Matrix Games Forums

I play in Detailed Combat mode.

One thing I've already noticed about this game is that the way artillery works is MUCH more satisfying than in FoF. Artillery in FoF always seemed fairly ineffective, though perhaps patches that came out after I played it were better.

If you achieve enfilading fire on a close stack of enemies with an artillery brigade/division that is still in good shape, you can be pretty confident you are going to cause some serious mayhem!

What I cannot quite grasp is the best way to use Cavalry. I know that Cav Screen blocks view of what is behind it, and I'm guessing that they are more vulnerable when in Screen mode too?

I had a battle in late 1792 b/w with Austria with me as French. One lone Aus Infantry headed off by himself to try to flank my position and I had two Cav Brigades to play with him. Several times they got themselves positioned so that he was being attacked from two directions, but almost everytime I attacked the unit managed to go into "Emergency Square" mode! Then when they just fired on him and didn't even charge they suffered consderably worse casualties.

I'm guessing that the primary use of Cavalry in this game / era is not to use them like "mobile infrantry" but to use them more like knights, i.e., have your Cavalry positioned to be in range to strike on a flank: once an enemy unit has been engaged in a line formation by infantry or artillery fire, THEN the cavalry attack on a flank, or even better a cav charge, will have a much more satisfying effect?

I'm guessing that: although a square is more resistant to Cav (though the heavy lancers are pretty good at breaking squares?) those squares are also more vulnerable to artillery or close-range fire by infantry in lines?

Kindov a rock-scissors-paper arrangement?

yea, that is part of the Idea, a couple of Cav and reck havic on the battlefield, but really are useless with out supporting Arms to do the damage

most times if you can, use your Cav to Square up the enemy, and if you can, back off, once squared, you stop there movement and open them up to fire

(so sort of think of, your doing phony Charges, to make the enemy defend itself, every once in a while, it don't and the charge will go home, the real Charges are for disordered Inf, or any Unsported guns)

most times, you really don't have the firepower with Cav to do much damage, diff level bonus will make AI Cav look like it can do things that yours can't

(plus the more Upgrades you can learn, will make Cav much, much better, and then you can add skills to them, to work with the way you play)

I use my cavalry to make them form squares, then obliterate the squares with artillery, bring up my infantry when I think their morale is wavering and attack in strength.  Cavalry moves around the flanks to try to cut off retreating units. 
 
Like HS Said, its too expensive to actually try to break a line of inf with real charges.  Trying to cap artillery or doing max damage to routing or disordered units is another story.
 
There are exceptions to that, but most of the real charges against formed infantry on my part will be accidents from them not making their emergency square check.