Firearm based armies?

[Mangudai]

1) What are good ways to employ firearm infantry units?

2) What fraction of a stack should be firearms?

3) What is the proper depth for firearms?

4) If the enemy closes with your formation and the flanks are unsafe, do gunners have to sit in time out?

[supadodo]

. The best way to use firearm armies is to incorporate them with pikes. Normally you should have 2 pikeman units for every 1 firearm unit. Some cavalry is needed if the enemy has other range units. If the faction has no pikemen, spearmen or hvy infantry works fine too though they are more susceptible to cavalry charges.

. Fireams units should be deployed in 2 deep rows to maximize their firing rate.

. Deploy firearm units in the front of pikemen at the start and only move them back behind the spear wall when enemies close in. Put your gunners in f.a.w off and micro them to snipe any the units who are not engaged yet or better yet, snipe the enemy general.

. Never engage your gunners in melee, even if their defense and melee are good, they will still sustain heavy casualties. Use cavalry to take out flankers and retreat your gunners or better yet, place pikemen on your flanks and rear to form a box.

. Hope this helps.

[KyodaiSteeleye]

Depending on the situation, i've used gunners very effectively as an 'enfilade' group on the wing - especially if the enemy is keen to charge you - you can keep a continuous fire rate into his flank as his infantry units move forward to charge yours. More often than not a couple will route before they get there. Take skirmish mode off. You need to have some backup for your gunners, I usually use my Heavy Cav to ward off any enemy cav charges. If individual enemy infantry units try to charge the the gunners, often as not they will think again and run the other way before they get to engage.

[Per Ole]

One thing I've done in forest battles is to place the army in a |_| formation before the battle. IE: Arqebustiers or musketeers on the sides and your main infantry in the middle rear. This way, your gunpowder infantry stays hidden when the enemy approaches your inf.

The enemy will most often rout when you tell your gunpowder troops to stop hiding and start firing on the flanks/rear of the enemy army.

This is also very effective if you don't have/like cavalry, becouse when the enemy runs your gunpowder troops can just "fold" in and take the ones fleeing as POW

[Mangudai]

It seems they fill a very niche role, and one or two units is enough for the rare times they are helpful. They're main role being standoff, out of archer range and compel the enemy to advance. Certainly they would be great defending walls or bridges, but offensively?

Yes they can do well on the flanks, or out of ambush. But so can woodsmen and just about everything else.

I've tried custom battles with 8 firearm infantry in a "thin red line"... the sort of tactics that were common from 1700-1900 AD, and this doesn't work. It's possible to beat a similar value AI army on open terrain, buts it's definitely a phyrric victory.

[Flavius Gonzo]

In my own experience, firearms cause a lot fewer (perhaps none at all) friendly fire deaths. I think it's much safer with firearms to have them firing over top of other units, which is counter-intuitive. (The only thing I'm not sure of is if there's a damage penalty for this, but it seems effective in my experience.)

This means that you can deploy with spears/pikes/heavy inf in front of your gunners. It also means you can deploy gunners behind other gunners with good effect.

Generally though, you have to deploy firearms units in lines of two or the reloading can get screwed up.

Also, the better musketeers, such as Russian Cossak Muskets and Turkish Jannissary Muskets can even hold their own in a cavalry charge, definitely long enough to bring in support cav from the flanks or rear. You'll take losses in this case but the units won't rout instantly when charged like many missle units.

Having said all that, I find that a setup like this can destroy most armies, even holding it's own against Timurids:

LHH--IFFFI--HHL
---GFF-I-FFG---
------AA-------

L = light or missle cav
H = heavy cav
I = Heavy inf/spears/pikes
F = firearms
A = artillery, ideally with range advantage
G = General's Bodyguard

Of course, this setup relies on engaging the enemy from a distance. It's cavalry heavy which becomes useful in destroying other enemy cavalry or missles that separate from the enemy's main lines. If the enemy decides to stay grouped and wait for your attack, it can be very effective to pull the left or right firearm "linebackers" out to one of the enemy flanks to provide enfilade fire.

Your own mileage may vary. There are some situations where this setup will not be effective, however, such as attacking uphill through a forest, or assaulting walls.