Tyranny of Steel

While Linde was setting her plans into motion, Berengar had begun another round of conscription. With the time it took to train recruits, he could have another division when Austria finally fell to the Bavarians. The Army of Tyrol was a well-oiled machine at this point, with a large batch of veterans acting as Non-Commissioned and Commissioned Officers; their experience from Berengar ’s previous campaigns allowed them to maintain control of the many new conscripts who formed the majority of the new units which were appearing. Infantry and Artillery had been prioritized in recruitment, as for the Cuirassiers and other forms of Cavalry such as the Lancers in which Berengar was fostering, they were costly to train and maintain, and as such had taken a backseat.

By now, 3/4s of all of Berengar ’s forces were equipped with the 1417/18 Rifled Musket, allowing a massive range advantage on the battlefield and during sieges alike. Because of this Berengar had decreed the 1417 Land Pattern Musket, which was smoothbore to be halted in production, and the existing Muskets were to be converted into Rifled Muskets. When Berengar finally marched to war in an attempt to reclaim Austria, all his troops would be equipped with Rifled Muskets.

Aside from Line Infantry, units of Grenadiers were fostered by the more talented conscripts and were utilized as shock troops. Berengar had also begun forming Jaeger Companies comprised of lightly armored soldiers with special rifles designed for long-distance shooting. These rifles were based on the Whitworth rifle from the American Civil War during Berengar ’s past life. The primary difference is that they utilized a flintlock system instead of a percussion cap system. These precision rifles employed specials hexagonal bullets in a .451 caliber and were capable of an effective range from 800 – 1,000 yards. The Jaeger Companies would be used as marksmen on the battlefield and would precisely execute high-profile targets, such as enemy commanders.

These Jaeger units were dressed in Green and Black Landsknecht clothing and wore very little in terms of armor; after all, they were engaging targets at such a distance they seldom needed the protection afforded by armor. The Jaeger recruits were handpicked from the most capable shooters and trained explicitly in marksmanship. They would indeed have a fearsome reputation on the battlefield when they were finally deployed.

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