Byz Cavalry

[Tristan]

I'm playing a Byz/Early campaign at the moment, and I have a standard army set that I like to use. 4 Byz Infantry/3 Trebizond Archers/3 Varangian Guard, and then my cavalry (I do alter this sometimes, but this is my standard). With all of the cavalry available to the Byzantines, which do you find are the best to use? Money is not a problem, so I tend to go with a prince leading the stack (I've been getting a long run of 6 and 7 star princes, recently got a 0 star prince though http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif ), and then Allagions to round it out. Are Lancers a better choice than the PAs? I like the results I've been getting with the Allagions, but I like the Lancers as well, in the few times I've inserted them in over PAs. Is there a better unit overall to compliment my army type? The cavalry is usually just used to flank enemies and chase down prisoners anyway.

[JAG]

The heavy btz cav is their saviour. When you get to fighting the Christian nations thats the only thing you can try and rely on to beat them, the Christian armies are far superior. PA are good try and use them, preferably in the province which gives you +1 valor.

[Phatose]

From the look of their stats, Byzantine Lancers are just cheap PA. No advantage over them save the lower price, while PA have better stats. Stick with the PA, I'd say.

[Aelwyn]

use PA as much as possible. When you lose men, clean up the units to get better overall morale for those units. Obviously, if a unit has worse morale (and it is a cav unit) then win the front line with your inf units that can drop the front line (assuming you have some) and then use the lower valour cavs to chase. For a bit more combat power, attack with the higher power cavs, but mostly with hold formation. Lancers can be great help for the Byz if they're high enough in valour.

[ichi]

Kataphraktoi have better defense (at the same valor) and armor, but slightly lower morale and are slow. The Byz get good high valor gens as heirs and others so thats what I use them for - my gens.

Pronoiai Allagion are very similiar to Feudal Knights - Pornos have slightly lower charge but higher armor. These make up the bulk of my cavalry (maybe 4 per army).

BLancers are budget cav, but they are useful in the desert. For the money, PA are better.

Don't forget the other Byzantine Cavalry, Byz Cav are essentially armored Horse Archers that can fight a little. Not as good as Szeks or Boyars, they are very useful to harass and flank and rout.

ichi

[Doug-Thompson]

If money is no object, there's little reason to use the lancer. Lancers are a low-cost, low-tech option. They are a very good low-cost, low-tech option though.

Lancers do have one combat advantage -- they don't roast in their own armor when they're in the desert. If you have a lot of fighting to do in the dunes, have some lancers around.

Try Byzantine Cavalry, one of the best horse archers in the game. Horse archers are a lot of trouble to use. Many players (probably most players) find them to be more trouble than they're worth. However, Byz Cav are disciplined and elite, and they have good morale and decent melee power if they get caught. This means they're easier to use than just about any other horse archer.

Suppose some of your expensive PA are wiping out some camels but taking losses in the process. Camels are very vulnerable to arrows, and start with poor morale. A few volleys from Byz Cav will drive most camels away.

There's not a better unit for wiping out large armies of lousy units like regular spearmen and peasants than Byz Cavalry. Anything without armor is very vulnerable. Byz Cav and Lancers are also a great combo that is available much earlier than the top-of-the-line units you describe.

Besides all that, raiding with Byz Cav is fun.

(P.S. Looks like ichi and me posted at the same time.)

[CBR]

If money is not a problem than PA is the way to go. But they do have a high upkeep cost (70 v 125) so if money is tight then the Byz Lancers are nice cav too. They do have one less attack and defense and lower morale but same charge. So if they dont face too much resistance they will do fine.

And yes the Byzantine Cavalry are quite nice too. Less charge than your Byz lancers but same morale and attack/defense and of cource they have a bow.


CBR

[VikingHorde]

I allways use Kataphraktoi generals and Pronoiai Allagion for standard cav. Byz Cavalry are allso good as dual cav. A strong economy is needed for suport.

[katank]

I personally don't like PA much as they cost a whoopping 125 support that's the highest support for any cav in the game (I think)

for melee power, go with katanks which can replace spears if spread in thin line in front and used to countercharge enemy knights

for speedy cav that's cheap, go with byz lancers.

for versatility, use byz cav.

I personally like using byz cav and katanks as my cav. PAs are too expensive for my tastes.