In my recent campaign as the Ottomans, I have started to integrate assaulting to my campaign planning.
I would like to share my experience about the nature and uses of assaults in the form of a mini-guide, so that forumers can get more used to a reasonably useful option in the EU4 game.
I. The Basics of Assaults
Assault is the alternative option to waiting for a siege to complete. By spending 5 military monarch points, the besieging army can send its infantry to take the fort by brute force. Losses are heavy, but the fort is taken in a much shorter time than otherwise.
So what are the pros and cons for assaults? I have already stated most of them in the previous statement. But it is clearer to put it in point form.
Pros:
Cons:
Feeling that the points are too abstract? Numbers will be given in the next part.
II. How to Assault Effectively
The number one thing for a successful assault is to bring in enough infantry. It is very important to stick to a few rules of thumb, so that the risk of failure or heavy losses can be reduced to a manageable level (less than 10%). The rules are:
To give a more concrete feel, consider this: for assaulting an unbreached level 3 fort, the typical number of infantry used is between 50k and 60k; a breached level 5 fort needs similar numbers.
That's why one cannot simply use a battle stack as an assault stack. A typical 60k battle stack used in the early to mid 1700s only has at most 40k infantry (otherwise you are doing it wrong), which is not enough even for a level 3 fort. There are two ways to form assault forces; the first one is to add mercenary infantry to battle stacks, and the second one is to have a dedicated assault stack comprised mostly of mercenary infantry.
My approach is to have a 50k stack consisting of mercenary infantry (disbanded and reformed on demand and in smaller numbers in early to mid game, but it turned permanent as the need arose), attached to 10k standing artillery to make it usable for battle. It can assault level 2 and level 3 forts on its own, and can assault level 4 and level 5 forts when combined with a battle stack. It works for me, but perhaps there is a better way to do it.
III. Integrating Assaults to the Grand Strategy
Despite the quick resolution of assaults, it is a waste of manpower/money and MMP if every province is assaulted. There are times more appropriate for assaults and times better reserved for sieges. I shall state a few cases where assaults are useful, and leave the floor open for more ideas.
I would like to share my experience about the nature and uses of assaults in the form of a mini-guide, so that forumers can get more used to a reasonably useful option in the EU4 game.
I. The Basics of Assaults
Assault is the alternative option to waiting for a siege to complete. By spending 5 military monarch points, the besieging army can send its infantry to take the fort by brute force. Losses are heavy, but the fort is taken in a much shorter time than otherwise.
So what are the pros and cons for assaults? I have already stated most of them in the previous statement. But it is clearer to put it in point form.
Pros:
- The sieges are completed much more quickly, without relying much on chance provided that enough infantry is brought in
- Eliminates the need to protect the carpet (of sieges) if the enemy is not yet fully carpeted
Cons:
- Need to commit much more troops to be effective (compared to carpet sieging)
- A risk of heavy losses during assault, even losing all the infantry in the army. War exhaustion can rise to astronomical levels as a result
- Costs MMP, which is small for individual forts but can add up to a large amount even for a single war
Feeling that the points are too abstract? Numbers will be given in the next part.
II. How to Assault Effectively
The number one thing for a successful assault is to bring in enough infantry. It is very important to stick to a few rules of thumb, so that the risk of failure or heavy losses can be reduced to a manageable level (less than 10%). The rules are:
- If the walls are breached, then use 10x infantry to assault.
- If the walls are NOT breached, then use 15x infantry at the minimum. But expect to take heavy losses (more than half) unless you have at least 18x or even 20x of the infantry.
- To chain assault forts, 20x infantry is necessary.
To give a more concrete feel, consider this: for assaulting an unbreached level 3 fort, the typical number of infantry used is between 50k and 60k; a breached level 5 fort needs similar numbers.
That's why one cannot simply use a battle stack as an assault stack. A typical 60k battle stack used in the early to mid 1700s only has at most 40k infantry (otherwise you are doing it wrong), which is not enough even for a level 3 fort. There are two ways to form assault forces; the first one is to add mercenary infantry to battle stacks, and the second one is to have a dedicated assault stack comprised mostly of mercenary infantry.
My approach is to have a 50k stack consisting of mercenary infantry (disbanded and reformed on demand and in smaller numbers in early to mid game, but it turned permanent as the need arose), attached to 10k standing artillery to make it usable for battle. It can assault level 2 and level 3 forts on its own, and can assault level 4 and level 5 forts when combined with a battle stack. It works for me, but perhaps there is a better way to do it.
III. Integrating Assaults to the Grand Strategy
Despite the quick resolution of assaults, it is a waste of manpower/money and MMP if every province is assaulted. There are times more appropriate for assaults and times better reserved for sieges. I shall state a few cases where assaults are useful, and leave the floor open for more ideas.
- Conquering minors with 1-3 provinces. It is a waste of time to spend a whole year at war when you can simply assault everything and end the war in 2 months.
- Taking the war goal and/or other target provinces. Better to have the warscore start ticking in the first month of the war rather than, say, the 10th month. Each month of ticking warscore is worth 0.4% warscore, and 10 months is a difference of 4% warscore, which is quite significant. Or when all you want before ending a war is to occupy a province you want to get in the following peace deal, you can use an assault to speed things up.
- Snatching occupations under the enemy's eyebrow. When a couple of enemy stacks are still watching your back, it may be preferable to simply assault, hold back and regroup rather than risking a defeat in event of a prolonged siege, especially in high attrition regions.
- Speeding up a carpet siege. While assaulting everything is not the wise thing to do, it is a decent idea to assault the provinces with lagging siege progress or breached walls. With limited expenses, the war can be over a few months earlier.
- 1