The Rifleman is the Ranged Unit of the Industrial Age, and is recruited in the Rifleman Range. It has high damage and somewhat low defense. It receives additional damage on rocks, and is effective against heavy units while being vulnerable against fast units, such as the Lancer.
The Rifleman, although being a great upgrade of the Musketeer (gaining 8 attack, 7 defense and 1 range), is often said to be less useful in practical use, as many other units of the Industrial Age have range increases, but now becomes statistically stronger, with the highest ranged attack and a not so weak defense for a ranged unit.
The Rifleman is the last unit with "classic" attack bonuses against heavy units. The next era, the Progressive Era, changes unit characteristics significantly.
History[]
The Rifleman is based off the British redcoat soldier, suggested by the uniform he wears both in his icon art and on his sprite on the battlefield. This is a reference Great Britain's global military dominance and imperial endeavors during the 19th century as a result of the Industrial Revolution giving Britain a competitive edge over her European rivals and the natives of her colonised lands in Africa, Asia and Australia.
The Rifleman's weapon, a rifle (obviously), reflects the main weapon of soldiers during the 19th century. Historically speaking, rifled guns were invented in the early to mid 1800s. Rifled guns contained helical grooves in the interior of their barrels to suppress the aerodynamics of ammunition veering off in random directions, as had been an issue with smoothbore muskets. This meant rifles could fire significantly more accurate shots than a musket ever would. In 1849, Claude-E’tienne Minié invented the Minie ball, which replaced round iron balls as ammunition. The greater accuracy of rifles and the conical shape of the Minie ball would go on to notoriously inflict wartime casualties (such as that in the American Civil War) far greater than that of wars in previous centuries.
Usage[]
The Rifleman remains useful against heavy units, in the Industrial Age, the Howitzer. The range of the Rifleman allows it to possibly hit opposing units on the first turn. The Rifleman remains a defensively weak unit however, and can be taken out in two hits in most scenarios. However, the improved defense allows it to take several hits from artillery units.
Against Same Age Units[]
Lancer[]
The Lancer is counter to the Rifleman. Lancers are effective in attacking and defending against the Rifleman, especially with its attack and defense against ranged units. However, the Lancer gains no defense, movement nor range compared to the Dragoon before it, whereas the Rifleman gets a handful of upgrades, so the Lancer is arguably not as effective against ranged units compared to previous ages but even so the Rifleman should be used to attack other targets before attacking the Lancer.
Jaeger Infantry[]
The Rifleman is arguably ineffective against the Jaeger Infantry. Since Jaeger Infantry have the Stealth ability, many times the A.I. will move the opponent's Jaegers into forests, where they cannot be damaged by Rifleman unless at point blank range, triggering a retaliation from the Jaegers. Add that to the fact that Jaegers have a range of 6, which makes them very manoeuvrable with their good speed. However, if Jaeger Infantry are not hidden in forests, the Rifleman can do good damage against it, added to their rather weak attack, the Rifleman can make a good stand nevertheless.
Howitzer[]
The Rifleman is effective at killing Howitzers. The Howitzer loses defense points from previous era heavy units, whilst Riflemen have increased attack and attack bonuses against them resulting in a reliable two hit kill. However, the Howitzers’ increase in attack and range means that Riflemen can receive a lot of damage back after shooting them especially as Howitzers have a blast ability to increase their damage output and the Rifleman has a weak defense, but the Howitzer, also hindered by decreased movement speed will in most cases be unable to take advantage of it, making the Rifleman a good option to take them out.
Breech Loader[]
The Rifleman is fairly decent at taking out Breech Loaders. Now that the Rifleman has a much better range in the Industrial Age compared to the Middle Ages, they can easily reach the Breech Loaders and kill them in two hits, even with the Breech Loaders dug-in bonus, whilst the Rifleman’s increased defense for a ranged unit can prevent major damage.
Gallery[]
A Rifleman in battle
Other Military Units[]
Legend: 
= Light Unit Class 
= Ranged Unit Class 
= Artillery Unit Class 
= Heavy Unit Class 
= Fast Unit Class