How I make my armies...is it right?

[ringworm]

Hi,

I have no idea if this is a good setup. Playing as prussia

I make stacks of about 30K

Left , centre, right and reserve all have

2 * Guards
1* Heavy Cav
1* Horse art

So I can have ' Up the guard' enabled.

The units left over I disband the rest of the cav and orginise the rest into art and inf stacks to siege.

Sounds okay?

 

[Ridcully87]

hm, you should build one or two supplytrains to get a combat bonus (cant remember how good it is)

 

[StephenT]

If you can afford that many guards brigades, sure, sounds good.

Cavalry are a lot of help in the pursuit phase, so I wouldn't write them off entirely. Put them in the reserve before a battle so they don't get crushed by the bombardment and melee phases. Also, you probably want some separate small units of all-cavalry to scout around, raid enemy supply lines and remove the fog of war from around them.

 

[ParadogsGamer]

Remove the cav from the center and replace it with inf.
In the reserve, add a supply train and some light cavalry.
Other than that it looks good.

I also have one cav only corps. This one is useful for exploitation but should be kept from the line if possible. The French start with such a corps.

 

[deadmeat1471]

hm, you should build one or two supplytrains to get a combat bonus (cant remember how good it is)

Supply trains also extend the length of time unit can stay in supply when it is out of range. This is EXTREMELY important, if a unit is under supplied they perform extremely poorly.

*Also, Well said that man!

 

[unmerged(677937)]

Different formations for different tactics. If you want to entrench then each flank should have as a minimum 2 line infantry, one light infantry, and one artillery. To be able to entrench this is a minimum to be able to use the tactic. In the reserve I will put any guards and cavalry and anything extra. Entrenching can be a deadly tool, something of a force multiplier (if I am starting to understand this game).

So some types of tactics need specific units. I am just learning about this myself.

 

[Alomoes]

Entrench in the mountains of Switzerland.

 

[Sir Garnet]

Note that to get the variety needed on both flanks and the center plus a reserve means armies of at least 12-16 brigades, which logically relates to effective army size.

But what happens if two small armies join in the same combat - how are their units allocated along the front line?

 

[unmerged(538861)]

I'm a bit confused... 2k guard, 1k cav, and 1k arty in EACH flank? So that makes it almost 16k per army. Then you do it again and then merge the armies, getting your 30k?

Also, I tried the 2k guard, 1k cav and 1k arty... Won't allow me to Up The Guard. I'm assuming I have to make some light infantry as well to do up the guard?

 

[StephenT]

I'm a bit confused... 2k guard, 1k cav, and 1k arty in EACH flank? So that makes it almost 16k per army. Then you do it again and then merge the armies, getting your 30k?

Most brigades are more than 1K - a basic line infantry brigade is 2400 men, light infantry 1800 and cavalry 1200 (may vary by country). So you can reckon on 8000+ men per flank, and 25-35K for the army as a whole.

You don't merge the armies (normally) you keep them separate. One per province, in adjacent provinces, to avoid attrition. If the enemy army comes close, order your stacks to gather together in one province like a Japanese anime giant robot combined out of multiple smaller robots. Once the enemy is defeated again your stacks can separate once more.

Also, I tried the 2k guard, 1k cav and 1k arty... Won't allow me to Up The Guard. I'm assuming I have to make some light infantry as well to do up the guard?

No, all you need is at least 15% cavalry OR light infantry OR artillery, plus guard units. I think it checks the actual current strength, not the number of brigades, so if your brigades have suffered heavy casualties that would be a problem.

Also, make sure you have a leader assigned to the flank, or you can't choose any tactic.