The Regimental Drummer is an English unit in Empires: Dawn of the Modern World. It improves the morale and speed of nearby friendly units, meaning they move faster and take less damage.
Description[]
In War and Peace Tolstoy observed that the effectiveness of any army is "the product of its mass multiplied by something else", which he called "an unknown X…the spirit of the army." Throughout history, music has been employed to rouse the spirit of armies by a considerable power. A prime example would be the massed drums and bagpipes of the Highland Scottish regiments, which were actually a very effective psychological weapon for raising the spirit of friendly troops and depressing those of the enemy.
Although the Roman legions used drums and trumpets both to issue commands above the battle's din and to regulate the movement and pace of infantry cohorts, the practice all but disappeared in the Middle Ages. When the Crusaders saw how effectively the Moslem armies used brass and percussion to exercise "command and control", they brought the concept - and some of the instruments - back to Europe. From the early Renaissance through the end of the Napoleonic era, warfare became ever more stylized: battles became an intricate form of choreography, whose maneuvers were intended to apply or negate pressure-by-movement and fire. Soldiers were required to function more or less as automatons - to obey, instinctively and in mass formations, whatever commands were given by their leaders.
Enter the Regimental Drummer, who first appears in Empires during the Renaissance. While the verbal commands of a leader might not be heard, amid the crash of cannon and musketry, beyond a rather small radius, the cadence of snare and "military" drums did carry long distances; an entire regiment could hear what the drums were saying because their sonority was unique and for complex psycho-acoustical reasons, it penetrated the otherwise deafening racket of explosions, screams, and shouts that surrounded an infantryman during the period from the mid-15th Century to the early 19th Century.
Units which have drummers attached are therefore better able to carry out their orders during pitched battle. More importantly, the stirring, virile sound of the regimental march or a patriotic national marching song has an inspiring effect on troops. Regimental Drummer-equipped units tend to march more swiftly, execute maneuvers with more snap and vigor, and maintain high morale for longer periods of time than units, which don't have that asset.[1]
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