Is anyone else looking forward to their old tactics being out of date.

[Malkut]

Personally, the biggest challenge will be learning when to trade shots, and when to switch to melee. So far, in the demo, I've had poor luck with charging/boarding.

[crazyviking03]

Personally, the biggest challenge will be learning when to trade shots, and when to switch to melee. So far, in the demo, I've had poor luck with charging/boarding.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out in game. IRL, depending on range, opposing lines of infantry would only fire a few volleys before one side would attempt a charge or withdrawal. Also, there are very few instances of prolonged melee, in most cases the notion of being skewered on a bayonet was enough to cause most soldiers (even regulars) to break in the face of a serious bayonet charge. In game, it will all depend on the moral system, though thankfully we wont see any of that COMPLETE RUBISH BAYONET HERO FIGHT TO THE DEATH NONSENSE we saw in Imperial Glory lol.

[Explodingcannonballfromhell]

Battle in ETW will be different but the old tactics will still apply and are invaluable for even the most experienced tacticians out there. Mistakes will be that much more costly however, cavalry commanders for example have to know the right moment to strike because one volley will take out a cavalry unit and bayonets will mop up whats left of it.
One good charge however can be devastating but are you willing to risk it against my artillery gaurded by a unit of line infantry hiding in dense forest?

Defender vs attacker advantage is not so significant anymore either now with the introduction of all those artillery pieces.Are you still going to stand with your troops cowering on a hill while my artillery shoots a tremendous barage of cannonballs in your tight formations?
You will be forced to engage your troops in open field and exchange musket fire.

These are only a few examples of many situations that will occur in the battlefield, things will be much more balanced and i expect many honorable open field confrontations.These will be bloody and brutal battles but we will remain gentlemen in command to lead our armies to victory.

This makes me wonder however if officers are taken into account that as soon as one falls the unit will suffer a blow in morale?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Amusingly, I'll likely be using my favorite tactic from MTW (1). Line up my Italian Infantry on a hill, put geonese sailers behind, and go on crusade! Now it'll be line infantry in front, arty behind, and cavalry be damned! :D

/hopefully I don't face a lot of cavalry xD

[peacemaker]

I think it will be actually kind of similar to the old area. The main infantry will be engaging, with the first few ranks doing the fighting and the rest kind of sitting there, the artillery does the equivalent of archers(more range, but less effective and poor in melee), and cav, overpowered in the other games, is rather diminished thank goodness

[A Very Super Market]

Yeah, of course thats an efficient way to make use of your guns.

[Malkut]

It will be interesting to see how this pans out in game. IRL, depending on range, opposing lines of infantry would only fire a few volleys before one side would attempt a charge or withdrawal.

See, that's got me thinking that, should two units of infantry meet on the battlefield, than it might be wise to let the enemy fire a volley first, at long range. Then, while they're reloading, my unit can run closer and fire a somewhat more effective volley.

It'd be a micromanagement nightmare to do with an entire army, but I can't help but wonder if the principal is sound.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

It absolutely works on a 1v1 basis. If you want to try that with groups (ie, two lines against each other) turn off fire at will, wait for the enemy to fire, advance a bit (the GUI has a shortcut button for that now), set to run, stop, and turn on fire at will.

[quadalpha]

Though you will have fewer men to fire with.

The elimination of the time limit also removes a bit more of the defender bonus.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

However, if you only lose a handful on their volley, it can still be worth it.

Don't try it against platoon-firing units though. You'll move forward just to get hit with a second (and possibly third) volley at closer range. Theoretically, you could wait for the enemy to finish firing all the volleys, but you'd have just a few seconds to move into position with a lot less men.

[Malkut]

However, if you only lose a handful on their volley, it can still be worth it.

Yes, I too am thinking of it in terms of attrition. You absorb a weak blow to deliver a stronger one.

I wonder if that kind of thinking will be more common, in an era where everyone can kill instantly from a distance.