Certain Unit Advantages

[Askthepizzaguy]

If you allow your light horsemen to sit and be defeated in melee, you aren't using them properly. They definitley require a bit of babysitting, as Old Geezer suggests. Unless they are triple gold chevron, armoured, and have weapon upgrades, I wouldn't let them battle it out with heavy cavalry.

These guys can be used as hit and run cavalry as opposed to heavy lance/melee to death cavalry. Just charge, run away, charge, run away. They are light and maneuverable. Flank and Flank.

Use them in pairs, attack one side of the enemy, attack the other side while the other one retreats, and attack again while the second one retreats.

Instead of hammer and anvil, it's the hammer and hammer tactic. Also effective with heavy cavalry, but they don't turn and escape as quickly and they mostly use formed charges which are harder to pull off.

When up to gold chevron, they can make excellent general hunters. Make them run all around to the back of the enemy army, engage the front with melee troops, and begin to make them chain rout with light cavalry to the rear attacks. This will draw out the general, so use about 3 or 4 light cavalry gold chevron units and surround n' pound him to death while his army loses all their morale. You can at least pin the general while your general and heavy cavalry finishes off the enemy army wholesale. You can also use these light horses to slay the general when he finally routs, as mentioned previously.

Kill all the mounted routers with your light horse, and all the infantry routers with your generals and heavy cavalry.

Once you have gold chevron light cavalry armies, begin training your heavy lances to get gold. Unlike general's bodyguards, these units are IMMORTAL and if you keep them retrained, are larger and more effective in combat than general's bodyguards. Can almost be left alone in a sea of spears, as they seem to be invincible to all but the most determined spearmen, and artillery fire.

Light cavalry seige tactic:

Usually the enemy doesn't have cavalry waiting at home, save for the general. But sometimes they do have heavy cavalry. Lay seige with a bunch of light cavalry and a general.

The enemy will sally. Retreat to the corner of the map and wait for them to charge after you.

lead them on a wild chase, wearing out their infantry. Use your light horse spread out so you can pick off entire bands of stragglers. Let the enemy general chase your light horse and draw him away from his troops, or let his troops get far, far away from the city center. Now, send a unit of light cavalry to take the city center and hold it for 3 minutes. During which time the enemy MUST retreat to the city center.

To Provoke them into sallying ALL their troops, sneak in a unit of light horse and take the city center, then run away. All the AI troops will then sally to kill you.

While the enemy is in full retreat, dismantle any infantry with your cavalry. The general will most likely attempt to rush to the city center, leaving his entire army general-less and defenseless.

Use your own general and mop up the mess.

If you can manage to hold the city for 3 minutes, good. If not, you've effectively destroyed everything but the general. You can attack his general with yours and your light cavalry, but alternatively you can just wait for the battle to be over or make all your units "rout" using the white flag button. Be sure to do this near the edge of the map so they don't rout towards the city center. Hire any mercenary infantry and use a ram to open the gates, then slay the enemy general with few, if any, losses to your general and 4 light horse army.

Destroy massive garrisons! Plunder, loot, and pillage! Women, ale, men if that tickles your fancy. The settlement is yours, and you took it with a tiny, tiny quarter stack of cavalry. Bravo!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=100126
Click the link for a battle replay which shows this tactic in action!