Commander battle: Fire volley vs firing at will

[feldmarshall]

When do you use which and why?

 

[Ropinfool]

I Always fire a first volley and then switch to fire at will. To me it just seems that you got more constant firing on the enemy

 

[Crayon]

Fire at will works well for moving and firing or for when you are busy scouting or looking about it is useful to have the men firing at will.

Volleys are more effective the closer you get to the enemy.
A nice tactic is to find a nice reverse sloping hill (so they are in cover) set your men to fire at command, position them just right then creep them forward 10 paces, fire volley, hold fire, retreat 10 paces.

Or run like hell at the enemy and then fire a mass volley (with a teammate) then charge can be devastating, it's all about timing of course.

Also, a well timed volley can score multiple hits and send the enemy into retreat in panic, seeing 5 deaths in one go tends to make the enemy think twice about trading blows.

 

[Tomyslaw_Mstokowiec]

Yes, as said above the main reason I prefer to use volleys sometimes is because it offers the maximum amount of hits in a short time and, as such, can scare off another line much faster than one-by-one losses to fire at will. I believe that fire at will is better for protracted shootouts, though, because the troops have more room to aim. All in all, I usually stick to volleys for the above reason and because it looks cool. Their accuracy doesn't seem to suffer too much from one to the other.

P.S. Friends don't let friends space out line infantry

 

[hrotha]

Volleys look cooler, so volleys it is.

 

[feldmarshall]

Or run like hell at the enemy and then fire a mass volley (with a teammate) then charge can be devastating, it's all about timing of course.

Also, a well timed volley can score multiple hits and send the enemy into retreat in panic, seeing 5 deaths in one go tends to make the enemy think twice about trading blows.

This is true for real battle, but do NW players have morale ? 

 

[Crayon]

Or run like hell at the enemy and then fire a mass volley (with a teammate) then charge can be devastating, it's all about timing of course.

Also, a well timed volley can score multiple hits and send the enemy into retreat in panic, seeing 5 deaths in one go tends to make the enemy think twice about trading blows.

This is true for real battle, but do NW players have morale ? 

Ask yourself the question, if you line up your men and instantly lose 5 or 6 to one volley would you just continue to stand and trade blows with a now numerically superior force? Most people will not and those that do will lose. A close range volley has that instant "holy ****" killing effect that fire at will does not. I've seen players run from well timed volleys many times. Fire at will kills too, but in a 1,2,3 fashion rather than seeing that nasty instant splurge of red text that a volley produces.

 

[jbebes]

Depends for me, at close distance, volley fire, at far away, fire volley, then fire at will. When they get at medium range, volley then fire at will until we both charge!

 

[L3git Squig Herder]

Volleys look cooler, so volleys it is.

 

[Motive]

Volleys look cooler, so volleys it is.

Yeah, Volleys do look cooler I have to admit but yeah, firing at will can be more effective.

 

[sashar]

A volley does like so much better than one or two guys firing so I always do volley even if it is not effective.

 

[sgt jim]

i would choose fire a will because ur constantly firing at ur enemy and causing casualties

 

[Niftyeye]

I tend to use Fire at Will when supporting another Regiment or when the enemy is a long distance off.


I tend to use volleys when the enemy is charging (the closer the better) or when Im about to close to melee.

Its sometimes quite handy when the enemy is just over the hill with their heads poking over, issuing a 'Fire all' command obviously tells your men to fire... most of the time only a couple of them will because they have targets or are being stupid... however it still looks and sounds like a full volley.

Usually this prompts the enemy Commander to think 'OOOoh they've just fired a volley' and they charge... to which you then give them a full volley from the rest of your men.. bonus points if your men that first fired initially have reloaded in time for another quick volley.

Iv used this a couple of times, to great effect.

 

[Sturmdodo]

Anyone use platoon fire (or the closest approximation thereof available in-game).
I sometimes use it for fun or when the frogs decide to charge
Also, did anybody else that AI does a lousy job of shooting at moving cav, even when they are coming straight at them?

 

[Maroon]

The server of my regiment (which is the only commander battle server I play, if ever), has the rule to only volley fire, as it's more like linebattles would work, with the exception of skirmishers. Infantry regiments only fire in volleys, so we only use volleys.

 

[Fall of Denial]

I usually use volleys because it conserves ammo and I have more control over my men and what targets will be shot. However, fire at will has it's advantages. Usually when I'm outnumbered and I don't want my men to die before they can at least pull off a shot.

A fine tactic I've been using is a Fire and Advance doctrine, where I let off a volley or two and make my men advance 10 paces.

 

[Niftyeye]

The server of my regiment (which is the only commander battle server I play, if ever), has the rule to only volley fire, as it's more like linebattles would work, with the exception of skirmishers. Infantry regiments only fire in volleys, so we only use volleys.

What's the name of the server?


Although I rarely play it I love the strategy that goes into a Commander Battle, makes a nice change from team deathmatch or battle.