Light Infantry vs Line Infantry

[Meldarion]

I've found them to be quite useful personally. In my opinion you only need so many line infantry before your line is too long and they go to waste or you have to put them behind the line itself in which case they still go to waste.

With light infantry you can put them infront of the line and they don't get shot in the back. They are spread out enough so that they take minimal casualties, this is more useful than you might think. A couple of things I have used them for - picking off defenders in a fort, this worked surprisingly well and they didn't get shot to pieces but the guys on the wall did allowing my men to reach the walls mostly unharmed. Secondly - just put them in front of your line infantry the enemy has to waste bullets shooting at them or just take the hits. If they decide to shoot at the light infantry the way they are spread out makes for few deaths and protects your precious line infantry.

Neither of the above is really "skirmishing" and you do only need say 2 - 4 units, I usually turn skirmish mode off unless I'm facing melee infantry. They aren't a replacement for line infantry, use them together for the best results.