Changes in combat width, anyone?

[Xetfield]

Am I the only person here who think that the numbers of combat width in the middle and late game are laughably small?

I mean, it's ok when in the XV century only 20 regiments are available for the actual combat, but in the end of game, in the age when Seven Years War and Napoleonic Wars were, 40 regiments doing actual fighting seems to be not very realistic. Maybe we need a slight improvement to 50 or 60 regiments? It also could make supply depots more useful as well as drilling.

Also I think that some generals should have a chance of receiving a trait that will allow them to include more regiments to the direct fight (+5 or something like that). As far as I remembers, admirals with high points in maneuver can do it, and it's totally reasonable. I suppose that option like this may be even included into some of the military idea groups. From my point of view, it just didn't make balance shift because more fighting regiments will mean more casualities.

 

[Horn and Ivory]

If you read accounts of Napoleonic war battles the current one is, I think, about right. At Austerlitz the French had only 65k men in total and no point in the battle came close to seeing all of them engaged at the same time. At Liepzig, it was impossible through Napoleon's positioning for the larger army to bring all their forces into play and actions generally involved 20-30k troops. At Borodino, three divisions plus one cavalry division (at most 30k infantry + 4k cavalry and probably less) is described as a massive, all-in assault.

The current system is fine as far as I'm concerned.

 

[I_am_Nemo]

From a gameplay perspective, 40 combat width means an 80k stack. More if you want a reserve already in place, rather than having to micro a second stack nearby each main stack. There aren't that many provinces, even late game, that can support 100k + troops without you eating attrition - especially once you get out of Europe. Having a 60 combat width would mean a minimum of 120k stacks; making them just a pain in the arse to position. I can't see constantly splitting and combining stacks being an enjoyable gaming experience.