For the Empire: Total War version of this unit, see Green Jackets. For the similarly named Empire: Total War unit, see Riflemen.
Rifles are a type of skirmisher infantry in Napoleon: Total War.
Description[]
Armed with a tough, accurate rifled musket, the Rifles are an elite skirmishing force.
The rifle gives them the ability to kill at astonishing ranges for a flintlock weapon. Their skills and skirmishing tactics allow them to use whatever cover is to hand to hide, stalk the enemy, and then kill them from a distance. Even their uniforms are a subdued colour to help them in their role as hunters and snipers.
They are, however, not invulnerable. Like all skirmishers, they can be cut down by a carefully timed cavalry charge. They will also suffer disproportionate casualties if exposed to a line unit’s firepower.
Historically, the Greenjackets, nicknamed for their dark green uniforms that blended into the landscape, carried an infantry rifle designed by Ezekiel Baker of London. This muzzle-loading flintlock used a small ball in a rifled barrel with superb accuracy. Loading was a slow business, and could take a minute or more to do properly so that a shot would fly true. The result, in the hands of an expert, was deadly. French officers came to dread the presence of the Rifles on a battlefield.
General Information[]
As the only skirmishers available to Great Britain, rifles are limited to just six regiments. They more than compensate for this, however, as they are among the best skirmishers in the game, with the best accuracy and reloading skills of any skirmisher type in Napoleon: Total War. The only units that can arguably rival them are the Windbüchse Jägers, but the rifles have the advantage of having a higher regiment cap and more men per regiment. The rifles' high accuracy and reloading skill means that they can quickly inflict a much larger amount of damage than is typical for most skirmishers, but they are as vulnerable as any skirmisher to melee attacks, particularly from cavalry.
In The Peninsular Campaign, rifles are absent; the closest equivalent available are the 95th Foot, which have identical statistics but are limited to just one regiment.