In my story I have a kingdom that are the first to use gunpowder and they create a special group of soldiers that are trained to use rifles. I gave them a place holder name as "The Vipers" and would want a better name now that my story is nearly finalized.

More detailed description of the units.

•originated from the alchemist academy who creates their gunpowder ( elemental gunpowders too! )
•wear light armor
•the knights and paladins of the kingdom don't like them cause they are making them obsolete.
•don't share the same code of honor as knights and can be seen as cruel at times
•most of the unit is educated noble birth soldiers.

I'd like a rather original name... Nothing like musketeers or gun unit etc etc

Hope I get some interesting ideas from this.

If anyone is interested in the story I made a little site for it ( under construction )
Visit My Website

fireteam beta?

lol. That sounds about right.

Powder Masters?

Well generally, solider tend to have name related to their weapons, and "rifle" is a pretty advanced form of firearm compared to early firearm like musket. If they just begin to use powder...well, you better start by think a name for that weapon.

GUNGUYS
SHOOTERS
GUNNERS
RIFLEMAN

...

Okay so time to be serious. Gungriffons? Blast Masters?

That's a tough one, but since the alchemist academy is behind this, perhaps a name that reflects where they originated from.

Wikipedia has a list of alchemists throughout history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alchemists

And a list of military code names:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_name

So, maybe create a name that combines the two?

The _____ Rangers, since they're a ranged unit. i.e. The Red Rangers, etc..

Powdersmiths of the Gunglaive.

Children (or Descendants) of the Black Powder

Alchhammers (The hammer is the metal piece that strikes the barrel and ignites the powder.)

Blastcrafters

Piercing Metal(che)mists

Good luck. BTW You would probably benefit from understanding early gunpowder and ancient gunfare. They can help you make guns a lot more realistic and not overpowered.

How about: Farstrikers

Inspired by a bit of Homer, where the archer god Apollo would be called "Fardarter" for his ability to strike from great distances. Same sort of concept, in my mind.

It also sounds suitably old world, a group of Arcadian Farstrikers to wear them down on the approach, and Thracian Screamers to crush the rest in the melee, etc, etc.

Flaming Tongues (insert your gay joke here)
Meteoric Templars
Sulfur Disciples
etc, etc.

Death-Con

My suggestion would be "Bleimacht". "Blei" means lead in german, and "macht" means power or military force. Lead is commonly used in bullets, and a german name would fit in my opinion, as Prussia, the precedessor of Germany, was notorious for being a military state in the 19th century.

my suggestion is to keep it simple and nice sounding. If you have "knights" and "paladin" class in your game/world, adding something like "BULLET HELL STRIKERS" would be far too random, awkward, and doesnt fit in well. Honestly, something like a "Soldier" would fit find :I or Infantry or Platoon, etc. Dont go for super unique that ends up being out of place, awkward, and wierd. Something that rolls off the tongue with Knights and Paladins is fine Oh and dont use names from other languages or cultures. Knights and Paladins are strictly European Medieval times, something from Japan, Germany, African, or in a Brazilian language wouldnt fit in at all.

Thanks for all the replies everyone, you all helped a lot!!

Keep an eye out for Chronicles of Eden to see what the final choice was