Not to be confused with Fusiliers (Light Infantry). For other uses of the term, see Fusiliers.
Fusiliers are a type of line infantry in The Peninsular Campaign.
Description[]
These musket-armed troops use massed volleys to break an enemy, relying on discipline to withstand counter attacks.
“Marching regiments” or “line battalions” make up the majority of units in most armies. They are so called because they form the line of battle, not because they always deploy in a line. In fact, when faced with a cavalry charge, it is wise to form square for protection. Their strength comes from their close formation which gives them firepower and strength in melee, but this also leaves them vulnerable to artillery and skirmishers.
Historically, these soldiers carried muzzle-loading, smoothbore muskets firing lead balls as wide as a man’s thumb. These were inaccurate weapons, effective only over 200 paces or so. They were usually fired in massed volleys to increase the chance of the target being hit! This also meant that the whole unit was busy reloading at the same time. To counter this, the British Army perfected a kind of continuous rolling barrage called platoon fire. A regiment would divide itself into two halves and fire alternately, so that while one “platoon” (the modern use of the word has a different meaning) was firing, the other was loading.
General Information[]
Fusiliers are Spain's standard line infantry in The Peninsular Campaign. Compared to Line Infantry of other factions, fusiliers have worse reloading skill but slightly better defense. They are considerably cheaper to train and maintain, but are not resistant to morale shocks. In the Europe Campaign, fusiliers are unavailable, and Spain fields generic line infantry, instead.
Great Britain can train Fusiliers when controlling traditionally Spanish regions. When trained by Great Britain, these units are named Spanish Fusiliers instead of Fusiliers. Compared to standard British Foot, they have worse stats in every category outside of morale: in particular, Spanish Fusiliers have awful reloading and accuracy compared to their British counterparts. They are cheaper than Foot, however, and benefit from several technologies: Local Recruitment Initiatives improves replenishment rate, and Call to Arms reduces recruitment costs, and British Training Methods increase their experience. Finally, they can be trained in any traditionally Spanish region; this, in turn, means practically every region on the map in The Peninsular Campaign, making them much easier to train than Foot or other British line infantry alternatives.