Master of Command looks familiar if you’ve played games like Empire Total War or Ultimate General, but it quickly teaches you that positioning, momentum, and fatigue matter far more than simply lining up muskets. This guide gives you a grounded understanding of what each formation and unit is actually meant to do, so you can stop trading volleys aimlessly and start controlling the battlefield.
My goal is simple: help you avoid the classic beginner trap of leaving every regiment in a static firing line and wondering why you keep getting overrun.
Master of Command Beginner Guide Wiki – Units, Formations
Stamina Matters
Every unit has a stamina bar that drains when running. Push too hard and you’ll find your troops fighting with weakened stats. This mechanic rewards timing and patience. Sprint only when necessary: to seize a key position, to perform a surprise charge, or to escape cavalry.
Charge vs Melee
Charge is the instant impact damage as units crash into contact. Melee is the extended fight afterward. Heavy infantry and cavalry are built to win through shock and sustained bayonet work. Light infantry are absolutely not.
Mastering Formations
Your army is only as good as the shape you put it in.
Column
Your movement and turning formation. It is perfect for marching along roads or redeploying quickly. It also delivers stronger charge impact than a thin firing line. The downside is brutal: artillery and musket fire tear through columns, especially from the side.
Use it when: Moving to a new position or charging with melee-focused infantry.
Line
The classic musket formation. You maximize firepower, control a wider frontage, and threaten any advance directly in front of you. However, lines respond slowly, suffer on the flanks, and lose morale more easily when pressured.
Use it when: Holding ground or fighting an extended gun battle.
Attack Column
A balanced hybrid between line and column. Solid frontal fire while keeping mobility and charge power.
Use it when: You expect to fire briefly, then push aggressively into melee.
Open Order (Light Infantry Only)
Spread skirmish formation making your troops harder to hit. They move quickly, fire accurately, and thrive on flanks or in rough terrain. But once cavalry appears or a bayonet line closes in, staying here is a mistake.
Use it when: Harassing, delaying, flanking. Withdraw before melee.
Understanding Unit Roles
Line Infantry
The backbone of every army. They dictate the pace of the battle.
Two primary styles emerge:
Ranged Line Infantry
Accuracy and reload are their defining strengths. They win fights by delivering relentless volleys while positioned behind fences, walls, or gentle slopes. These are your foundational defenders.
Prioritize equipment that improves:
Reload
Accuracy
Morale
Melee Shock Infantry and Grenadiers
They see muskets mostly as sticks with knives attached. They still shoot, but they shine when you bring them close and charge. Their higher morale, stamina, and melee stats allow them to break weakened enemies and turn flanks decisively.
Best used to:
Smash through an enemy position already under fire
Anchor a key flank ready to countercharge
Grenadiers add explosive grenades, useful for softening a target before contact.
Light Infantry
Your skirmishing specialists. They delay, disrupt, and punish exposed targets from range. They operate outside rigid line structures and respond quickly to threats anywhere along the field.
They cannot survive a prolonged melee exchange. Support them properly and they become your most cost-effective early game killers.
Recommended usage:
Flank harassment
Pushing into wooded or uneven terrain
Screening in front of your main line, then falling back safely
Cavalry
Expensive, limited manpower, and devastating when used correctly. Think of them as battlefield scalpel and sledgehammer combined.
Never send cavalry unsupported or deep behind enemy lines without a plan to get them back. One mistake can erase an elite regiment permanently.
Three distinct roles exist:
Light Cavalry
Fast and lethal against routing units. They chase survivors, punish isolated ranged troops, and swing quickly between fronts. High-risk if left in prolonged combat.
Shooting Cavalry (Dragoons)
Fire carbines while moving, making them ideal flank harassers. They can countercharge but are not pure shock cavalry. Perfect for forcing enemy infantry to turn away from your main line.
Heavy Cavalry
Elite line breakers. They endure longer in melee and deliver crushing charges. Use them as the finishing blow—not the opening action.
If they hit a distracted or wavering enemy, battles end instantly.
Artillery
Artillery shapes battles before lines even meet. Their morale damage matters as much as their casualties.
Types:
Field Cannons
Reliable, accurate, good rate of fire. They support your infantry from behind, weakening enemies before the clash.
Howitzers
Closer range and less accurate, but much more explosive output. They require ammunition resupply and careful timing.
Concentrate multiple batteries on one target at a time. A single broken regiment creates a cascade of panic across the enemy army.
Faction Traits and How to Approach Them
Every nation fights differently. Understanding strengths means designing your campaigns and armies properly from the start.
Prussia
Well-rounded and beginner-friendly. Excellent reload speeds and strong grenadiers make them exceptional at combined firing and charging. Cavalry lacks stamina, so they excel at the first break but struggle to exploit afterward.
Style: Methodical aggression supported by unmatched musket delivery.
Britain and Hanover
Two tech trees merged into one army. British regiments deliver extremely accurate, disciplined fire. German units deliver melee capability and cavalry strength. This blend rewards hybrid battle lines and combined arms.
Style: Defensive firepower with selected hammer strikes.
Austria-Hungary
Flexible and durable armies with highly effective artillery and diverse cavalry. The infantry roster is limited but reliable. Slow campaign growth means you earn strength, then become unstoppable.
Style: Hold with infantry, win with cavalry and artillery.
Russian Empire
Large regiments with iron morale and terrifying Cossacks—but held back by unreliable accuracy and campaign limitations. If you adapt your strategy, you thrive. If not, you struggle.
Style: Grind enemies down while cavalry hunts the weak.
France
Large unit sizes and the finest heavy cavalry on the continent. They start fragile due to lower morale and a tricky campaign economy, but once upgraded, their army steamrolls anything in its path.
Style: Shock and momentum warfare led by elite cavalry.
Master of Command rewards the player who blends firepower and motion. A static line always loses eventually. A reckless charge wastes elite soldiers.