Riflemen (ETW Unit)

Riflemen are the generic elite light infantry available in the late game. They are available to every major faction without unique elite light infantry (for example, Britain has access to Green Jackets and thus not riflemen) except the Ottomans, which have Nizam light infantry instead, and the Maratha Confederacy, which simply do not have access to any sort of light infantry.

Overview

Riflemen are late-game units, requiring all the prerequisites for the machined rifling technology researched and the last level of army building (Army Board) before being built before becoming recruitable.

Riflemen, and their equivalents, have much of the same qualities as light infantry: both can use Light Infantry Behavior, both have all of its men fire simultaneously, both can deploy stakes etc. However, riflemen possess one large advantage over light infantry: while light infantry have a range of 90, riflemen possess a range of 125-almost twice as long as regular line infantry and longer than that of any other land unit with the exception of artillery. This makes riflemen viable candidates for hit-and-run tactics without worrying about the enemy firing back and also even better for screening line infantry than regular light infantry. Their large range bonus, combined with their light infantry behavior, mean that they are very suitable for (relatively) safely engaging enemy artillery.

Riflemen also have the ability to remain invisible to the enemy while walking (but not running). This is not very useful against computer players but is great for surprising opponents in multiplayer.

Finally, riflemen have access to an improved and much deadlier version of fougasse. Their improved fougasse features a secondary explosion after the first, for additional damage.

Regular riflemen do have an advantage over their unique and often statistically better counterparts, in that they can be trained in any major city with the proper prerequisites. While Prussian Jaegers can only be trained in Brandenburg and East Prussia, and Windbusche Jaegers can only be trained in Austria, regular Swedish Riflemen can be trained anywhere from Ceylon to New Spain, if needed. Thus, while Riflemen might not be the best of the best when it comes to light infantry, they benefit from flexibility of location.