This is my first review so be nice (and by be nice I mean give any criticism you might have) 
Oh and feel free to play this during the review:
Oh and feel free to play this during the review: [HEADING=2]Mount and Musket[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Less Mount,More Musket[/HEADING]
"Three a minute lads!"
Mount and Musket Battalion, commonly known as MM3 or MM3 Russia is a hugely popular, multiplayer-only mod for the game "Mount and Blade" drawing a large fanbase ranging from casual players to diehard Napoleonic Re-enactors. The mod operates around a simple premise, remove all the fantasy setting, horses and combat that made the franchise so popular and essentially re-write the combat scripting and physics (no small feat for a small modding team). Being a mod it is not without issues, but it's many achievements far outweigh its flaws.
The 95th Rifles are one of the painstakingly recreated historic units you can play as.
As said this is a multiplayer only mod, but luckily even years after its original inception it's not hard to find servers packing 100 or even 200 players onto the battlefields of 19t Century Europe. The level of detail here is outstanding (well, as long as you take into consideration the graphics of Mount and Blades famously dated engine) and every unit and weapon bares a marked and researched resemblance to their real life counterparts. Considering the small size of the modding team this is quite impressive and perhaps goes some way to explain the mods soaring popularity.
Sadly the engine has no chance of recreating Sharpe's rugged charm...
Of course no game is perfect, let alone any mod, so it's time to look at some of the issues and there are quite a few. Perhaps the largest is that the most fun that can be had in this mod is during the large 200 player line battles that the many clans (known as Regiments) host. These are as-accurate-as-possible recreations of Napoleonic battles and really have to be experienced to understand the full thrill. Of course these events take some degree of coordination and as such many regiments have rigorous rules with which to police members as a way of fending off griefers, this can certainly be offputting to new players. That said it isn't unheard of for spontaneous line battles to break out on the public servers.
Balance is also an issue. Like in the 19th Century, Cavalry can be devastating to the massed lines of infantry, scattering the troops, wasting their ammo and running them down one by one. Sadly, unlike in the 19th Century, MM3 provides few ways of combating this and Cavalry can quickly become overpowered. This can reach the extent that, on sparse maps, the team with the most cavalry can almost guarantee victory.
You will learn to fear the French Lancers
This slight imbalance is understandable though when considering the team completely re-wrote the combat. Bullet damage, range, inaccuracy and drop have been added to the game and are satisfyingly realistic. A new, bayonet based melee system has been adapted from the spears of the original game and the team has even added Artillery that packs a satisfyingly meaty punch (even if it lacks the gratuitous explosions of say, Napoleon Total War). But if all that fighting isn't for you, feel free to play as a Line Sergeant, Drummer Boy, Standard Bearer or even musician.
Musicians, raising morale or making war unbearable, you decide.
So lets recap, exciting original Mod, accurate and faithful design, weighty and tense (if slow paced) combat and only a few design flaws. Things certainly seem positive, if you own Mount and Blade Warband, you owe it to yourself to at least try this mod. If not then, well if you have any interest in Napoleonic History it may well be worth buying just for this mod. A solid effort for a bunch of unprofessional hobbyists and an eminently playable multiplayer game.
See you on the Battlefield!
