Artillery 102 By Schwerpunkt Commissioned into US Army Field Artillery I wish to add a few minor consideratio ns to your excellent

start. Before I begin though, understand that I consider co mbined arms (the use of Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery simultaneously) as key t o victory. These comments assume the reader has zero knowledge and are not meant to insult those of you who have greater understanding of the topic. Employment As simple as it may seem, take time to position your artillery on (usually high) ground with broad uncluttered fields of fire. Actually zoom in on the spot and look from a grass-top view. My Cavalry have successfully wiped out enemy batteries while sustaining no casualties. This is done by using a covered and/or conceale d (C&C) approach until the Cavalry break forth in an earth thundering charge and sweep away the startled enemy. Cover protects you from direct fire. Concealment hides you from, but does not stop, direct fire. I have also watched AI deployed cannons lay waste to the hillside directly in fr ont of their position. Learn from the enemy. Overlap your fields of fire. This is known as integrating the defense. Additionally, scan projected enemy C&C approaches to you. I once had the unpleas ant occurrence of seeing an enemy maneuver toward me through my town. My support ing artillery fired through and destroyed a named building (which I then had to spend gold to repair). These are the 1/3rd 2/3rd rules: Defense = Artillery range covers 2/3rd of your territory. The enemy will come to you. Offense = Artillery range covers 2/3rd of your enemies territory. You will go to him. For Defense Position your artillery in the rear of your deployment zone. This usually keeps them out of immediately deployed enemy cannon range. He will have to displace fo rward to use his cannon. If cannons are moving they are not firing. For Offense Position your artillery in the front of your deployment zone. If this occurs, en gage the enemy cannon as first priority. Fire your artillery at the enemy cannon s and mount a Cavalry flanking movement (or Infantry if you have built poorly an d do not have at least one Cavalry unit per army). In this gaming environment un its cannot fire in multiple directions simultaneously. Having the Cavalry use a C&C approach will generally bring you within close range of an enemy battery bef ore you initiate the devastating charge at the enemies flank or rear. Do not cha rge the front of anything with anything unless absolutely necessary. Oddly enoug h the AI program rarely leaves behind a local security unit for its cannons. Protection Position the artillery behind a wall if possible, noting if you can actually see ver the wall as addressed in Employment above. Do not position behind a building, hill or forest except in unusual situations w hich I shall not address due to their exceptionally rare occurrence. Station an Infantry or Cavalry unit nearby for local protection. I prefer Pike f ormations during the opening phases of a campaign as the highest threat is gener ally from Cavalry. Pike formations are generally worthless in other situations o o

r used for a desperate reserve, but that is merely an opinion, not fact. Any uni t is better at melee than a gun crew. Fratricide If you maneuver in the line of fire of your artillery your men will die. Do not forget to lift and shift the counter-battery fires you have on the enemy cannons before your Infantry and/or Cavalry charge slams into them. This applies to mus ket fire as well. Displacing (moving) There are only two reasons to move your artillery: 1.Your guns are out of range of the enemy. 2.You are about to be overrun and foolishly do not have a local security unit ne arby to stop or slow the enemy. Every other reason is overcome by accurate and thoughtful initial positioning ai med at maximizing indirect fire duration and effects on the enemy. If you have to abandon the guns (for shame) do so in a manner that allows your g un crew(s) to retrograde (flee) behind the unit you have sent to cover their mov ement. Then, once the enemy is driven off, go back and re-man the faithful guns you so shamefully had to abandon. Concluding Thoughts 1.Considering the above discussion; I have seen the AI woefully send their out-o f-range fixed gun crews racing across the battle-space toward my lines. They cou ld not range me and were ordered into the fray. Being lighter and faster they so on outdistanced their infantry brethren so I sent some nice horses to greet them . 2.Artillery fire destroys buildings, friend or foe alike. 3.Every Fort and capital city should contain at least one Artillery unit (my per sonal preference). 4.Flank shots are nice but should be measured against vulnerability to one s artil lery; time spent maneuvering vice firing and intervening terrain. I find it easi er to correctly position my artillery and then shape the battle-space with my In fantry or Cavalry maneuver. Generally I can get the AI to turn its formation to face the greater perceived immediate threat to its front. The three closer Infan try units just out of musket range are seen as a greater threat compared to the two batteries firing at range. 5.Thus I position Infantry to realign the enemies front and await the now flanki ng Artillery to break the enemy morale. 6.I then execute the Pursuit portion of the battle with Cavalry. This reduces th e cost of unit replacements as well as raking up "kills" and experience for my C avalry. These are just some of my thoughts and considerations. Thank you for your origin al thread as a solid entry discussion.