Fire by rank vs Platoon fire

[Marquis of Roland]

Fire by rank is the single most important battle tech you can research in the whole game. Without it your line infantry is pretty worthless.

Btw, only 3 ranks fire.

[al Roumi]

I'd like to jump on the bandwagon here and proclaim myself a heartfelt supproter of FbR (Fire by Rank). It not only marks a sea change in my battle deployment and tactics, it's also a death knell for most Militia units I have.

Would it be fair to say that the shift from FbR to platoon fire actually weakens elite unit's musket fire?

If so, that no sort of supression fire mechanic exists in ETW (as it does in Company of Heroes, for example) begs the question as to why CA bothered to include it?

[AussieGiant]

I'd say the boys at CA are going to get around to important gameplay mechanics like this in future patches.

Can someone confirm, that Platoon Fire is only for elite units? Not Line Units?

[al Roumi]

Grenadiers, Guards and other elite line-type infantry (Infanterie petits vieux, coldstream guards etc) can use the platoon fire drill once it has been researched.

AussieGiant, your unswerving faith in CA to "deliver the goods" and live up to expectations never ceases to amaze me.

[antisocialmunky]

How does platoon fire work against cav? I mean, Cav can just wait until someone eats a fire by rank but Platoon fire is a little more tricky.

[al Roumi]

How does platoon fire work against cav? I mean, Cav can just wait until someone eats a fire by rank but Platoon fire is a little more tricky.

FbR unloads the same number of muskets faster and in a more concentrated dose than platoon fire. It should therefore be quicker to inflict maximum damage on charging cavalry than platoon fire.

Whether there is a greater morale hit for being under supressing fire or taking casualties quickly should determine when/how likely a rout is.

I'm not certain if this is true but FbR may be more flexible vis-a-vis the position of the target, as it's possible each rank updates its target as it comes ot fire. That could be true (and should be) of each platoon in the platoon firing drill though...

[AussieGiant]

So Platoon Fire is only for Elite units. That means Line Regiments stay on fire by rank.

Keep that in mind.

@ alh_p, I'll stay optimistic until the patching is finished. I'm sure there are going to be never statisfied but if we are approximately 50% of the way through the patching work then there are a lot more things to be resolved...a lot.

I'd call my approach pretty measured at this point.

[antisocialmunky]

FbR unloads the same number of muskets faster and in a more concentrated dose than platoon fire. It should therefore be quicker to inflict maximum damage on charging cavalry than platoon fire.

Whether there is a greater morale hit for being under supressing fire or taking casualties quickly should determine when/how likely a rout is.

I'm not certain if this is true but FbR may be more flexible vis-a-vis the position of the target, as it's possible each rank updates its target as it comes ot fire. That could be true (and should be) of each platoon in the platoon firing drill though...

No, I mean that fire by rank can be baited out of all their shots while platoon fire can't.

Would be nice to have a button to toggle platoon firing.

[Dead Guy]

I'd say the boys at CA are going to get around to important gameplay mechanics like this in future patches.

Can someone confirm, that Platoon Fire is only for elite units? Not Line Units?

My source for this information is the in battle unit card of dutch republican guard and line infantry, as well as observing their behavior in battle. With both relevant techs researched, of course. Though blind faith is never good, I've never, that I can recall, seen false information posted by FactionHeir, so there's further proof :p