Mounts, mass and charging home

As you may have noticed, certain types of cavalry will penetrate deeper into an infantry formation than others. The key to this is the mass statistic found in descr_mount.txt. export_descr_unit.txt will tell you what kind of horse/camel a unit rides. The different mounts have the following mass statistics

Light Horse:4
Scythian Archers, Head Hunting Maidens, Scythian Noblewomen, Numidian Cavalry, Pontic Light Cavalry, Horse Archer, Desert Cavalry, Light Lancers, Militia Cavalry, Cavalry Auxilia, Scythian Mercenaries, Numidian Mercenaries, Arab Cavalry
Medium Horse:4.5
Barbarian Cavalry Mercenaries, Praetorian Cavalry, Roman Cavalry, Equites, Greek Cavalry, Nubian Cavalry, Long Shield Cavalry, Round Shield Cavalry, Barbarian Cavalry
Heavy Horse:4.5
Barbarian Noble Cavalry, Gothic Cavalry, Scythian Noble Archers, Scythian Nobles, Sacred Band Cavalry, Pontic Heavy Cavalry, Persian Cavalry, Nile Cavalry, Macedonian Cavalry, Nile Cavalry, Legionary Cavalry, Sarmatian Mercenaries
General's Horse:4.5
All non chariot general units with the exception of the Eastern General
Cataphract Horse:6
Cataphract, Cappadocian Cavalry, Cataphract Archers, Eastern General,
Camel:3
All non cataphract camel units
Cataphract Camel:3
Cataphract camels

Nice find.

Do you know what value chariots and elephants get?

Elephants:10
War Elephants:15
Armored Elephants:20
Cheat Elephants:100
All chariots 10, except for Pontic and Seleucian scythed chariots, which have mass 14

what the heck? why do Heavy and Medium Cav have the same Mass?

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what the heck? why do Heavy and Medium Cav have the same Mass?

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Same reason both camels do. The medium/heavy is just to differentiate between models and textures, I think

Thanks for the info GonzoDave. Am I right in assuming Infantry=1 mass? If so, cav really needs to be lowered, they shouldn't penetrate formations as easily as they do. I say something like 1.5 to 2 for light, 2 to 2.5 for med, and 2.5 to 3.5 for heavy. The only cavalary that should really drive through formations is heavy cav, light/medium are counters/harrassing the enemy.

As for the elpahants/chariots, i'd say 5 for Elephants, 8 for War Elephants, 10 for Armored Elephants. For Chariots i'd do 4 for most, 6 for the heavy ones. With these changes cav should get mired in infantry more easily right? And in a close fight they'll start to die in numbers like they should. What does everyone else think of this?

I think once I finish my current campaign i'll test this and see what the results of it are.

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Originally Posted by ChaosLord

Thanks for the info GonzoDave. Am I right in assuming Infantry=1 mass? If so, cav really needs to be lowered, they shouldn't penetrate formations as easily as they do. I say something like 1.5 to 2 for light, 2 to 2.5 for med, and 2.5 to 3.5 for heavy. The only cavalary that should really drive through formations is heavy cav, light/medium are counters/harrassing the enemy.

As for the elpahants/chariots, i'd say 5 for Elephants, 8 for War Elephants, 10 for Armored Elephants. For Chariots i'd do 4 for most, 6 for the heavy ones. With these changes cav should get mired in infantry more easily right? And in a close fight they'll start to die in numbers like they should. What does everyone else think of this?

I think once I finish my current campaign i'll test this and see what the results of it are.

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I look forward to your results and the possible mod resulting of. ~:cheers:

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Am I right in assuming Infantry=1 mass?

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1 is the standard, but some units(Sacred Band, armored hoplites) are higher, while some(siege engine crews) are lower.

Oh, and I think elephant mass also effects how far units get thrown, which in turn affects their lethality

Nice find, very interesting! A great help to modding.

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Originally Posted by GonzoDave

Elephants:10
War Elephants:15
Armored Elephants:20
Cheat Elephants:100
All chariots 10, except for Pontic and Seleucian scythed chariots, which have mass 14

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Well here we also have proof of the unrealisticness of chariots:
I mean, as much mass as elephants? 2 types EVEN MORE more then elephants, almost as much as War elephants? You have got to be kidding me... A chariot weighs the same as an elephant? And can STILL run as fast as cavalry and turn on a dime?

This obviously is rediculous and should be modded asap.

Does the mass mean a game reference on how well there charge will do. Or does cataphracts with 6 mass mean they will likely charge all the way to the 6th line of infantry until there charge comes to halt.

I had hastatis about 10 deep knowing I was going to be taking a heavy cavalry charge and it was a bit funny watching the enemy cavlry pancaking the line to about 2-4 deep getting caught up and slashed to the ground in no time. If I had any less depth thier cavalry charge would have owned me as the enemy cavalry would have disrupted the whole formation.