The Old Guard are elite infantry in Napoleon: Total War.
Description[]
Veterans of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, these men are an elite force of musket-armed soldiers.
These highly trained and experienced troops are handpicked by Napoleon and act as part of his personal guard. Taken from the ranks of the Imperial Guard, the Old Guard is made up of the most intimidating soldiers the French army has to offer. Chosen specifically for their physical attributes and notably above average height, these men strike fear into the hearts of Napoleon’s enemies. Their prowess as soldiers is world-renowned and the mere presence of these men on the battlefield can inspire even war weary fellow Frenchmen to fight on.
After his dramatic defeat in Russia, Napoleon bid farewell to the Old Guard. These men were his few remaining loyal soldiers but, with no support in Paris, Napoleon was forced to disband them. However, following Napoleon’s return from exile in 1815, they were recalled and marched triumphantly back to Paris with their leader. The end of the Old Guard came at the Battle of Waterloo where they were routed for the first and only time. For many of the French soldiers fighting that day, the retreat of the Old Guard was the end of the battle and the end of Napoleon himself.
General Information[]
The Old Guard are the best elite infantry in the game, with unmatched stats across the board. Their ability to scare enemies in their vicinity is unique to them. This, combined with their deadly skills at both ranged and melee combat, means that they can usually rout most enemies in short order. Like all infantry, however, they are vulnerable to artillery (their status as the best infantry in the game makes them an attractive artillery target) and being attacked from the flanks or rear. Their very high cost is also an issue, particularly in multiplayer, where limited funds means that a heavy reliance on Old Guard means having to make do with an inferior army in other regards. The Old Guard are also the only default guard unit that is limited to three regiments in multiplayer (other factions may recruit four), though France can supplement this with other guard units such as Young Guard and Guard Seamen.
The Old Guard's fear ability mean that they are at their most useful toward the end of battles, where morale penalties from casualties sustained or generals killed mean that many units have shaky morale.
Though Old Guard can only be trained at staff colleges, the highest level military building, France starts the Grand Campaign with one regiment of them. This regiment can prove pivotal in the early game, when no other faction can field line infantry nearly as skilled. As staff colleges may only be built in capital regions of any faction, it is normally considerably more difficult to recruit and replace Old Guards that are lost far from France.
Trivia[]
- The in game model of the Old Guard is depicted with French artillerymen bearskins instead of the accurate one. This is due to the senior designer Jack Lusted sending a wrong reference picture to the model artists. However, they seem to have had the proper bearskins in the early builds of the game.[1]
- Along with the inaccurate Bearskins, the uniforms can be inaccurate for different time periods for battles such as the battles taking place after 1812 where the Guard would mostly have hats with no decorations apart from the plaque and sometimes blue trousers and great coats.
- Their name is misleading, as the Old Guard referred to the most senior units of the Imperial Guard, like the Guard Chasseurs à Cheval, which did not include one regiment nor strictly infantry. In this case, they should be called Old Guard Grenadiers.
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