Chapter 8: Cavalry.

by **^Marcus Cornelius^** Sun 08 Jun 2008, 19:29

8. Cavalry

8.1. General Overview

Cavalry units represent the capability of your army to manoeuvre quickly.
It is the tool to hit the enemy in the flank and in the back and cause an immediate rout of his front.
Actually it dominated the battlefield especially in early Middle Age.
Sometimes you will find some players using only cavalry, and exploiting their power.

Cavalry in M2TW maybe based on:
 horses
 elephants
 camels.

In general cavalry could be used:
- To flank and hit enemy in the back,
- To counter enemy cavalry and his flanking attempt,
- To chase fleeing enemy units,
- To catch enemy missile units,
- To be your strategic resource, to be moved easily and quickly where it is necessary to fill gaps,
- To charge and smash into enemy melee infantry units and open a gap in the enemy line.

When you choose cavalry the factors to keep in mind are the same as melee infantry:
- Armour
- Shield
- Defensive Skill
- Attack in Melee Factor
- Morale.

But two other factors are worthy to be counted:
- Charge factor
- Speed.

A higher charge factor, if well used, can cause enemy charged units to have so many casualties that they start routing. That means that with a charge you can cause a rout without suffering significant losses.
If your cavalry unit is quick you can easily catch missile foot archers, other cavalry and infantry units that are fleeing. Light cavalry are very quick. Missile cavalry are quick. Heavy cavalry are slow. Elephants and camels are slower than heavy cavalry.

Before Melee
Use your cavalry to protect your missile units from charge by enemy cavalry.
Use your cavalry (preferably light or very well armoured) to chase enemy foot missile units.

During Melee
Use yor cavalry to flank enemy and hit him with a charge in the back.
Use your cavalry to counter enemy flanking cavalry.
Use your cavalry to exploit flaw in enemy line, to take opportunities and to fill dangerous gaps in your line.

After Melee
Use your cavalry to chase enemy routing units.

The types of cavalry that can be used for all these tasks can be classified as follows:
- Missile cavalry
- Light cavalry
- Heavy cavalry
- Elite Heavy cavalry
- Elephants
- Camels.

Each of these types could be used to perform all of those tasks, is best in some of those tasks but does not perfectly fit all the others.

The following table describes cavalry type characteristics.

8.2. Missile Cavalry

Missile cavalry is treated at 6.3 Horse Archers.

Apart from missile tasks, missile cavalry can perform some tasks typical of cavalry.

If they are of high class, with good hand to hand stats, they can effectively be used:
- To flank and hit enemy in the back,
- To chase fleeing enemy units,
- To catch enemy missile units.

Better if you do not use them:
- To counter enemy heavy cavalry and his flanking attempt,

- To charge and smash enemy melee infantry units frontally and open a gap in enemy line, unless enemy has been weakened first.

Cheaper horse archers can also chase fleeing enemy units and catch enemy missile units. Sometimes they can also hit in the back a tired and depleted infantry unit … without fleeing.

There are two missile camels:
- Camel Gunners
- Beduin Raider Camels.

The first is deadly with its long range muskets but costly.
The second has bows, and decent combat factor.
Even if horses fear camels do not expose camels to heavy cavalry.

8.3. Light Cavalry

Light cavalry are cheaper cavalry that can be used:
- To flank and hit enemy in the back,
- To chase fleeing enemy units,
- To catch enemy missile units.
Best use for them is catching enemy missile units, both foot and horse. Infact, they are quick.
They can counter hevy cav only if they have overwhelming numbers.

They can be classified as follows:
 Light Cavalry
 Elite Light Cavalry.

The first ones cannot withstand melee. Their use can be restricted to catching missile foot units with low combat factors.

The second ones are good quality light cavalry. They can cover all the tasks for light cavalry described before. They have good charge factor and maybe their best performance (cost vs performance) is as reserve units, ready to exploit wholes in enemy front to flank and charge enemy in the back.

8.4. Heavy Cavalry

Heavy cavalry units represent the real capability of your army to manoeuvre.
Use them:
- To flank and hit enemy in the back,
- To counter enemy cavalry and his flanking attempt,
- To chase fleeing enemy units,
- To be your strategic resource, to be moved easily and quickly to where it is necessary to fill gaps,
- To charge and smash enemy melee infantry units and open a gap in enemy line.

When you choose heavy cavalry the factors to keep in mind are the same as melee infantry plus charge:
- Armour
- Shield
- Defensive Skill
- Attack in Melee Factor
- Morale
- Charge factor

Avoid using them to catch enemy missile units during the first minutes of the skirmish duel. They hardly reach foot archers and cannot reach horse archers. If you are under enemy missile shots you will lose precious heavy cavalrymen and for very few archers: not worth the cost.
Avoid contact with elephants, camels, spearmen. Charge any infantry unit in the back if you want them to run immediately.

Frontally heavy cavalry can also disrupt heavy infantry, both with a prepared charge or a simple run charge.
The prepared charge is the most effective, but the conditions to apply it are difficult to achieve: free flat terrain between cavalry unit and infantry unit, infantry standing still.
To have a prepared charge:
1. go near the enemy unit, not too near;
2. single right mouse click on it;
3. the cavarlry unit will march until it has reached the charge distance then stops and starts charging in compact lines;
4. the infantry uinit is annihilated.

When you have charged with your heavy cavalry for the first time, you can withdraw it and recharge a second time to apply again the charge factor to enemy charged units. But keep in mind that after every charge your cavalry will get tired and much more depleted. Probably they cannot withstand the third charge, unless the previous two were so successful that your heavy cavalry units are almost untouched and still at full strength.

Heavy cavalry units can be classified as follows:
 Heavy Cavalry
 Elite Heavy Cavalry.

The first ones have good quality for charging infantry in the back and in front, but use it carefully if you want to counter other enemy heavy cavalry: you can lose.

The second ones are outstanding quality. They can cover all the tasks described before. They are heavy armoured cavalry. Slow but deadly. They can even better resist missile shots. Use them for all tasks, especially to counter enemy heavy cavalry.

General Units, compared to the outstanding class are generally not worth the cost. But they are heavily armoured and have double life: very hard to kill with missile shots.

8.5. Elephants

Elephants are present only in Timurid army.
They are outstanding units to counter cavalry. Horses fear them. They are very good for charging infantry even frontally.
They fear spearmen, fire arrows, javelins.They are costly.
Often they are banned even if they are not the overpowered unit they are supposed to be.
They have missile capability: a small cannon and arquibuseers on the back.
Both archers and cannon on the back are not so powered, but they can be very annoying for enemies under their fire.

8.6. Camels

Camels best use is against cavalry. Horses fear them.
In M2TW there is only one melee Egyptian camel unit: Tuareg camel spears.
Their combat factors are similar to light cavalry, but they frighten horses. It is better to use them to counter horses but with the help of other heavy cavalry units with better stats: the heavy cavalry kills enemy cavalry, camels frighten them to rout.