Windbüsche Jaegers (ETW Unit)
| Windbüsche Jaegers (ETW Unit) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Light Infantry |
| Unit Size | 60 |
| Weaponry | Airgun |
| Morale | |
| Melee Attack | |
| Ranged Attack | |
| Defence | |
| Charge Bonus | |
| Accuracy | |
| Range | |
| Ammunition | |
| Region | Central Europe |
| Recruitment Cost | 920 |
| Upkeep Cost | 230 |
| Turns to Build | |
| Unit Limit | |
| Building Requirements | Army Staff College |
| Technology Requirements | Airguns |
| Attributes | |
These skirmishers and scouts carry almost-silent airguns and are well suited to stealthy sniping and tactical ambushes.
Overview
Windbüchsenjäger are woodsmen, hunters and poachers - men with a good grasp of field craft. Their speciality is skirmishing, to disrupt enemy formations with harassing fire, or to stop the enemy doing the same to their comrades. Unlike other light troops, however, they carry airguns. These weapons give them a distinctly unfair advantage!
Apart from the fact that it is silent, with no muzzle flash or smoke, the windbüchse ("wind rifle") has a 20 round magazine and fires as quickly as the jäger can pull the trigger. The gun can drive a ball through a plank (or a man) at 100 paces, but the velocity of the shots drops as the air reservoir empties. Austrian gunsmiths have produced a deadly, if delicate, weapon in the windbüchse! However, it needs a highly trained and very fit man to use it properly: pumping up the air reservoir is a huge effort.
Historically, these airguns were not a success. They were quiet, but they did not work after rough treatment, something that was inevitable in battle. Napoleon Bonaparte hated them and decreed that any captured "assassin" with an airgun was to be executed, not treated as a soldier.
Detail
Windbüsche Jaegers should be used to snipe the enemy while they are engaged with some of your other forces. They have a high range(like mos light infantry so can be positioned behind the bulk of your army and still be within range of the enemy. They also have less men then regular line infantry(like other light infantry) thus can be easily defeated with concentrated, mass fire.They can only be recruited in Austria's home regions though, so take that in consideration when planning your campaign.
