What does Infantry represent?

[Optimizer]

What technological and tactical standard does an Infantry unit represent? The Pedia doesn't say much about it.

According to the animation, the Infantryman doesn't seem much better equipped than a Rifleman, save a helmet.

And can't anyone come up with a better name? "Infantry" is so unspecific!

[zulu9812]

I always thought of them as being circa - WWI.

[SpencerH]

Yeah, bolt action rifles, metal cartridge ammuniton.

[Zylka]

"Over the top, boys" style troops

[Maquiladora]

They do look very WWI, aside from the red bits on their shoulders.

[zulu9812]

Although, having said, helmets weren't issued to the British Army until 1917 - it was caps before that.

[Ethelred]

Riflemen are US Civil War. Breach loading single shot.

They seem to be sort of between world wars but more like WWI than WWII. Lots of troops still had bolt action rifles in WWII. Much higher rate of fire than a rifleman.

[GhengisFarb™]

I'd say they tried to make a unit that encompassed both WWI and WWII.

Originally posted by zulu9812
Although, having said, helmets weren't issued to the British Army until 1917 - it was caps before that.

That sounds like the stereotypical British, "Come'on chaps! Let's go give them the what's for! For Queen and country!"

[Maquiladora]

Yeah, we dont need helmets :umpf:

[steven8r]

I've always thought that the Infantry represented soldiers starting about the time of the 'Dough Boys' from WWI up through the WWII era.

[steve p]

just thought i'd point out that the french, germans,italians,turks and austro-hungarians were all using helmets in 1914, as were the british but not as standard issue.

[Barchan]

Originally posted by Ethelred
Riflemen are US Civil War. Breach loading single shot.

I don't mean to be an a$$, but it's "breech loading". I suppose, technically speaking, the opening in the rear of the barrel *could* be called a breach and thus the weapon called a "breach loader." But, at least in the US anyway, they're called breech loaders.

And actually, the most common rifle in the US Civil War wasn't a breech loader at all, but the muzzle-loading Springfield rifled musket. Breech-loading repeating rifles were available and were used by both sides (cavalry troops were particularly fond of carbine rifles, since the shorter barrel was easier to manage on horseback and it's nearly impossible to reload a muzzle loader while riding), but their use wasn't as widespread as the single-action, muzzle-loading rifled musket. In fact, the Union army considered the repeating breech loaders undesirable because it thought troops would simply waste ammunition if they could fire it faster and that the more complex guns would be prone to malfunction in the field.

Interestingly, the army wasn't entirely wrong, just 100 years off the mark. The early versions of the M-16 automatic rifle were notoriously easy to jam and panicking US troops did indeed waste tons (literally) of ammunition firing entire clips on full automatic at unseen enemies in the jungles of Vietnam. The newer standard models of the M-16 do not fire in full automatic mode, but only semi-automatic (single shot) and automatic three-round bursts.

Originally posted by Ethelred
They seem to be sort of between world wars but more like WWI than WWII. Lots of troops still had bolt action rifles in WWII. Much higher rate of fire than a rifleman.

True. In fact, most troops had bolt-action rifles. Only the US had widespread issue of semi-automatic rifles with the legendary M-1. Many countries did have semi-automatic or automatic pistols, and all had machine guns, but nearly all countries used bolt-action rifles throughout the war.

[Panag]

hi ,

they should also have modern day foot infantry , ......

have a nice day

[dunk]

I agree that "infantry" represents the WWI style troops.

Good idea Panag, maybe two modern infantries. One upgrade for marines and one for regular infantry.

[steven8r]

Originally posted by dunk
I agree that "infantry" represents the WWI style troops.

Good idea Panag, maybe two modern infantries. One upgrade for marines and one for regular infantry.

First, I like the idea of another step between Infantry and Mech. Infantry. Perhaps a 'Modern Infantry' Somewhere between Marines and MI. But then I guess that's what Paratroopers are--they do use machine guns.

However, I don't think that any self-respecting Marine would stand for being upgraded to any type of infantry. (Technically the Marines do have infantry, but in Civ3 the Infantry referrs more to the Army branch of service, therefore I think it would be a supreme insult to Marines everywhere to be 'upgraded' into another branch of the military)

Edit: NOTE: This assumption is based soley upon the makup of the US Armed Forces. Other nationalities may vary.