get killed by the enemy sniper artillery

[pevergreen]

As for the specific issue , they really seem to not want folk playing at the unit scales that are possible {300 men per unit seems to be confirmed by one mod thus far}

Yes to the first part.

The largest unit size I've seen is about 12000. In a single unit.

[Sheogorath]

I love trenches.
Last night destroyed 2 full stacks of enemies losing like 2 or three units...
You have to make them where you expect to be involved in a shooting match; i.e. when the enemy attacks with low melee stat units and you just don't see going to melee as a viable option (they have a lot of cav?). Then the barricades are a life saver.

The best part is that dug-in artillery does not get killed by the enemy sniper artillery

Artillery fortifications are amazingly effective against enemy guns, both the AI's and your own.

The best way to deal with the AI arty is to lure them away somehow and rush them with cheap cavy, provincial horse are good. Cheap and expendable (as cavalry go), so you don't regret losing them on a suicide mission. General's Bodyguard, with their general lost, also work fine.

[coalition]

Trenches are ideal for World War 1 fanatics.

[Mr Frost]

Yes to the first part.

The largest unit size I've seen is about 12000. In a single unit.

I've seen a picture of 5 or more "Megaunits" with 9,500 men {line infantry} but I though they were only C.A. specials for publicity .

If the maximum limit is now gone {or so high , it might as well be} that could be very interesting for the more powerful computers and bode especially well for E.B. III {which would benifit from playing on the certainly far more powerful machine of several years from now} as the more you increase the troop numbers/unit sizes in a battle , the more realistically that battle plays {especially when the stats and movement speeds are modded to more realistic values} .



P.S. I wonder if the size of battle field is moddable ? They certainly could do with being a bit bigger {absolutely so for naval battles with realistic ship handling and ship resilliance as currently both fleets would end up mashed against the leeward edge of the map} .

[Didz]

How do you change unit sizes?

It used to be in the graphic options, but I can't remember seeing it there in this version.

[Prussian to the Iron]

it is still in graphic options, but rather than "huge" it is replaced with ultra.

[JRCDave]

I am playing on ultra with 160 men in the line units. My stakes do not cover the whole unit if I use them. I usually put some horses on the wings to cover flanks and with rank fire, I can usually decimate a cavalry charge. I had two line units stop two 60 men cavalry units easily before they came into melee range. I mean wiped out to less than 5 men each. I usually pull the Longstreet tactic of finding the best high ground and make them come to me. Works well if you are outnumbered.

[Prussian to the Iron]

i have found the rank fire tactic to be extremely useful. i had 1 unit of line infantry versus i think 7 or 8 austrian 200 man line infrantry. needless to say my entire unit was decimated, especially because i had no trenches, but every man i had killed 1 man, and 6 klled 2. in the 18th century thats a damn good ratio, especially considering 23 survived.