Soldier is correct. The only reason we have 220 yard rifles is because counter-battery fire is nerfed in stock SOW. In order to have effective CB fire, the stats have to be raised so high that 3-inch guns become the ultimate ahistoric weapon on the digital battlefield. The result was that two 3-inch batteries alone (anyone remember Robinson's???) could devastate an infantry before it could even make contact with the enemy.Well, Reb, sorry, but wrong again. Most players keep their guns out of musket range. I'm not saying guns don't get shot up ever, but most of the time, they get moved before they get shot up. The only exception is when the guns are tired and a player must pull his division back and can't get his guns limbered because they are exhausted.
You may not like it, but the 220 yard rifles are very effective at making players keep their guns out of the front lines. Personally, I hated the guns up front canister defense we saw so often in the early years of this game.
During the CW, batteries supported by infantry stood up pretty well under infantry fire in sustained firefights with the enemy infantry well within 200 yards. Unsupported batteries didn't do as well but in specific circumstances could hold their own while still taking casualties (the Wheatfield and Iuka are two notable examples).
Long range infantry fire didn't have as much an effect as it is often presumed. Men manning the batteries would often retire until a skirmish line formed up and cleared the frontage. Even when that didn't happen, long range infantry fire was often a greater myth than reality as the issue isn't what could be hit on the proving ground in optimal conditions but the actual common results on the dynamic battlefield.
