The Young Guard are elite infantry in Napoleon: Total War and The Peninsular Campaign.
Description[]
Disciplined and inspirational, the men of the Young Guard are elite soldiers of the highest order.
Raised from the ranks of the Imperial Guard, the Young Guard contains the crème de la crème of the new recruits. They inspire surrounding units, encouraging them to fight on in the hope of one day joining the Guard themselves. Unfailing discipline means these men have excellent accuracy and their reload times are exceptionally good. These skills make them an expensive unit. Their only real vulnerabilities are artillery fire and sniping from skirmishers.
Historically, the Young Guard attracted a number of ambitious young soldiers looking to make a name in battle. One such gentleman was Adolphe Edouard Casimir Joseph Mortier, who joined the army in 1791 as a sub-lieutenant. He took part in a number of key battles during the Revolutionary War, leading Napoleon to place his name high on his first list of Marshals in 1804. Mortier was a huge man, greatly respected by his troops, a fact that proved vital during battles in the Peninsular War, but helped him little at Waterloo when he was unable to join the battle due to severe sciatica. He eventually met his end in 1835 when he and eleven other men were killed by a bomb that was intended for the restored King Louis-Philippe.
General Information[]
The Young Guard are elite troops in the French unit roster, boasting superb skills in every category. While they are inferior statistically to the Old Guard and the Guard Seamen as well as the elite infantry of other factions, they are still heads and shoulders above most other line infantry, and they have the advantage of having a relatively generous regiment cap at 8 units, making them a much larger presence in the wars against the Coalition than their superior counterparts. Despite their (relatively) unremarkable stats, Young Guard inspire nearby units, making them a very valuable addition to the line of battle. However, compared to regular British Foot, Young Guard's shooting stats are roughly equal. And, to 88th Foot "Connaught Rangers" although only being line infantry, the latter has slightly superior shooting stats and similar melee stats for 870 (MP) or 710 (SP) but is limited to 1 unit.
In the Campaigns of the Coalition, France begins the campaign with one regiment of Young Guard at its capital. This unit is absent in the Napoleon's Campaigns version, however.
Peninsular Campaign[]
The Young Guard is available for French forces in The Peninsular Campaign too. They are the best line infantry available to France in the Peninsular Campaign, and the only infantry units in the French unit roster that can inspire nearby troops. Compared to the British, however, they suffer: the British have nearly the full roster of elite infantry available to them in the Peninsular Campaign, and without the Old Guard, the Young Guard fight an uphill battle against their equivalents.
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