Hindu Musketeers are a type of line infantry in Empire: Total War.
Description[]
These musketeers are a useful addition to any force, even if they lack the fire discipline of regular soldiers.
For all its smoke and noise, handling the smoothbore, muzzle-loading musket can be taught to all but the most stupid of men. Once the basic skills of loading have been mastered, it is simply a matter of pointing the loud end at the enemy and pulling the trigger. It is in God’s hands as to what happens next!
Even the most inexperienced or cack-handed of peasants can be useful with a musket in his hands. The noise of a volley is often enough to frighten, and any casualties in the enemy ranks are a bonus.
Historically, such units of irregular musket men would arrive at a battlefield with all kinds of weapons, from ancient matchlocks handed down from father to son, to modern government-issue weapons looted from the enemy dead. This lack of standardisation did not matter much, as it was the ability to fire at all that made the unit a useful force.
General Information[]
Hindu Musketeers are inferior early-game line infantry for the Maratha Confederacy and other factions in or near the Indian theatre. While Bargir Infantry are superior, Hindu Musketeers are cheaper and can form the backbone of early Maratha armies. They are recruitable in the provinces of Bijapur, Carnatica, Mysore and Gujarat.
Hindu Musketeers suffer from a lack of bayonet technologies, Square Formation, and rank firing technologies. This makes their weaknesses more pronounced as the campaign progresses.