The Line Infantry, Guards and Grenadier units are the most common in ETW Land Battles. As such, they are capable of many drills to give themselves the upper hand in a musket duel between them and their opposite numbers.
Standard Fire
The basic drill of a unit at the start of a campaign game or ‘Early’ in custom battle is one where only the front rank fires their muskets. This is similar to the NTW stance, but the muskets are more accurate and quicker loading in NTW. This leaves the unit exposes to counter-volleys and cavalry charges in the 20-30 seconds it takes for them to reload. In this, it is perhaps a good idea to put your men in the thinnest line possible to maximise muskets brought to bear, so that the all-important volley is as damaging as large as possible.
Fire by Rank
This is the step up from the standard drill in that all the ranks fire in succession and the theory is that the front rank will have reloaded by the time the rearmost rank has fired. This should mean that everyone in your unit, save the 3 musket-less troops at the front, has fired at the enemy. In practise, the front rank will not have reloaded and there will be a 20-30 second period where no men are firing, the same gap as the standard drill, only that more men have fired. This is the first firing drill to be researched in the campaign game and will give you a major advantage over factions that have yet to acquire this drill.
Infantry Square
This drill is designed to protect infantry from cavalry, but makes them vulnerable to infantry and cannon. They form a square facing outwards in a 2 rank deep formation. The front rank fends off horses by presenting a hedgehog of bayonets to them while the second fires at them with muskets. When cavalry gets close, the front rank shoots while standing and kneels to let the inner rank shoot, often this means that the hedgehog is not as effective and you take more casualties than you would had the front rank kneeled all along. They are vulnerable to volleys as they are tightly packed and cannot retaliate with as much force as a unit in line. They are vulnerable to cannon as the shot does more damage against a tight formation, especially with explosive or canister shot.
Platoon Firing
In this drill, you have a ‘rolling volley’ down your unit, so that there is always someone firing. All ranks fire in this drill and it takes the length of time to load a musket for everyone to have shot, so it is efficient and quite probably the most effective of these drills. The issue with the previous drills of there being a gap in the fire is dealt with well here, but there is one flaw. One benefit of a single volley is the sudden drop in morale on the target, which could make them rout, while this has no such sudden effects on the target unit.
Fire and Advance
This drill is where a rank will fire, and then the rearmost will move up and become the first and the fire. This makes advancing slow, but ensures that there is always covering fire. The men adopt a looser formation for this move, and if they are in this mode without moving, all 3 ranks will fire 1 huge volley and then all reload at the same time, with all the effects this has. Their loose formation may make them slightly vulnerable to cavalry, but you shouldn’t face cavalry in line anyway, so it shouldn’t impact too much.
But I won't go to England due to the prescence of scruffy in shottingham. - Scenter102
This is Scruff we are talking about. I can't think of anything I don't see Scruff doing just for the hell of it. - Agrippa 271
The cake was made by Scruffy and it was... a rude shape. - Liam
monkey in a suit on a cycle - Scenter102 describing Scruffy
Standard Fire
The basic drill of a unit at the start of a campaign game or ‘Early’ in custom battle is one where only the front rank fires their muskets. This is similar to the NTW stance, but the muskets are more accurate and quicker loading in NTW. This leaves the unit exposes to counter-volleys and cavalry charges in the 20-30 seconds it takes for them to reload. In this, it is perhaps a good idea to put your men in the thinnest line possible to maximise muskets brought to bear, so that the all-important volley is as damaging as large as possible.
Fire by Rank
This is the step up from the standard drill in that all the ranks fire in succession and the theory is that the front rank will have reloaded by the time the rearmost rank has fired. This should mean that everyone in your unit, save the 3 musket-less troops at the front, has fired at the enemy. In practise, the front rank will not have reloaded and there will be a 20-30 second period where no men are firing, the same gap as the standard drill, only that more men have fired. This is the first firing drill to be researched in the campaign game and will give you a major advantage over factions that have yet to acquire this drill.
Infantry Square
This drill is designed to protect infantry from cavalry, but makes them vulnerable to infantry and cannon. They form a square facing outwards in a 2 rank deep formation. The front rank fends off horses by presenting a hedgehog of bayonets to them while the second fires at them with muskets. When cavalry gets close, the front rank shoots while standing and kneels to let the inner rank shoot, often this means that the hedgehog is not as effective and you take more casualties than you would had the front rank kneeled all along. They are vulnerable to volleys as they are tightly packed and cannot retaliate with as much force as a unit in line. They are vulnerable to cannon as the shot does more damage against a tight formation, especially with explosive or canister shot.
Platoon Firing
In this drill, you have a ‘rolling volley’ down your unit, so that there is always someone firing. All ranks fire in this drill and it takes the length of time to load a musket for everyone to have shot, so it is efficient and quite probably the most effective of these drills. The issue with the previous drills of there being a gap in the fire is dealt with well here, but there is one flaw. One benefit of a single volley is the sudden drop in morale on the target, which could make them rout, while this has no such sudden effects on the target unit.
Fire and Advance
This drill is where a rank will fire, and then the rearmost will move up and become the first and the fire. This makes advancing slow, but ensures that there is always covering fire. The men adopt a looser formation for this move, and if they are in this mode without moving, all 3 ranks will fire 1 huge volley and then all reload at the same time, with all the effects this has. Their loose formation may make them slightly vulnerable to cavalry, but you shouldn’t face cavalry in line anyway, so it shouldn’t impact too much.
This is Scruff we are talking about. I can't think of anything I don't see Scruff doing just for the hell of it. - Agrippa 271
The cake was made by Scruffy and it was... a rude shape. - Liam
monkey in a suit on a cycle - Scenter102 describing Scruffy