Let's talk about cavalry

[Aaldaemon]

Are Ridnaz those Celto-Germanic horse?

I think he means Ridonez - the Germanic light cavalry. I don't like them over much - and I've come to love cavalry - so I doubt you will...

I've played the Romans a lot, and my favorite cavalry (discounting the ones you get after reforms) were always the Extraordinarii... although I've used Brihentin a lot more due to some wierd roleplay reasons. I don't think you'll find a better cavalry than the Extraordinarii... The obvious better cavalry troops are out of bounds to the Romani... no Hetairoi or Cataphracts... so as far as I'm concerned the Extraordinarii is IT - if you want to use cavalry at all.

[konny]

I think he means Ridonez - the Germanic light cavalry. I don't like them over much - and I've come to love cavalry - so I doubt you will...

Yes, these.

[Cambyses]

I mostly use heavy cavaly just for breaking enemy infantry formations also. They are more effective than light cav at this purpose due to their heavier impact.

Contrary to what someone else said above, the rider type cavalry can be very efficient on the battlefield. The key is to weaken and exhaust the enemy before charging home though. Thats why Riders are popular because you can achieve both functions with the same unit.

And this is true of any cavalry at any time. If the enemy isnt at least very tired, wait until they are before charging with a single unit. Obviously running off skirmishers is a different story.

Personally Im very fond of Dahae Riders.

But the point, to my mind of heavy cavalry is to force the enemy to break quicker. You can engage down the whole length of the line with infantry and no doubt eventually win by slugging it out and wandering light cav along behind the enemy. But using several units of heavy cavalry you can claim a massive and powerful numerical advantage in one part of the field that enables you to win quickly and with low casualties, then turn the victorious part of your army on the remainder of the enemy and wrap up a nice clean win.

Whenever Ive used the Romans in a historically accurate way they always take much higher casualties than their eastern rivals, including any Greek faction.

[QuintusSertorius]

Whenever Ive used the Romans in a historically accurate way they always take much higher casualties than their eastern rivals, including any Greek faction.

Actually, I don't find this to be the case at all. Romans high frequency of armour, along with lots of units having high morale means losses are rarely that big. Facing almost anyone who isn't the Dacians or Iberians (lots of AP weapons...) in an equal fight I usually get 5-15% casualties, against 95-100% for them. Most of the kills occur during the rout anyway.

[konny]

Whenever Ive used the Romans in a historically accurate way they always take much higher casualties than their eastern rivals, including any Greek faction.

That is true when facing massive fronts of pikemen. You don't have any unit suitable to pin the phalanx, save for the Camillan Triarii, while the Principes and Hastati go for the flanks.

I use a somewhat archaic method: the ram. I order Principes or Pedites Extraordinarii to run to a point behind the phalanx (preferable at the joint between two phalanx units), and when the got mixed with the first line of pikemen I order to attack the phalanx. Works well against low level phalanx, but is a no-go against any elite.

Another possibility is to attack a formation:

Spear - Phalanx - Phalanx - Spear

by having the Hastati attacking the spearmen and wait until the phalanxes turn around to attack the flanks of the Hastati. That will open a gap through which the Principes can sneak and start killing phalangites. Casualties will be high in both scenarios.

Against any other opponents the Roman infantry preforms very well (and cavalry as expected). Make sure you make good use of your Velites too; they are one of the best units in the "crappy skirmishers"-class and are able to rout Lugoae and the like on their own - provided they have the oppertunity to pepper them with javelins before the melee.

[The General]

Iberi Lanceari are the underperformers of the year [2007, afair].

I'm still bitter at them for their lack of capability to bring down a single unit of Sotaroas in one battle. (I had two units of the Lanceari charge a single unit of Sotaroas engaged in firing arrows in the rear, and in the charge I lost seven horsemen against three dead Sotaroas, and in the following ten-or-so seconds I lost eleven more horseman, and only four Sotaroas died. What are cavalry good for if they can't impale armourless troops in an open formation from the behind, eh?)

FMs tend to be AWSM! because of the über resilience (lots of armour, defence skill, discipline, moral, etc.), cataphracts have good staying power due to their armour (duh), light cavalry (javelins+high chage value -type) is pretty nifty, especially price considered, but of course, the best cavalry type there is... Is the horse archer, and in particular the rider-model. Whittle down your enemies with your arrows, exhaust them by forcing them to follow you while barely tiring yourself because of very good stamina, and then charge home from several directions with a little of micromanagement and voilà! Dinner's served. This works especially well with the eastern factions whose FMs tend to be either cataphracts (who can take out enemy FMs/charge units from the get-go) or cataphract HAs (who're like Horse Archer mk.IV*).

Also, let's state the obvious once more, combined arms (tend to be) are better than masses of a single unit. A few units of Leuces Epos with Brihentin/Remi Mairepos/Marhathegnoz is a pretty solid cavalry wing for a (western) barbarian faction, especially the Sweboz whose FMs fight as heavy infantry.

Can't say much about medium cavalry, for some reason I'ven't fielded them en masse, probably because I usually just either want HA/LC, or some "proper" heavy-hitting cavalry (I sure likes me sum armoured cavalrée).

That concludes my random ramblage of the day concerning cavalry use in EB, I haven't even played EB really for quite a bit (haven't played anything really for a few months, it's so darn hot [yes, even here in Finland]).


*mk.I = [sword/dagger-]horse archer, mk.II = lancer-horse archer, mk.III = [regular] cataphract-HA

[The Celtic Viking]

Oh, I love my Cidainh. In fact, in my Arverni game, I got one of those settlements on the western shore (forgot the name) and built up the MIC there from the start just to have some way for me to get them. Otherwise I would've lost them way too early in the first reform.

The good thing about Cidainh is that they absolutely slaughter any cavalry, even when unassisted in a frontal clash - heavily armoured, eastern style cavalry bites the sour grape against these guys. Once the flank is won, they can wheel around behind the enemy's lines where they brutally rape the enemy's morale, through the scares enemy infantry trait, javelins in the back and the threat of a charge. Plus, they inspire your own troops as well, which makes them absolutely awesome.

I don't have much experience with other real cavalry units than Brihentin, Leuce Epos and Ridanz, and as they have all already been argued for, there's no need for me to chip in. Not that Cidainh weren't already mentioned as well, but they really deserve it considering the crap they've taken in earlier versions.

[Olaf The Great]

To that guy with the Iberi Lancearii
Okay Sotaroas are Archer-Spearmen, ie-anti cavalry, and Lancaerii are also a bit under-powered, along with the Roxolani Archer-Cataphract(seriously, full cataphract armour yet only 26 defense..) I, being the
Asshole I am, beefed them up considerably.