Early game battle tactics

[al Roumi]

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.

[Turbosatan]

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.