Empire: Total War Strategy Guide!
Hi guys,
To help you in your quest for world domination, the Empire: Total War team has put together a list of tips to give you the upper hand in battle!
Naval Battles
Maintain station! – Grouped ships will try to maintain relative positions and follow the lead ship around. So, if you group your ships in a line they will then move in a line around the map.
Fire! – The stern is the weakest part of the ship, so concentrating fire on this weak spot will deal the greatest damage to an enemy ship. But conversely, this is the weakest point on your own ship and must be protected at all times.
Chain Shot! – Using Chain shot to take out the sails of the first ship in an enemy line will slow down the whole line as they regroup.
Beware the Broadside! – Try to keep your fleet to the stern or the bow of enemy ships, all their fire power rests in their broadsides.
Boarding! – Don’t board a ship until you are absolutely sure that it is no longer a threat. Also, make sure that you have taken care of any other threats from the enemy before beginning the boarding process.
Concentrate Fire! – By holding down the Alt key and clicking on an enemy ship you can order any ships you currently have selected to concentrate all their fire on that one ship.
Divide and Conquer! – When commanding a large naval force it is advisable to split it into three separate groups; one to approach the enemy fleet’s port side, one to approach from starboard and a third to cover any gaps which may appear.
Stay upwind! – Always try to keep your ships upwind of the enemy. It will give you the upper-hand and allow you to maneuver into position much quicker than your enemy.
A Whiff of Grapeshot! – After dealing some damage to an enemy ship’s hull with regular shot, draw in close and use grapeshot for maximum damage. The holes created in the hull expose the crew to incoming fire.
Lay alongside! – When firing grape shot, line your ship no more than a ship’s width away from the enemy hull. This will allow the shot to spread effectively and dispatch the maximum amount of enemy troops.
Come about! – When using line astern make a conscious effort to turn ships around periodically, in an attempt to distribute hull damage equally. If one side is allowed to take the bulk of the damage, the ship will go down.
Land Battles
As one! – When you group units they remember the relative position of each other so, when you give them a move order, they will reform in the same positions at your chosen destination This, in combination with the new rotate/move buttons on the HUD, allows you to quickly and easily move groups and even to break off parts of a formation into a new group.
At Ease! – Hitting the enter key deselects all the troops you currently have selected.
Flanking Fire! – Forming a horseshoe around enemy units will give your men maximum coverage and increase enemy casualties. Positioning Light infantry in trees to the left and right of your main force will give them the opportunity to get a couple of rounds off before the enemy even knows they’re there.
Form Line! – Drawing your men out into long thin lines will increase the area of battlefield covered by their field of fire. So, no matter where the enemy comes from you will have men covering it (unless they outflank you!)
Deploy defenses! – When defending an area which has limited routes in and out, it is often best to deploy chevaux de frise, followed by a line of earth works. This will protect your army from cavalry and infantry and create an easily defendable position.
Hold it! Hold it! FIRE! – Canister shot is an excellent shot type to use in close range combat. Taking your cannons off fire at will when this shot type is selected will allow you to hold your men until the last minute and release the canister shot just as the enemy reaches you for maximum effect.
To the last man! – When presented with the choice to end the battle or continue, it is often better to continue and wipe out the entire army to prevent them reappearing on the campaign map. Cavalry are particularly effective in this mopping up role.
Skirmishers! – When confronted by a complex enemy formation use Light Infantry to lure enemy units out. Once this is achieved, your light infantry can skirmish away from the attackers, leaving supporting units to deal with them piecemeal.
To me men! – If your men are losing their resolve and routing from the field, send your General and his Bodyguard unit to boast their moral and bring them back to the cause.
Dig in! – Earthworks are particularly effective against an enemy which is heavy on Line Infantry. Your men will be safer from the barrage of bullets.
Dragoons! Flanking Manoeuvre! – Dragoons provide an excellent opportunity to outflank an enemy. Ride your dragoons around the back of the enemy and once there, dismount and begin firing into his rear.
Take Cover! – Deploying your men behind walls will provide essential cover from enemy bullets.
Form Square! – Square formation is particularly effective against Dragoons and other cavalry units.
Cannon fodder – If you’re willing to lose men for the greater good, send your militia or a similar unit down the centre of a battlefield to draw enemy fire. Then bring your better troops around the sides to deal a devastating blow to the enemy front ranks whilst they’re engaged.
The General has fallen! – Killing an enemy general will decrease the moral of any remaining troops, making them more likely to rout.
Up close and personal – Press the Insert key with a unit selected to get a first-person view of the battlefield!
Campaign Map
Raiding trade routes – Raiding an enemies’ trade route will cripple their economy. If a trade route is shared by an enemy and an ally you will only raid enemy ships and never those of your allies or countries you are not at war with.
Foreign policy – If your Rake succeeds in an act of sabotage, the faction you attack will automatically blame their greatest enemy and the relationship between those two nations will suffer as a result.
Clamor for reform – Enlightenment technologies naturally lead to a more enlightened populace. However, an enlightened people often chafe against the bonds of their lot in life, leading to unrest. In order to restore order in regions affected by such dissatisfaction it may be necessary to increase your military presence, or even destroy educational buildings.
A nation of Trenchermen – Not using a character to his full potential will result in them gaining a negative trait. If you have a 9 star general but leave him to fester in some back water province he will gather negative traits and slowly slide into obscurity. Making sure your best generals and agents are in constant use will see them improve and result in a much more effective character.
Money makes the world go round – So, when offering any diplomatic proposals, sweeten the deal with a little cash incentive.
History repeats itself – Saving your campaign before beginning a battle will allow you to replay the battle, should you be displeased by the outcome. It also gives you the opportunity to try out a variety of tactics on the same battlefield to discover what works best for you.
Quick reference – For those wondering what happened to double right-click zoom-to camera functionality, this has now moved to double mouse-wheel-click.
White gold – Trade is an essential aspect of a successful campaign. By sending trade ships to the various trade theaters around the world you will significantly increase your country’s economy. The best strategy to adopt in relation to trade theaters, is monopolization. It is much better to have a single ship in each of the Trade Posts in a theater, rather than having three ships on a single post.
Thanks,
Mark O’Connell
I’ve always had at least one trade ship in each trade theaters and it never improves my economy,even if they never get raided.What get me is when one theater does get raided my income drops drasticailly,even though the other three theaters aren’t raided,but yet my income never recovers as much as it dropped when not raided. Juat caused you get raided in one theater shoudn’t cause lost of income in all theaters as seems to be the case. Went from 7000 one turn to under 2000 or less for the next three to five turns,although not raided no more.This has happened no matter what theater get raided.Also raiding enemy shipping never has the same effects on them as when they raid you as some enemies I’ve wipe their trade fleets out only to see them prospers even more than before.
Posted by Will C on May 27th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Some nice tips there, didn’t know about the alt click function for ships.
Thing about walls is that your guys stop using fire by rank when you specifically order them to take cover behind it. Makes me not use them.
With square formation I get every odd number company to take a square sized step backwards so that when they form square (I’m assuming a heavy cavalry attack is coming forcing several units in to squad) they will cover seperate arcs to the other companies, as well as lessening the chance that they will fire in to friendlies. It annoys me that each face of teh square cannot fire independantly from the other or wait for the cavalry to get close for a crushing volley.
“As one! – When you group units they remember the relative position of each other so, when you give them a move order, they will reform in the same positions at your chosen destination This, in combination with the new rotate/move buttons on the HUD, allows you to quickly and easily move groups and even to break off parts of a formation into a new group.”
Your tools are very good, but lacking. an About face command needs to be implemented, as turning a group around sometimes results in each unit swapping position with the unit down teh line. Chaos!
Good guide though CA, appreciated.
Posted by Aaron Rudd on May 28th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Of course, all of this assumes the AI works right? I’ve had entire enemy armies break up their lines and run to different points of the map before, with each unit going to a different corner. That sort of behaviour does tend to make tactical considerations somewhat superfluous.
Posted by Rt. Hon. Gentleman on May 28th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Very informative and usefull
Posted by Zach McQuaid on May 30th, 2009 at 12:59 am
What do u mean
“To me men! – If your men are losing their resolve and routing from the field, send your General and his Bodyguard unit to boast their moral and bring them back to the cause.
Just send the General to the position of the routing men, or what???
:s
Posted by Charlie on May 31st, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Well a very usefull list to be exact. I have discovered most for myself as I play so mnay hours per day!!! Great game, great information. Thanks to all!! P.S. – Got any jobs?? : )
Posted by James Emmerson on June 2nd, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Bombs away!
Grenadiers are efficient killers. Always try to have at least 2 units of Grenadiers in your army. ( I generally have 3, just in case).
Your main forces can hold their own if you set them up strategically. (Careful with cavalry flanking manouevers— always try to have some line infantry ready to do a box formation on the edges)
Even when your loosing and heavily out numbered, you can use your Grenadiers to deadly effect by constantly pushing the Grenade button! It demoralizes the enemy while cutting huge swaths in their line!
Posted by RomulousAustulous on June 2nd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
@Charlie,
Working from previous TW games, this would mean that as the moral drops you will start to see soldiers routing. If you can get your general to them ( he used to have a horn to blow ) he would invigorate the soldiers for a few more minutes so you had time to slam another unit into their enemy and avoid the rout.
If you dont have time, and they are already routing you can sometimes put your general in their path and they will congregate round him if they are far enough from the enemy, so you will need to put another unit between the routers and the enemy.
Your last ditch chance is if the unit stops to recover rather than running off the map. You can send your general to them and get their moral back up then use them as a mopping up squad if are winning and that will keep them together and give them some much needed xp.
Hope that helps.
Posted by Bedlam on June 5th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
What’s with “The Road to Independence” I cant get past Episode II chapter III. I get to this point and then no more missions, no directions nothing. Ive went to turn 300, wiped out the french on the map and nothing happens?
Posted by jeff mccullough on June 8th, 2009 at 2:47 am
I have the same question as the above poster (slightly off topic, I realize) but one chapter earlier. I complete the mission in which you take Nova Scotia (not sure of the province name in-game … Arcadia?) from the French in order to unlock chapter three. However, nothing happens, the game continues as normal, without any new missions or objectives, any advice?
Posted by Sinon on June 9th, 2009 at 1:06 am
The tips above were helpful but…
I would like to get some tips on how to get an enemy country to agree to a Peace Treaty. It seems that no matter what I do I can’t get them to stop fighting. I’ve tried bribes, gifts, assassinations, blockading trade routes, destroying their food production centers… anything and everything I can think of.
In one particular game I was at war with Great Britain because they got called in by one of their allies (who I destroyed). I never attacked them, and then tried to get a peace treaty by offering gifts and payments (in the range of 25000 florins), but they wouldn’t have any of it. So i just left them alone for the remainder of the game. We ended up being “at war” for 84 years, without a shot ever having been fired between us.
On the last turn I tried again for the peace treaty, but they still refused. Is the only way to end a war to completely annihilate your opponent? Because that’s seems to be it now. Perhaps a strategy guide on how to make-up with your old enemies could be provided? (if it is even possible…)
Posted by neverwander on June 9th, 2009 at 2:41 am
Neverwander,
The trick that usually works for me is to take one or two of their territories and then trade them back for peace. In general I think territory gifts work better than cash to buy peace. Though it does seem ridiculously hard to sue for peace sometimes…
Posted by Greatajax on June 10th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
neverwander – the only way i can get enemys to agree to peace is uaually: 1000 per turn for 5-10 years, several technologies, giving them access to my lands for 10-20 turns, and sometimes it even takes giving them a territory. this is of course a ton to give up but sometimes, the way you get nailed if you get trade route raided by a strong naval country, its worth it.
Posted by keith on June 11th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
The Best way to get a Peace treaty is to take a very important part of thier territory and bargain it back to them for Peace. It’s worked with me lots and lots of times. I have only played with the ottomans, but I stopped the War with Russia by taking Moscucy and selling it back for peace. It took me like a Year, but I effectively stopped them from being a world power, and got peace. It also worked when I was losing against the Austrians, Early in the campaign, i had taken croatia and Transylvania. By 1707, those Austrians were back. Since I had left my northern territories ungaurded to deal with Persia, Venice, Georgia, and Daegestan, the Austrians took back Croatia. I knew that my lands would be devastated if the Austrians invaded further, so I bargained Trannsylvania to them if the made Peace. It Worked.
If Anyone has any advice on why I too cannot get past the Road to Independence Campaign aswell , I would appreciate it. By the Way, I am a terrible Naval commander, Any advice for small armies and Small fleets
Posted by Bilal on June 12th, 2009 at 3:06 am
Reading te other posts I generally agree.
The only way to make a peace deal is usually try and smash them down to one province then force them ino a protectorate. Sometimes If they have no grudges (loss of Land etc) then they will make peace with overwealming generosity on your part (returning regions. Even if a region is returned I cant see that they lose their territorial gains grudge. Though i do appreciate countries not invoved being concerned about your aggression.
The AI and Options for diplomacy needs tweaking I think. There is should be an option to ask another country to make peace or make war with another country. As the mad situation comes about that when you defeat an enemy and they are your protectorate all your allies will still attack it even though you are now meant to be in de facto its protector: Causing unrealsitic friction.
i like the fact assasinations and spying affects other countries even tho rakes seem to be incredibly poor in this game and i cant seem to improve them. More hassle than their worth sometimes.
Reference the Road to Indpendance me too. Wtf? It just stops and it wont allow you to progress to Chapter III. I thought this was one of the main attractions and what set it apart from the other TW games.
I also seem to be having cannon trouble as well. They are v dangerous and sometimes just randomly fire into my own ranks. If they have grapeshot its devestating. Why would soldiers want to cause such obvious negligent distruction to their own men? A few Court Martials i think. Also I am waiting for the halarious situation of a cannon misfiring (hasnt happened yet) though i do not want to rely on bugs for the same effect. Also should cannons have ammo? It would be lovely to have two batteries counter firing all day but unrealistic. More complicated but maybe a baggage unit can be introduced to give an army more advantage as ammo doesnt seem to have consequence on any of my battles.
I think the other comments are usefull.
I dont find chain shot v effective. Does it need to be used close up/
Skirmishers drawing individual units out of the enemies line to be destroyed by supporting units? Satisfying but taking advantage of AI that doesnt seem to care about some of its units seems to be cheating. When fighting Indians they always send a suicidal charge of a single cavalry unit. Whats that all about?
Also with Hold it Hold it Fire! The line infantry should present their muskets if enemy are in front of them and in range though not on fire at will. This will be realsitic as then when the fire button is pressed on the enemy unit, the firing unit will fire imediately. This means that charging indians will be shattered by a close range volley rather than getting pass the slow reactions of the prepared unit that just takes its time to aim.
Some units also will not fire if an enemy is right in front but they are waiting for a stray guy getting over a fence in the back that needs to form back in befor the unit will then fire. v unrealsitic and frustrating.
Im not too sure about the trade as well. v complicated. I dont have a degree in economics and get the idea of supply and demand and monopolisation. But increases in trade ships doesnt have too much impact on income. Even though the trade route is showing enormous profits. Also please explain overland trade.
I have a few more points to follow but would welcome some replies first exspecially from the designers and testers. You have made a wonderfll game its just that its not perfect yet. A few more tweaks and patches then i can see this being the greatest game of all time.
Posted by Rjak on June 13th, 2009 at 10:07 am
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE MORE TO THE MASTERMINDS THAT DELIVER TO US THIS PIECE OF MULTY ART,THIS WAR POEM THIS INSPIRATION FOR GENERALS.BEING MORE THAN A FAN MYSELF PLAYING TOTAL WAR FOR YEARS,I SUNK INTO THE STRATEGY ITSELF AND WITH ULTRA DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE BECAME MASTER GENERAL INTO MY SMALL CIRCLE OF PEOPLE PLAYING THIS POEM.DROOLING IN FRONT OF ALL THIS EXCELLENT MASTERWORK I SET MY MIND FREE AND CLOSING MY EYES I TRAVEL MY SPIRIT INTO THE BATTLEFIELD OF A NEW ROME-PROPABLY ROME 2-WITH ALL THIS NEW GRAPHIC MASTEPIECE FROM EMPIRE.WITH EVEN MORE DETAILS AND MOVES.IMAGINE THE LAND OR THE SEA BATTLES.MY HAIR ARE STANDING UP AND I GOT SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE.IF YOU EVER GOING TO BUILT ROME 2 I GOT ENDLESS INFO AND PHOTOS OF ANCIENT ARMY WEAR AND WEAPONS.LOVE TO HELP.ANYWAY, I WISH TO.CONGRATULATIONS ONCE MORE WE DO SUPPORT THE TOTAL WAR IDEA BY BUYING THE ORIGINAL GAME ALLWAYS.KEEP UP THE BRILLIANT MASTERWORK!
Posted by ARISTANDROS on June 14th, 2009 at 10:45 am
I’m having problems with the Road to Independence Campaign. I’m stuck on episode 2, because it won’t let me proceed to upper candada and it’s covered by the fog of war. There are no more objectives, I’ve captured every region possiblle, and I’m at a dead end. The game is updated and everything, but it still won’t let me move on! Similar to, or exactly like comments 9 and 10.
Posted by ZestyBiscutt on June 14th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
could u help with the crashing issue is it something to do with the game itself or an action i have taken on the map but it seems the only country i can finish a game with is austria but around turn 60 the game just starts crashing no matter what im doing.
Posted by josh on June 15th, 2009 at 6:12 am
An excellent series of tips (Alt click in naval battles being perhaps the best).
I’m just wondering if there were any answers to the questions above. I have the same issue in the road to independence campaign as comments 9 and 10. Also an about face or left/right turn drill would be logical and so much nicer in land battles.
I’ve found in Naval battles using line astern it really pays to put your heaviest ships on either end of the line before finishing deployment. The back end of the line frequently sustains the heaviest enemy fire in any multiple ship engagements.
Posted by Pat Burns on June 17th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I agree with poster 11. As Prussia, I got sideways with the Danes when they entered a war i had going with Poland. They blockaded my port and the only way I could get them to stop, even after offering gifts, tech, etc., was to completely wipe them off the map. Seems a bit excessive.
Posted by Rob F on June 17th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
So in regards to comments 9 and 19 can anyone please help answer the question about moving into other states besides Virginia and New Foundland, I cannot get into any of the states to the east where the Huron population is as well as the French. I have wiped out the Native American Population on the entire east coast as well as the French but I am stuck. Someone please let me know what I need to do. Turn 250. Please email me. Thanks
Ryan
Posted by Ryan on June 19th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Thanks for the tips. but i wonder why a little time later my traders in the trade theaters begining not to work. and i olso cant attack to trade ships which not works just staying at the post
Posted by İbrahim on June 19th, 2009 at 8:42 am
for all of those peaple stuck in the roud to Independence chapter 2, i have figured away to get past it, first you start it up, compleat all objectives until you have to counqure acadia. instead of travling by land and conquring tarritores till you get to acadia, use naval to transport your troops to acadaia, then conqure it. this stratigy worked for me, and enambled me to recive more objectives, like concquring upper canada. hope this helps
Posted by bob on June 21st, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Hey Mark, what good is it to have trade ships in theaters now that patch 1.3 is out. Now Pirates raid ports and bye,bye trade ships. What even dumber is to be the netherlands, your fleet in the east indes trade theater is as good as gone unless you move it first turn as pirates will attack it in port and destroy it. Trade theaters are now a waste of time unless you send in your navy first,and god help you if the results are bad and another major power declares war on you. If you do eliminate the pirates in one theater, wait a few turns and they’re come from another theater into the one you just clear.Just think if you’re England,it’s a long way to go to repaired your fleet.Then I love the stupidity of when pirates or opposing navies sails into a emeny port. AI sends troops which frees the port,but then withdraws them so same thing can happened over and over again, instead of leaving one army unit behind so they wouldn’t keep repairing port over and over again.I mean just think of the cost, but there another instance where it probably cost the AI nothing to repaired.Now you spend more time worrying over finances, than you do actually doing what the title suggest. What about renaming it Mark Empire Total War Financesas your balancing took war out of the game.
Posted by William on June 22nd, 2009 at 11:43 pm
re stuck on Road to Independence.
i too was stuck and sent a mail to Sega helpdesk and i was told i needed to update my drivers. i did that and it all worked perfect so find out what your driver is (NVidia etc) on your ps, find their website and try and update it. hope this helps.
Posted by nigel on June 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I am terrible at naval battles ad I am stuck in the last chapter of rRoad to independanxce also I think some of te tips work
Posted by Jpunk on June 23rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Hi all! Good guide and all, but I have a question. I have been trying to build defenses like earthworks and chevaux de frise, but how do I do it!? Very frustrating! I’ve tried everything. please respond somehow! Please! Thank you.
Posted by Cameron on June 24th, 2009 at 2:46 am
Having the weather gage may have worked for Nelson at Trafalgar but this doesn’t work in ETW.
An easy way to cripple an enemy fleet is to sail downwind of them using chainshot. Keep zig zagging away from them downwind, the enemy will chase you and be exposed to raking chainshot fire. Repeat and rinse until all their ships have little or no remaining sail and so cannot maneuver.
You are now free to beat back up and use raking grapeshot to finish them off. Don’t worry about ships that rout, they have no sail and can’t escape, so you can board quite easily at your leisure.
You should be taking complete enemy fleets intact (no hull damage) without losses using this tactic.
Not as much fun as a proper head to head but guarantees you plenty of prizes afterwards to boost your cash.
Posted by Simon on June 24th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
i have similar issue in chapter one. whenever i finish the battle, durring the loading, the screen becomes white, and then the game crashes. as a result, i can’t progress.
by the way, can someone please explain me how to handle naval battles, as i’m a terrible admiral?
i also would like to know what nation is the best in the campaign, as i find the really great nation with all of their colonies, rather complicated and not flexible, in comparison to prussia, where i have more freedom to decide where to attack first (i choose dresden, thus triggering an easy war with poland)
Posted by Akir94 on June 24th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
for those you got stuck in the america campaign, as bob stated earlier you need to restart the chapter (just the chapter , you don’t need to start from the beginning) and then you must do EXACTLY what the objectives dictate to. Don’t do anything ahead of it Don’t do anything that is not clearly stated in the objectives…
it’s silly i know but it just worked absolutely fine for me to get pass these annoying bugs.
Posted by Kenny on June 25th, 2009 at 9:26 am
The main thing that could change to improve tactics would be for the strategic AI to be better. It’s too easy to always have a superior army, which makes tactics more of an amusing diversion rather than a necessity as it should be.
For example
– AI seems to recruit armies full of low-quality units, which break very easily. The kill counts are huge but it’s not very satisfying to beat peasants.
– AI continues to use obsolete artillery long after better options are available.
– often don’t have a proper general attached to armies, even very large ones
– massively outmatched enemies will never accept a demand to surrender… I applaud their bravery, but it makes tactics irrelevant in the ensuing one-sided battles.
– never retreats from naval battles, meaning you can usually pick their entire navy off piecemeal – you can win every naval battle in a campaign without developing any tactical nouse at all. If the strategic AI picked its battles a bit better, and consolidated rather than wasting naval strength, it would be more of a challenge.
Posted by Garth on June 25th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I think the relations between nations needs tweeking
For example, I was playing as Austria and I attacked a country that I ddin’t even know I was allied with, one of those German states, and suddenly all of Europe hated me, there was a -200 for “Broken Treaties” on all European countries
As well, the peice treaty thing needs to be fixed. in the same game as Austria, I completely destroyed the ottoman navy, pushed them out of europe, destroyed most of their armies, conquered all their allies, and they wld not accept my peice trty, even with 10k cash
Posted by Jon on June 27th, 2009 at 12:38 am
I am in R2Independance chapter 3. The damn British keep killing me with in 10 turns. I try to stay in Boston with George Washington the attack me and kill evryone on my men while I only kill a feww hundred. I take new york and within a few turns they kill all of my men again. I dont even get the chance to have a few straglers. Any ideas
Posted by ulooze1 on June 27th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I’m new to this game series, and I’m having trouble with some basic questions. Can anyone tell me, when I look at a city, there are pips beside the flag indicating how many troops are there. Why are there sometimes grey pips under the yellow ones? What do they indicate? Can anyone recommend a good source for basic details like that? Thanks.
Posted by scott on June 28th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I still find the money part of this game a joke. Later in game, getting into a war with one of the major powers, put you at a lost as you can’t attack and wipe them out as the game will then tell you your are bankrupt. Making peace is not a option as AI won’t make peace.Keeping a army or navy to deal with random attacks prevents you from building a army or navy to complete your missions objectives. Its one thing to have missions in game,but then to make it almost impossible to complete ruins game as you always fall short as one or more of your major power foes attack your rear holdings or one of your major allies ends up owning one of the countries you need and again the AI won’t deal which makes it harder as now you have to attack a ally,which AI automatically makes them allies to your other major foes. So now you’re fighting a allied which has large sacks of units next to your weak borders as the game as currently is your not able to have many units in your rear areas caused of money concerns.So all your balancing has done is to make the game more unplayable if you’re into trying to complete your mission objectives.Worse yet AI never has said problem no matter if you wipe out trade fleets,blockade all their ports and destroy their navy as you never ever see them go broke or their armys lessen due to money problems.I also find it strange how Spain or France can build their armies and navies so fast under AI, but when you’re them at the beginning the game stops you from doing so citing money.But I guess AI doesn’t worry about money or so it seem. I feel more like a finance minister than a warrior as now the money part has ruin what was a great war game series. Get back to making great war games instead of this, a cross between Total War and the game Capitalism II as at least there you know your what you’re playing. As you wouldn’t buy CapitalismII expecting to play Total War.
Posted by William on June 29th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Interesting tactical suggestions. Can’t agree with the naval suggestion of splitting into 3 groups. This surely risks defeat in detail. The time honoured tactic is to concentrate your force and try to have local superiority even though you are outnumbered in the whole engagement. Eg Nelson at Trafalgar. Outnumbered but by cutting the line he outnumbered the ships immediately engaged.
Posted by Rob Ward on June 29th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Several of the descriptions of the new units in the DLC on this site are incorrectly matched to the unit type shown
Posted by John-Paul on July 1st, 2009 at 5:35 pm
What I find more laughable is how Technology becomes so easily to third world countries such as India and how fast they can adopt such techology when adjoining nations don’t have said techology. I find it amazing, you developed it lets said in England and by the time you land troops in India,they are already using said techology. There ought to be a time period before technical advances be used in countries which lagged real far behind. It wasn’t like the gun was invented one day and next day everyone was using it. In some places it took months or years before it was common to everyone else.Even if they stole it, it would take time to get the info back home and to developed it.
Posted by William on July 3rd, 2009 at 12:29 am
Some good strategies for cannons would be helpful. I find that anything less than a howitzer is too much micromanagement, but I would really like to use the other guns effectively. Having said that, I usually keep an eye on several things when I want out of a war…Check your ministers/leader for diplomatic bonuses, see who else your enemy is fighting, defeat the enemy on the field consistently. The Danes are a bit of warmongers, but their vikings anyways! Just recently discovered the soldiers eye view (delete key) and although a panning ability would be nice with it, it can really give you an idea about the terrain your fighting on, there have been times my troops fire into the ground while the enemy scores head shots just because my men were too far back on a hill. In the same respect, you can use hills as “walls” by masking most of your troops bodies behind the hill with just enough room for their muskets to find the target.
Posted by Joe on July 5th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Hi, my computer seems to have a problem during battles, the graphics and soldiers move very slowly in spurts. Can this be due to my graphic card? I am using 512mb w directx v10. What shd be required graphic specs to run the battle action well?
Posted by mervin on July 6th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Hi, I find that the jhold fire button is very bad for artillery. I have to get them to limber the guns or they keep firing and wiping my units all the time. Am I missing something?
Posted by William on July 8th, 2009 at 1:31 am
William,
Regarding your ideas about technology. The reality is that the most powerful most advanced land armies in the 16th and 17th century were the Ottoman and Mughal empires. Your talk about technology is way off. Europe didnt start to take ascendancy till the end of the 1700’s. European power was built off of naval power.
Posted by Daniel on July 12th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
hi guys, yeah, there are many problems with the artillery :S if you shoot at other artillery units you may hit, but often even when you hit there are no casualties… or if you use special amunition, its inefective often against the enemy (bug?!)… stupid is also if you shoot enemies behind a wooden fence, and the bullet hits the fence, that there are also no casualties etc….. dont know, but i think that all around artillery should be overworked again….
Posted by nils on July 15th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Yeah, I agree totally. This is great game. I bought this couple of months ago and bought also expansion. Very interesting game indeed, but for me this empire game is like playing sim city or capitalism as you are forced to build and keep your economy first and then you can enjoy waging wars. This should be more war oriented game rather than economy lecture.I liked the previous total war games much more cuz they were so action orientated. Also, it seems that AI dont need economy at all cuz it can maintain huge armies even when its ports are blocaded, trade routes raided and it has only 1 small region.AI never goes bankrupty. It is pissing me off really. This is good game but not masterpiece. More fixing will make this game more enjoyable!
Posted by Kai on July 15th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
The idea of spreading your troops out into a long line is very good for initial volley and certain engagements, however, you have to be very careful when your enemy charges you lines as your troops will be extra vulnerable. You will have to take quick action to move the rest of the line in on the hand to hand engagement. very risky, hard to maneuver in this formation and protect against the flank. but very effective in the earlier parts of the game and in frontal attacks
Posted by Steve on July 17th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Its a good game with out a doubt, some interesting posts here and comments, i do have a question though,why is it when the enemy ships fire their guns they do so one gun at a time in a daisy chain (traditional style) when i fire my guns i broadside all my cannons at once (i am sure this would topple the ship in the real worl) is there a way i can choose a different firing pattern?
look forward to the next patch (seems the latest one has still not fixed save files, for me at any rate)
best regards
T.
Posted by Timothy on July 18th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Well, it is pretty intresting but it takes a lot of system requirements… My family got the game but then we found out we didin’t have the system requrements… LOL… So we bought a new computer. But it is confusing. Compared to the other Total Wars, this is pretty complicated. Most of it’s focused on economy. Pretty good, just has a few gltches… Fixes would be nice.
Posted by Guest on July 18th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Can’t figure out how to call elections. I’m a republic (U.S). My president has been in office for like 14 years. Any one have any ideas?
Posted by JAFO on July 22nd, 2009 at 1:35 am
I agree with poster 15, especially in the unit standing there being wiped out becuse 1-5 men are stuck in the terrain somewhere. They need to make it so with 80-90% of a unit is in line they settle in and begin to fire. ATM all you can do with a unit that has men stuck is let it absorb fire or send it into a melee attack. Its ill watching an elite guards unit be wiped out my a fresh militia unit because one man stopped for a pee behind a tree and 2-3 others decided to sneak a drink. I also love using squares but my squares are nowhere as deadly as the enemies. My sqaures will fire point blank into a cavalry unit for several minutes before they break them, I will usually lose half or more of a cavalry unit just moving past a square in 1-2 volleys. I only use howitzers and mortars anymore because the enemy will always overrun your artillery, always. their artillery always gets a final shot during the melee yours just dies. Make sure you always, if the enemy has any cavalry, leave a couple units behind your guns or the enemy will flank you, and run your guns down, I find it immpossible to return the favor as enemy infantry and cross the entire battlefield and get back to their guns to stop my flanking cavalry attacks. It’s actually funny, I gave up even trying for enemy guns, I just kill the rest and then send the entire army after the enemies guns.
I have also found that making groups of 3 infantry is best. Use the middle unit to engage and hold the enemy, and move the other 2 into positions on the sides of the enemy. The few men you lose while running into position, is nothing compared to the havoc you cause by firing into 3 sides of the enemy. This also works with the entire line. I always try to have 10-12 line units in an army, use 2-3 units per flank to move into flanking positions and leave the rest to hold the enemy in place.
Mortars and howitzers are your best friends, they rain destruction on the enemy from behind your lines and then can counter-battery fire when the enemy is too close for artillery. They are also good for forcing the enemy into comming out of a fort where you can wipe them out easily, since they come out piecemeal.
If you come out of a fort to attack, go out on the sides away from the enemy’s guns and form up then move to attack as concentrated force with some cavalry flankers to draw off enemy units in chases.
I have unlocked eveything in Empire so far but will have to redo it all since, my computer was eaten by a virus last week, ahh well. I have a lot of tactics that work well in the games, helps that I went a military college and studied military history for 4 years.
Posted by amethyst13 on July 31st, 2009 at 11:00 pm
IS THEY COME FOR PLAY STASION3 THE EMPIER TOTAL WAR?
Posted by giannis on August 5th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
can’t get countries to accept trade agreement when original partners are blockaded or their ports are occupied or they are conquered. trade routes from ivory coast or my own port to ports trade routes show income but none shows up on country summary when zero realized from trade partners due to blockade. any suggestions. without trade income you are working on a shoestring and game bogs down very early.
Posted by TrogusP on August 11th, 2009 at 9:10 am
SUPER GAME – must say I do not agree with the critic regarding economy (of cause you need a good and sound economy to wage war, otherwise the world would be total kaos) I have 2 urgent things, please create something for line inf. like “ready, aim, FIRE!” and it could be extremely cool if you could create the opposite of “advance & fire” like “withdraw & fire” or “fighting withdraw” this would be very useful for light inf but also line inf.
And the like to have: if you capture a port (with land troops) where the enemy have their fleet in the port and you are blockading the port with ships – you should somehow capture that fleet (like the bloody brits did with beautyful Copenhagen) same thing with canons – if you route an army and they leave behind their guns, those guns should become yours – either to sell or create artillery units with, and at the same time modern artillery should be more expensive.
I LOVE THE GAME, wife hates it
Posted by Lord Kasheelar on August 13th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Hi all !!
I have played every Total War game so far, but didn’t get the chance actually to start playing this TW yet. Can anyone tell me with what Nations u can start a Campaign ? I like Barbarian Wars more than RTW and Medieval War, because u had a far more larger option in choosing with wich Nation to start a Campaign…
Are there many now ? And if yes, which Nations are there ?
Posted by Leon on August 16th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
In the top right of the government scroll there is a call election button
Posted by Echo on August 17th, 2009 at 9:51 am
this game is actually a lot easier than previous games, partly cuz you dont have family members popping up all over the place and draining income. I was USA and had taken the entire Americas, british isles, had 5 massive armies ad a massive navy with 30000 income and 170000 cash. mind you, AI needs tweaking, i offered 75000, 3 provinces and something else for 4 techs ant they refused, i drained my treasury having to pay 80000+ 4 each tech
Posted by Echo on August 17th, 2009 at 10:03 am
there should be a thing where your armies have morle boosts and your enemies demoralised if youve won a great victory or many small victorys recently (and vice-versa)
Posted by Echo on August 17th, 2009 at 10:07 am
JAFO,
In the top right there should be a button saying hold immediate election(or something like that) although it should hold elections by itself.
-Alex
Posted by Alex on August 23rd, 2009 at 2:57 am
Guys, I don’t agree with the criticism of the concentration on the economy. May be this game concentrates more on the economy than the previous ones, but this is more realistic. The best part of the total war game series is how far it’s realistic. And for me it’s not that frustrating, u r not bankrupted that easily if u take care of ur economy, u don’t need to be the enemy of everybody so u need to maintain a large army in every region. I even thought of sending to the TW team telling about a more few things that are not so realistic, including that if I as a player represent the leader of a faction will not be able to get the intel, or give the orders instantaneously on the map, since the radio communication was not yet invented. And also I won’t be able to make diplomacy instantaneously for the same reason. But then I thought that solving this problem can make TW much more complex and less fun for most of the players since the intel u have should be outdated as well as the orders. For example u may send a fleet for a certain destination and u guess so later that it was attacked or went into a hurricane since it never arrived. But the thing I really have a comment on is the building management, Building through a single place for a region is much easier than building through a lot of cities, farms, mines, factories, etc. And even if there’s a more abstract way to build but other than the auto building system, it will be nicer and easier and doesn’t affect how realistic the game is, it’s just an interface.
Posted by Ziko on August 25th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Hey guys I’ve beat the game several times. First tip and this helps me drastically in campains is to Wipe Out the Pirates. If you dont use france, Spain, or England you should sent a ship over to the americas. Two reasons, the eliminating the pirates and getting a huge boost in trade income from the americas. Also make sure to have trading ships in Africas Theatre and the Indies. Hope this Helps.
Posted by Anthony on August 27th, 2009 at 2:37 am
Oh i do have one question. I cant play as the US. HOW DO YOU DO THIS?
Posted by Anthony on August 27th, 2009 at 2:38 am
This is the game we’ve all been waiting for since Rome first came out, but there are a lot of growing pains here. I agree with most of the posts here about artillery, very difficult to use on the fly during battles, and some ammo doesn’t do nearly the damage it seems like it should. I did get to the last chapter of ROI but…after you win, wouldn’t it be great to be in there with the other European powers? The small map means not much more to do after you consolidate America. Rakes are next to useless unless you can get them through a bunch of successful missions, which is almost impossible.
Posted by Bluemick on August 29th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Just wanted to say thanks for the 1.3v patch.The 1.2 kept me from saving games,increased crashes but 1.3 corrected all of that so I’m back to conquering again.Can’t wait for NTW! Cheers!!!
Posted by fred on August 30th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
It’s so complicated with the new Steam System. I’m a Total War lover, but because of steam, it makes me becomes a Total War hater…
what a waste!
Posted by Archie on September 4th, 2009 at 12:04 am
The single most common field piece of the 18th century was the 4-pounder which could often be pushed to keep up with the line.
Where are they in the game?? Their ubiquity only declined by the Wars of the French Revolution.
In the Seven Years War Prussia’s Frederick II broke up batteries of these and put pairs of guns in line batallions to increase batallion fire-power diminishing due to casualties. This could be nicely represented in a game of this realistic detail.
Posted by landis crockett on September 12th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Perhaps you are already aware that for the Elite Units on the website here some of the pictures are not matched with their descriptive paragraphs, starting with the Guard Grenadiers of Poland-Lithuania to about the Gardes a Cheval of Russia.
Posted by landis crockett on September 12th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Artillery especially early in The 18th Century rarely had miltary personnel hauling guns around. Most of this was done by civilian teamster contractors who, should they happen to be exposed to fire, would either jettison the guns or run away with them! Usually this system manefested itself in a simple refusal to move guns in an area of perceived risk. The effect on the maneuvarability of artillery on the battlefield can be imagined. Guns once placed tended to stay there, unless they could possibly be moved safely. This also led to a reliance on the 4-pounder as field artillery because it could be often be pushed around by (usually more reliable) soldiers. Naturally, because of the numerous shortcomings of this “system” the hauling of cannon was gradually militarized by the time of the Wars of the French Revolution.
This could easily be reflected in this excellent game as could the gradual evolution toward making artillery movement professional.
Posted by landis crockett on September 13th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
With update 1.4 it is now impossible to make peace. Playing as GB i defeated France in America, taken all their their territories, taken Paris and still no peace treaty. Offered back paris to France, still not interested. offered Paris + all my technology, still not interested. Does anyone know how to overcome the huge negative ratings in diplomacy caused by being at war (-100+) allied to enemy nation (another huge -) treaties broken etc.
Posted by Ben on October 1st, 2009 at 1:19 pm
i always buy most of my regons off my allies so i can get the best regons in the game with out wasting time making an army most regons go for $50000 -$150000. my advice is to buy regons with alot of trade resorses to begin with.
Posted by frog_bite on October 2nd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Any ideas…… when defending and u get certain extra options, anti cav defences, mines, protection for arty (which limits field of fire) and a earthworks thing that goes in front of troops. But theres also a 5th option which so far iv never being able to figure out what it is or how to use it? help
Posted by meyket on October 7th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Those ppl who have trouble with peace. First off have ur millitary technology almsot empty adn have a lot of troops this increases your millitary prestige (so you can threaten the enemy) but if it the navy that pisses u off then guerilla with them leave 1 ship behind another like a line and the enemy will take the bait leaving the trade route open
Posted by John Sobieski on October 13th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Is it normal at the start of a game for like, 5-10 countries to declare war on you in the first few moves? Is there a way to stop this? Certainly throws you in at the deep end. I played as Spain, thinking, oh, I’ll invade portugal, easy, but everyone nearby apart from France declared war almost straight away and killed all my fleets!
Posted by Milton on November 26th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Personally i like the direction they are going, towards the so called “finance-y” stuff — it accurately depicts civilizations and what they deal with in their struggles against eachother over the centuries. however, the game sort of feels like a fancy boardgame–it’s not truly alive. i think it’d be amazing to play a game like total war, but each city is a simulated actual city, and your control over some aspects is less direct
Posted by Chris C on December 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
In all my campaigns regardless of how many ships I send (if any) to trade theatres, the game seems bent on allowing me 2-4k a turn. Have a trade fleet get raided and it sinks your entire faction.
Also the alliance situation needs fixed as someone said above. One ally of mine attacked my second ally. I picked a side and there after I got a penalty for broken alliance.
City defenses need to have a fix option.
Posted by Mike on January 24th, 2010 at 2:15 am
I don’t know why the developers use steam to secure their games. It does not work I bough ETW and loading it is a pain. I have a friend who has an illegitimate copy and guess what you never have to connect to the internet. I suspect that in future I will end up buying both, as I can do without the pain, but still contribute to future developments. I have found this game disapointing though. It has some good ideas, but the game play lets it down for all the reasons mentioned.
Posted by Dave on April 1st, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Spreading troops over a long line works but only when you have enough troops in reserve.
When outnumbered i always put my men in a column and punch a hole in the enemy line. Works all the time
Wut’s up with the artillery??? When I tell them to stop shooting they just keep firing away.
i think the AI’s need to be fixed in battle. When the have cavalry they suicide charge, and when they have melee infantry they just stand there and get butchered.
Anyone have any idea which nation I should play as. I always play as French but they either lose miserably, or the game gets boring. Suggestions???
Posted by Will on April 9th, 2010 at 12:32 am
Hey guys. Is it normaly for the game to take like 10 minutes to load. Is it just me or is the game like that, It gets super annoying but rewarding once u get playing. Please reply
Posted by Timmy on April 9th, 2010 at 12:49 am
just wondering what the best attacking force is made up of eg: what kind of solders grenadiers plus hussars generals etc i am currently playing as the ottomans having great difficulty gainst polland they have researched 2 more technologys in military then what i have
Posted by bezir on April 17th, 2010 at 7:32 am
I NEED A LITTLE HELP I have played at the harder level (not the hardest! Not yet anyway) and I have managed to keep my wars self contained until about turn 20. I now find myself at war with France and the Marathas. Fortunately I have almost complete control of the oceans world wide and control about 2 thirds of all trade posts earning me a small fortune which has funded a very impressive navy allowing me to continue my dominance of the sea’s (sounds like the true history of the century). However for the last 3 turns I have had almost No trade income, because all trade has been blockaded. My question is, by whom and where? My navies sail with impunity across the world and I have sailed each trade route and I cannot find an enemy ship where! So, who is stopping my trade and how do I stop it? This is ruining an excellent game, please help.
Posted by Andrew Rounds on April 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am
game was working fine till i logged onto steam to see if new patches were out. Game crashed or said game unavailable come back later. It was a nightmare. I finally got it up and running with no help from sega or steam. Trick was the latest nvidia upgrade seems to have worked. I will never go on steam again unless a new nightmare occurs. this nightmare started around Christmas and I finally got it working in April.
Posted by Terry on May 4th, 2010 at 1:59 am
S!
@Andrew
you are tellig your navy cover the seas. well
to blockade an Harbour you can do it via enemy Navy or Via enemy Army so check your ports and give a glance if you have a nvy bloking or an Enemy Army
If the enemy Army is blokong conquist the Harbour with your Army and if you have navy bloking send an Army unit to the harbour than sink the enemy ship with your navy.
hope could help.
regards
Posted by Cobber on June 10th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Trading for peace in my experience is not so difficult, depending a bit on your objectives. Some examples from my recent game as Britain:
— In my first war with France, I captured all of their Canadian territories. They sued for peace and I accepted. They allied with the Inuits who had a surprising access to artillery and invade my territory in Newfoundland. They Inuits were a nuisance and I didn’t want to waste time with them. So after a few turns, I traded them Newfoundland about 500 gold for peace. No problem.
— War with Spain. Mostly raiding each other’s shipping. I need two Spanish-held territories to meet my objectives — Florida and Gibraltar. I capture Florida easily enough. I then offer Spain, Newfoundland and some Caribbean islands that are not on my objectives list in exchange for peace. I throw in some farming techs and cash. But I also ask them for Gibraltar. THEY GO FOR IT! Of course, 5 years later, they attack me to get Gibraltar back, but I’m ready for them. (This is when I retook Newfoundland seeting up the Inuit conflict above.) With a decent army defending Gibraltar, I turn the tables and capture all of their Old World territories, at which point they sue for peace again for some cash, and I accept.
— Nearing end of game on the only thing I need is Hindustan, which Marayan Conf. holds. I send a large army to India with a big fleet. They declare war and march overland to capture Hindustan easily. I then offer techs and cash until they agree to peace. And I sit tight.
There doesn’t seem to a be a penalty for getting turned down on an offer, so I often keep making offers until they take it. Have also lucked out with getting trade agreements and techs this way.
Posted by frank on October 4th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
o This is a wonderful opinion. The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone
**********
alexgavin111
Cash For Gold Price Per Gram
Posted by alexgavin111 on November 11th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Just a general tip that I use throughout the game once I get ships of the line: double line formation. By putting your naval units in two offset lines there is no friendly fire and you are able to send twice as much faire at your enemy’s single line as they are able to at your double line. Set your units to “Fire at will”, alt-click the first enemy ship and just sail parallel to the enemy. When you sink their first ship in line, turn towards their line(if they are downwind of you) and alt-click the next ship in line. Then you are able to concentrate even more firepower against it. Continue until all the enemy’s ships are destroyed or crippled(at least without sails, preferably without crew too) and then board the crippled ones. It is an easy way to kill the enemy’s fleet.
Posted by Cam on December 4th, 2010 at 3:34 am
Dear William
You are a complete moron. If you know anything about the turn system in ETW then you would know that each turn equals 6 months. So lets say you get a new tech in GB then you start to sail to India. It would take like lets say 6-8 turns, so that would equal 3-4years.
Andrew Rounds, did you check your ports, there could be an enemy ship in a port of yours, and make sure it is healed up the whole way
Posted by Andy on January 12th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
I agree with comment #52. That if you capture cannons on the battlefield, you should be able to form new units from them, maybe for a reduced price? Since you need men for them? And how about the ships that you capture? If you keep them the maintaince fees can cause you to go bankrupt, but the only option the game gives you that I can see is to sink them! How come we don’t have the option to sell them? That was the biggest reason for capturing enemy ships back then, the chance to become wealthy from selling them, both for the navy and the privateers!
I have only been playing this game for a week now, (the Gold Edition, with Napoleon), and I also have been having trouble with crashes, always during a battle or the results screen at the end of it. Since I built this computer last June, 2010, it should be up to date for drivers! I’m using an AMD 5870, with Intel i7 860 processor and Windows 7, and I don’t see how the computer can be the problem. I’ve tried reducing my graphics, but with the same results.
And how come I no longer have the ability to erase my old saved games? All the other Total War games have this ability. My saved game screen is becoming cluttered, and I will soon run out of space on my hard drive!
Since you have come out with Napoleon, are you still making patches for this game? Because the AI could still use some tweeking. I have auto-resolved some battles and won, when their was no chance of winning on the battle map!
Posted by Ken Rauter on March 6th, 2011 at 12:59 am
I have also noticed a problem when an agent boards a ship at a harbour. The ship will not show him as being on board, UNTIL the ship leaves the harbour! It is impossible to change your mind and have him then leave the ship, unless the ship is outside the harbour. But then I think he would lose the rest of his movement points?
Posted by Ken Rauter on March 6th, 2011 at 1:37 am
I notice that several posters have had trouble making effective use of cannon and other direct fire artillery. Here are a few things that have worked for me.
I’ve found that placing the cannon at one end of the line (ideally on a hill) angled about 45 degrees to my main infantry line and slightly apart, allows them to engage (and thus soften up) most enemy units attempting to advance before they come into range of my musket units. With my cannon placed in such a position I can either march my infantry line forward, hold my position and let the enemy advance to me, or if the terrain favors it, I can quick march my entire infantry line behind the cannon and up the flanking side of the battle field to shift the direction of attack by 90 degrees. The key is placing your batteries on a position that commands the field, and then conforming the rest of your dispositions to that placement. Zooming down to view the terrain at troop eye level while you are setting up will help you to find the best, most commanding placement. All of this said, bear in mind too that if you are defending you can set up deep in your territory and take maximum advantage of the available terrain as the attacker will be obliged to come to you, but if you are the attacker you should in most cases set up as forward as possible and choose the forward ground for your batteries that best allows you to fire them down upon the most likely enemy position (typically front and center in his set up box if you are playing against the AI).
One other thing that is important is to not leave your cannon without the protection of one supporting unit to help defend it from a direct assault by melee infantry or cavalry. I find that keeping one unit of pike infantry in reserve directly behind the artillery serves this purpose well. They can be brought forward quickly if needed, and pikes are very effective against horse as well as being able to hold their own against most infantry in a scrum. After being softened up with grapeshot, most advancing enemy units will break and run at the site of a counter charging pike regiment. In my experience one unit of pike infantry in reserve is adequate to defending a position of two or three batteries of artillery, and in a pinch it can be shifted to bolster some other part of the line if needed.
One other thing I would add is this: with mobile artillery units it is generally best to not move them about the field too much during a battle. When your big guns are limbered up they are slow moving, vulnerable, and they can not fire back. Much better to preposition them in a commanding position (or quickly move to one close by but just outside your set-up box) at the start of battle, and then leave them there for the duration.
A final note, don’t be discouraged, experiment, try different things and see what works for you. Remember, Napoleon got his start as an artillery officer!
Posted by Ed on September 5th, 2011 at 1:20 am