How to make the British Army powerful

[Fr3ddy]

I have been playing as the british a few times now but I notice that I almost always get ♥♥♥♥ kicked by either France, Spain, Netherlands(flemish countries) like all major powers even though I have a Proffesional army rank and outnumber them, does any got any good tips or strategy to making the british army powerful.

PS I usually create my armies with 13 infantry, 5 cavalry and 3-5 cannons

[[*UNITY*]_ james]

What do you pick for military ideas, and in what order? Do you try to boost military tradition as well?

[Fr3ddy]

I usually go for quantity ideas first, then i go with offensive ideas, and last i usually go with aristocratic or quality, no i dont think so is.

[bri]

If you have the same idea groups as the ai nations then Burgundy, France, and Spain will just be better on land, that's the way it is. You'll need to either have more ideas that focus on quality (i.e. not quantity) or beat them with allies and significantly superior numbers.

[The Nonsuch]

Don't have more than 4 cav. Late game you can remove cav entirely if you want. Have as much artillery as infantry (or slightly less if money is tight). The later in the game it is, the more important it is to have tons of artillery. But other than that you need ideas like offensive, defensive or quality to get a better army. Some policies also give you military boosts. Take any policy that boosts discipline since it's the best thing.

[Pozz]

I'd probably cut 3cav and add 2art if we're speaking an approximate same cost army and the other 2cav for 5inf if we're assuming combat width is 18. Cav is not worth it compared to artillery unless you have national ideas to greatly improve them

When money is no longer an issue and you are at your force limit and got your nackrows filled with art, or simply don't need more armies you can fill the flanking range up with cav.

[tinisiyo]

Don't use cavalry, maybe 2 for flanks, they cost too much, better hire more cannons if you have spare money.
Army should always cover full front depending on your current tech.
You should have 1-2 front armies with cannons to start battles and to siege forts and others with only infantry as reserves.
Focus morale and shock in early game, discipline and fire in mid and lategame.
Stack up discipline and combat ability with ideas and policies.
Simple rules, follow them and there won't be any war issues.

[cathartic]

The fact you mention a single army comp regardless of age is part of the problem.

Personally I'd typically go with 4 cav and a bunch of infantry in the early game. When cannons become available I'd add a single cannon to the army to help with sieges. Only add more than one cannon if you're rolling in cash.

In the mid game I'd normally gradually add more cannons. Around tech 20 I'd completely ditch cavalry and build armies that are something like 14 infantry and 12 cannons. I'd carry on building these armies until the end, but by the end game these armies would often be double or quad stacked for size 52 or 104.

Probably not completely optimal, but i've found that with decent military idea groups (typically defensive, offensive and quality) then you can beat same sized stacks from everyone who isn't Prussian in the late game, even if your nation isn't inherently strong militarily.

[Songbird]

Since you already like quantity (which is very nice for britain because you will have units all over the world) capitalise on your great income aswell and stuff your armies with cannons. Definitaly take quality because you get better cannons and discipline. Also your ships will be much stronger which are very crucial for your power projection.

[tonypa]

Originally posted by bri:

If you have the same idea groups as the ai nations then Burgundy, France, and Spain will just be better on land, that's the way it is. You'll need to either have more ideas that focus on quality (i.e. not quantity) or beat them with allies and significantly superior numbers.

It is not that England has no land combat modifiers, just early in the game Morale is superior and England gets no Morale boost. Most of English ideas (and even more ideas of Great Britain) are about improving your Navy, without doubt England has (one of) the best Navies in the game, and usually also largest Navy. But their armies are weak at the start and average at the late period.

[Snugwow]

If your larger army is being defeated by smaller armies you are going to need more army quality, not quantity as some here suggest. General pips are also incredibly important. Unlike many here, I really do not like taking quantity as nations with poor land national ideas since it is the only military idea group which does not actually make your troops stronger qualitatively until you get to policies. I consider offensive to be a much stronger choice than quantity most of the time since it still boosts your forcelimit, but you get some army quality, some rare + siege ability, and free general pips. It also has the artillery combat ability policy with Economic. Quantity really shines primarily for the huge manpower boost you get and the large regiment cost/maintenance discount.

As England I usually build my starting game as: Innovative/Exploration/Quality/Economic. Some don't like quality for the naval ideas in the tree, which is a fair point, but England will definitely make use of them and give you a bonus to utterly dominate the seas with very little investment. Overall, and taking into account the ideas and policies, this build will give a grand total of: +30% infantry combat ability, +10% cavalry and artillery combat ability, +10% discipline, and +1 yearly army tradition all contributing to army strength. This will boost your army with just about everything you will need except for land morale, though you will get some of that from having a high army tradition.

[bri]

Originally posted by tonypa:

Originally posted by bri:

If you have the same idea groups as the ai nations then Burgundy, France, and Spain will just be better on land, that's the way it is. You'll need to either have more ideas that focus on quality (i.e. not quantity) or beat them with allies and significantly superior numbers.

It is not that England has no land combat modifiers, just early in the game Morale is superior and England gets no Morale boost. Most of English ideas (and even more ideas of Great Britain) are about improving your Navy, without doubt England has (one of) the best Navies in the game, and usually also largest Navy. But their armies are weak at the start and average at the late period.

While the overall power of superior morale decreases as the game goes on it never entirely disappears so all those nations with significant morale bonuses and similar discipline will maintain their edge throughout the game. As I said, England/GB will always be behind Burgundy, Spain, or France on land if they have the same idea groups. As you noted, England/GB will, in turn, always be ahead of their competition in the water. Unfortunately, as the game currently stands the relative weakness on land is far more damaging than the power gain from ruling the waves.

[Fr3ddy]

thank you all for your response I have tested your theories and they have been really helpfull and they are making the UK hella strong, thx