Not to be confused with General's Bodyguard (Western) and General's Bodyguard (Eastern), or Chief's Bodyguard
The General's Bodyguard is a type of missile cavalry in Empire: Total War.
Description[]
These tough warriors and soldiers have only one task: keeping their commander alive and well in the swirling chaos of battle.
A general can only do his duty properly if these men keep rough and unpleasant fellows from interrupting his calm deliberations about how to kill as many of the enemy as possible for as little loss as possible.
Only the most loyal and fiercest fighters are assigned to a general’s bodyguard. Good manners are a bonus, of course, but a strong sword arm and a deadly aim are more use! Their equipment is generally of the finest quality, and their pay is often supplemented from the general’s own pocket: they have a sound financial interest in keeping him alive, as well as their honour in carrying out a duty successfully!
General Information[]
The Indian variant of the General's Bodyguard is very different from General's Bodyguard (Western). They have elephants instead of horses as mounts, making them considerably more difficult to kill; also, they are lightly armed with musketeers, giving them limited range capability. Like other generals, they may either be recruited from a recruitment center in a major city, or directly created in an army. While the latter process is faster, it tends to result in generals with fewer desirable traits.
The elephants have a massive charge bonus, and also scare enemy units, making them a valuable fighting unit in addition to all the normal bonuses. As two people sit on each elephant there are half as many elephants as riders.
Two large downsides to elephant-riding general's bodyguards are their poorer mobility and their weakness to ranged weaponry. In particular, while Line Infantry cannot use Fire by Rank against horse-mounted units, they don't have this limitation when fighting elephant troops.