Imperial Infantry

Imperial Infantry
Appears in	Fall of the Samurai
Belongs to	Factions with Imperial Allegiance
Type	Line Infantry
Ammunition	15
Soldiers per unit	50/100/150/200
Attack skill	6
Charge bonus	15
Anti-cavalry skill	5
Armour	2
Defense skill	4
Range	125
Precision	45
Loading speed	55
Morale	8
Produced from	Military Academy
Special abilities	Kneel Fire Suppression Fire
Cost	1200 SP/960 MP
Upkeep	160
Turns to train	1
Unit cap	None

Imperial Infantry are a type of line infantry in Fall of the Samurai.

Description

Imperial infantry are trained to stand in line and fire a efficient volley after volley on the enemy.

These men carry European arms and equipment, and have been trained by European military advisors, although they are usually commanded by Japanese officers when in action. They are well-versed in modern weaponry, and can deliver accurate, sustained, and damaging fire with their rifles. They are capable of reloading quickly, and have good morale as a result of their training. Imperial infantry are reasonably useful in close combat but, like all infantry, are vulnerable to being overrun by cavalry if left in a poor tactical position.

The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket was a typical weapon of its period issued to line infantry. For the first time in battle every man could be armed with a rifle which fired at an effective range of 200 yards with deadly accuracy and power. The rifle was made in large numbers for the British Army, allies, and almost any foreign customers who had the money. It was used in great numbers by both sides in the American Civil War and, after artillery, probably caused more casualties than any other weapon in that conflict. It’s [sic] most destructive and disruptive moment, however, had nothing to do with a battlefield. The Enfield was issued by the British East India Company to its troops, including Indian Sepoys. A combination of British pig-headedness in not taking native sensibilities into account and native rumour-mongering made the Enfield the immediate cause of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. The cartridges for the rifle were waxed, to keep out the damp, but rumour had it that they were greased with pig and beef fat, violating the religious strictures of Muslim and Hindu alike. The result was trouble, rebellion and massacre. Eventually in the late 1860s the Enfield 1853 Rifle was replaced by the Snider Enfield, almost alike with its older brother the Enfield 1853 Rifle. However the Snider Enfield was a breech loading rifle, as well as this it used self-contained cartridges and these factors consecutively reduced reloading time for soldiers.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Good accuracy and reload rate.
• Average in melee.
• Weak against cavalry.
• Good morale.

General Information

As their name suggests, imperial infantry are available only for factions with Imperial allegiance. Together with Shogunate Infantry and Republican Infantry, imperial infantry represent the best non-limited line infantry available to most factions where they are available. With few exceptions, they are inferior only to elite infantry, but such units are usually limited to only a few regiments. As superior line infantry, imperial infantry have superb accuracy and reload skill, but their melee statistics remain relatively poor when compared to dedicated melee infantry or cavalry.

Imperial Infantry are available only to imperial-aligned factions. They disband automatically if their faction switches allegiances. However, Shogunate-aligned factions can obtain imperial infantry by bribing them with Shinsengumi.

Some other line infantry, such as Vermilion Bird Force and Kihetai, have nominally better accuracy and/or reload skill. However, Shogunate/Imperial/Republican infantry use breech loading rifles that have a much faster reload animation than the muzzle-loading rifles other line infantry use. In practice, this makes SIR infantry the deadliest line infantry at shooting than any other line infantry save SIR elite infantry and the foreign elite marines. With the investment of certain Ishin Shishi skills, imperial infantry can even be cheaper to recruit than other line infantry, making them the best line infantry in all ways in the mid to late game.