For the Fall of the Samurai unit, see United States Marines.
US Marines are a type of elite infantry in Empire: Total War. They are available to the United States with the Elite Units of the West DLC.
Description[]
These infantrymen are tough, resourceful and excellent marksmen, even with their smoothbore shortened, sea-pattern muskets.
The Marines are light infantry, line infantry and sea-going soldiers: whatever is required to carry out their appointed task, they will turn their hands to it. Every Marine prides himself on being a fighting soldier first and foremost especially if he is an officer. This battle-winning spirit is a powerful weapon in the Marine arsenal, and these men will rarely, if ever, run from a fight.
Traditionally, the US Marines claim to date back to 1775, and the establishment of the Continental Marines during the Revolution. These forces were disbanded when America won its independence, and the Congress was forced to raise new forced of a United States Navy and a Marine Corps in 1798 when war with Revolutionary France looked likely. The units were raised with such haste that they were given hand-me-down infantry uniforms, including the uncomfortable stocks that give the Marines their "Leathernecks" nickname. That war never came, but the Marines were in action within a short pace of time, proving their worth in fights against the Barbary Pirates. Marine officers wearing full dress uniform still carry a "Mameluke" pattern sword to commemorate these early successes.
General Information[]
US Marines are elite infantry unique to the United States. Unusually, they are recruited through a Naval College rather than an Army Board, meaning that they may be potentially obtained much earlier than Guards. Unfortunately, they are inferior to guards, with worse statistics and an unusually inferior number of soldiers per regiment, although this is slightly counter-balanced by the fact that they are cheaper to recruit and have lower upkeep.