Surprisingly bad units

[SwissBarbar]

Thrakian Prodromoi are available in the same regions as Thessalians, and are much better value for money. Same impact on charge, similar melee ability (though if you're leaving your cavalry in melee, you're doing something wrong).

yes, but they are still not suprisingly bad, they were just used the wrong way ^^

[QuintusSertorius]

yes, but they are still not suprisingly bad, they were just used the wrong way ^^

Given they're poorer than lighter cavalry in precisely the role they're supposed to be doing (shock charge to rear of engaged infantry), that's surprisingly bad.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Given they're poorer than lighter cavalry in precisely the role they're supposed to be doing (shock charge to rear of engaged infantry), that's surprisingly bad.

No they are not. Thessalians last longer in melee.

You could be a surprisingly bad general, maybe that's the reason for your problems.

[QuintusSertorius]

No they are not. Thessalians last longer in melee.

You could be a surprisingly bad general, maybe that's the reason for your problems.

If you're wasting your cavalry in melee, then I'd say that's bad generalship. That's what spearmen are for, to butcher enemy cavalry stupid enough to stay still.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

If you want to annihilate a unit of slingers for example, do you really re-charge your cavalry at them? In such a case the negative effect of the horsies getting tired and inevitably losing men in the retreat is worse than the few casualties taken for letting them stay in melee. Of course you can't run Thessalians headlong into a wall of spears. You can't do that with Hetairoi or Kataphraktoi either. Thessalians are just in the middle between Hetairoi and Prodromoi.

[QuintusSertorius]

If you want to annihilate a unit of slingers for example, do you really re-charge your cavalry at them? In such a case the negative effect of the horsies getting tired and inevitably losing men in the retreat is worse than the few casualties taken for letting them stay in melee. Of course you can't run Thessalians headlong into a wall of spears. You can't do that with Hetairoi or Kataphraktoi either. Thessalians are just in the middle between Hetairoi and Prodromoi.

No, I've got slingers and archers to annihilate enemy slingers with. That's the kind of target my long-rangers are tasked with. Indeed if I see slingers, they get the focus of my slingers like nothing else, since all other enemy ranged troops are relatively harmless for my main line.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Indeed if I see slingers, they get the focus of my slingers like nothing else, since all other enemy ranged troops are relatively harmless for my main line.

Definitely so. It's surprising how much a humble unit of slingers can ruin a battle for you. Being the cheapest unit in EB, they are also one of the most effective. Running them down with cavalry is not always the best option, nor is it always possible to do so. In general, EB cavalry is not good for taking on an entire unit by themselves and destroying the unit in melee, even if it is a missile unit. I normally use archers to target enemy slingers, since the archers I hire have longer-range weapons than the slingers. Cretan archers and many other composite-bow archers have much longer range that allows them to decimate the slingers while keeping away from their murderous volleys of bullets. If you are using your own slingers for counter-fire, be careful, the enemy have the same range and are likely to make you bleed just as much.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

No, I've got slingers and archers to annihilate enemy slingers with. That's the kind of target my long-rangers are tasked with. Indeed if I see slingers, they get the focus of my slingers like nothing else, since all other enemy ranged troops are relatively harmless for my main line.

Yes I've got archers to annihilate enemy slingers with in the first place. But not in that particular army with that I was marching against Kyrene, the odd left Ptolemaioi settlement, whereas the rest of the army (with all my archers) had to do more serious stuff. And indeed Thessalians are an awesome cavalry force.

Can Epeiros recruit Thessalikoi?