Stamina - all MoC units have stamina, a bar of energy that depletes as they double-time/run (double click point on map). If you run too much you will exhaust the unit, leading to a reduction in many of its statistics.

Charge - the damage a unit does to an enemy unit on contact with the enemy during a charge sequence (melee mode, double click enemy unit).

Melee - the damage a unit does when in melee combat with an enemy

This is intended to be a pretty basic guide to unit types and some concepts in Master of Command. It is not a campaign guide but more of “okay here are which units are which and what they do.”

Master of Command is a fairly complicated game with a pretty detailed tutorial. The game operates similarly to games such as Empire and Napoleon Total War, and Ultimate General Civil War, but there are a number of subtle differences that will throw veterans of those games off. As such, here’s a basic unit usage tutorial to familiarize you all with what each unit is supposed to do and how to best use them.

There is a Faction Commentary in the Table of Contents Section, but if you're here for tactics and unit usage, first we need to talk about formations.

Each of the following units have formations they do better in for certain jobs. You can manually set them using just right click drag at which point, the units will adopt the formation you order them into before moving. Alternatively you can set them using the formation select button to lock to them to that formation with a bit of flex.

Do note that switching formations requires time and your unit is stationary until that formation is completed.

In dense column formations, units travel and turn more quickly. This is the optimum formation to move infantry from location to location, especially along roads, which boost your move speed. In general, you do more charge damage than in line and move faster when charging into melee.

However, there are a number of drawbacks to the column formation. It’s vulnerable to artillery and musket fire, which do more damage to units in columns, especially when the column is flanked. It’s easier to flank a column of infantry as it is not usually going to block you with its minimal width.

It is advised you employ infantry that need redeployment in column formations for best effect.

Thin red lines are the default formation for veterans of Empire and Napoleon Total War. This is because deploying heavy infantry and units in a line maximizes their firepower to devastating effect.

However, in Master of Command, you don’t always want to use thin lines. In static defense positions and behind cover, thin lines of heavy infantry can unleash hell on anything in front of them.

When flanked, however, the consequences can be devastating for formations in line. A line that is under flanking fire suffers from morale penalties and increased losses. Most aggravating of all, units in line move and maneuver more slowly, and as such, the line formation is not the ideal formation to get from place to place.

Line formations in Master of Command also lead to morale penalties, reflecting real life. This isn’t such a big deal when your infantry is fighting another line of heavy infantry, but it may become a big deal if your infantry unit is charged by enemy heavy infantry or cavalry.

Thus, it is not a good idea to always keep your units in line. There is a need to play with your formations and switch between line and column.

But let’s say you want something a bit more flexible.

Attack Columns are a happy medium between line and column. This is when your unit shows two thick lines of infantry. The Attack Column formation has decent firepower in front, can move fairly well, and is designed to inflict maximum charge damage. If you have infantry units moving up in a place where you are going to exchange a bit of fire and then charge, this is a pretty good formation to do so.

That being said, this formation is both suboptimal when it comes to the line formation’s sheer firepower and the column formation’s maneuver. In particular, factions with units that have less manpower per unit suffer from using Attack Column due to not being able to cut off as much of the map with a longer line. Thus, employ this when… well, attacking.

Open Order formation is exclusive to Light Infantry units. If buffs a units accuracy and allows your unit to have faster movement, maneuver, take less damage to infantry and artillery fire. You almost always want your light infantry moving in open order due to how fast they can get from place to place.

The only problem with Open Order is that you really do not want to be charged down in it. It receives penalties to melee and charge, which means you will lose expensive light infantry units if they are engaged in melee.

Includes: Recruit Regiments, Foot, Landmiz, Musketeers, Certain Fusiliers (eg. Prussian, French), Life Guards


Line infantry are units made out of blocks of soldiers that stand in formation and open fire with their muskets by default. They can however, adopt Line, Column, or Attack Column formations to suit their specialization. Within this archetype however, there are many different specializations and stats that dictate the usage of these units.

Typically, Line Infantry in Master of Command is used for two types of roles: ranged infantry and melee shock troops.

Best exemplified by British Foot, French, Austrian veteran fusiliers, Prussian Life Guards and Russian observation corps fusiliers, this kind of infantry is best deployed in cover by a fence or hedge. Their primary function is to deliver as many musket balls as quickly as possible at the enemy in front of them. You typically deploy these infantry in lines to cut off an enemy advance, move them up to deliver fire against an enemy unit, or use them to hold tactically significant locations like cover or hills.

The most important stats to prioritize on these units and thus equip them with are: Reload, Accuracy, Morale, with secondarily important statistics being Movement, and Stamina so they can reposition to seize territory. Highland Foot for example are incredibly fast troops with good accuracy and reload statistics, enabling them to reposition to get onto the flank of an enemy.

(Hessian Infantry charging French Fusiliers)

Melee shock infantry and subsequently Grenadiers, see the musket and see a spear or a club instead. These units can stand in line and fight with range, but they have high melee, charge, morale, stamin, and speed statistics and thus are ideally specialized as melee infantry. Given the prevalence of gunpowder weapons, most armies should probably still have a brigade of Ranged line Infantry, but a good brigade of Melee Shock Infantry is a powerful offensive tool to push an enemy flank and turn it.

Good examples of Melee Shock infantry are Hungarian Foot, Prussian Fusiliers, and all Grenadier infantry units. Grenadier infantry have higher morale, melee, and charge statistics needed to hit an enemy unit and do tons of damage. Grenadiers can also chuck grenades. These close-range weapons are risky to use, but they do splash damage to units, which can make them a useful softening-up tool.

Do note that depending on the faction, some Grenadier units like the Prussian Grenadier, can double as Ranged Line Infantry units due to their solid accuracy and reload statistics.

When specializing a unit for Melee Shock Infantry, choose items that buff their melee, charge, moral, stamina and speed statistics.

(Austrian Sharpshooters in forest)

Includes: Certain Fusiliers with open order formation, Pandur Musketeers, Grenzer Fusiliers, Sharpshooters, Jaegers, Chasseurs

Light infantry is best indicated by whether they have the “Open Order” formation. This is their default formation and what sets them apart from standard line infantry.

The Open Order formation buffs accuracy, reduces the damage light infantry takes from musket fire, but increases the damage taken from melee charges by infantry or cavalry. This enables an 800-man Grenzer unit to quite easily hold off a 1200-man Line infantry, with one major caveat: Light infantry does not have good melee stats, and their lower manpower means they can be charged. The AI also likes to target your light infantry with cavalry, so do not deploy them unsupported, and be ready to withdraw them behind a friendly line infantry unit. Cavalry can also be used to counter charge enemy cavalry.

In return, Light Infantry generally have better reload and accuracy statistics than line infantry, depending on the specific unit. They can thus better engage line infantry at range and should be equipped with your best muskets for skirmishing.

Alternatively they can be equipped with carbines for increases in reload at the cost of range but this is probably best used for the Austrian Border Troops composition.

Typically, light infantry is deployed to the flanks supported by cavalry, or in front of your regular Ranged Line Infantry. They can also be used as quick response units to shore up holes in your firing line, but don’t leave them in the hole without support or they might be charged by the enemy.

Cavalry is a powerful tool in Master of Command, but these units are also expensive. Cavalry also tends to have very low numbers of men per unit. This means you can exhaust and deplete these valuable units quickly. Think of them as elite, fast, melee troops and skirmishers that can support your army through their mobility.

In general, it is not advised to use your cavalry without supporting infantry or cavalry units, as isolated cavalry units are vulnerable to being hunted down by enemy cavalry or isolated by enemy line infantry. It is important to note, though, that cavalry can sneak behind enemy or your lines to assassinate artillery.

I personally view cavalry as a force multiplier. A brigade of 4 cavalry regiments can run havoc over sections of the enemy line and shatter enemy units. Cavalry in conjunction with light infantry, can seize critical positions, harass the enemy, and withdraw to safety. Line infantry can protect friendly cavalry from musket fire, and be protected from enemy cavalry by their friendly cavalry. Shock infantry, such as grenadiers, can break an infantry regiment, then be supported by friendly cavalry to shatter them.

Cavalry itself is further subdivided into three types

Includes: Cavalry Recruits, Chevaux-légers, Hussars, Cossacks, Hanoverian Cavalry*

Light cavalry typically number 400 per regiment and are used as lightning-fast shock troops. They are agile, fast, have some ranged firepower with their carbines, but are quite fragile. They are best used for running down isolated wavering or retreating enemy troops and making sure they stay running off the battlefield by shattering them.

Low-tier light cavalry like Cavalry Recruits are to be used quite conservatively as you can lose them due to moral loss quite easily. Higher-tier light cavalry, such as Hussars, Cossacks and the dreaded Hanoverian Cavalry can be used to break units.

*Hanoverian cav by the British faction are strange. They are a really heavy hussar cavalry with higher stats when compared to other light cavalry, and so are more powerful than any other light cavalry. They are not, however, a heavy cavalry unit.

(Austrian Dragoons, and Austrian Erzherzog Joseph Dragoons firing at French cavalry)

Includes: Dragoons, Light Dragoons, Slobodian Cossacks

All cavalry have carbines for ranged skirmishing. However, Shooting cavalry are cavalry specifically designed to support your army by skirmishing with their carbines. These units have increased base accuracy and reload for their carbines, and larger units. The tradeoff is they generally are not as good as specialized melee cavalry in charges or melee. That being said, they benefit from increased accuracy and will fire their carbines as they charge into melee, allowing them to soften the enemy up before contact.

Thus, Dragoon cavalry are perfectly adequate for counter-charging cavalry engaged with your infantry and can be used as a harassing unit to force enemy AI line infantry to turn and face you, occupying them away from your line infantry.

Shooting Cavalry are especially good skirmishers because unlike all the other unit types in the game, they can reload while on the move, enabling them to be excellent harassing units. Don’t have them exchange fire with a line infantry regiment; however, you will lose.

Includes: Curassiers, Gentleman and Royal Cavalry, Hessian Cavalry*

Heavy cavalry is best used as line breakers against important infantry units. They have the charge damage and melee to deal damage and the numbers and morale to stay in a fight.

This does not mean you should charge your heavy cavalry into the front of line infantry, particularly elite regiments. It does mean however, that supported by more cavalry and infantry units, heavy cavalry can sustain repeated charges and assaults against the enemy. They can also catch and destroy light or shooting cavalry regiments

*Hessian Cavalry from the British occupy a strange spot of being a “light cuirassier” unit. They are the strongest British cavalry unit, but are lighter and more built for shooting than other factions' heavy cavalry.

The so-called “God of War” does long-range damage against distant targets. Through this, they can degrade enemy numbers and morale even before the main forces of your army and your opponents make contact.

Standard Artillery shells will always automatically fire over friendly units head. However, Canister and Grapeshot require Line Of Sight.

It is recommended to make a deliberate investment in artillery when you have the money to do so. Artillery scales in deadliness and is expensive. Trying to go too cheap with artillery brigades is a losing proposition.

Once you have a few artillery regiments, I recommend you do the Napoleon and direct them to fire all at once at one enemy regiment as that leads to increased concentrated damage on that regiment’s morale and numbers. Do be aware that you should monitor your artillery regiment’s chosen targets and redirect them when necessary.

There are two types of artillery:

Howitzers are short-range artillery specialized at pounding units at close, but they are not very accurate and cannot shoot very quickly. It is strongly advised that you to add a limber or ammunition chest to these regiments as they consume a lot of ammunition. It also may not be a bad idea to add boots to them so you can move these batteries to their needed locations quickly.

Field cannons are cheaper, fire faster and are more accurate than howitzers, and have more range. They are incredibly useful support tools, able to fire over your regiment’s heads and deal additional damage to the enemy regiment’s numbers and morale. Since they shoot faster and more accurately than howitzers, they provide more reliable damage and also have better grape and canister shot performance.

That being said, field cannons do not deal as much shell damage as howitzers. They are best used in close support with your line infantry, but make sure they are protected.

Each faction and subsequent composition has very specific tactics and playstyles. As to go into depth onto their play would be outside the scope of this guide (and I also have not been able to play every composition), here are some comments I have for the factions that will hopefully give players the heads up on what to expect.

At a glance:

Pros:

• Well-rounded infantry and cavalry options
  
• Units specialize in rapid reload

Cons:

• Cavalry have less stamina
  
• Cavalry aren’t particularly accurate

The Kingdom of Prussia is one of the most forgiving factions in Master of Command. Its units are of a decent size, are high morale, with generally excellent reload stats, culminating in the Prussian Life Guard line infantry. Yet, it’s no slouch in melee with powerful Prussian Hussars, Curassiers and their amazing Prussian Grenadiers, culminating in their fantastic Prussian Veteran Grenadiers, which can shoot in line, but also smash the enemy with the bayonet.

Prussia’s cavalry that being said, while being quite good, lacks in stamina when compared to that of other factions. They will act as good breakthrough units, but will require reinforcement to exploit enemy openings.

Prussia has a secondary unit tree called the Freikorps. In exchange for slightly lower morale and smaller unit size, you get quite capable Freikorps units which have even faster reload than your standard Prussian units (eg. Prussian Musketeers). Freikorps artillery is less powerful (fewer guns and inability to upgrade) but has greater speed than starting Prussian Artillery. Their hussars also prioritize reload.

All in all, this is probably your most forgiving faction in the game due to their mix of units and fantastic firepower.

At a glance:
Pros:

• Highly Accurate and High Morale Infantry
  
• 10 thaler a day allows for increased flexibility on the campaign map
  
• Dual Unit Tree Enables Flexibility of Options

Cons:

• Restricted Cavalry Options
  
• On Average Smaller Unit Size
  
• High Brigade Cost Slows Expansion

The British Crown and Hanover is less one faction and more of a pair of factions conjoined at the hip. It has two recruit types, the Redcoat Recruit and the Subsidy Recruit, which branch off into two different tech trees. Marrying the two sides of the faction will enable a player to field a highly-trained army that can go on the offensive or defensive.

The “British” tech tree enables a player to field high-morale, high-accuracy troops that are lethal against enemy line troops, along with high-reload artillery. You do have access to British Grenadier troops but in general your options in this tech tree are limited to ranged troops, even for the cavalry, for which a player can only recruit Light Dragoon or Dragoon Cavalry. Both can be used as melee cavalry in a pinch, but are more suited to harassing troops.

In the Seven Years War, though, the British had access to many “German” troops. This tech tree starts with the “Subsidy Recruits,” which provide access to charge and melee-oriented soldiers of different degrees, along with specialized “Subsidy Jaeger” light infantry, the only light infantry the faction has access to. It’s also under this branch the British can access the powerful Hanoverian Light Cavalry and Hessian Heavy Cavalry. In contrast to the British artillery, Subsidy artillery battalions trade reload for accuracy.

Learning to combine these two separate tech trees is the key to success for a British player. Typically, I use the British troops defensively and to form line, whilst using the Subsidy troops for offensive operations.

On the campaign map, British players will benefit from being able to receive 10 thaler a day, which enables more freedom of movement on the map. Players may struggle to grow their army, though due to the increased brigade costs so they should use this freedom to target down enemy armies, encamped armies and forts as much as possible.

At a glance:

Pros:

• No Weak Spots
  
• Powerful Artillery
  
• Varied Cavalry Options
  
• Good Light Infantry

Cons:

• Lack of Line Infantry Options
  
• Slow Campaign Start

The Hapsburg Monarchy is my favorite faction hands down. Powerful artillery, a large variety of cavalry, and solid infantry means that while there aren’t much options for ranged line infantry, (Austrian Fusiliers is your only real option), your army has many supporting arms that overcome this slight limitation.

The variety of Austrian Cavalry is fantastic and you have three branches. The Crownland Recruit tech tree enables access to solid dragoons, then Currassiers or Horse Grenadiers which can break and maul even the hardiest enemy infantry and cavalry. The Hungarian tree enables access to nasty Hussars. The Grenzer tree has hussars that double as rapidly-moving light dragoons.

Austrian Artillery is one of the most powerful in the game in terms of accuracy and reload and culminates in the Austrian Veteran Artillery or the Dutch Field Artillery units. The Dutch Field Artillery sports 7 guns, whilst the Austrian Veteran Artillery has all round high accuracy and reload.

Austrian Light Infantry can be quickly accessed with the Grenzer Fusiliers, or by the Austrian Jaeger, both of which are sterling light infantry units. The Austrian Jaegers focus on accuracy whilst the Grenzer Fusiliers specialize in reload speed. This enables an easy integration of light infantry into your army to increase its lethality

Austria also has access to solid infantry options. Their Hungarian fusiliers being specialized for melee and the Austrian fusiliers being specialized for holding the line and exchanging shots.

That being said, the faction does have some weaknesses. It lacks a variety of line-infantry options (you either go Austrian or Hungarian), relying on its supporting arms to bring you victory. Furthermore, the faction suffers a 20% veterancy cost increase, leading you to have to grind with recruits for longer than most.

If you stick with the Austrians, though, build your different army wings and combine them into a powerful fighting force, you will conquer. Their infantry will hold the line and break it if needed. Their cavalry can maul the flanks whilst superior artillery shatters your enemy.

At a glance:

Pros:

• Strong, High-morale Units
  
• Cossacks are Powerful Cavalry

Cons:

• Broken Unit Tree
  
• Provisions Malus

I actually find that the Russian Empire is my personal least favorite in terms of how they play. They are not a bad faction, but their playstyle is quite different from the norm. Russian units in general feature high morale and large unit sizes. They thus specialize in holding the line or sustaining the assault until the enemy is ground down.

The Russian Empire has several types of recruits, each unlocking a different section of their unit tree.

Serf Recruits unlock their standard line infantry. Their line infantry has good morale but poor accuracy and reload when compared to their equivalent counterparts. You may wish to spec them into melee. You can use the Veteran Musketeers to stand and fight, though.

The Russian Rider recruits unlock the Russian Hussars, Dragoon cavalry, and eventually Cuirassiers. Russian cavalry again has high morale, meaning they have significant staying power that can carry them through long battles.

Russian Artillery recruits unlock the Russian Artillery tree which is quite good, emphasizing accuracy over reload.

The Russian Frontier Recruits unlock their Pandur Musketeer light infantry and Cossack cavalry, which are the most powerful “light” cavalry in the game. Cossacks are high-stamina cavalry that can sprint for extended periods, giving them amazing sustain along with brutally high melee and charge stats. Both Subodian and Don cossacks are horrifying to face as they are both high-damage dealers that can also zip around the battlefield.

The Observation Corps Recruit unlocks the Observation Corps artillery and line infantry. This tree features slower infantry than the standard Russian infantry, but with better accuracy stats. These men can thus hold the line quite well, though they are not as lethal as some other line infantry of other factions. Furthermore, the Observation Corps recruit can unlock artillery quite easily.

The Russian Empire is thus quite a well-rounded faction with some glaring exceptions that put it at the bottom of my personally preferred factions.

• The broken unit tree means that if you don’t come across the right recruits (eg. I didn’t come across a frontier recruit in Act 1 during one of my playthroughs), you just don’t get access to part of their tree. This tree does enable the promotion of units easier though, it’s just not my personal preference
  
• The Provision Malus means that you must be using the Raiding stance option, which is very powerful, but also restricts your campaign’s flexibility, as you will leave burning, unusable villages. Observe the campaign map first before you leave.

That being said, if a player is able to overcome these problems, they may be able to become the epitome of “Russia is Stronk.” Their units are good. It all comes together, but this is a faction for either deliberate calculated play using the high morale to one’s advantage, or aggressive offensives to smash the enemy.

At a glance:

Pros:

• Single Unit Tree
  
• Larger than average Unit Sizes
  
• Best Heavy Cavalry
  
• Good Artillery

Cons:

• On Average Lower Morale
  
• Thaler Loss Malus

France is personally my second-favorite faction due to a few interesting quirks that make them a powerhouse. They do have some rather nasty weaknesses that influence their style of play, but once these are taken into account, they can crush most factions.

The French have a single tech tree, enabling a player to access all their units from a single recruit line. It’s a minor detail, but a huge advantage in a campaign, as it allows a discerning player to spec recruits into whatever is needed.

The French unit size is larger for both artillery and infantry, which means while their base line infantry (French fusilier line) and artillery (French Field Artillery) start with lower general stats, their manpower size is huge. This means you start with 5 cannons in your first level artillery unit rather than the usual 4 and 1400 men for their standard fusiliers. This provides rather impressive staying power for their units. If standard French line infantry isn’t satisfactory, the faction has access to German, Swiss and Irish fusilier types that are specialized more as “shock” infantry. The Swiss fusiliers are also pretty good shooters in a pinch.

French heavy cavalry is where the faction shines. They have a good selection of hussars and solid dragoons, but the French Gentleman, Royal and Gendarmerie boast fantastic charge and melee stats. Once acquired, these units will easily solo line infantry units and delete enemy cavalry.

The French achilles heel, however, is their morale and their faction malus. While it is easy to expand the French army due to their reduced brigade size, there is a thaler cost per day to maintaining officers that increases as more officers are hired. Unless they are elite, French units generally do not have as high morale as other factions. It is thus important for a player to position your general and officer units carefully, keep units in cover, or employ the large unit size of the French to bring fights to a quick close.

That being said, once a French campaign gets going and a player has built the army they wished, there is very little that the enemy can do to stop the steamroller of soldiers that is the French Army.