I'm sure you heard „just point in the general direction and hope for the best“ by now and your gut said that there had to be more to it than that...

...and your gut was right. The common misconception is due to the fact that unlike regular shooters Napoleonic Wars needs a more quantum physics approach than a newtonian one.
Sounds complicated but is actually rather simple.



Keep in mind that the guns are not of the high quality of this day and age.
You can do everything right and shoot at point blank range and still miss.
There is at least a good 10% chance that you miss, regardless the circumstances. Some days you're lucky, some days you ain't.
With the right techniques though you can increase your chances.

Know your tool! There are differences that are worth talking about. TheSnowHindu did a great job in his
„The Napoleonic Firearms Guide“. There is everything explained in detail.
http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=130236191

In short:
The Musketoon:
basically a shotgun. Extremely short range but wide spread.
Cavalry Muskets and Carbines:
shorter range, less accurate, faster to reload.
Pistols:
There are no pistols. Not really. If you die by a pistol shot you did something wrong.
Rifles:
more accurate than a musket, but takes longer to reload and has no bayonet attached.

I will concentrate on the main weapon on the battlefield: The Infantry musket.

So you want to shoot an enemy soldier dead.
First of all, that is really not nice. But here is how it works:

Know your surroundings.
In order to kill someone you need to be alive. Pick your position with caution. Cover is always nice. No enemies in the back is also a plus.

Know your target.
Sounds simple, but first you acquire a target, then you engage it. Don't stand around, thinking „Who to shoot? Who to shoot...?“

If you miss – you miss
As mentioned, you can expect to miss a lot even when you did everything right. And you just keep on. You'll get your lucky shot, and when it happens you will feel fantastic.

Aim for the torso.
Headshots? Not likely, cowboy. Aim for the biggest target zone. When aiming from above aim a bit lower, when aiming up aim even higher (depending on range, you'll get the hang of it eventually)

Make every bullet count.
You may have recognized that your rate of fire is somewhat low?
Think before you do anything.

Here are two examples.

The same situation twice. About medium range (we will talk about that later), good cover and a target in sight.
On the left the target stands sideways - that means less space to hit. Even more, he's also pointing his loaded gun at us, ready to shoot us before we can shoot him.
On the right the target stands frontal to us and is reloading. That's a good opportunity.

Naturally everything in this section is highly subjective and by no means exact.
The range varies, depending on the weapon (see the Weapons chapter) and the marksman.
Character class plays a role but for the purpose of this guide we can ignore that.
The ranges are, roughly speaking:


At medium range a good marksman can achieve one hit in three shots aprox.
A good rate is one hit in five shots.
As a noob you start with shots at point blank, then you work your way up. When you're a bit familiar with this game medium range is your get-go. Long range shots are for the pros.
As a general rule you shoot at the closest enemies first, groups before individuals, standing before moving. It is possible to shoot a galopping horseman from long range. And if you do - you wish you had Fraps running to show it to everybody. (Dang it!)



and as a free bonus


This is far. I managed to land a hit, but that was my lucky shot of the day. It's worth a try if they're standing in tight rows like that.

Generally speaking there are four types of shooting, which I named the Snipershot, the Mobshot, the Charge and the Lineshot.

The Snipershot is pretty self-explanatory. You pick a lone target and shoot it from somewhere safe.

The Mobshot is quite simply a shot in a group of people.

The Charge is a shot (mostly at point blank or close range) and a quick change to melee.
This needs a bit practicing but it's a great technique for the frontline.
You should be able to quickly change between modes. An unloaded gun should always be in melee mode.

The Lineshot is how to shoot in a line, preferably behind cover.


A line

This is how you do it:


Firstly you aim, crouched of course. Then you stand up and shoot - in one motion. You can stand and shoot, but it will take you some time whilst being a target yourself. Better to stand up/shoot and crouch, all in one smooth up-down movement.
Take in consideration that when aiming crouched you aim at a different point as when standing. So aim at the feet and release the left mouse button when the crosshair is on torso level.
While reloading look for you next target. If someone charges you, forget about reloading, change to melee and show him cold steel.

1st oder 3rd person view?

Personally, I prefer the third person view. It allows a broader view of the environment and makes melee a lot easier.
For snipershots one could go into first person, but it makes aiming not that much better, but really it comes down to a personal choice.

Crouching

Crouching makes aiming a bit more accurate, but if you're shooting crouched that means you most likely have no cover.
So you have to stand up, move out of cover, crouch, shoot, stand up and move back into cover....
I prefer the Lineshot method.

Napoleonic Wars is unlike other shooters and hence needs to be played a bit differently.
Teamplay and tactics are the gamewinners. Act cool and deliberate. Passionate but calm.
Ask your local spiritual advisor for further information.
If you have got any questions, hesitate not to ask away. I'm happy about any feedback.
Thanks for reading my guide, if I forgot something important I will update it.
May your gunpowder always be dry, my friend.

Thanks to fredofasgarnia for being a great help and the 15th Humans vs Bots server where I took all screenshots.

Rumburak