new unit - Companion Cavalry!!!! (Macedon)

[SgtAndrew]

The Companion Cavalry are the elite of the Macedonian army and society, and date back to the time of Alexander the Great and his father, Philip of Macedon, giving them a proud military heritage. The Macedonian King remains their ultimate commander in battle, and they fight with unbridled enthusiasm as heavy armoured cavalry. The Companions ride the best horses and receive the best armour and weaponry available. Each carries the long thrusting spear - or xyston - and wears a cuirass, arm protectors and helm. Each horse also is also partially armoured. As heavy cavalry, they can be a decisive arm of battle, able to charge down many opponents, and they are best used as shock cavalry to break wavering enemy formations. They do need to be careful when attacking spearmen and will will take casualties if they are foolish enough to charge into a forest of spear points Traditionally, as members of the nobility, they are rewarded with captured lands after battle, and this gives them a very personal stake in a victorious outcome.

Wow, these guys are gonna spank the Roman Auxiliaries, it looks like.

[Hurin_Rules]

And well they should. These were certainly one of, if not the, best cavalry in the ancient world. They were certainly far superior to anything the Romans ever developed.

[The Wizard]

Yes, and these are the cavalry that should be on the flanks of your Macedonian formations... ready to support the loxi phalanga and break open enemy formations http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif

[Hakonarson]

Roman cavalry had it all over their Macedonian counterparts when they did eventually meet

But at least this is historical - although Companions date to before Alexander and Phillip

[desdichado]

Is it just me or does the pic shows a (small) unarmoured horse while the description states each horse was partially armoured.

Either way it looks funny with a heavily armoured warrior riding a pony bareback.

[Lehesu]

Quote[/b] (desdichado @ Nov. 12 2003,19:13)]Is it just me or does the pic shows a (small) unarmoured horse while the description states each horse was partially armoured.

Either way it looks funny with a heavily armoured warrior riding a pony bareback.
Dude, of course you can't see their highly advanced static shields. Be assured though, those deflector shields are completely covering that horse. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[Kraxis]

This unit is almost the reason I'm looking forward to the game.

Ahhh... I'm going to have so much fun playing Alexander and conquering the world. And naturally I will create my own Gaugamela or Issus, unless they are included in the game.

[Nowake]

Charging hetairs http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif I fancy that ...

[Leet Eriksson]

I thought they did'nt exist in roman times http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/dizzy.gif

[rasoforos]

this unit raises a question for me.... some of the units in the game ( like hettairoi or macedonia phallanx) certainly didnt have the same average quality overtime. Will this be reflected in the game? If yes will game decision be able to affect it? ( e.g good and virtuous military laders raise the stats of the phallanx)
I think this would be a nice feature. does anyone know anything about it?

[Rosacrux]

heteroi (evolved during time, of course... actually downgraded over time) existed throughout the existence of the Macedon kingdom and the hellenistic kingdoms as well (in the latter with different names).

They were the best (some even say the first) heavy shock cavalry of the antiquity. They existed as long as some sort of Macedonian nobility was around to bolster their ranks.

[Leet Eriksson]

hmmm that clears some things up,they'll definitly be something to worry about when fighting the macedonians/greeks,especially when playing romans as they lack decent cavalry...for now that is...until the developers cough up a ficitonal super roman cavalry... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

I was wondering how they would fare against parthian,barbarian or carthaginian cavalry,since all these had some good quality cavalry..

[Spino]

Quote[/b] ]I was wondering how they would fare against parthian,barbarian or carthaginian cavalry,since all these had some good quality cavalry..

Considering the Companions kicked major ass when fighting the finest cavalry Scythia, Persia and India could field during Alexander's campaigns I imagine they'll be among the best cavalry in the game. Their potential weakness could be their lack of numbers if CA designates them as a smaller royal bodyguard unit like those found in MTW.

Although if CA decides to divide the time span in RTW into 'eras' then realistically the martial abilities of Companion cavalry should decrease over time.

[Australianus]

Parthian Cavalry would be a great sight. Their record in their part of the world was formidable although to accommodate the "parthian shot" they will have to be able to fire whilst retreating.

[The Wizard]

The problem with Parthian cataphracts (as seen in Tigranocerta on TC), is that they are slow, and are weak in the flanks, so they can be easily taken down by anti cavalry when they are engaged, if these attack in the flanks.

This is the reflection in RTW of the fact that because the cataphracts were so heavily armored, their horses could only turn slowly, so their flanks were weak. And the armor was heavy, so they weren't that fast either. But it was a damn cool sight to see hundreds of thos heavily armored cataphracts marching and charging in that battle...