3-inch ordnance rifle

[Ninjasquirrel]

I separate my artillery to long range and short range, short range artillery is assigned to infantry divisions, long range artillery to corps reserve (4th division). I used to put ordnance rifles in short range, but I find napoleons are better for my purposes because of its canister fire. Then I put them in artillery reserve but I can't group them with my other long range pieces (mostly parrot rifles) because of their range. I like the accuracy and firing rate but can't really find a place for them. Right now I use them if I don't have enough napoleons or parrot rifles. How much do you guys use them, and which level 3 perk do you choose for them?

[Bramborough]

I do use the 3-inch a lot. As both Union and CSA. That said, I don't really differentiate between the three 10lb rifles. I recognize their differences, but big-picture, I didn't really see myself using them in fundamentally different ways. So by middle of third campaign, I just started designating them all "R10"; made things simpler. I perk them all with accuracy and long-range.

So I wind up with a sizable group of medium-range arty...not up front with the howitzers & Napoleons, but not back with the 20lb Parrotts and Whitworths either.

[Americus Wickey]

I generally stick to 3" Ords rather than mix them with 10# Parrotts, just to simplify life; they're also slightly cheaper to buy. I tend to put howitzers & Naps fairly close to the front line for their canister, and Ords & 20# Parrotts further back - but I keep rolling them all forward if my line advances, so I can have the long-range guns firing shell rather than round-shot.

(It's amazing how much more capable artillery units are in the final version, compared to when I started playing in late 2016. Back then the 20# Parrotts were so weak I stopped using them until the 1.09 version.)

[korben dallas]

This is actually one of my favorite cannons in the game. Probably my second favorite, after the 24 pders. The reason being is it's versatility, which is probably why you can't easily classify it. It's not as good as a napolean close-in, like you said, but it's still pretty good close-in compared to most other cannons. It does, however, have much better mid range than the napolean, and much better long range ability (mostly, admittingly, because the napolean has very very little).

As far as whether to put it with infantry or in the arty reserve, I'd mix some in with the infantry, personally. The way I do artillery is 24 pders get priority for infantry support, with napoleans filling in the gaps in the close support role until I have tons of 24 pders. 20 pd parrots for long range, and 10 pd ordnance for that versatility factor. They may be a "master of none", but the average of their abilities at different ranges is pretty high in my book. Especially with how long it takes to maneuver artillery, it can be nice to have guns that can do it all in a particular area, even if they do it all a little bit worse than the more specialized guns would. But that could just be my experiences and opinion.

The level 3 perk...I've been debating this one, STILL, within myself. Currently mine have the ranged perk, but arguments could easily be made for the canister perk. I've kept it on the ranged one mainly because I don't use any pure ranged arty besides 20 pd parrots. I have a lot of 24 pders and a decent amount of napoleans and feel like my close range ability is mostly covered, so at the moment I feel like the close ranged ability of the ordnance guns is more of a backup...but idk. Ask me again in an hour, I'll probably have disbanded and reformed them with the canister perk :)

[Ninjasquirrel]

Right now I have 2 napoleon batteries (would like 3 but don't have enough cannon), 2 ordnance, 1 20pdr parrot, 1 24pdr howitzer, and 1 10pdr parrot in my corps, so I might just set them up for medium range. Not sure how I will spec them though. Probably long range if they're not going to be in the first line of cannons right behind the front line.

[korben dallas]

Did you start a new campaign?

[Ninjasquirrel]

no, this is more or less the setup of all my corps.

[korben dallas]

Oh lol I read "army", not corps. That makes sense.

Do you find the 10 pd parrot to be effective?

Also, do you always take the same, balanced set-up for all your corps? Or do you modify it based on the battle?

[Ninjasquirrel]

They're nothing special but they do their job, which is long range counterbattery and harrassment. If you have a couple of them focusing fire they do good damage, 3 of them can shoot up an infantry brigade pretty good from range. But if you're just gonna get 1 for counterybattery, its not worth it.

I use the same setup for my corps for all battles. 3 infantry divisions with 4 infantry, 1 skirmisher, and 1 artillery, and a corps reserve with 2 cavalry and 4 artillery.

[korben dallas]

I guess that's why I don't take 10 pd parrots...the 10 pd ordnance is just much more effective and flexible.

That's interesting. I always tailor each corps to the battle that's being fought.

[CrashToDesktop]

10pdr Parrott Rifles are insanely effective at long range using solid shot. In fact, so much so that their solid shot is more effective than their shell shot. Before the likes of the 14pdr James and Whitworth, the 10pdr Parrott is your go-to counter-battery gun.

The 10pdr Ordnance Rifle is not good at long range. In fact, it's probably the worst rifled gun to use at long range - treat it like a mid-range Napoleon. At ranges just outside of canister range, shell shot rips brigades apart. As a side note, the 10pdr Tredegar is, in mechanics and gameplay, a much-buffed 10pdr Ordnance Rifle.

[Ninjasquirrel]

Hey Soldier, I love your guide! How do you think I should spec the ordnance rifles? Make it short range so it has both good canister and shell?

[Ninjasquirrel]

Originally posted by korben dallas:

I guess that's why I don't take 10 pd parrots...the 10 pd ordnance is just much more effective and flexible.

That's interesting. I always tailor each corps to the battle that's being fought.

Do you always keep an open slot for switching units around?

[Americus Wickey]

Originally posted by The Soldier:

10pdr Parrott Rifles are insanely effective at long range using solid shot. In fact, so much so that their solid shot is more effective than their shell shot. Before the likes of the 14pdr James and Whitworth, the 10pdr Parrott is your go-to counter-battery gun.

The 10pdr Ordnance Rifle is not good at long range. In fact, it's probably the worst rifled gun to use at long range - treat it like a mid-range Napoleon. At ranges just outside of canister range, shell shot rips brigades apart. As a side note, the 10pdr Tredegar is, in mechanics and gameplay, a much-buffed 10pdr Ordnance Rifle.

Is there any reason to favor a 10# Parrott over a 20# Parrott? I want to concentrate my $$ expenditure on one counter-battery, long-range cannon.

[Ninjasquirrel]

20pdr parrot is better in every way. If I could I'd make all my long range batteries 20pdr parrots, but they're rare and I capture a lot of 10pdr parrots, so that's my go-to long range cannon.

[korben dallas]

Originally posted by The Soldier:

10pdr Parrott Rifles are insanely effective at long range using solid shot. In fact, so much so that their solid shot is more effective than their shell shot. Before the likes of the 14pdr James and Whitworth, the 10pdr Parrott is your go-to counter-battery gun.

What kind of kills are we talking here on a per-barrage basis? I hardly use arty for counter-battery fire so it hasn't been worth taking dedicated counter-battery units, but if it's effective enough I might rethink that.