Conceptual Mod for AOE3DE Grenadiers (WIP).
This mod turns grenadiers in a skirmish type unit (rifle infantry), and add a new grenadier called Heavy Grenadier, which is a heavy hand infantry (kind of a weaker doppelsoldner) available to the civilizations that originally had access to grenadiers (British, Dutch, Ottomans, Russians and Swedes). It receive a charged grenade throw ability after researching incendiary grenades, and receive a musket ranged attack after receiving the grenade launchers card (they become a kind of musketeer).
Grenadiers are an underused unit with a bit of an identity crisis: it's a heavy infantry that can't fulfill the normal role of a heavy infantry but it’s also bad at being a rifle infantry (skirmisher). Grenade launchers really improve the unit, but it becomes hard to balance.
This mod split the unit in 2: one that’s a heavy infantry and another that’s a rifle infantry. The "normal" grenadier becomes a rifle infantry, and this mod adds a "heavy grenadier" (I can't make new models, so everything is made with reused assets). They have the following stats:
| Grenadier | Stat |
|---|---|
| Cost | 80f, 120c |
| Hitpoints | 160 |
| Armor | 50% ranged |
| Speed | 4 |
| Melee dmg | 10 (1.5 rof) |
| Ranged dmg | 16 (siege, 3 rof, 2 radius) |
| Range | 16 |
| Multipliers | Same of skirmishers, x0.5 vs. villagers |
| Siege dmg | 22 (3 rof) |
| Heavy Grenadier | Stat |
|---|---|
| Cost | 120f, 60c |
| Hitpoints | 210 |
| Armor | 30% melee |
| Speed | 4 (4.25 in melee) |
| Melee dmg | 16 (1.5 rof, 1 radius) |
| Melee mult | x3.5 vs. cavalry, x2.7 vs. shock infantry |
| Ranged dmg¹ | 30 (3 rof) |
| Range¹ | 12 |
| Siege dmg | 54 (3 rof) |
| Grenade ability² | 20 dmg, 10 range, 4 radius, 30 sec. cooldown |
¹ requires grenade launchers
² requires incendiary grenades
Russians and Ottomans have royal guard upgrades for the heavy grenadier.
The grenade launcher card enables the grenadier for all civilizations except the ottomans and swedes, as they already have a light artillery that fulfills the role of the skirmisher (the abus gun and the leather cannon); for these civilizations, the card instead increase the range of these units by 1.
The hungarian grenadiers card (in the hungarian revolution) increases the range of the grenadiers by 2 and heavy grenadiers by 6.
I'm publishing this mod for public test, to adjust the balance of both units.