Quote Originally Posted by lars573 View Post
Your entire analysis is very flawed. One, in the 18th centry 90% of the time your shooting and melee infantry are the same unit. And it takes time to switch. Two, his army was heavy on the cavalry so he could take out the AI fast. He zipped in his light cavalry to pounce on the enemy infantry before they could fix bayonettes and form a square. Which is what they are for, and you'll note he took some heavy losses in the light horse units. Three, firing through your own lines with muskets is, simply put, not possible.

He saw that the AI was going to assume a defesive posture, as he had the high ground. He used his light cavalry to delay that until his infantry were in range. Then it was all over.
Gollum did make one correct observation though, the AI's suicidal tendecies. During this time period most armies lost no more than 20% of their men in a losing engagement. Most battles were not decisive, and if faced with such a situtation, the enemy army would not have charged up hill at him, but pulled its army together and either waited for him to attack again, or make an ordered retreat. He fights and and runs away, lives to win the next battle he fights. That is what people did back then. They were not such fanatics.