Artillery deployment

[von Döbeln]

Playing the Montobello battle with Montobello armies.

If artillery deploys as they do in the demo in the finished game something should be done about it IMHO. My artillery units deploy anywhere from 100 to 600(!) meters (measured using the "Distance" tool under F9) in front of the rest of the corps on a regular basis, wether they are advancing or defending, and are thus extremely vulnerable to enemy cavalry charges etc. Whenever I give a deployment order to a corps the artillery units rush forward, and while the corps halts for "Artillery deployment" (or whatever the info box says) the artillery tends to continue advancing several hundreds of meters before deploying. I can't imagine this is intended?

LvD

[Gunner24]

I tend to agree, the artillery does get a bit too far ahead of it's Corps troops.  The cannons are difficult to attack, so it's maybe not too bad, but I would prefer to see the cannons a little closer to the troops, not stuck out so far ahead of them.

[von Döbeln]

50-100 meters might be ok, but 600 meters? A tad bit much IMO. And no it wasn't horse artillery - it was plain old foot artillery.

LvD

[Gunner24]

50-100 meters might be ok

I think this would be about correct......it is quite hard to get a feel for the distances involved on the 3d map....sometimes what looks like a 100 yards is 3 times that far when measured out, this is why there are not so many fire fight with Infantry units, they are further away than you may first think.

If the distances the arty is deploying in the deno are "correct" then fair enough, did cannons really deploy that far ahead of the Infantry ?, I thought it was like 100 yards or so.  If this is a demo "bug" or a "mistake" it would be great to see it corrected for the full game.

[Pariente]

Artillery was deployed further than infantry, so that the enemy would receive cannonballs much longer. If the ennemy cavalry is too close, the artillery moves back before being seriously threatened. That strategy was used by the Grande Armée and the Coalition.

[HarryInk]

I wouldn't expect this is the main release.  I think it's a symptom of the paired-back demo.

[FranzVonG]

the artillery seems also (at least to me) a bit overpowered, not really in killing but in morale hit. I have yet to see an infantry/cavalry charge against artillery that doesn't end with the first unit in rout. A single artillery unit can destroy a corp...

[Pariente]

You mean a battery of 6 cannons may rout an entire corps ? Yes, if the corps has no artillery.

It is difficult to imagine what impact had artillery on infantry, but for sure, it was called in french « le Brutal » (the Brutal) for a clear reason : it really hurts.
As almost everything in napoleonic wars, cohesion is a determinant factor of victory - in cavalry and infantry fights -  and cannonballs used to sweep the rabble from Earth with a terrifying efficiency. A unit with « holes » is overexposed to charges, and fear spreads in the ranks.

If the infantry/cavalry unit is very close to artillery, it uses grapeshot and then it is the debacle...

Therefore, I don't think artillery is too powerful, it is historical : great batteries were quite invincible (in Wagram : about 100 cannons commanded by Drouot).

« God is on the side with the best artillery » said Napoléon.

[Gunner24]

Artillery was the king of the battlefield so far as I can make at, the killing power was tremenduos from all accounts I've read......to even try and imagine advancing into all that over an open field is scary enough......but of course, if artillery in LG does win all the battles, well, then there may be a case for saying it's too powerfull, to early to know yet.

[von_Clausewitz]

You cannot attack a strong battery in frontal assault. If there is a battery of six canons deployed and you try to attack it head on, be prepared to lose at least 6 units. Batteries are flanked or attacked from the rear. Another option is counter artillery fire. you might be able to get close to a battery and take it out when it is inactive waiting for the smoke to clear.

VC

[Hook]

I think I'd rather have artillery deploy well in front of the infantry lines so that advancing enemy artillery wouldn't get close enough to fire on my troops.  Sometimes you lose a few guns.  That's to be expected.

I gave a cavalry unit orders to support the artillery, and it did, moving to a couple hundred meters behind the artillery.  I don't know what happens if the artillery unit is threatened, as it didn't happen in this case.  But it's something to try.  In another case where I did this the cavalry unit got shot up by enemy artillery.  This is probably why you don't want your artillery deploying too close to your troops.

Hook

[Gunner24]

This is probably why you don't want your artillery deploying too close to your troops.

Good point, but what is "too close" ?.

Many 100s of yards in front sounds excessive to me......in the "Waterloo Companion" which has some very detailed battle maps, artillery is shown mainly within about 100-200 yards ahead of the Infantry, if not INBETWEEN Infantry formations, like :

____   A   _____  A   _____ (page 157/158/161).

with a big exception of the French grand battery which was pushed out about 500 yards in front of their Infantry.

[Hook]

with a big exception of the French grand battery which was pushed out about 500 yards in front of their Infantry.

I rest my case.

Hook

[Ras]

I gave a cavalry unit orders to support the artillery, and it did, moving to a couple hundred meters behind the artillery.  I don't know what happens if the artillery unit is threatened, as it didn't happen in this case. 

If the artillery is threatened, then the cav will charge. Unfortunately, it's mostly the enemy artillery that threatens your own, resulting in your cav charging the enemy arty. Or if your arty is threatened by cav, your cav will ride out, into range of enemy arty and enemy cav.
I haven't found a way to solve this.
When the cav units are in direct support they will charge the artillery. When not in direct support the corps commander will send them piecemeal to enemy line.
Same with infantry, regiments don't really support each other.
Sometimes it does happen, though and those moments make me hope that the final game won't have those mistakes.

[Hook]

Thanks, Ras.

It's interesting to watch cavalry attacking artillery.  They'll stay off at a short distance, hopefully not directly in front of the guns, and send a few troopers to each gun to attack it.

Hook