Voluntarios de Ciudad Rodrigo are a type of guerrilla medium cavalry in The Peninsular Campaign.
Description[]
Reliable, sturdy and fast, line cavalry are a good all-round mounted unit. Guerrilla units can be deployed anywhere on the battlefield except inside the enemy deployment zone or within range of the enemy general.
Armed with a traditional straight sword, as opposed to the ever-popular sabre, these cavalrymen are a multipurpose unit. They are light enough to chase down a routing enemy, but heavy enough to charge effectively into enemy lines. However, their versatility comes at the cost of specialisation: should they be pitted against the likes of horse guards, their lack of specialist training will become apparent.
Spain and the Peninsular War proved to be a major part in the downfall of Napoleon and this was thanks, in part, to his older brother Joseph. Joseph helped his brother to take control of France during the revolution and was rewarded with the throne of Naples in 1806. His time as king was brief, and he was soon sent elsewhere when Spain fell under Napoleon’s control. Napoleon needed someone he could trust on the Spanish throne and Joseph was the obvious choice. However, French occupation of Spain was unpopular to say the least and Joseph never really managed to gain a steady grip on the country. French control was eventually broken at the Battle of Vitoria and Joseph abdicated, fleeing back to France.
General Information[]
Voluntarios de Ciudad Rodrigo are unusual in that they are one of the few cavalry types in Napoleon: Total War that are classified as neither light nor heavy cavalry. They are simply listed as "cavalry" by the game, though they may be more accurately termed as "medium cavalry": they lack the stamina and speed of light cavalry, and do not have the formidable melee and defensive statistics of heavy cavalry, but instead fall somewhere in between. Voluntarios de Ciudad Rodrigo are thus good all-round cavalry, well capable of disrupting enemy formations and chasing routing units, but they pay for this with a lack of specialization.
Voluntarios de Ciudad Rodrigo are further set apart by their status as guerrilla cavalry; in fact, they are the only guerrilla medium cavalry in Napoleon: Total War. This makes them less able to conduct and fall back from surprise attacks than their lighter counterparts, but means that they are a more formidable, albeit less mobile, presence on the battlefield. As there are no guerrilla heavy cavalry, Voluntarios de Ciudad Rodrigo are the heaviest guerrilla cavalry available.