LI in Front??

[Blathergut]

Well, I have tried running a 4-pak of Light Infantry in front of two small units of infantry, with the intention of moving them in close enough to enemy so that the infantry in behind are within 2MU. I even maximized the units:

-average veteran Light Infantry with cavalry attachment
-superior veteran infantry in behind
-charismatic exceptional commander waiting behind to rally the broken Light Infantry

The biggest stumbling block is that the Light Infantry takes a cohesion loss when it hits medium range and then invariably fails a CMT to close to within 2MU of enemy. If a commander is attached, he runs the risk of mega-hits from shooting.

Anyone else have any luck with this tactic?

[deadtorius]

Of course the first time you tried it the Austrians were kind enough to not cause any hits on your skirmish screen, and you had to pull them back after a few turns of misses

I had toyed with trying this myself as Austria almost always ends up defending, but a lack of charisma in the command chain and not really sure you won't just charge into my Grenzers from 6 Mu to drive them through my troops has kept me from bothering. Also seeing how it did not work for Le Francais makes me not want to risk it.

[BrettPT]

I've tried a slight variation. The grand plan is to get first shot, at close range, with a fist full of dice, from advancing unreformed infantry.

Extended line of poor drilled skirmishing Grenz (large unit), bolted directly onto the front of 2 large Austrian veteran units, both in tactical with gun attachments. (one unit of Hungarians, one of Grenadiers, in separate divisions so you can get 2 artillery attachments).

Possibly a cavalry attachment for the Grenz to reduce enemy skirmish shooting, and attach a DC to the Grenz to help them pass any CMT to advance.

Idea is to move this 'block' to within about 1cm of the enemy. The hope is that the enemy, shooting first at close range in their turn, blow the Grenz away. The Grenz retire through the veterans (who naturally both pass their CT for being burst through!), uncovering the veteran units who are within 2MU of the enemy. Heh presto, the Veterans unload their muskets with 16 close range dice! The next turn is Austria's, so the Vets can now either charge, or shoot first with 16 dice again (if the enemy are still there).

this tactic (or variations thereon) has worked brilliantly for me twice - but has failed miserably as well (the enemy doesn't always oblige by sitting still and letting you do what you want).
The biggest problem is actually when the enemy don't manage 5 hits on the Grenz at close range (quite likely, as they need 5+ to hit) and so the skirmishing extended line refuses to run away in the enemy turn, leaving you veterans blocked by the Grenz and twiddling their thumbs.

If the Grenz decide to show an annoying amount of bravery and hold their ground, you can charge through them or pull them back in your next turn, however this hands 1st shot to the enemy, defeating the purpose of the exercise...