Quote Originally Posted by Slaists View Post
I've noticed that too: double/single ranked line men (and even militia) are deadly in the early game against the AI; so deadly that I even feel it's an exploit since the AI never uses such thin formation. Think of it this way: 120 men 3 rows deep would fire 40 bullets in a salvo; the same 120 men stretched out to the maximum (the game would not allow 120 men in single file so there is about 1/3 unit 'second line' leftover if a unit is stretched out to the max) fire 80 or so bullets in a salvo. 80 bullets hitting a 120 men AI unit cause almost an instantaneous rout. If not on that salvo, then on the next...
I've not noticed it routing units in one salvo, but I've only been using 2man depth.

I suppose it is an exploit, but it's not really much more than a maneuvre -sheltering reloading troops behind an advancing firing line. Given the ammount of micro involved in rank rotation(if you have more than 2 groups firing at once) I think it's fair enough. Plus it's like actually calling the fire drill yourself