Sharpshooters

[SCCOJake]

so, loading up FotS i was excited to see a sharpshooter unit. i thought to use them like i did in Napoleon; as a screen for my main infantry, softening the enemy up before they get to my force. or as flankers to harrass the enemy once engaged.

much to my surprise and dismay they were less than useless. their range seems to be only slightly longer than regular infantry, and even then they always move forward to shoot. they cant really use a good skirmish formation either, but i can just use the loose formation. but the biggest problem by far is the fact that they will not engage on their own. if i leave a unit of infantry alone on the field and an enemy comes into range, they ALWAYS start shooting (unless they have fire at will off) but sharpshooters will stand there and get shot to bits, charged, whatever and never fire back. only when i directly tell them to shoot at something do they shoot, but even then, as i said, they move closer than they need to.

so, is this a problem for anyone else? any fixes? or should i just drop sharpshooters in my armies?

i tried playing with their fire at will/hold fire commands but it makes no difference.

[IronBrig4]

It seems to be a glitch. Hopefully it's patched soon.

[jamson]

They are pretty useless, IMO, they should have their range pushed up to 160.

[Alpedar]

Never happened to me. Unless terrain prevented them from shooting (and running towards enemy when told to engage can be caused by this too.
Did you try to select them and pres Insert (first person view) to check their field of fire? Were they set on fire at will (they should be, unless you accidentaly turned it off).

[Humble Warrior]

I like my sharp shooters, but have been too busy to really observe them much. I have sometmes noticed wooden cannons just not firing when on `Fire at will` until I wake them up and reorder them to fire. So possible bug. There are a few.

[Dynamo11]

Yeah same, I don't bother with them because they really aren't as marskmanny as they should be

[DarthShizNit]

I always carry around a few of them, if for no reason than they can lay down fire on defenders in the castle without getting shot up, and once they get some XP they can be pretty good at clearing a wall.

[Alpedar]

They are excelent at either killing pasive enemy or forcing him to move. But parrots, armstrongs or gatlings are better for this.

[Drtad]

Tosa Riflemen and Yugekitai are effective, but Sharpshooters not so much.

[alexanderswift]

I've found them to be quite useful. The ability to shoot while remaining hidden, in addition with the range and accuracy advantages over standard infantry make them a decent asset.

They're also brilliant in early sieges too, as you can pick off everyone on the wall with no/minimal casualties.

Now that I think about it I've only really used them in sieges, but they're damn good and clearing the walls.

[Kinjo]

I have noticed the same issue as well, not sure if is random. I usually use them in skirmish to clear the wall backed by art, but their performance is pretty abysmal at times. When I play Tosa I don't even bother with them since the Tosa Rifles are much better.

[FFHAuthor]

I kind of liked them because they can fire from cover, but I noticed that they can only fire from the front rank, it was kind of frustrating once I noticed it and I simply dropped them. I need firepower and heavy rates of fire when facing Samurai hordes or masses of Imperial/Shogunate infantry. Skirmishers get chopped apart by calvalry before they can do much good, no stakes to protect from calvalry, and since only the front rank is firing, when they're in lose formation they can't put out much fire at all.

In short, not worth it, Light Infantry/Rangers/general skirmishers in Empire were vastly superior since the ENTIRE unit was firing.

[Szlachta]

Have no idea what TC is talking about. While not as good as Tosa, or Yugekitai, sharpshooters are still effective skirmishers.

[Ceorl84]

I agree with FFH, and others, that Skirmishers are subpar. I just completed a Legendary Republic game as the faction that builds Yugekitai and a stat comparison showed the unit to be inferior to the 2nd tier infantry, Republic/Imperial/Shogunate Infantry. With significantly smaller #s, the Yug have only a small increase in accuracy and a significantly lower reload rate. If everyone in the unit was firing things might be different but they don't.

Yugs can fire without being discovered and I had one game where that useful. I crept on unprotected AI cannons and snipe the crews away. But, like Hattori Bandits, the detection radius is quite large and it doesn't take much effort the hidden snipers. So Kiso training is only useful against stationary units or when combined with the Ninja's stealth ability.

I haven't used Tosa Riflemen yet.

[Szlachta]

LOL at people that don't know how to skirmish.

[Ceorl84]

To my knowledge, skirmish in FotS is simply falling back before a melee unit (which doesn't really work since they fall during the charge, which grants a speed bonus allowing the charger to hit the skirmisher). Empire light infantry had a speciality formation which allowed every member to fire regardless of lines; a feature FotS lacks.

[Szlachta]

To my knowledge, skirmish in FotS is simply falling back before a melee unit (which doesn't really work since they fall during the charge, which grants a speed bonus allowing the charger to hit the skirmisher). Empire light infantry had a speciality formation which allowed every member to fire regardless of lines; a feature FotS lacks.

Put your sharpshooters in one line=they all fire at once. Light Infantry behavior is what your talking about from Empire. Stuff like that wasn't added because Fall was half assed from the beginning. I mean, they don't even have bayonets.

[rob-a-dogg]

When it comes down to it, give me another unit of line infantry or any kind of cavalry over skirmishers anyday. Skirmishers are hard countered by giving 0 s and advancing with purpose. Im sure they were lethal in real life, but in TW due to the restrictions of the 'unit' unit skirmishers loose completely when you walk at them.

I only use skirmishers to roleplay, or when im bored. As an effective unit choice, they are weak sauce.

[Szlachta]

When it comes down to it, give me another unit of line infantry or any kind of cavalry over skirmishers anyday. Skirmishers are hard countered by giving 0 s and advancing with purpose. Im sure they were lethal in real life, but in TW due to the restrictions of the 'unit' unit skirmishers loose completely when you walk at them.

I only use skirmishers to roleplay, or when im bored. As an effective unit choice, they are weak sauce.

Not really. Skirmishers are still effective, and will own a line inf, by skirmishing them.

[rob-a-dogg]

1v1 sure. Not in an army.

If i was vague, i mean advance your army so that you are firing at the enemy line infantry. Ignore their skirmishers, they wont have time to do much and if they dont pull out before you start firing they are mince meat grated into gibblettes between the 2 firing lines. Worst case scenario so far is that they charge you and buckle your line as the unit stops to punch off their faces before plugging the game 20 seconds later since skirmishers die horribly in melee.