Carabineers (ETW Unit)

Carabineers are ranged cavalry available to some European factions in Empire: Total War.

Overview

They are a highly mobile unit, with enough long-range firepower to hurt many enemies; the pistols used by some cavalrymen are only really suitable for close-in fighting during a melee. Their carbines fire a smaller ball than the muskets of infantrymen, but it is still large enough to maim and kill a target. Having the speed of light cavalry, these men are a useful force for any general: they can be moved quickly to a key part of the line to give fire, and then redeployed with equal speed. They are also remarkably difficult opponents for heavy cavalry; it is hard to come to grips with an enemy who can simply outpace you!

Historically, the carbine was only a smaller calibre version of an infantry musket. The idea to cut down the barrel only emerged when it became clear that reloading a full-length musket on horseback was a horrible job, even if the enemy weren’t trying to kill you at the same time. Attaching the carbine to the user by a sling finally made it into a very practical, deadly weapon.

Details

Carabineers are similar to dragoons: they are mounted units that can also deploy firepower on the field. Carabineers are not as numerous as dragoons per regiment, but do have slightly superior statistics.