The Barracks is a building type in Napoleon: Total War.
Description[]
A barracks allows a selection of military units to be recruited.
Barracks provide housing, armouries, and stabling for most kinds of soldiers and their mounts, along with the space necessary for them to be trained in the basics of military life. Sensibly, they are usually also designed to be defensible, even if there are town walls, and an imposing symbol of government solidity and power. The barracks are a bulwark for the power of ruling classes: the local authorities can send men to deal with all enemies, foreign and domestic. The place can even serve as a prison, should the locals prove troublesome!
Many governments at the start of the 19th century were still using troops for domestic policing duties, particularly against troublemakers in the new industrial factory towns that were appearing. Soldiers were there to keep order and, in doing so, protect the property of the wealthy middle and upper classes. This did not mean that having troops barracked in a town was popular, even among those they were defending. While it might be acceptable to invite a captain of dragoons to dine, soldiers were a group apart and considered a necessary, sometimes very necessary, evil. The popularity of the soldiers was always tied to the perceived threats from foreign nations.
General Information[]
Barracks are the second level of military buildings, an upgrade from Cantonments. Barracks are the highest level military building that do not require any technologies to be researched in order to be built. With increased recruitment capacity and the ability to train and replenish a wider array of troops than cantonments, barracks serve their function particularly well when built in regions close to those of hostile factions. Barracks may be upgraded to Drill Schools.
The Peninsular Campaign[]
In The Peninsular Campaign, barracks require 750 gold and 4 turns to build.