How long can firefights last

[Gunfreak]

Hopefully we will know the answer by to night, but how long can a firefight last.

In games like empire total war, firefights last mabye 5 minutes, dozen of people fall al the time, and with in 5 minutes, units are down to 4-10 soldiers.

But this game is supose to be real time, battles lasting 10+ hours at normal speed, does that mean that a unit in a town or redoubts can fight for most of the day, unitil the have used up all 60 rounds?

[Duke of Earl]

Hopefully we will know the answer by to night, but how long can a firefight last.

In games like empire total war, firefights last mabye 5 minutes, dozen of people fall al the time, and with in 5 minutes, units are down to 4-10 soldiers.

But this game is supose to be real time, battles lasting 10+ hours at normal speed, does that mean that a unit in a town or redoubts can fight for most of the day, unitil the have used up all 60 rounds?

Bonjour Gunfreak,

I think not .... unless Colonel Custer is in command! .... 

Cordialement, DoE

[Dagann]

I think a few good units defending a bastioned place can stand for a loooooong time, may be for hours and hours.
To conquer this place, i guess the enemy should launch an attack evolving a lot of means.

Anyways, the best should be to ask to beta testers such as lodi57.

[CBR]

10 minutes max IIRC but can't search the BFC forums anymore...

[Pariente]

Hopefully we will know the answer by to night, but how long can a firefight last.

In games like empire total war, firefights last mabye 5 minutes, dozen of people fall al the time, and with in 5 minutes, units are down to 4-10 soldiers.

But this game is supose to be real time, battles lasting 10+ hours at normal speed, does that mean that a unit in a town or redoubts can fight for most of the day, unitil the have used up all 60 rounds?

Well, from what I know, regiments never fought to death - there were exceptions like the 14th regiment of foot at Eylau - and struggles were quite short (fire, stop, fire again, too much smoke, the line that did not break is victorious) and did not lead to a systematic « heroic butchery ».

In some videos, we may see battalions fleeing after firing twice because of low cohesion and moral.

But I do not have the game yet, and some people may inform you better than I can do.

[Gunfreak]

Well we know that soldiers defending defences could stay there all day, like Redoubts, or at waterloo La haie sante and Hoogemont.

La haie sante the only reason the french got into it was that the KGL that defended it ran out of ammo, after 6 hours of fighing

[Pariente]

I agree with you, a strong position harshly defended may sustain ennemies attacks during days.

Actually, I was talking about two regiments in a field, in line, shooting at each other. In that case, I don't think soldiers may withstand struggles more than a couple of minutes in real time.

[Gunfreak]

Well it depends, I agree that stand up firefights are rare and rearly last long, but some times both sides get their blood up. To battalions can often end up shooting at eachoer at 100+ yeards for a good 10-20 minutes.

The length of the firefight should be based on casualties and morale, not a automatic shot down time.

Like if you have to elite line infantry units at 150 yards, the firefight might last quite some time

[Pariente]

You're right, and I think HW:LG takes it in account : accuracy is decreased by long distances, moral is a key-factor in combat resolve. Therefore, two regiments shooting at each other and separated by a significant distance may keep fighting for minutes.

We must keep in mind that regiments can bear a certain percentage of losses after which they move back or run away according their moral and cohesion.

[CBR]

We must keep in mind that regiments can bear a certain percentage of losses after which they move back or run away according their moral and cohesion.

Yeah and that percentage (if I read the table right) seems awfully low...

[Gunfreak]

Wasn't 4% for the worst units thats 28 solders.

[Pariente]

Well, it is hard for us to imagine how hard war was.

But let's try :

- injured soldiers lying and screaming to death.
- smoke everywhere so their range of sight was reduced significantly after firing a couple of times.
- brothers in arms falling next to them.

In my opinion, cohesion is a determinant factor of the success of an attack : if the defender is shaken by the attack, then he would rather move back and reform the line than fighting to death in a melee combat.

Even 4% of losses in half a second are quite demoralizing...

Regiments of 8 fellows in a field are TW waxing lyrical.