best way to shoot a gun

[s_tabikha]

How can i get my muskeeters to
1.All fire are once

2. Unit holds formations while 1st line runs to the rear rank and reloads?

[WhiskeyGhost]

Volley/Barrage modes would be nice, but with the way the gunners act right now with all the lining up and such nonsense, it would just make it even harder to get em to do what you want.

I personally just hit Guard mode then turn off Fire at Will, then wait till i know all my gunners are in range. Works to a similar effect.


edit: oh, and that rotation thing i believe some of them did that if i recall right, but it always ticked me off cause they would slowly be moving backwards due to it (kinda like Xbows on walls, how they end up smooshed against the inner side)

[Guru]

Put the skirmish mode on and set the gunners up in the 2-rank formation. The first rank fires and then kneels to reload while the second rank fires. It works pretty well. Deleting the "fire by rank" trait in the units text file has the same effect as having skirmish mode on, I've heard. You'll need to unpack the files to get your hands on the units file.

Pull the trigger.
Guru

[uruk-hai]

yes puting on skirmish mode helps a lot,+ you guns unit fire faster and may get in a lot more kills.no there is no way to get them all to fire at once,would maybe cool if we could.

[Shahed]

Volley fire HAS to be there in E:TW.

[Spajus]

Volley fire HAS to be there in E:TW.

ETW should really be about speed of volley, range and accuracy.
Charge, Defence etc really shouldn't matter a damn.


(unless you're playing as Zulu's)

[ReiseReise]

Arranging your gunners surely is a puzzle. If you have them in the flanks, maybe it isn't such a big deal, but if they are in your front line you definitely want them to be the most effective. What I recommend is to play around with them in Custom Battles to figure out their firing patterns. Something like 3 Armoured Sergeants vs 2 Arquebusiers or whatever you faction gets is a good place to start. Play 5 or so battles and see which formations get the most kills. I forget how the whole Skirmish mode/ Hold position thing works, but one combination makes them rotate through the ranks more effectively.

Note: I usually finish campaigns before gunpowder, so most of my experience is in Custom Battle (I don't play MP). This is when you have enemy infantry charging directly at your guns, expect to take some losses before your line can move up and the gunners can withdraw.

3 ranks deep: This is the fastest firing. The back row will get reloaded just in time to move up to the front and fire. 4 ranks in unnecessary because A) it takes longer for the back row to move up, and B) you will have only 15 guns firing instead of 20.

2 ranks deep: They will fire two volleys then pause slightly. Since there are more men in the front line the 2 volleys will be more powerful (30 firing vs 20 firing), however timing is important. You cannot start them on Fire At Will because they will fire the first volley at long (inaccurate) range and then the second at medium range, then they will pause when the enemy is really close (prime firing position!) You have to time it perfectly so that you turn on Fire At Will just as the enemy is in the perfect position where the second volley will be fired directly into their face, hopefully causing them to rout, or at least hurt their morale significantly. Another note: when you gunners are on Fire At Will, they tend to concentrate on a single unit. This is Good and Bad. Good: the targeted unit is more likely to rout and start a chain reaction. Bad: Several enemy units will reach your gunners basically unharmed.

Any comments are PLEASE WELCOMED, as I have limited experience with gunpowder but I am trying to offer the best advice I know.

[Rozanov]

Apparently German reiter units prefer to gallop round in circles whilst reloading their pistols and aiming and firing.

(like desert cavalry I'd rather they have skirmish ability. It would make more sense. )

see wikipedia on the caracole manouver:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracole

which the Reiters might be trying to emulate.

Note - not to be used against any cavalry units - horse archers fire much more rapidly and accurately and other cavalry simply charge whilst you reload.

Only use against infantry who have no missile weapons and who obligingly stand still while you reload and shoot.

[Per Ole]

actually, I've found a way to get them all to fire at once. Delete the "Fire_By_Rank" attribute, the "Start_skrimish_on" attribute and the "gunmen" attribute in the export_dcr unit file, and launch the game with the "my mod" thingy (look how in mod forum).

I figured this out after I got kingdoms, and lithuanian arquebusiers all fire at once. Checked unit stat in the unit file and found those attributes missing. Deleted them on some gunpowder units in org m2tw and it worked like a charm.

Enjoy!
Per Ole

[Rhedd]

actually, I've found a way to get them all to fire at once. Delete the "Fire_By_Rank" attribute, the "Start_skrimish_on" attribute and the "gunmen" attribute in the export_dcr unit file, and launch the game with the "my mod" thingy (look how in mod forum).

I figured this out after I got kingdoms, and lithuanian arquebusiers all fire at once. Checked unit stat in the unit file and found those attributes missing. Deleted them on some gunpowder units in org m2tw and it worked like a charm.

Enjoy!
Per Ole

And makes them so unbelievably, insanely, sickeningly overpowered that words fail me.

Doing this is like arming them with M-14s.

Only do this if you want pure fun at the expense of any pretense of game balance. (It is fun, though. ^_^)

[Per Ole]

yeah, it makes them *seriusly* overpowered. Still fun though ^^

[Whacker]

Just to be sure, you deleted these attributes?

- fire_by_rank, start_not_skirmishing, gunmen

I did that, and didn't notice any big difference, except that they no longer rotate ranks to fire. They don't all fire at once, that's for sure.

[imnothere]

tried both 2 ranks and 3 ranks musketeers - i still prefer 3 ranks due to faster response time. i try to loose formation the unit if i have the space, so the 3 ranks doesnt really get more casualties from enemy fires.

must try the skimish mode if it improves the shooting rate.

IMHO, i wouldnt completely rely on the gunpowder units - ideally, you should also have some Pavise xbowmen as they are more reliable IMHO.

[TheLastPrivate]

I personally don't use Xbows with firearms because they both need somewhat straight line of fire, and crossbow arching shot is something next to useless. Rather its better to have good archers if you want secondary ranged support, and only the venetians have pikes,muskets, and good bowmen.

[Rhedd]

Just to be sure, you deleted these attributes?

- fire_by_rank, start_not_skirmishing, gunmen

I did that, and didn't notice any big difference, except that they no longer rotate ranks to fire. They don't all fire at once, that's for sure.

Not firing in rolling ranks is a big improvement, and a realistic one, but if you want to go that one step further into insane, you need to delete the "gunpowder_unit" attribute.

The attributes really aren't that hard to figure out...

"fire_by_rank" makes them do the rolling rank fire routine. Remove it, and the front rank will fire while the second rank reloads, then the front will kneel to reload, and the second will fire. Third rank and beyond just stand and pick their noses.

"start_not_skirmishing" overrides the usual practice of a missile unit starting in skirmish mode. Nothing more.

"gunpowder_unit" makes a unit perform a reloading sequence between shots. Remove it, and the unit will act like any bow-armed unit, firing all at once, and constantly.

"gunmen" I have no idea what that does. ^_^

[imnothere]

agree. but I was playing as Portugese and have the grand of options of either Crossbows or Peasant Bows... T_T But at least the crossbow can indirect fire (even if not very well) which is require if i need to move those archers to the back. Did i mention how fast my peasant bows can fleerun

i am waiting for those English longbowmen (mercenaries) to popup for some decent bows.

[Whacker]

Wow. So I also got rid of the "gunpowder_unit" trait as well. Yeah, I'll agree now and say they are insane. They can easily kill 50-60%+ of whatever it is they are shooting at before it gets into melee range, and most of the time the target will route when it gets within a few dozen meters. 0_o