Now returning to the line/column/line thing. I got a very good reply from their board user, RedBugler, who is one of their NDS Designers. To quote:
Very astute observances here with good points made, although you are in error with one point, column movement is indeed faster than lines.
I was a tester during the making of our first release, Gettysburg. Shortly after that release I rose to the status of designer, primarily for my modding endeavors. At this point in time I was able to convince the necessity of line hold formations which were incorporated into the Drills.csv (formations). However, these hold line formations are not recognized by the AI, as it was designed before my input. The only way hold lines work at present are with mods, and they are quite effective. Unfortunately, they will only hold while the officer is TC'd, once TC comes off, the default lines will kick in upon the AI officer's commands.
You have made valid points of the necessity of holding line formations when approaching enemy engagement, or while under artillery fire. However, there are no easy solutions here. If in the event we are able to incorporate Line Hold commands for the AI, at what point are they superior to column movements? Column movements reduce the time under fire, but take longer to set up for engagement with infantry, whereas line movements take less damage from artillery, but expose the troops longer, although they are indeed sounder when infantry engagement is reached.
Still, these are good points to be considered as we build our next engine, due sometime in 2013. In the meantime, please tolerate a little micromanaging for better battlefield control, with the help of mods, built specifically for many of the very valid points you have made.
Thank You Sir
To add some information from other posts I received. Apparently mods can modify the parameters used by the AI in determining when units will switch to Column so there are ways to make the units behave like they should but I don't know how difficult it is or whether it only applies to certain scenarios until I reach the point I can attempt to use these mods. Right now my comments apply only to the base game.
I also did a little testing. Formation change is different in SoW and costs that aren't the same as one would expect. Also ahistoric but combined with other elements changes the expected out come. In the case of their Line going to Column and then back to line when it reaches its destination it happens much more rapidly than it would in the CW. I time a march across an open field. Leting the game use it's default behavior of changing to column and back the regiment crossed the field in 3.31 minutes. Micro managing so it marched across the field in line required 4.10 minutes. The reason for the speed is the center of the unit moves at column march speed and deployment from line and to line costs nothing. The line moves at a slower speed than a column. In game turns it may not matter even under fire which way you cross the casualties may end of the same. It just doesn't look right.