Benefits of not stretching out your line infantry?

Arcinatus

The question is in the title: Are there any situations / benefits of not stretching out your line infantry as wide as possible? (I play with darthmod. 300 men in each unit, which is 3 ranks deep).

damadman228

You can get them into position and turn more quickly. Marching through small gaps is easier to manage. There are no major drawbacks to spreading out though, when you have 300 men in each unit you can already cover territory very easily and turning quickly won't be necessary.

Sertorius

Would it better for melee engagement or is it the same?

damadman228

Sertorius wrote: »

Would it better for melee engagement or is it the same?

In a melee engagement you want to prevent enemy soldiers from overlapping your flanks to avoid morale penalties. Overlapping the enemy flank is much better, though it causes some chaos and might be problematic when multiple units are involved. I normally try to make my units as wide as their targets.

spicykorean

The only drawbacks to stretching out are:
(a) changing your facing will delay firing
(b) cavalry will be able to punch through your thin lines causing morale penalties

However, these drawbacks are outweighed by the benefits of long lines.