Hey bro,
It looks to me that you like the melee aspect of the game. I feel your pain for I also had the same struggles converting from Medieval to Empires. One thing you must consider is that in late period melee is not nearly as effective as it is in early period. Balance is generally the key to victory.
If you are looking for a good set up that lets you engage like old school total war genres I suggest a set up that I'll just call Stalingrad. (no relationship to the actual event in WWII). This Unit Composition is only viable via patch 1.4 before price changes; otherwise similar tactics with the faction of Maratha Confederacy would be better.
Make sure your set up matches this online:
Period: Early
Funds: Medium
Map: Caucasus
Unit Size: Large
Faction: Russia
Unit Make-up:
1 general
4 Horse Regiment
6 Line Infantry
4 Gorodskiye Streltsy
note: Once you select all the units above add three experience points to three of the Streltsy and add two points to the fourth Streltsy unit. This should leave you with 36 funds via patch v 1.4
Ideal Strategy:
With this set up the idea is to pin your enemy down in the center with your line infantry matching line unit to line unit with musket fire. You want to then attack both of your opponents flanks simultaneously with 2 streltsy and 2 horse regiments on both sides. Chances are your going to have at least 300-600 more men depending on your opponents set up. The idea is to take your enemy away from his game plan by being highly aggressive, overwhelming, and in simple terms generating controlled chaos.
You should have better mobility since 4 horse regiments have been selected. The cavalry are important in disposing of the opponents cavalry before the initial assault, but it’s your choice. I generally try to take out the opponents cavalry before moving in with my streltsy. If your enemy presents a weakness where you can route units early take your cavalry and attack a little early. By doing this you have disrupted the enemies line once your main force moves in you will have better chance to stand toe to toe with a better equipped line infantry.
Once both lines have initiated contact with musket fire you should then move your streltsy in to try and route the enemies flank. You can attack two enemy units at a time on both flanks. However, if one of the opposing unit’s switches to square formation make sure you move on to another enemy unit. The benefit of your enemy switching to square is that he can no longer fire back effectively, which would also let your steltsy and remaining cavalry roam free in the rear. If you see that the opposing unit is about to route make sure you adjust your line infantry toward the heart of your opponent. Once some of the line on the flanks are gone proceed to the next line etc.
You need to effectively use bayonet charges along with the steltsy. Your Russian line is going to have tremendous advantage in melee combat, but do not commit your entire line to a charge at once death blow. You are still going to need musket fire, just adjust if one of your own melee units is faltering, or the enemy line infantry is down to about 60-70 men or you simply have a 30 man numerical advantage. With this said you can also use the stretsy to hit from the side or back while the line can engage melee from the front. In this case numerical advantage on your line does not matter.
Your formation for starting out and advancement should look like this:
.......L..L..L..L..L..L......
.......S..............S......
C.C...S......G.......S...C.C.
G = General
L = line Inf
C = Cavalry
S = Steltsy
Your cavalry can break off the wings to engage, but be smart not to lose you cavalry needlessly if they have not taken out the opposing cavalry or disrupted the opponent’s line before routing then they have not been used properly. Try to save them for the flanking maneuver so they can fight along your streltsy from the rear.
Hope this is a general idea on bringing melee to Empire, if you aren't satisfied with this check out the Marathas. They have much stronger melee, but you will not have as strong of numerical advantage if you want their upper tier units.
Another note: Do not be fooled by Gorodskiye Stretsy, they are F'ing dirt cheap and great bang for the buck
Before Experience added:
Attack 11
Charge 12
Defense 8
Morale 3
With three experience points added:
Attack 14
Charge 12
Defense11
Morale 7 1/2
[This message has been edited by bloodbath01 (edited 10-01-2009 @ 00:01 AM).]