What is better?

[matt will]

I'm just curious what unit is better Dragoons or Musketeers. I know that dragoons have a longer range but less men and that for musketeers it's the other way around. It would help me and others who look here if someone could tell me.

Thanks in advance
Matt

[gaunty14]

i use a nice mix

I generally have 2 units of dragoons, both deployed on a single flank, then 6 musketeers, 2 artillery peices, 9 units of pikeman and a general or single unit of cavalry

Dragoons are good, but are easily killed by cavalry, musketeers last a little longer, and because of the small unit size dragoons are rather poor as a frontline unit, losing half means they only have 30 men, musketeers can lose half of their unit and still keep up a nice steady/punishing rate of fire

I use dragoons as a flanking force and go around the enemy pikeman and shoot them in the rear,
while the musketeers take the brunt of enemy musket fire, also musketeers are cheap and more numerous (both on the battle and in recruiting)

however when defending settlements always use dragoons, as the way units with guns fire when positioned on walls means hardly any of them can shoot, making the musketeers unit size a handicap, while the range of dragoons means you can pick off the enemy while they are blasting your walls with cannon

[Gaius Baltar]

Dragoons were typically used as a screening force. Used to make contact with the enemy and find weak spots in their lines. As used here, their muskets have a greater range but they are more vulnerable to cav and shoudnt be used as a frontline force for long. Great to stick on the walls and defend settlements, defend artillery, etc.

[matt will]

Okay thanks but I thought they both cost 540 pounds in recruitment and I use a mixture of them anyway.

[familyguy1]

Essentially Dragoons are Skirmishers(diff name..). That name screws me up. When I think of Dragoons, I think of Mounted Musketeers.

[Dead*Man*Wilson]

Dragoons are good support troops. I tend to take advantage of their relatively loose formation, since that allows more of them to fire at once, sometimes 3 ranks deep.

[matt will]

Cool that means I can make them 3 rows deep instead of 2 and still have all of them fireing.