i find the gatlings quite devastating if used right, obviously really only good in defence or in attack when assaulting a castle as mentioned above, especially useful if the besieged enemy has reinforcements coming and u can set up the gatlings to cover the entrance they will use. If using in defence in a field battle and i have a line of battle which i usually do it is well worth going first person on the gatling guns so u can personally mow down any cav that is trying to get to your gats too quick (not to mention a hell of a lot of fun!!!), u have to be careful of the terrain though when u set them up as it can be difficult to see what your shooting at in first person when the enemy is quite far away. massed cannon in defence on field battle can do crazy amounts of damage b4 the enemy even gets near and then one round of rifles on kneel ability and they are off on their toes. it can get a little boring though when it gets like this i find. plenty of cannon when assaulting castles is a must also if u want to save your men, i let em have it till ive run out of ammo( which can be a while if u bring foreign vets which can increase your ammo)and then go in and mop up, a few times there have barely been any units left to fight when i have assaulted!