Musketmen are kinda weak now that I think about it. I might make a few as defenders, but other than that, gunpowder is really just another step to rifling.
Muskets are at a disadvantage vs Knights, 10 str > 9 str.
You generally use a Drafted Musket Army in combination with your Veteran City Raider Army and they make reasonable defenders so you don't have to wait for reinforcements to defend your recently captured cities.
I will build them if I have a lot of gold, just for quick upgrades to Riflemen.
What's weak about them? They're cheap, need no resources, ignore walls/castles and don't have any real predators (like knights have pikemen).
Why not use macemen for this, they can have CR Promos?
Muskets are good, as:
-They are better city attackers than Maces (0.2 difference)
-They are stronger than all units except the Knight (which is a very small 1 difference and can be countered with Pikes)
the macemen promotion costs more $.
True enough, though the extra for muskets are free if you're getting them through drafting.First point, raw macemen and raw muskets, muskets are 1 better, not 0.2 (Maces do not inherit 10% against cities).
With one promotion (Combat for musket, CR for Mace), Muskets have .3 more than maces. With 2 promotions, maces have .8 more than Muskets.
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But fewer are needed because they are more effective, see above statement. Also, maces are cheaper than muskets...?