- At the moment, infantry seem to form a hurried square very easily. I think it should depend on exactly how far the cavalry have come from? That is, if you see cavalry charging at you from miles and miles away, then it is fair enough to form a square in response. If you see cavalry forming a line in front of you only a few hundred meters away, and don't deliberately form square, you are really asking for it? Perhaps the chance of forming square could be reduced by the remaining move points of the charging cavalry unit (multiplied by some factor)? This would mean that if they have charged from a long way off, there would be a good chance of forming square, but if they have charged from close (because you let them, or they were hidden) then the chance of forming square is much less.
A quote about Eylau (my emphasis):
Around 1130, the Reserve Cavalry along with the cavalry of the Imperial Guard began forming up behind the shattered center. 2,500 yards ahead lay the Russian infantry, formed in three lines and Sacken's grand battery of 60-70 guns. The 10,700 men of the Reserve Cavalry and the Guard Cavalry stepped off into the driving snow. The first targets of this thundering mass were the huge columns of Russian infantry marching on Eylau. By all accounts, they were murdered by the French Heavy Horse. As Captain Parquin of the Imperial Guard eloquently relates, "the brave phalanx of infantry was soon leveled to the earth like a wheat-field swept by a hurricane." [14] The Reserve Cavalry swept on, into the flank of some Russian cavalry that had been supporting the infantry attack: "they were charged in the flank by fresh lines of cuirassiers, and cut to pieces." [15] Having disposed of the forward Russian elements, the horsemen drove on towards the main Russian lines. Murat and his troopers exacted a good deal of revenge on the Russian batteries that had bloodied Augereau, "overrunning and disabling much of the lethal Russian artillery as they went." [16] And they swept on. Next the cavalry hit Sacken's lines of infantry. As Marbot describes, "the terrible weight of this mass broke the Russian centre, upon which it charged with the sabre, and threw it into complete disorder." [17] Because of the poor visibility, many Russian regiments were ridden down before they could form square; however, "in other cases, squares were broken up." [18] The charge broke both Russian lines reaching the Russian reserve. The Guard cavalry under Marshal Bessieres was following Murat and in turn broke this line. The true mettle of the French cavalry was now shown as the Russians courageously reformed ranks behind them. Exhausted after having charged a distance of 2,500 yards, the French formed a single column and charged back the way they came, through the Russian infantry and the artillery batteries to reform behind the center; 1,500 horsemen did not return. [19] Colonel Lepic, who was mentioned earlier, found himself and a small group of Mounted Grenadiers surrounded by Russians who called for their surrender. "Look at these faces," he demanded, "and see if they mean anything like surrender!" With that he and his men cut their way to freedom. [20]
What was the effect of this charge? It proved to be the seminal action of the day. While Davout and Ney arrived later in the day to stabilize Napoleon's front, it was Murat's gallant charge that destroyed Russian attempts to break the nonexistent French center. The Russian attacking columns ceased to exist and the Russian second line and reserves were thrown into a confusion that Bennigsen was never able to really sort out. Moreover, it shook the Russian commander's already shaky confidence. Our Russian observer, Davidov astutely noted that "the propitious moment which promised such advantage to our arms disappeared." [21] As Petre notes, "the moral effect of this cavalry incursion into his very centre was, probably, great on Bennigsen." [22] Thus, at the moment when Napoleon was most vulnerable to a disastrous defeat, Bennigsen failed to act, allowing the French to be reinforced by both Ney and Davout's corps and very nearly decisively defeat the Russian army.
- Cavalry, and to a lesser extent infantry, seem to use column way too much, and probably because it doesn't seem necessary to form line to charge people at great effect. I am constantly noticing the AI charging the cavalry around in columns, and it hardly ever forms line, since it is much slower and so on. However, there seem to be insufficient penalties for operating in column. This doesn't accord with my sense of what should be happening
Maybe their hitting power needs to be further reduced when in column, and certainly their chance to break lines / squares etc?
If the use of columns (attack columns presumably) IS the way the game is meant to be played, is there any point / use in forming line?
- Redoubts / Fascines etc. It would be fun to have Artillery units dug in if they are defending with a good 'walls' statistic, or something like that.
- Feedback on battle results. It would be very helpful sometimes to see a textual or other feedback on why things are happening. I shoot at the enemy and cause 5 casualties (not the 100 I was expecting), it would be nice to get feedback 'Tired Troops, Long Range, Poor Weather' or something like that, showing the basic factors that influenced the result.
Still having lots of fun with it. Cheers,
Hunter
