120 Grenadiers vs 160 Line Infantry?

[Silver]

What is better? Playing as Spain in the Peninsular Campaign, grenadiers are a godsend because spanish line infantry cannot form square but they can, and cavalry is so annoying.

But in the Grand Campaign, I feel like the 40 extra men in a Line infantry unit (which can also form square) are more worth it than slightly improved firing stats and moderately improved melee stats.

Given that throwing grenades received a massive nerf compared to Empire Total War (where it would completely decimate a unit if they landed properly), I feel like grenadiers in NTW are overrated.

[Hipster Hadrian]

actualy they are great in melee. Keep them in reserve until your lines are close and charge them with your battered line infantry as a shield

[Simon Lancaster [ANWF]]

I think you are quite wrong about melee.. Good players can always get to you and engage you in melee. Have a look at some YT videos of the NTW 3 mod as one example. Even Russian soldiers in vanilla can inflict serious damage on armies when they charge in on the enemy.

I have played quite a lot of mp scenario battles on vanilla and in almost all of them you are fighting for a house or engaged in hand to hand combat at some stage.

[Simon Lancaster [ANWF]]

Of course it isn't always easy to charge but there are lots of situations where you can break an army in vanilla. I am not talking about the silly flat plains/5 lights battles.. In the scenarios.. Waterloo has a big melee usually around the main house on the French left. There is also usually a big melee right at the end of Ligny when you charge across the bridges at the Prussians. Borodino often has lots of melee action on the big hill and on the Russian left. Pyramids the French are often chasing down the Turks. Even in Dresden you often end up fighting in a big melee once the Allies get over the bridge into the main town.

[Simon Lancaster [ANWF]]

Grenadiers do have good melee stats as someone mentioned above. You just may not like the hammer and anvil approach. Some players do prefer to sit back, get their lines set, and repulse the enemy. With the Brits that is probably a good strategy in most situations, although even the Brits have some pretty good melee stats when you look at them.

[LSD]

Grenadiers weren't good in Empire either. Even the AI knows how the move out of the way of grenades. The only useful grenade units are the ones with hand mortars.
Melee has been borked since Empire, so picking a unit with melee stats is a joke.