AGEOD Forums

Is there a benefit to having Light Infantry in a Division opposed to having a regular regiment?

What are some good scenarios where Light Infantry would come in usefull?

Here's what the wiki says about the advantage of irregular infantry:

http://www.ageod.net/agewiki/index.php? ... ction=edit

Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to apply to the light infantry. Traditionally, light infantry are named thus because they lack any of the heavy equipment that would slow them down in swamps or thick forests. So they would outmaneuver normal "heavy" infantry in that kind of terrain. However, the Union light infantry elements are in brigades with 2 volunteers and would move at the rate of the slower elements. This also prevents the creation of a "light Division" to operate in closed terrain. IMHO, I think they are present for extra "flavor" and can't really be used as they were intended.

You just have to look at the stats when you pull up the element info. If I remember correctly, you have the light inf in USA Vol brigades, Zouaves, and CSA light infantry. I think the lights have slightly better patrol, screening, and recon values than normal infantry (and possibly higher initiative). Something in between general line infantry and cavalry. In a way that makes them inf +, but not radically different.

The most useful aspect I have noticed is that light infantry tends to be recruited as individual elements, which can be nice in rounding out divisions.

Would also likely to know the real benefits of them, sure some values look better like higher ROF but other look far worse than regular infantry. As the Union you get a lot of them at the start of the game and I wonder if I should really care for them or better replace them with sharpshooters.

Light infantry isn't treated as irregular infantry or?

I just wonder if I should better use them as garrison or small reaction force in regions with forest, marsh, swamp, etc. terrain where the defending infantry benefits strongly from it but where it would be a waste to place real sharpshooter elements.

Light Infantry are in all other respects Infantry, but they also have the ability to prevent pursuit damage, much the same as cavalry, if not exactly the same as cavalry.