EU4 and military history. A thread for questions and discussion

We have a lot of history nerds on the sub, so I thought it might be fun to have a thread where we both talk about history as it relates to the game and people can ask questions about things they are uncertain about.

Note that this is explicitly for the historical end of things and to help put the game into more context, not the game mechanics.

Personally, I am well read and have a decent library of books regarding the black powder era (the pike and shot era through Napoleonics) so if you have any questions about Napoleonic/American war of independence, English civil war, thirty years war tactics, equipment etc and how they related to the game, ask away.

I am confident we'll have more people sticking their heads in who can handle the medieval aspects though I'll try best as I can if nobody else does.

So if you wonder what "pike and shot" means or how exactly a napoleonic battalion is organized, well, have your say.

(and if the mods decide this is lame, well, nuke it :-) )