Strongest perk : France or UK

What do you think is the strongest of the two perks :

France's +1 melee vs infantry

UK's +1 standing fire


I'm personally inclined to go with France, because, receiving standing fire is something you control for the most part, while an enemy charging forward and going into melee is something you do not control. Forced march + leader or bayonet charge allows any infantry to charge two hexes and go into melee.

Also the lategame is often plenty of 1/2 block strong infantry units battling it out at close range, where 1 move + battle often gives a lot of endgame banner opportunities. Again here the french melee power seems to be better.

these two National modifiers in particular seem ddesigned towards rewarding (propelling) players towards historical play.
The French columns press forward to attack, and the English Thin red line stands and fire.

I was discussing this recently with my opponent and we decided it was about equal, given that the British bonus applied to all unit types, and the French one, while more effective, only to infantry opponents.

I agree with the other poster, as soon as I saw this it did suggest the difference between the historical tactics of the two sides.

All else being equal; the French line infantry have the absolute advantage. The British only get the +1 when standing and firing, and remember sabers don't hit when firing. As soon as a British line unit gets in range they will be melee attacked by the French line unit to great effect and quite possibly completely wiped out. The bayonet card is extremely powerful for the French, as they can stay out of firing range until ready to charge.