Bargir Infantry are a type of line infantry in Empire: Total War. They are the standard line infantry unit of the Maratha Confederacy and Punjab.
Description[]
Heavily influenced by European military thinking, Bargirs are a match to most line infantry regiments.
With their equipment paid for by the state and their organisation based on tried and tested European principles, Bargir infantry are more reliable than most Indian foot soldiers. Armed with good muskets and often trained or led by mercenary European officers, Bargirs provide their general with a range of tactical options on the battlefield.
Traditionally, armies on the Indian subcontinent were geared toward mounted troops who enjoyed a high status compared to infantry. Footsoldiers, mainly drawn from the lowest echelons of society, were typically a disorganised rabble, useful to a commander only because they added numbers to an army. They were expendable, poorly-equipped and easily-dismayed in battle, often making them a liability rather than an asset.
The social mobility which characterised Maratha society allowed a more modern view of the role of infantry to come to prevalence. Through observation of European methods, the equipment and training of Maratha infantry began to improve, allowing the successful use of advanced manoeuvres and firing drills.
General Information[]
Bargir infantry are the Maratha equivalent of European line infantry. They possess slightly superior base statistics; however, in the early game they are no match for the specialized melee infantry and they cannot utilize Fire by Rank, putting them at a disadvantage when compared to European line infantry in the late game. However, Bargir Infantry are the strongest line infantry in the Indian subcontinent: nothing the Mughal Empire or Mysore fields is quite as good. This allows the Maratha Confederacy to dominate its opponents after its economy can sustain the cost of training and maintaining these units.