So what army composition people use? I'm still noob, but I tend to go 15 Infantry 7 Cav, and 8 Cannons.
What's a good army composition?
- Thread starter Suzaku
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Depends what year it is and which tech group You're in. For european generally there is little point in having more than 6 cav, most ppl go with 4. Infrantry amount equal to Your combat width + some reserves, and as much arti as You can afford and can supply (check supply limits in Your country and future targets).
At this point you just need a bit of cavalry to flank (~4), then full combat width infantry, and full combat width arty.
Why am I not surprised that someone from PDS didn't answer with units ratio?
Just joking, don't kill me. Colonel Bogey March is a great army composition.
Do you want an ideal or practical army composition?
The ideal composition looks something like:
Infantry = full combat width minus cavalry
Cavalry = 2 to 6 (depends of tech level and tech group)
Canons = full combat width
The ideal composition is not practical because you have to take into account supply limit, maintenance cost, tech level, etc.
A more practical composition is to insure you do not have insufficient support (depends of your tech group), you do not have more canons than infantry+cavalry, your stacks can move on most of your provinces without suffering attrition, and you can actually pay for the maintenance of your units.
It depends, what nation are you and is money an issue? If you can afford it and your tech group doesn't have crappy, high-fire/low-shock cavalry (such as the various Americans), putting in a good bit more cavalry can actually be quite effective, especially if you have NIs that support this (such as hordes and Poland). The main problem with cavalry is that it's not cost-effective, even if it is combat-effective, so if money is a constraint, cutting cavalry to field more infantry is generally a good idea.
Assuming no NIs either way: focus on filling combat width first (infantry, infantry, infantry + just enough cavalry for maximum flanking), then filling the back ranks with artillery, and then, if you can afford it, feel free to add back more cavalry.
Now, if you're Poland or a horde/reformed horde or something with similar bonuses, cavalry should be a much higher priority because yours gets huge bonuses (seriously, +33% cavalry combat ability as Poland) and lower costs. On the flip side, if you're Prussia, Sweden, Japan, or Nepal or something, keep your focus on infantry because that's where your bonuses lie.
Assuming no NIs either way: focus on filling combat width first (infantry, infantry, infantry + just enough cavalry for maximum flanking), then filling the back ranks with artillery, and then, if you can afford it, feel free to add back more cavalry.
Now, if you're Poland or a horde/reformed horde or something with similar bonuses, cavalry should be a much higher priority because yours gets huge bonuses (seriously, +33% cavalry combat ability as Poland) and lower costs. On the flip side, if you're Prussia, Sweden, Japan, or Nepal or something, keep your focus on infantry because that's where your bonuses lie.
I make armies that are multiples of the following:
5 Infantry / 3 Cavalry / 7 Cannons
Early game my entire individual army will be 5/3/7, mid game I'll end up with 10/6/14 or and late game I'll end up with 15/9/21 units; large battles will mean I'll end up with a nice healthy 30/18/42 going in to the fight..
5 Infantry / 3 Cavalry / 7 Cannons
Early game my entire individual army will be 5/3/7, mid game I'll end up with 10/6/14 or and late game I'll end up with 15/9/21 units; large battles will mean I'll end up with a nice healthy 30/18/42 going in to the fight..
- 4
inf/cav/art
i would usually do 8/2/2 if early game if im poor. but once i get rich in mid or late game, i would switch to 6/2/4 (artillery is very important mid and late game).
i would usually do 8/2/2 if early game if im poor. but once i get rich in mid or late game, i would switch to 6/2/4 (artillery is very important mid and late game).
Ive been using pure infantry in my last 2 games, after experimenting and struggling to get results with any combination. If im fighting a major power whose main army needs to be broken\confronted i will make as many cannon as i have battle width, and use them in the largest battles.
Yep. Also, with the rebalanced unit pips, several tech groups get epic cavalry at certain points in the game. For instance, at level 10, both Ottomans and Africans get a cavalry unit which has 3 offensive shock pips and 3 offensive morale pips. So even if your NIs don't especially favour cavalry, you'll want to go cavalry-heavy for a while when great new cavalry units appear and/or when the tech level gives a big boost to cavalry shock. If your NIs do favour cavalry, these are the perfect times to launch big wars against your major rivals.
I like to keep 2^n units of 2/1/2. It is by no means the ideal combat composition, but it isn't terrible, as all my infantry is covered by artillery, and flanking cavalry does not need any artillery cover. The main upside to this composition is that it splits extremely well, which is very important to me. The main downside is that you often end up with more cavalry then ideal, but that still fights fine, it just costs a bit more then it needs to.
It depends:
If you are a rich nation with a small manpower pool in early game then you would likely have a large Number of cav.
Late game you will likely want as many infantry as you can with cav only used for flanking.
Alot depends on what ideas you pick, for example Poland with espionage, quality and aristocratic can have 173% cav power which is extreamly hard to fight effectively.
If you are a rich nation with a small manpower pool in early game then you would likely have a large Number of cav.
Late game you will likely want as many infantry as you can with cav only used for flanking.
Alot depends on what ideas you pick, for example Poland with espionage, quality and aristocratic can have 173% cav power which is extreamly hard to fight effectively.
Hah, I used to go with 5/3/2 because its a whole number. :closedeyes: Looks like I'm doing it wrong! 
hmy:
hmy:I go with 2/1 inf/cav early game, 2/1/2 inf/cav/guns mid game and also occasionally build just guns because you can never have more guns. The thing people use to forget about cav is that it has tremendous shock multiplier. http://i.imgur.com/ECKUUhZ.jpg
A multiplier of five vs infantry's 2.15 helps to decimate opponent during the shock phase even taking into account that Eastern tech infantry and cavalry have mostly equal shock pips on level 28 (offensive equal at 4, defensively cav is better at 4 vs 3). in addition maneuver is improving as a result of advancing military tech which suggests more need for cavalry. On level 28 it is +150% compared to default and default is 3 for cavalry (that explains 6 cav - 3 cavalry flanking on both sides during early game) which means more units for flanking will even increase chances of wiping an opponent.
More cavalry and guns allows you to wipe Western tech revoked privilegia HRE without taking much damage. http://i.imgur.com/sUrgiQ3.jpg
A multiplier of five vs infantry's 2.15 helps to decimate opponent during the shock phase even taking into account that Eastern tech infantry and cavalry have mostly equal shock pips on level 28 (offensive equal at 4, defensively cav is better at 4 vs 3). in addition maneuver is improving as a result of advancing military tech which suggests more need for cavalry. On level 28 it is +150% compared to default and default is 3 for cavalry (that explains 6 cav - 3 cavalry flanking on both sides during early game) which means more units for flanking will even increase chances of wiping an opponent.
More cavalry and guns allows you to wipe Western tech revoked privilegia HRE without taking much damage. http://i.imgur.com/sUrgiQ3.jpg
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5/3 is not bad but you are severely lacking guns.Hah, I used to go with 5/3/2 because its a whole number. :closedeyes: Looks like I'm doing it wrong!
However fire phase come first and that can really punish cavalry, damage them heavy so they can't do that much damage in the shock phase.
Only if an opponent has a full back line of guns and you don't. I didn't suggest full cav line; 2:1 ratio means that enemy infantry will be facing mostly my infantry during first phases. Cavalry will still be on the sides primarily. Many of them will be flanking (taking no damage). Those that will be affected should be covered by guns (may remind that fire multiplier is 6.4) which contribute their defensive and offensive pips to a unit in front of them. In the shock phase 1 unit of enemy will take damage from 7 units of cavalry which will melt them away.