Point on the forces in presence.
Here is a list. In blue - the American forces, in Red the British. I only took a sample of the units, but it is representative (I checked that). All these are units with 0 in experience. Most English units has 1 in experience, so more cohesion, 1 more in offensive fire and more discipline than "green" troops.
Volunteers are the units which have the "colonial" color : Green for the Americans, orange for the English.
Jackson's funnies are troops the Americans got at New Orléans at the end of the campaign. They are a bit original - it is a makeshift army - those are just a sample.
As you can see, the quality of guns and natives is the same. Note that almost all natives of the English side have 1 or 2 stars of experience from the beginning, and outstanding leaders as well. The militias are slightly better for the Americans (the Ontario volunteers are unique), but actually the English have few militias - all of them fixed - while most of the American force, especially in the first year or so, is made of militias.
On the quality of regulars, the Americans lage behind : their best regular is worse than the worst English regular (which happens to be Swiss - it is the (unique) unit with the purple background. The English regulars will ALWAYS shoot first (better initiative) and have 1 or 2 more in offensive and defensive fire (4% or 8% more chance to hit). Add to this that half the English start with one star of experience, and that the English leaders are better, and you understand while Americans fail even when outnumbering the English.
The English have Grenadiers, but they are not better than English regulars, except in assault.
In the "Light Infantry" department, the English have yet again the advantage, but it is not as strong as the best American Light Inf. is as good as the worst English one. I believe both sides have the same number of Light Inf., too.
The [French] pirate gunners are quite simply the best American troops. That's saying a lot - but then it is a French game.
If you want information on what the numbers mean, click here.
Why I won at Ticonderoga.
Outnumbered and without commander, I should have lost, right ? Well. I did not.
Why so. Well, remember where we were fighting. In the wilderness, in clear weather. Here is the chart to know the effects :
This changed completely the battle result. I am now going to show why I had an advantage. Warning, there is going to be a lot of calculation, but I believe it will be useful. Also, full disclaimer – I did not forecast this before the battle, it was ex-post analysis, AND I might be wrong in my calculation, too.
Forces in presence
I had 9 elements of irregulars and 18 elements of regulars, 8 elements of guns.
Loki had 4 elements of irregulars, 12 elements of regulars or militias, 3 elements of cavalry and 12 elements of guns.
Let's deal with the guns first.
How many guns can fight ?
There is a system of frontage in the game. Here is the chart for wilderness :
The support_unit_quotas (used by guns and supply units) in clear wilderness is 60, and each gun “consumes” 15 in frontage. So only 4 guns can fight for both side.
But since Loki100 has supply wagons, one of the slot (and only one) is taken by a supply wagon element (in exchange, all his troops have +10% in fire). So that's only 3 guns.
Effectiveness of the guns due to the terrain
My guns are in defense, they fight at 50% efficiency. 4 guns at 50% = Effectively 2 guns.
Loki100 guns are in attack, they fight at 65% efficiency. 3 guns at 65% = Effectively 2 guns.
Leader and other modifiers
Loki has an offensive 4 leader, and a supply wagon in combat.
Effectively, he has 2 * 1,2 (4*0,05 for leader) * 1,1 = 2,64
I am out of command by 35%. 2 * 0,65 = 1,3.
Loki100 has a small advantage in guns overall, despite having 4 more guns.
Now to the infantry.
How many units can fight
On average, my units spend a frontage of 1/3 (Light Inf.) * 7 (Light Infantry Frontage) + 2/3 (regular) * 12 (Line Infantry Frontage) = 8,2.
On average, Loki's units spend a frontage of 4/19 (Light Inf.) * 7 + 12/19 * 12 + 3/19 (cavalry) * 15 (Horses frontage) = 11,4
The frontage for the battle is 100 (Combats_Units_Quota), which means I could bring 12 elements in combat each round, while Loki could only bring 8. This is an average, both of us could get lucky, or unlucky. Loki100 was unlucky since at least 2 of his cavalry engaged (they eat up frontage and are poor fighters).
Effectiveness of the units due to terrain
My troops :
Regular infantry fought at 75% of its capacity.
Irregular fought at 130% of its capacity.
Overall, my effectiveness was 1/3 * 75% + 2/3 * 130% = 93,3%. The impact of the enemy irregulars defensive bonus is more or less 5% (I won't get more into details) let's say I fight at 87,5%, at worst.
Loki100 troops :
Regular/Militia infantry fought at 80% of its capacity due to the terrain. Since this group is 2/3 militia and militias have about 50% of the efficiency of the regulars it means on average an element of this sub-group has 66,7% of the fighting capacity of a non-militia, so overall this group fights at 53% of its capacity if it was clear terrain and full regular. The defensive bonus of my irregulars has an impact of circa 8%, so we are down to 45%
Irregulars fought at 120% of capacity, say 112% after my defensive bonus.
Cavalry fought at 60% of capacity, 52% after my defensive bonus.
On average, due to the terrain and the presence of militia, Loki's group fight at 0,45 * 12/19 + 1,12 * 4/19 + 0,52 * 3/19 = 60,2%
Leader and other modifiers
I am out of command by 35%, so my army has 0,650 *0,875 = 56,8% efficiency. Since my troops are of better quality (see the beginning of this post), I would give myself 10% of bonus, so let’s say 62,5%
Loki100 has an offensive 4 leader and supply wagons, so his final efficiency on average for a unit is 0,602*1,2*1,1 = 79,5%
Final result
I have 12 units fighting each round at 62,5%, so let’s give myself 62,5% * 12 = 7,5 in combat.
Loki100 has 8 units fighting each round at 79,5% so let’s give him 79,5% * 8 = 6,4 in combat.
So my troops were about 18% better than his troops each round. And thus, I won the battle.
Hope this was not TOO boring, and quite clear.