Dragoons as garrison, worth it?

**Dead Guy** · 03-11-2009, 10:14

The unit card for dragoons indicate that they get a bonus to public order (repression?) when garrisoned. Does anyone have any experience as to how much of a bonus this is? Is it worth the rather high upkeep for dragoons?

Just in theory it seems that the only time you would really need that extra amount of repression is when you can't control a city with a full stack of normal troops, and it doesn't seem very practical to move in a lot of dragoons just to quell the resistance.

**dopp** · 03-11-2009, 10:31

Dragoons give 1 repression per unit present. Other units give 1 repression for every two units present. So Dragoons are twice as effective at repressing peasants.

**Daevyll** · 03-11-2009, 10:46

I like dragoons as garrisons personally, because they are multifunctional.

As the above poster pointed out, they have twice the repression so you need half as many per city, which evens out the higher upkeep.

BUT you also get a unit which is fast and has the combat power to intercept and actually defeat most 'raiders' sent behind your lines (which was a huge problem for me playing as Russia fighting against the Swedes and Ottomans). And once in battle, you effectively still get a choice between fighting as infantry or cavalry depending on the situation you are facing.

I see no downside. My front-line gets full balanced armies, but backwater places get Dragoons.

**GM1940** · 03-11-2009, 10:58

Is there a repression cap for garrisons, or diminishing returns? I've been trying to figure out 'how close to the wind to sail' regarding growth, income, and government type.

**Dead Guy** · 03-11-2009, 11:17

Yeah I haven't got to try them out in combat yet so I didn't know how effective they are, but if they get double repression it sounds like they might be worth it, in troublesome cities and as deterrent on borders perhaps. Thanks for the input!

The max repression for a full stack I think is 10, with normal troops? With dragoons it should be 20 then.

**Tartantyco** · 03-11-2009, 12:51

-The Dragoons have kept my glorious Prussia in one piece for 70 years.

**Dayve** · 03-11-2009, 13:14

If the demo is anything to go by... which it isn't, then dragoons suck in battle when mounted, unless they fire at something that can't fire back. Skirmish seems to be broken as it is, units with 80 range won't keep out of firing range of units with 70 range, they treat them like melee infantry and only skirmish when they get very very close to melee range.

One volley and they're down from 80 men to 50, and shaken.

**Sir Moody** · 03-11-2009, 13:35

In my current campaign i field a full stack of dragoons (1 General, 4 6lb horse artillary, rest dragoons) as Raiders operating behind my enemies lines.

They are great at out manauvering the general enemy stacks (ive noticed very few cavalry units in AI stacks) and you can take the best positions easily.

Dismounted dragoons are smaller line infantry units - they get fire by rank and drawn into lines of 3 can put out some decent fire... but without the numbers of line infantry they cannot withstand the same volleys. Their advantage is you can move them around the map till you have them in an area where the enemy cannot use their weight of number to effectivly crush them (for example as Garrisons in buildings or behind walls)

Mounted they... well suck compared to anything other than the most basic Cavalry - great for running down fleeing units but dont expect them to break a formation - they will be butchered

**A Very Super Market** · 03-11-2009, 23:57

They aren't bad as shock cavalry at all, and have more men per unit than cavalry in general.

**Rhyfelwyr** · 03-12-2009, 00:58

Since I started on multiplayer, Dragoons are the only mounted unit I like to use. I love to use them to sprint to buildings then occupy them.

I had no idea about the repression bonus, that could be extremely useful...

**crazyviking03** · 03-12-2009, 17:15

One thing I discovered was that only light dragoons can fire from horseback. Reg Dragoons can only melee while mounted. They are still great units for garissonig, and I love their uniforms.

**gareth3** · 03-14-2009, 22:37

Personally, I dont invade a new region without 3 or 4 dragoon regiments. They're great on the field and the policing bonus is good for that first turn when everything is in shambles, and they can actually guard the city in a seige. I think they're definatley worth it.

**Dead Guy** · 03-14-2009, 23:25

Are light dragoons better? Sort of like the Jinetes of ETW? Are they very effective when everyone has a projectile weapon? Perhaps to quickly get flanking fire once lines have started shooting each other? I imagine they'd get kicked pretty good in a straight up shootout with line infantry?

**Feanaro** · 03-15-2009, 08:25

Originally Posted by Dead Guy

Are light dragoons better? Sort of like the Jinetes of ETW? Are they very effective when everyone has a projectile weapon? Perhaps to quickly get flanking fire once lines have started shooting each other? I imagine they'd get kicked pretty good in a straight up shootout with line infantry?

Light Dragoons seem better than standard Dragoons in every way except price, which isn't by much. They can fire from horseback, for one. It's a little funky, since they never reload on horseback without an enemy in range, but it's good for one shot. As infantry, they aren't as good as line infantry. As cavalry, they aren't great either. They have lots of utility of though. They are fast, in battle and on the map, repress, can shoot and scoot on horseback, charge a cannon or flank, and thicken up your battle line as infantry if nothing else. They aren't great at anything but decent at many things. I do wish they dismounted faster though.