Landless Rabble are a type of mob in Empire: Total War.
Description[]
A mob, armed with whatever they have been able to steal.
These people are hardly even peasants, as they do not have any land to work. But they can still be pushed into taking up arms, a desperate action for such folk. At best, they will be armed with agricultural tools (these can still kill in angry hands) and whatever they have managed to loot.
They are of dubious military worth.
General Information[]
Landless Rabble are the Maratha equivalent of Firelock Armed Citizenry: weak troops that spawn for free to defend the capital of a region should it be attacked. Unlike Firelock Armed Citizenry, they may also be trained like most units. Despite their large numbers, landless rabble have dismal statistics, and tend to break at the slightest threat. They are however, the cheapest Maratha unit both in training and upkeep costs, making them good for settling public order.
Landless Rabble have the dubious distinction of having the worst melee statistics in Empire: Total War, narrowly losing to even Musellims.
They can be useful when deployed in front of more valuable units and used as a human shield (especially when receiving a morale boost from a general). This greatly lowers the damage more important units such as generals and infantry take, and the lost numbers can be reconstituted far more cheaply after the battle. They can also be used to screen an army and check for ambushes, or to engage an enemy and give the rest of the army more time to manoeuvre.