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White Bear Infantry FOTS Icon

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

Description[]

The White Bears are line infantry, trained in the ways of modern battle.

Armed and equipped in the latest foreign style, but wearing a form of traditional white-haired “wig”, the White Bears are the staunch defenders of Choshu. As line infantry, they have been trained to deliver disciplined volleys of rifle fire into enemy formations. The foreign-made rifles they carry do terrible damage, and the White Bears are both accurate and rapid firing with them. They are well motiviated and have good morale, but they not really experts in close-quarter fighting. Similarly, like other infantry, they will be ridden down by cavalry if left in an exposed position.

One of the most famous weapon designers in Japan was a son of the Choshu domain. Born a samurai and adopted by a gunmaker, Arisaka Nariakira eventually became a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was also ennobled as a baron by the Emperor Meiji for his work in developing infantry weapons. While his first efforts were not well regarded by the troops who had to use them, he learned from his mistakes, and his guns were in use by Japanese troops during the Boxer Rebellion (1900), the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) and throughout the Second World War (1939-45). He also designed artillery pieces for the Imperial Japanese Army. His grasp of advanced engineering and ballistics is even more remarkable when you remember that he was born into what was essentially a non-technical, medieval society. In the space of his lifetime, Japan went from being a closed, traditional society to a modern power, virtually the equal of any contemporary, colonialist European nation.

Strengths & Weaknesses

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

General Information[]

White Bear Infantry are a step above Line Infantry, superior in most categories save armor and bonus vs cavalry. They are correspondingly more expensive to train and maintain, however. White Bear Infantry are in turn inferior to Imperial Infantry/Republican Infantry/Shogunate Infantry, yet have identical requirements and are cheaper. For those factions that can afford to shoulder the recruitment and upkeep costs, training Shogunate/Imperial Infantry is the better option.

The exception to this rule is if the player wishes to betray his allies and transition to a republic come realm divide: whereas all Shogunate/Imperial Infantry disband automatically if a faction declares itself a republic, White Bear Infantry do not, allowing the faction to retain its line infantry forces.

White Bear Infantry have identical combat statistics to Black Bear Infantry, Azure Dragon Force, and Red Bear Infantry. However, while the Red Bear Infantry and Azure Dragon Force can be recruited from 2nd-tier barracks, White and Black Bear Infantry can only be recruited from 3rd-tier military buildings, making it require considerably more time and research to obtain them. In practice, this makes White Bear Infantry nearly obsolete: they require the same buildings as Imperial/Republican/Shogunate infantry, but are inferior, and with the effects of late-game Ishin Shishi and Foreign Veterans, Imperial/Republican/Shogunate infantry are even cheaper to recruit. White Bear Infantry also face competition from Kihetai, which have better stats and can be recruited earlier, but are more expensive.

Fall of the Samurai Infantry
Sword Infantry Katana KachiShogitai
Spear Infantry Spear LevySpear Levy GarrisonKyoto PoliceYari Kachi
Bow Infantry Bow Kachi
Matchlock Infantry Matchlock Kachi
Special Infantry Kisho Ninja
Militia Infantry Levy Garrison InfantryLevy InfantryWhite Tiger Force
Light Infantry SharpshootersTosa RiflemenYugekitai
Line Infantry Azure Dragon ForceBlack Bear InfantryBlack Tortoise ForceGarrison InfantryImperial InfantryLine InfantryRed Bear InfantryRepublican InfantryShinsengumi Police ForceShogunate InfantryVermilion Bird ForceWhite Bear Infantry
Elite Infantry Imperial Guard InfantryInfanterie de marineKihetaiRepublican Guard InfantryRoyal MarinesShogunate Guard InfantryUnited States Marines
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