Musketeers are ranged heavy infantry that are especially effective against cavalry in melee due to a damage multiplier. They are vulnerable to artillery and Skirmishers.
Musketeers are stronger in melee combat due to the attack speed of melee attacks, also with thanks to their high hit points and good melee resistance. This is particularly improved with Socket Bayonet. However, this is not always practical as Musketeers are slow, and the opponent may simply decide to make their units run away.
Musketeers' range attack is relatively strong, and due to the firearm animation it is possible to hit and run. However, it is short ranged compared to other ranged infantry and fires at the default rate of 3.0s, which is slower compared to certain archer units such as the Longbowman. They also have a decent siege attack, which makes them one of the most versatile units in the Commerce Age. While they are more expensive than archaic units, Musketeers are simple to mass produce due to their low coin cost and are cheaper than more specialised units such as Skirmishers or the Halberdier. Therefore, they can be powerful generally, especially in vast quantities.
United States in Act III can upgrade their Musketeers to Royal Guard (Redcoats) and Imperial Guard.
Asian civilizations can get Musketeers by allying with British, Dutch, and Portuguese at the Consulate, which provides armies and technologies that includes Musketeers (named Redcoat for the British, Blue Guard for the Dutch, Legionario for the Portuguese) listed below. These Musketeers start with +10% hit points and attack than their regular counterpart, and are automatically upgraded in every Age starting from the Fortress Age (see here for the exact values).
The Mexicans can ship 9 Musketeers (named Spanish Musketeers) through the "Criollos" card, which also allows them to be trained at Forts.
Revolutionary[]
(Definitive Edition) Gran Colombia have Independence Guards in place of Revolutionaries, which are Musketeers with 10% more hit points and attack but 20% less speed. Revolting to Gran Colombia as the Germans also allows the player to train and upgrade Musketeers (as Independence Guards).
The Outlaw Musketeer is a treasure guardian variant of the Musketeer which only appears in the campaign. It is one of the few Treasure Guardians with a damage multiplier against specific unit types. Overall, the Outlaw Musketeer is better than the normal Musketeers.
The Musketeer has four visual upgrades in total, although the first one is unused.
Despite these model textures going unused in the original game, they were updated for the Definitive Edition.
The Musketeer is based on generic 16th-17th century European musketeers.
The Veteran Musketeer is based on French and Indian War period Compagnies franches de la marine. This was changed to British uniforms of the same era in the Definitive Edition.
The Guard/Imperial Musketeer is based on Napoleonic Wars period French fusiliers.
The Musketeer's unit portrait depicts the Veteran Musketeer model.
In the beta, the Germans and Dutch could train Musketeers normally in the Barracks; German Musketeers' unused voice files still exist in the Scenario Editor and game files. In contrast, the Russians could not train Musketeers in the beta.
John Black's Mercenaries, Spanish, and United States are the only civilizations with Musketeers that lack Home City Cards improving them (except "Advanced Arsenal").
British Royal Guard/Consulate Musketeers are named after the Redcoat soldiers.
Before the Definitive Edition, they are named Stadhouder, which refers to Statdholder, a provincial executive officer in the Low Countries, or Netherlands, from the 15th through the 18th century.
Portuguese Royal Guard/Consulate Musketeers' name refers to the Portuguese Legion.
Before the Definitive Edition, they are named Guerreiro, which translates to "Warrior" in Portuguese.
History[]
“
Musketeers were infantry soldiers who stood in ranks two and three men deep, taking turns firing while other ranks reloaded. Musketeers were drilled and disciplined to stand as close as 80 yards away from an enemy firing at them. Musket balls ranged from about a half inch in diameter to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Until long guns with rifled barrels that could be fired more than once every two minutes were developed, muskets were the ranged weapon of choice for infantry.
Muskets had a relatively short range and were wildly inaccurate. Musketeers fought a lot like longbowmen, firing volley after volley in the direction of the enemy with no specific target. The barrage of lead was bound to hit something. A competent musketeer could fire three shots in a minute - four times slower than a longbow and twice as fast as an early rifle.
”
Gallery[]
An in-game Musketeer
A Guard/Imperial Musketeer
The in-game stats of a Veteran Musketeer
The in-game stats of a Guard Musketeer
The in-game stats of an Imperial Musketeer
Spanish Unction Musketeer affected by Corselet, Ashigaru Musketeer with Daimyo/Shogun auras and ranged damage buff, second Ashigaru image is the hit point buff, Redcoats without the thin red line upgrade and with the upgrade.
Outlaw Musketeer stats
The Musketeer model
The in-game Veteran Musketeer model
Guard/Imperial Musketeer
Guard/Imperial Musketeer side model
Musketeer concept art
Another Musketeer concept art
Redcoat Musketeer concept art
Musketeers original unupgraded design
The updated original unupgraded Musketeers as they appear in the Definitive Edition