Musket Volleys

[KozaK13]

kk, imagining the cast of black adder the second talking like "rednecks"/ hill billies is difficult...

[Fisherking]

kk, imagining the cast of black adder the second talking like "rednecks"/ hill billies is difficult...

I know what you mean!

[Martok]

We seem to have drifted from the original subject.


I'm still thinking/hoping that the uneven gunfire is due to the units being low-level and/or inexperienced, and that with time they'll improve to the point that simultaneous gunfire becomes the norm for them.

[Polemists]

Well I think if I recall they mentioned that there was a fire at will button and a "FIRE" button, so the theory going that you can wait and hold fire, and then hit Fire and they all fire in unison, but if you say fire at will then they all just start shooting.

In reality, I think this is how the battlefield would work, as not everyone would be firing in unison normally do to bullet fire, melee combat, etc.

Though perhaps there is a tech tree upgrade where you can learn it, we do know Drilling of Infantry is one avenue of the tech tree after all.

[Fisherking]

We seem to have drifted from the original subject.


I'm still thinking/hoping that the uneven gunfire is due to the units being low-level and/or inexperienced, and that with time they'll improve to the point that simultaneous gunfire becomes the norm for them.

I took it here...https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...79#post2127779


On topic:

That is what I thought when I first looked at the battle links but then I saw that the Americans had three chevrons on their infantry units.

The caption says it is believed to be an early rending of play. It could be that like others have said, it is fire at will, which makes sense because you see that the player is just whipping the units around and not taking time to control firing.

Perhaps if you want strict volley fire you have to control it. I hope platoon fire is a little easier…

[Sir Beane]

I took it here...https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...79#post2127779


On topic:

That is what I thought when I first looked at the battle links but then I saw that the Americans had three chevrons on their infantry units.

The caption says it is believed to be an early rending of play. It could be that like others have said, it is fire at will, which makes sense because you see that the player is just whipping the units around and not taking time to control firing.

Perhaps if you want strict volley fire you have to control it. I hope platoon fire is a little easier…

I think that 'fire at will' is most likely to be what is producing the effect. There are plenty of other videos and screenshots which seem to show volley fire working exactly as it should.

You probably have to use the 'fire' button if you want a unit to fire as a volley rather than as and when each man feels like it.

[Durango]

I'm still thinking/hoping that the uneven gunfire is due to the units being low-level and/or inexperienced, and that with time they'll improve to the point that simultaneous gunfire becomes the norm for them.

Sounds exactly what I want as well.

Although for some odd reason, I prefer the look and sound of ragged gunfire rather than muskets going off at precisely the same time. Maybe it has something to do with the battlefield being an orchestra or an opera, with different weapons being instruments... No, I'm not a nutcase

Also, guns going off prematurely would be interesting.

Like in The Last Samurai, when the....well "Ashigaru Teppo" or whatever they would be stand in the forests facing the Samurai. One of them start to piss his pants and accidentally fires, with the result that everyone starts to panic and fire too soon. They got annihilated, and so should we in ETW if that happens.

I think that 'fire at will' is most likely to be what is producing the effect. There are plenty of other videos and screenshots which seem to show volley fire working exactly as it should.

You probably have to use the 'fire' button if you want a unit to fire as a volley rather than as and when each man feels like it.

I want to hear officers shout loudly whenever the commands are given:

"Make ready! Preeeeesent! Fire!"

And when the muskets go off, there should be a sound of flint striking the cap before the main ignition. This is extremely important!

[Nelson]

It could be exceedingly difficult for officers to prevent the men from firing once they had a mind to shoot. Unless a charge was conducted without flints it was all too tempting to fire at the enemy as soon as you could. When defending the temptation was to fire early and often because the men would become frightened or impatient. Good discipline was not unknown of course but more rare than many would believe.

One theory in the 18th century advocated free for all firing because it would lead to more shots. Waiting for others slowed the faster men. Regardless of the technique espoused by the generals, the men were still very hard to control.