Switzerland Faction Guide

A guide to the nation of Switzerland covering their bonuses, unique units, and overall playstyle with a bit of history on the side!

Introduction

Reconstructed Swiss flammé flag, 17th-19th centuries. “Flammé” describes any flag that puts the coat of arms in the center and fills the remaining space with flame-like designs. During the game’s timeframe, flammé banners were very popular across the Old Swiss Confederacy—which didn’t have a single national flag—and among Swiss mercenaries serving abroad.

Availability: The Golden Age DLC
Focus: Early/Balanced, 17c. Pikemen, Sharpshooters
Playstyle: European

Switzerland is perhaps the faction that’s changed the most from their original incarnation in Cossacks: European Wars. Back then, the Swiss boasted a suite of unique early-game infantry like Halberdiers and Harquebusiers, all based on Swiss armies during their heyday in the early Renaissance, roughly 1470-1525. While these units were neat, they were also badly out of place visually and thematically in a game starting around 1600, so it’s understandable why they were removed when the faction was reworked for Cossacks 3.

Nowadays, Switzerland is a balanced European-style nation notable for their strong pikemen in the 17th century and their long-range, slow-training Jaegers that provide a potentially deadly option in longer matches, something few other rushing nations possess. The end result is an infantry-focused country that’s most reliably good early on but can also make powerful late-game armies under the right circumstances, albeit at the cost of weaker fast cavalry.

If you like early aggression, are a big fan of sniping, or just want a balanced nation that offers fun infantry in both the early and late game, Switzerland is a great nation for you.


Another example of a flammé flag, this one used by the Swiss Guards of France.

Features

+ Swiss Pikeman–strong armored pikeman
+ 18c. Musketeer
+ Jaeger–long-range sharpshooter that trains extremely slowly
+ Balloon to reveal the map
~ Mounted Jaeger–individually strong but slow-training fast cavalry

Switzerland's buildings and techs are generic European fare with no discounts or penalties to speak of.* The only thing special about them are their three unique units which are either optional or easy to grasp, making them very easy to pick up and play.

*The classic Basic Nation Differences guide mentions that Swiss 18c. Barracks used to build more slowly and their age-up cost differed from the norm, but this is no longer the case.

Swiss Pikeman (17th century)

Base stats:

Full upgrades:

Cost: 40 food, 6 gold, 20 iron
Training time: 5 seconds

+ Stronger in melee than 17c. Pikemen
+ Armored against bullets
+ Good for early rushing
+ Benefits from armor upgrades at the Blacksmith and Academy
- Worse at tanking bullets than 17c. Pikemen

The Swiss Pikeman is the more period-correct replacement for Switzerland’s discarded units and is basically a cross between a normal 17c. Pikeman and a Spanish Coselete. They’re probably Switzerland’s best (or at least most consistently useful) unique unit, providing a good tool for early aggression while still being better at tanking bullets in the late game than other, stronger rushing units.

Compared to 17c. Pikemen, Swiss Pikemen have +2 attack and bullet armor as well as +1 sword armor. In exchange, they cost slightly more food and gold and train 0.5 seconds slower (5 seconds vs 4.5), meaning the Swiss can only make 96 Pikemen for every 108 that a generic nation makes.

These seemingly minimal changes are what make Swiss Pikemen a good rushing unit.


Clash of early-modern mercenaries: 96 Swiss Pikemen at tech tier III vs 120 Scottish Covenanter Pikemen, reflecting the difference in training time. The Swiss enjoy early superiority over the Covenanters but from tier IV onward, the Scots gradually gain parity and eventually supremacy.

In tests with equal upgrades and training time, Swiss Pikemen easily beat standard 17c. Pikemen as well as Austrian Roundshiers and Spanish Coseletes. They also did well against Scottish Covenanter Pikemen at low tech tiers, though the match turns in the Scots’ favor as more upgrades come in. Stronger units like Portuguese Pikemen and Islamic Light Infantry gave the Swiss a harder time, but that still leaves the Swiss superior to most factions’ early footsoldiers (plus the Swiss do better later on than most of those stronger rushing units except possibly the Portuguese).

All this makes Swiss Pikemen a great tool for early rushing and aggression. Pump out a small force of them and add upgrades, Officers/Drummers, and mercenary support then march on the nearest enemy base; same as a standard pike rush but the Swiss do it better than most.


Crushing Habsburgs since the Middle Ages: An early Swiss army charges a force of Austrian 17c. Pikemen. Though the number of soldiers involved in these early-game battles is small, their outcome can often decide the entire match.

The downside to Swiss Pikemen, as with most rushing units, comes in the late game when their main role is to act as a bullet sponge to protect your musketeers. Despite having 2 more bullet armor than 17c. Pikemen, Swiss Pikemen take the same number of shots to kill from any musketeer dealing 25 damage or more (which is most of them):

Shots to kill (full upgrades)

Damage:	16	20	22	25	30	35	40	46	51	56
Merc. Roundshier	10	7	6	5	4	3	3	2	2	2
17c. Pikeman	12	8	7	6	5	4	3	3	3	2
Swiss Pikeman	15	9	8	6	5	4	3	3	3	2
Reiter	50	30	25	20	15	12	10	9	8	7
Cuirassier	150	50	38	28	19	15	12	10	9	8

Combine this with their slower training time and it should be obvious that Swiss Pikemen can’t tank as many bullets as an equivalent force of 17c. Pikemen (or Roundshiers or Coseletes, for that matter):

108 17c. Pikemen * 6 25-damage shots per unit = 648 shots to kill
96 Swiss Pikemen * 6 25-damage shots per unit = 576 shots to kill

In fairness, this isn’t too horrible, and it’s a much better performance than what other, stronger rushing units can manage (with the sole exception of Portuguese Pikemen), but it still means that late-game Swiss armies aren’t quite as tanky as those of most other European nations. That can be a problem, especially if you’re using a very squishy musketeer that absolutely can’t afford to take losses (more on that in the next section).


Iberian sojourn: Swiss Pikemen rushing a Portuguese base. This would’ve been harder if the AI wasn’t so bad at concentrating its forces; Portugal is one of the few nations that can cause early Switzerland problems.

So that’s Swiss Pikemen; a good rushing unit that allows Swiss players to hit hard and fast in shorter-peacetime matches at the cost of being generally worse at tanking bullets later on. The days when Swiss pike blocks dominated the battlefield may have ended at Pavia in 1525, but these steel-clad soldiers are keeping the memory alive.

One last minor note: Swiss Pikemen look very similar to Spanish Coseletes at a glance, which can be confusing if both nations are present. To tell them apart, look at their arms and legs: Swiss Pikemen have exposed sleeves and a long skirt going down behind their legs (which will be in the owning player’s color) whereas Coseletes don’t.

Jaeger (18th century)

Base stats:

Full upgrades:

Cost: 40 food, 70 gold, 20 iron max: 40 food, 35 gold, 10 iron min.
Training time: 8.5 seconds
Range: 22.5
Reload speed: 6.88 seconds max: 3.37 seconds min.

+ Longest range of any non-artillery unit
+ Very high damage
+ Very powerful when massed
- Extremely slow training time
- Very slow reload speed
- No melee attack
- Low HP and melee/arrow armor
- High gold cost
- Performs poorly when training time is a factor

The Jaeger is one of those units that has a reputation surrounding it that makes them loved by a big chunk of the playerbase. It’s easy to see why: With their unmatched range and near-unrivaled damage, a large force of Jaegers can dominate in firefights harder than practically any other late-game musketeer. That said, it takes them an extremely long time, even compared to other elite musketeers, to reach that potential–time that skilled opponents might not give you outside of very long peacetimes. In this regard they’re similar to units like Austrian Pandurs, English Highlanders, and Hungarian Szekely, but even more extreme.

Stat-wise, the Jaeger has two good things about them: Their 22.5 range and 51 max damage. The former is the longest of any non-artillery unit in the game by a wide margin, with French Chasseurs coming in second with 19.69 range (and way above normal 18c. Musketeers with their 16.88 range). The latter makes Jaegers tie with Chasseurs for the highest ranged damage of any infantry unit, only outpaced by 18c. and Piedmontese Dragoons as well as French King’s Musketeers. Combined, these two stats allow Jaegers to strike first and strike hard in any clash of muskets–a deadly combination when you’ve got a lot of them.


Crushing the Commonwealth: A Swiss army engages a Polish force. In the early game, Poland is one of the few nations that Swiss players need to fear. Now in the late game, the tables have turned.

This is the source of the Jaeger’s stellar reputation and it’s why they feel practically overpowered if you get a critical mass of them: Aside from some good cannon shots or well-timed Hussar charges, it’s very hard to stop a big force of Jaegers from scything hundreds of your men down before they can even fire back.

In return for those two jaw-dropping stats, pretty much everything else about Jaegers is terrible; no melee attack, extremely squishy, an awful 3.37-second reload speed, and–worst of all–an absolutely atrocious 8.5-second training time. To put that in perspective, for every 108 18c. Musketeers that a normal country produces, Swiss players can only make 57 Jaegers, and those 57 Jaegers don’t provide as much combat power as 108 18c. Musketeers.


Crushing defeat: 57 fully-upgraded Jaegers vs 108 normal 18c. Musketeers, with 160 Mercenary Roundshiers on both sides to simulate blocking troops. (Note how much further back the Jaegers had been standing during the melee due to their range.)

In fact, during tests with training time factored in, Jaegers were the worst-performing musketeers of the 18th century. Their range and damage simply couldn’t overcome the greater numbers and faster reloading of pretty much every other late-game shooter. Even English Highlanders, a unit that I consider underpowered, consistently outfought the Jaegers in tests. For a unit hailed by the community as one of the most powerful in the game, that’s a shockingly bad showing and I ran the Jaegers through the tests twice just to make sure I did everything right.

In a low-peacetime game, opting for Jaegers means gambling that your opponent won’t attack you before you amass enough of them. Sure, the enemy musketeers might not have the Jaeger’s crazy potential, but they generate combat power far faster, allowing just about any other country to quickly build a stronger mid-game army and strike you while you’re still slowly trickling out Jaegers from your 18c. Barracks. The fact that Jaegers are frail and vulnerable in melee doesn’t help matters.


Fire support: As the Swiss advance, their Jaegers stay well away from the enemy behind a thick screen of pikemen and mercenaries.

The best time to go for Jaegers is when you either A) are sure that you won’t be attacked in the mid game or B) are already ahead of the enemy team when you reach the 18th century, giving you more breathing room to slowly build up your late-game army. That’s not to say that Jaegers can’t work in faster-paced matches (see game #3 for an example of that), but it’s a lot trickier to pull off. If you’re not confident that you can do it or want to engage in some mid-game aggression of your own, it’s best to go for 18c. Musketeers instead.

In conclusion, despite all the hype surrounding them, Jaegers shouldn’t be an automatic go-to unit that you use in every game. Instead, they’re a powerful x-factor that you have in your back pocket for longer, slower matches. If you can make them work, they can turn an otherwise mediocre late-game country into a real threat. If not, stick with your trusty 18c. Musketeers (or go play as France if you want a sharpshooter that’s more generally viable).


Modern pike and shotte: Swiss 18c. Musketeers lay down a blistering fire from behind a thick screen of melee troops.

Mounted Jaeger (18th century)

Base stats:

Full upgrades:

Cost: 120 food, 30 gold, 2 iron
Training time: 19.5 seconds max: 13 seconds min.

+ Fast cavalry
+ High attack
+ Individually stronger than Hussars
~ Deals sword damage
- Performs worse than Hussars when training time is factored in
- Slow training time
- High gold cost
- Defense upgrades are expensive
- Can’t make formations

The Mounted Jaeger (who’s swapped his green coat for a gray one and his rifle for a horse and saber) is basically a stronger, slower-training Hussar. In theory, this could make them a more population-efficient version of their generic counterparts. In practice, their better stats don’t usually make up for their sluggish production rate, leaving Switzerland with the worst late-game fast cavalry of any European-style nation save Hungary (who at least gets to enjoy having fast cavalry in the 17th century before they fall behind).

Compared to normal Hussars, Mounted Jaegers have +35 HP and +2 max attack. That’s fine and dandy, but the tradeoffs are steep: In addition to a higher food and gold cost, Mounted Jaegers take 13 seconds to train instead of 10. That means that Switzerland can only make 55 Mounted Jaegers for every 72 Hussars a normal nation makes.

Of course, longer training times can be forgiven if the unit is good enough to justify it. Such is not the case with Mounted Jaegers, who are easily the worst-performing fast cavalry of the 18th century when training time is factored in.


Pitiful showing: 55 fully-upgraded Mounted Jaegers vs 69 Austrian Croats, reflecting the difference in training time. Note that the Croats are also way cheaper to train and upgrade in addition to being available a whole century earlier.

In repeated tests, Mounted Jaegers got stomped by normal, Prussian, and weaker English Hussars as well as Ukrainian Sich Cossacks and even (at higher upgrade tiers) Austrian Croats, which is just sad for an 18th century unit. They also perform worse than Hussars against other types of melee troops and even as a bullet sponge, as the following math shows:

55 Mounted Jaegers * 11 25-damage shots per unit = 605 shots to kill
72 Hussars * 10 25-damage shots per unit = 720 shots to kill

Considering that tanking gunfire is a big part of a Hussar’s duties (and is something you’ll probably want your cavalry to be doing given the Jaeger’s frailty and Swiss Pikeman’s weakness to bullets), this lower overall tankiness is problematic to say the least.

You could argue that Mounted Jaegers, like their infantry peers, are designed for slow, lengthy games where you can build a large force of them before the fighting starts, giving Swiss players a more powerful fast cavalry force if they can keep their Mounted Jaegers safe. The problem with this notion is that fast cavalry have a pretty attritional role in the late game—between tanking damage, charging enemy gunlines, and tying up dangerous enemies to keep them away from your musketeers, fast cavalry frequently take heavy losses and need their faster production speed to replenish between battles. This makes it very hard to maintain a large force of Mounted Jaegers, especially in higher-level games where fighting is constant.

Even with all their flaws, Mounted Jaegers are still fast cavalry. Their ability to zoom around the battlefield and disrupt your opponent’s plans can provide a lot of utility to your army that you won’t get from any other Swiss unit. If that’s something you think your army really needs, these gray-clad riders can fill that role. Otherwise, stick with Cuirassiers and 18c. Dragoons.


Usefulness derived from swiftness: Mounted Jaegers dodge Piedmontese Pikemen to divebomb a group of 18c. Musketeers and Dragoons, forcing them to stop firing.

Gameplay

NOTE: This section assumes you’re only playing with Swiss units and buildings. That means it largely ignores capturing, although the advice given can easily be applied to games that allow it.

Early Game (early 17th century)

Fighting for and against everyone and each other: An early Swiss base.

Switzerland is a strong faction in games with low peacetimes where melee infantry dominate. Their unique pikemen give them an edge over the vast majority of countries save for the few that are even better at rushing like Poland, Scotland, Portugal, and the Islamic nations.

On the other hand, Switzerland is completely generic in matches with mid-length peacetimes (15+ minutes), with only generic 17c. Musketeers and cavalry plus no bonuses to speak of: Not terrible, not terrific.

Regardless of the peacetime, Switzerland uses the standard European build orders and tactics. This makes them very simple as far as rushing nations go and thus a good choice for newer players looking to practice early aggression.


Raze and pillage: Swiss Pikemen and mercs rush a Venetian base.

Mid Game (late 17th/early 18th century)

Free from the empire at last: A mid-game Swiss base (featuring some typical 18c. Pikeman spam).

By now nations are getting more firmly established with stronger economies and larger militaries with more upgrades. Cavalry and artillery are really starting to make their presence felt and some countries are reaching the 18th century and starting to access their strongest units.

How the Swiss do in this era depends on your choice of late-game musketeer: If you’re going for normal 18c. Musketeers, Switzerland is basically average; better in melee thanks to their unique pikemen but a bit worse at withstanding gunfire for the same reason (plus their lackluster Mounted Jaegers). By contrast, if you’re making normal Jaegers, this is when you’re most vulnerable as their abysmal training time creates a big opening for just about any country to run up and crush you with their faster-training army. Unless it’s still in peacetime or your foes are passive, you should probably stick with 18c. Musketeers.

Either way, the standard builds and tactics still apply: Reach the 18th century, throw down some 18c. Barracks, spam 18c. Pikemen to pad out your army, then switch to 18c. Musketeer or Jaeger production while also expanding your economy, cavalry, and artillery.


Typical inter-Swiss diplomacy: Citizens from rival cantons engage in amicable dialogue over political and/or religious differences. That or it’s just another peasant revolt–there were lots of those in Switzerland during the game’s timeframe.

Late Game (late 18th century)

Calvin’s city on a hill: A late-game Swiss base.

Switzerland’s performance in the late game is perhaps the most variable of any country as it depends on which late-game musketeer you’ve chosen.

If using 18c. Musketeers, Switzerland is slightly below average due to both the Mounted Jaeger’s mediocrity and the Swiss Pikeman’s relative weakness as a bullet sponge. It’s not completely terrible, however, and the Swiss are still better off than a lot of other early-game factions like Poland and the Islamics. Plus, it’s the better option if you need to build a strong late-game army sooner and/or don’t think you can fully protect your musketeers from enemy melee units (which is quite possible since your fast cavalry stinks).

Those same issues still apply when using Jaegers save that with a large-enough force of them, Swiss armies can put out a level of firepower comparable to the militaries of true late-game superpowers–France, Prussia, Denmark, Saxony, and Bavaria. I wouldn’t put a Jaeger-wielding Switzerland on quite the same level as those factions–whose elite musketeers train faster and often have other tricks up their sleeves like Prussia’s Hussar spam–but they can give just about any other faction trouble. Just make sure you protect your Jaegers from losses or else their sluggish training time might allow your foe to reclaim the advantage.


“No silver, no Swiss!” A late-game Swiss army awaits the order to attack.

Map Preferences

Vengeance for Pavia: Swiss Pikemen and Spanish Coseletes meet in battle. The Spaniards have Priests on their side, but the Swiss have loads of mercs on theirs. (Side note: The AI is awful at using mercenaries, in case the picture didn’t make that clear.)

Switzerland is a bit unusual in that they prefer either very aggressive games with little to no peacetime—letting them use their unique pikemen for early aggression—or very slow ones with super long peacetimes that allow them to use their Jaegers. I’d say they’re better off as an early-game country (or at least are more consistently good early on) but they can do well in both eras even if some other more specialized countries outshine them.

That said, Switzerland is a balanced country with the same strong generic units as other European factions. Even in games that don’t let them take full advantage of their unique infantry, they can generally perform at least competently, so don’t be too worried if you get Switzerland in mid-length peacetime games (15-30 minutes or so).


Press the attack: Swiss infantry and Cuirassiers advance into battle.

This dynamic carries over to team games as well, where Switzerland can be a strong early-game hitter before settling into a mostly average but still competent country in the mid-to-late games. I recommend sticking to 18c. Musketeers instead of Jaegers unless the peacetime is very long; they don’t provide enough combat power quickly enough to be competitive in a faster-paced match. Remember, if your allies fall because you were handicapping yourself in the mid game by making Jaegers, then no amount of high-damage snipers will save you.


Celebrating L’Escalade: A Swiss army engages their Piedmontese neighbors. The melee infantry are out front tanking bullets while the Jaegers in the rear provide most of the killing power. The Mounted Jaegers are on standby, guarding their footslogging cousins from enemy fast cavalry.

Tutorials & Example Games

A collection of great Switzerland games and tutorials showing how to skillfully play the nation. If you have any video recommendations, send me a link through Steam or YouTube (username 1Korlash) or Reddit (Effective_Can72)!

1. The first of two classic guides from top player colorfit. A must-watch for people looking to dive into multiplayer or just get better at the game.
https://youtu.be/XP19ocvOIg0

2. The second colorfit guide, this time covering how to micro your armies in battle. Again, a must-watch.
https://youtu.be/t6JE59Gnesk?list=PL9MM6y8GRIFcfOaVMvUGSZ7s3HANGpEPd


3. An intense 4v4, 10-minute PT game from colorfit featuring a fast 18th century into Jaeger spam (as much as Jaegers can be spammed, anyway). While watching, note the range on those Jaegers and how carefully he micros them to keep them out of harm’s way.
https://youtu.be/os76pNM4mTM

4. Another colorfit 4v4, this time revolving around Swiss Pikemen. Features Reiters, good early-game micro, and a Swiss mirror match with some funny banter. (“Oh **** your switzerland too”) Also, notice at 8:35 how he engages right when he has an upgrade about to finish researching; that’s very common in early-game pike battles.
https://youtu.be/P3Vt0NDWsRY

5. A short, 15-minute pt 2v2 game with 17c. Musketeers instead of Swiss Pikemen. As the title suggests, it shows how raiding alone won’t win you the game, even in matches that allow capturing (and especially against an experienced player).
https://youtu.be/MNAXY58OEuo

6. A very strange, silly 4v4 from Hit Man The 13th with no mercs, wildly different skill levels (at least as far as I can tell), and way too many ranged units. If nothing else, it serves as a good reminder that pikemen are better than musketeers in low-peacetime games (since they don’t need as many expensive upgrades to be effective).
https://youtu.be/gIaNPlKnOfU

Closing Remarks

Modern flag of Switzerland. First adopted in 1841, several decades after Napoleon invaded and dissolved the Old Confederation, it is notable for being one of only two square national flags in the world today. (The other belongs to Vatican City.)

That’s Switzerland–a rare case of a rushing nation with the potential to be strong in the super late game.

The criticisms I have about Jaegers are easily going to be the most controversial part of this guide. I was honestly shocked that they did so poorly in the tests; other slow-training powerhouse shooters like Prussian Musketeers and French Chasseurs can usually at least hold their own in situations where training time matters. Then again, I’d be concerned if a strong rushing faction also got reliably powerful late-game tools. In that sense, I think the Jaeger’s situational nature makes Switzerland more interesting without pushing them into overpowered territory.

But what do you think of Switzerland? Are you a veteran general who remembers their original units? Let me know in the comments!

Other nation guides:

Algeria
Austria
Bavaria
Denmark
England
France
Netherlands
Piedmont
Poland
Portugal
Prussia
Russia
Saxony
Scotland
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
Venice

[PirateMike]

Thank you!

[Dax]

These are some awesome guides man!