Republican Infantry

Republican Infantry
Appears in	Fall of the Samurai
Belongs to	Factions with Republican 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

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

Description

The line of battle can be held by good soldiers, armed with rifles and inspired to defend the Republic.

Republican infantry fight in line, attacking their enemies with disciplined rifle fire delivered in volleys. They are trained in a European style, and have all the strengths associated with line infantry. They can maintain a good rate of fire thanks to their reloading speeds, are good shots, and have good morale as a result of constant drill. Their rifles are good quality weapons, capable of inflicting terrible wounds. In close combat they will give a reasonable account of themselves, but will suffer if cavalry are allowed to attack them.

Historically, the troops of the Ezo Republic were under Franco-Japanese command, with French military advisors apparently doing a good deal more than just “advising” their Japanese counterparts. One French officer, Jules Brunet, was particularly active in his support for the Ezo Republic. He considered that French interests would be well served by a French-supported Ezo victory, and ignored orders to return to France after the collapse of the Shogunate. He must have done his duty as a soldier because the victorious Imperial government demanded his return for punishment from France after the Ezo Republic was overrun. Brunet did not go back, and his support for Ezo was eventually forgiven. After a long fighting career including service in the Franco-Prussian War and in Mexico, Brunet reached the rank of general in the French Army. His actions partly inspired the movie, “The Last Samurai” starring Tom Cruise.

Strengths & Weaknesses

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

General Information

As their name suggests, Republican infantry are available only for factions with Republic allegiance. Together with Shogunate Infantry and Imperial Infantry, republican infantry represent the best non-limited line infantry available to most factions. 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, republican infantry have superb accuracy and reload skill, but their melee statistics remain relatively poor when compared to dedicated melee infantry or cavalry.

Republican Infantry are available only to factions that declare independence. In theory, they can be bribed by Shogunate or Imperial factions using Shinsengumi or Ishin Shishi, respectively, but no faction controlled by the A.I ever declares independence. One disadvantage Republican infantry have to their counterparts is that Republican infantry have no shinsengumi or ishin shishi skills that can help reduce their cost, meaning that even in the late game, inferior line infantry may still be more useful, particularly as independent factions already have an economic disadvantage due to their relative lack of trading partners.

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.