EU Commander: Our Commander Battle Guide

This guide is first and foremost for players of the Commander Battle game mode, on Mount and Blade Napoleonic Wars. It is important to take into consideration however that this guide has been written by EU Commander Admins for our players on the EU_Commander server.

Crucially this guide has been written in a way that takes into account a number of scripted changes made specifically for our server, and as a result much of the advice applied here will not be applicable on other commander battle servers, particularly when it comes to specific units and their tactics.

Accessing the Guide

I would suggest reading first our advice and then familiarizing yourself with the control scheme at the bottom, so as to correspond our advice with the appropriate in game commands.

In the guide I will refer to “flanks” on many occasions. Principally within Commander Battle, the flanks will consist of a left flank, middle section, and right flank. The flanks and middle will be compartmentalized sections of the battlefield, in which combat will often take place independently from other areas.

The most important thing to consider however is sections of the battlefield will never remain static, they will always move and sometimes merge with other areas or eventually be completely destroyed.

Occasionally a spawn switch will occur, where both teams either in the middle or towards the end of the battle will have reversed their positions to the point of occupying one another’s spawns, but having not completely destroyed the enemy.

Beginner Mistakes

- Don’t run in range and don’t charge in range! Whenever you intend to do any sort of movement with your unit it is imperative you put your men in fire on command, and then melee.

- As infantry always try to go into five row melee, and tighten the line to its maximum extent before being hit into by cavalry. It is also important to counter charge your troops after no more than three seconds of receiving the enemy cavalry charge.

- Don’t overlap lines! Not only is it incredibly annoying when someone positions either directly in front or behind your unit, it is also incredibly ineffective. The best flanks are composed of infantry that set up side by side each other, with perhaps rifles and light infantry spread out and screening in front.

- Never go into combat without reloaded weapons! It may be tempting to immediately get moving again after an intense firefight, but you will be sorry when you come across an enemy line that bears arms and when you go to range you have no bullets in your guns.

- Having men on fire at will when going to range. It is a common mistake and one easily made, but when you go to range you should always have your men in fire on command as otherwise they will fire there shots immediately when going to range mode.

- Using just fire at will, or just fire on command. Both have their uses and my advice is use fire on command when not taking casualties or taking light losses as it gives the most concentrated volley.

When taking sustained or heavy casualties use fire at will to keep your men returning fire otherwise your firing pattern will be disrupted with them reloading at different times and constantly trying to adjust into a new firing line.

General Tips

Spawn;

- Do not camp! It may be tempting to let your teammates pull all the hard labour why you pick of the easy kills, but it is not healthy for a cohesive team and nine times out of ten the units that move will be isolated and killed before your eventual ignominious demise.

- Keep moving! Those who dare win, and as soon as you are spawned your immediate thought should be to gain as much ground as possible, while also taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy within the areas of the map they control or will control.

- Always put your men in melee and fire on command before leaving the spawn area, which will ensure they follow you efficiently.

Teamwork;

- Communicate! It will not be practical to tell your team all that is going on, however it is vital for your safety and that of your team that you let them know where key developments are taking place… always alert your team before being hit by cavalry, and where you are.

- Work in partners or in groups. It isn’t practical for the entire team to be working as one cohesive unit, however the friendly units within your immediate vicinity are your partners. The best results will be had when you combine your forces to face whatever may come your way.

Stand your ground or retreat;

- Sometimes even though you may do everything right, things just won’t go to plan. You have two options on a crumbling flank, stand your ground or retreat. The most important thing to weigh up on deciding to retreat is does it benefit you and more importantly your team in the long run.

- The majority of the time and especially for infantry simply the best and only option is to stand your ground. If you are being decimated often retreating will only make the situation worse for both yourself and the team.

The reason for this is that as infantry on the retreat you will be moving slowly and all the while your unit is running, you are not putting fire down on the enemy, while they fire on you. Retreating ultimately means you are losing men for no gain and without the possibility of any gain most the time.

The benefits to standing your ground however are that while you are dying you are putting at least some pressure on the enemy and hopefully killing some at the same time. If you are losing on a flank it also means you are most likely on a flank where the enemy has numerical superiority, and will mean you are tying up a large part of their army, while more successful flanks make gains.

- Retreat however can be the right option. If the battle has not really got going and you can see the flank you are committed too or are going to commit too, is at a fundamental disadvantage to yourself it can pay to allow the enemy a bit of ground in an effort to overextend them.

Destroying the enemy;

- Targeted aggression is the key. If you are lucky enough to be in an area where the enemy is particularly weak, it is in your best interest to push hard and fast before the enemy can be reinforced. As infantry this means range, advance, and repeat, while for cavalry once the enemy is ranged to at least 75% strength and preferably disorganized it is time for a quick charge with at least one partner before quickly retreating back behind friendly lines.

Important: Do not cavalry charge against lines that can be easily supported by other lines, you will get bogged down and quickly killed. As cavalry you are looking for weakened or isolated infantry to quickly dispatch before pulling back to friendly forces.

It is also worth considering that as cavalry if you work together you can take out lines at 100% strength, if you have a synchronised charge coming from different directions. One Line even in five row will be quickly overwhelmed and killed within about fifteen to twenty seconds.

- Don’t overextend. Sometimes it is better to stay at the mid-range whittling down the enemy with continuous fire, this is true particularly if the strength between yourself and the enemy is equal on that particular flank.

- Outmanoeuvre the enemy. If the enemy is bogged down by friendly lines and have their flanks wide open, this is the time to move so that you have an angle down their unit and can kill them within a few volleys.

- Know when to go to melee and charge, this is hardest for infantry as the fact you are slow moving means the enemy infantry can volley you down and bring in cavalry to wipe out your moving unit. But as infantry often it is your melee charges that will signal victory on whatever flank you occupy.

For infantry the best time to charge is when you have numerical superiority, and can reach your enemy with taking preferably no volley but wanting to take a maximum of one volley from the enemy.

Stages of battle

Beginning;

- The beginning of the battle is generally the stage where the battle is won or lost. Positioning is key, and unless your team and you can secure enough ground to give yourself breathing room and space to adapt you will be in lots of trouble.

Middle;

- Early middle the battle lines have been drawn and the first shots have just been fired. Men will die and they will die fast, flanks will begin to take losses with the side that has not moved and gained proper ground starting to lose initiative.

- Late middle the flanks are either holding strong, breaking through, or beginning to crumble. This is the stage at which the cavalry will start using their speed to find and destroy the weakest parts of the infantry.

Late Game;

- It will hopefully be clear by this point who the victor is and will simply be a matter of time. If you are winning find the juicy targets, if you are losing find a good spot to die.

- If on the rare occasion the battle has not been decided after the last two phases of combat then likely both teams have camped, or you have been evenly matched in many areas. The best thing to do if faced with an equal enemy in the late game, is to take stock of the situation and combine what will be extremely damaged units into a combined offense.

Curveballs;
- While the rules of the stages of battle outlined above predominantly follow true, the battle space is large and while one side of your team may be getting annihilated or winning, you may be in a good or awful spot. Battles will remain dynamic, and it cannot be guaranteed that if your team are winning you will be also, and vice versa.

Unit Tips

Line Infantry;

- Line infantry units are the bog standard infantry of the army and can be among the most powerful units in a team when used in conjunction with other line as well as supporting units.

- Line infantry units are the part of the team whose job it is to gain and hold ground, as well as go toe to toe with the enemy line, as well as protect your light infantry brothers from the doom that is cavalry.

- Unfortunately line infantry represent the cannon fodder of the Napoleonic world and sometimes it is simply your job to take the pain while your specialised team members use it as an opportunity to reign or bring death upon the enemy.

- It is also worth considering that artillery will rely on you for protection over the course of the battle, however this does not mean camp at the artillery. At most there should be only one or two lines staying behind to guard artillery, and if someone is fulfilling this role move to somewhere more useful.

Light Infantry (British Light Infantry, Voltigeur, Grenzer, Freikorp, Russian Line Militia);

- Light infantry are a strange mix between regular line and rifleman. Each light infantry apart from Grenzer and Russian Line Militia will be equipped with all Muskets, this means you will be better in melee than if you have rifles but also less accurate.

- The light infantry’s strength however is in their range capability as well as their ability to spread out. The pressure will be on light infantry to do the bulk of the damage at range and it will be the flanks with lights that tend to be the first to begin breaking through.

- As light infantry you will also be the ones who want to push onto the sides of enemy units while also remaining hyper-vigilant for cavalry.

- As light infantry the ability to spread provides the opportunity to minimize your attractiveness to artillery, while also making it so that you can screen your line infantry support by holding position in front of the lines in a spread out formation, allowing them to fire through your position.

Rifleman/Jäger;

- Rifleman are a unit which doubles down in the range and in virtually no circumstance should you be looking to engage in melee with these units.

Important: Sometimes you will have no choice but to melee, look for support but ultimately if you have none hold your volley to the last few seconds, tighten up and hopefully win through numbers.

- More so than lights you will be inflicting huge casualties within range if you can get a good position and preferably a side on position, but you are not an independent unit and it is imperative you stay with lines otherwise cavalry will pick you off.

- Rifles can ultimately end up being one of the most devastating units on the battlefield if given the opportunity to range undisturbed, and most infantry hate to fight you, this gives you the ability to ward off line and decimate units before they have a chance to range properly.

- You need to keep in mind however that you are one of the biggest targets on the hit list of the enemy and cavalry if they can grab you will see you as virtually free kills, so never venture alone.

Melee Cavalry;

- Cavalry are the crème de le crème of the army, and the only units which can operate on all the flanks at one point over an entire battle. Your manoeuvrability is your biggest advantage, and it is your job to break weak flanks, as well as repel attacks against vulnerable ally positions.

- Ironically you are also the best and sometimes only defence against the enemy cavalry, and it will be your job to keep an eye on the movements of the enemy cavalry as well as intercept them when they finally decide to commit.

Important: It may be callous but sometimes the best way to anti-cavalry is to let the enemy cavalry hit into the lines, getting them bogged down before you swoop in to annihilate them. This tactic does not apply to Jägers and Rifleman.

- The main distinctions between melee cavalry are light cavalry and heavy cavalry.

Light cavalry is faster but less armoured, allowing you to hit fast and retreat but risk being killed fast if bogged down.

Heavy cavalry are the tanks of the Napoleonic world, slower than one might expect for cavalry but devastating in charge as well as able to hold their own in a prolonged engagement.

One sub-sect of light cavalry to be cautious with is lancer, who are great shock cavalry as well as anti-cavalry, but incredibly weak in engagements that draw out longer than a few seconds.

Ranged Cavalry (Dragoons);

- The Jack of all trades, dragoons can perform the function of cavalry, ranged skirmishers as well as dismounted light infantry all in the space of one game.

- Dragoons as a cavalry unit have the speed to cover large distances and capture ground incredibly quickly from spawn, and with a responsive team it will be the dragoon’s job to establish themselves on strategic ground while waiting for the lines to catch up.

- Dragoons are the flanking masters of the game and once positions are established and the range has begun, dragoons must start trying to establish on the sides of infantry giving volleys in fire at will from a one row spread formation. This tactic will disrupt and eventually break the enemy with support.

- It is also crucial to remember your role as a functioning cavalry, and remember to not be afraid to function as both an anti-cavalry unit as well as knowing when it is time to break the enemy with a swift charge.

Important: Dragoons are weaker in melee than normal cavalry, and you will need to ensure you either have the appropriate support or the enemy are sufficiently weakened enough before committing to melee charges.

- As Dragoons you are also capable of putting up a decent offense from foot, and once you reach the point where you have more dismounted men than mounted, you will benefit from dismounting your unit and working as light infantry.

Artillery;

- As artillery you are one of the few units that should be fighting relatively close to spawn. It is your job to find a position and set up preferably on high ground with a good overview of the battlefield.

- Once set up you must begin identifying targets that will yield the most kills and then begin to bombard the appropriate targets. Do not be afraid to switch targets as it is no use to focus solely on one line while an entire flank breaks through. Make sure to always hit where it hurts most.

- If you are getting charged load canister and hold your artillery guards shots to the last moment, once you have let lose your shots order your men into melee and charge.

- The two main types of artillery are cannon and howitzer, both cannon and howitzer can use canister shot which is your close range ammunition, while for mid to long range the cannon uses round shot, and the howitzer uses explosive shot. The main difference is round shot will fly straight towards the target, while explosive shot will arc and take much longer to land.

- The only alternative artillery role is rocket artillery which is only available to the United Kingdom, and while extremely inaccurate it can be utilized to good effect when used to in conjunction with line infantry support and used at the mid to close range.

Controls

Selection;

Important – Your men must be selected for them to listen to your commands, you can make sure they are selected by viewing whether or not your banner is highlighted over the men’s heads. You can select units with the following commands.

0 – Selects all types of unit.

1 – Is for infantry, however the only usable unit this selects is Russian Line Militia.

2 – Is for regiments and will select most of the infantry units within commander battle.

3 – Selects all type of cavalry.

Useful F1 commands;

Hold Position – F1, F1. You can use you commander to designate hold position area, or hold down F1 after pressing F1 once and you will have a flag you can position to designate the area for holding position.

Follow Me – F1, F2. This will make your men follow wherever your commander leads.

Charge – F1, F3. Will make your men charge towards the closest enemy, must have men in melee for it to work efficiently.

Advance Ten Paces – F1, F6. Men will move ten paces forward then stop.

Fall back Ten Paces – F1, F7. Men will move ten paces backwards then stop.

Useful F2 commands;

From One Row – F2, F1. Men will form one row preventing crouching for both men and commander.

Form Two Row – F2, F2. Men will form two row making front row crouch and second row stand.

Form Three Row – F2, F3. Men will form three row making front row crouch and rest stand.

Form Four Row – F2, F4. Men will form four row making front row crouch and rest stand.

From Five Row – F2, F5. Men will form five row making front row crouch and rest stand.

Spread Out – F2, F6. From default spread can be issue twice extending rows each time, line infantry units cannot spread beyond default spread on EU Commander.

Stand Closer – F2, F7. From default spread can be issued once reducing rows, all units can stand closer.

Useful F3 commands;

Fire at Will – F3, F1. When in range bots will continuously fire at nearest available targets.

Fire on Command – F3, F2. Men will fire on commander’s order, and unlocks All Fire Now command.

All Fire Now Command – F3, F2. Reloaded men will fire shots on nearest available targets.

Useful F4 commands;

Use Melee Weapons – F4, F1. Men will switch to either bayonet mode or swords.

Use Ranged Weapons – F4, F2. Men will switch to firearms if available.

Mount Horses – F4, F5. Men will enter mount mode and move towards the nearest horse.

Dismount Horses – F4, F6. Men will stop and dismount their horses.

[=_X_=™©]

question about : "Spread Out – F2, F6. From default spread can be issue twice extending rows each time, line infantry units cannot spread beyond default spread on EU Commander."

ive noticed that some players have a double space between them , but when i press spread out they still stand really close together shoulder to shoulder , meanwhile many of the other players have like 2 -3 feet between them .

how do i do that ?


one person said you have to have riflemen to do that , ive seen both riflemen and regular line infantry with double space between them , when i press spread out twice it doesnt seem to do anything

[Hektor Riven]

I'd really like to ask what's the point in taking Line Infantry over Foot Guards.

There are class limitations concerning riflemen, cavalry, artillery and specialists, but there's no limitation, by what I've seen, on Foot Guards, so everyone should take them for their small mele advantage instead of Line Infantry. Something tells me this isn't true as so many players use Line Infantry on EU_Commander while they could just pick Guards...

[BabyCakes]

Probably should warn new players about how bad generally dragoons and musket light infantry are and even more so in a higher population server like EU_Commander. Also prehaps a rough guide of when not to pick arty e.g. 1 in 10 on a viable map (hills).
Putting men in one row is also a new player mistake and maybe mention ridge advantage (using hills as partial cover).

[Cmdr_Sam]

Thanks for the guide!

[Hobo]

EEEEEEEDDDDDD =D

Great guide man, came across it again! Hope you are well, you savage Dragoon!

[Thundgil]

Hello Cambronne,
Unfortunately, we do not give any support here, neither unban requests nor complaints. I recommend visiting our website. www.nwpublic.eu
I also recommend the Server rules section there.

[[VG] Cambronne]

Bonjour à toute la communauté. Il y'a quelques jours j'ai été banni du serveur Eu-commander par un de leur administrateur Coffeestain. La raison est "dismount" alors que je me trouvé derrière une unité ami d'infanterie avec un cavalier à cheval et un cavalier à pied. Ce n'est pas la première fois que cet administrateur de ce serveur me banni, ou tue un de mes bots simplement parce que je suis prêt de mes lignes amis et que je lui réponds non au dismount. Je reconnais aussi l'avoir traité d'idiot et à plusieurs reprises face à ce genre de décision. Autant êtres juste dans ce qui se passe et être honnête avec soit même et les autres.

A ce jour je suis toujours banni de ce serveur, qu'importe cela n'est pas grave en soit, il y'a d'autres serveurs et d'autres jeux.

[Berserk]

Ed112, Thanks for the answer!

[Ed112]

Hi Berserk, for making unban requests please do so on our website https://nwpublic.eu/

[Berserk]

За что меня сегодня забанили не вашем сервере командования ботами??? Мой ник "Zdeshnii"