Quote Originally Posted by Forward Observer
Regardless of what you do, you have to select a target, or if you have the "fire at will" option on, a target has to come into range before your unit will go through the loading animations. In the field, with a fast approaching enemy this this can prevent one from getting off one or more critical extra shots before having to engage in hand to hand.
I think this is a carry-over from RTW, since we have a mix of the older wooden tension/torsion machines and gunpowder cannons in the new game. Wooden artillery isn't something you'd move around the battlefield in a "cocked' position, and they probably couldn't be held in that state for very long, considering the relative frailty of those devices. A ballista or trebuchet must have been a scary thing to stand anywhere near, when it was pulled back and ready to fire. Maybe there just wasn't enough CPU cycles to spare for a separate fire-then-load cycle for the gunpowder units in the game, or for a separate load-and-hold command for the older stuff, before the enemy gets in range.

It does screw up the use of handheld weapons too... musketeers being forced to move-then-load because that's how archers have to work, etc. So yes, if CA does a Napoleonic version of TW (which I wouldn't personally enjoy, due to less melee combat) they're going to have to change the way this works.

On the "fire on area" command: I like it in principle, but it might mess with the game balance. It's one of those things that the player could use far more effectively than the AI, since the player can easily recognize choke points, anticipate where a predictable AI is going to send its units, etc. It's about all the AI can do to recognize which unit should be targeted with artillery, and use a direct "hit that unit" command. So while I like the idea, I don't think the AI could handle it... at least in the current version, since it can't handle so many other things. It might end up just making the tactical battles easier than they already are. It would be great for multiplayer though, and maybe that's enough reason to put it on a request list.