For the Napoleon: Total War unit, see Guerillas (Napoleon: Total War).
Guerillas are a skirmisher type in Empire: Total War.
Description[]
These men are not soldiers, but civilians driven to take up arms against their nation's enemies.
Guerillas are not a recognised military organisation at all, but bands of fighters and neighbours who have adapted banditary to be a way of making war. They fight hard, because if they are not captured they can expect little mercy from an enemy: at best, a trial before inevitable execution. War and vendetta are often the same things for guerillas: wrongs done and the resulting hatred are what drive them to fight. They are best when employed in ambush, or to skirmish and harass. They cannot be expected to fight in carefully dressed lines like soldiers, because they are not soldiers.
Historically, the Spanish people had an enormous capacity for carrying on wars against foreign occupiers long after their rulers had capitulated or made their peace with an enemy. Guerillas arose as an act of rebellion. The name itself is Spanish, and means "little war": the constant skirmishing and sniping that wears out an occupying army. When his men were bogged down there, Napoleon described Spain as an "ulcer", thanks in part to the constant partisan warfare carried on by the guerillas.
General Information[]
Guerillas have terrible reloading skills and poor melee stats, but made up for this with their good range and accuracy. They are available far earlier to Spain than light infantry, and are a fair substitute until better light troops are made available later in the campaign.