Tips on horse archer vs horse archer combat

[Unintended BM]

I can beat the crap out of the Seleucids and the other infantry based factions in the area, but I suck at fighting other horse archers. This basically limits me to Pahlava because they're the closest to the Seleucids and probably the easiest horse archer faction, but I'd like to try the Saka or the Sarmatians. So, any tips for fighting horse archers with other horse archers? It seems like it'd be easy, but I get way more casualties than fighting infantry.

[Tristuskhan]

Turn skirmish mode off and run towards your foes, they will skirmish away and show you their backs, making them easier targets. You'll take casualties anyway, so be sure you outnumber your enemies two to one, that's easy enough to accomplish on the strat map.

[Yarema]

I play Baktria (very hard/very hard), my armies consist of cavalry only (besides the town garrisons who maintain order in settlements, of course) and i find fighting other cavalry armies easy - as Baktria i have to fight the cavalry armies of Pahlava and Saka Rauka practically every turn so i get quite a lot of practise. Here are some basic rules for you:


I First off, all missile units have better range and do more damage while shooting downhill, so:

1. Pay attention to wht you're doing on the campaign map. When an enemy cavalry army is near your army, always end the turn leaving your army on some sort of hill or slope, so that you will have the higher ground if the enemy attacks.
2. If they atack you and they hold the higher ground, avoid their arrows and find immediatly some good position on a hill yourself.

II Once you get the higher ground, you're halfway to victory in battle. What you have to do now is:

1. Do not let your men "fire at will". Pick 1-3 targets (depending on how many horse archer units you have) and eliminate them as soon as possible, and to the last man!
2. The faster an enemy horse archer unit is, the greater is your priority to destroy it.
3. Shoot the units which are standing/moving ahead of the enemy line first.
4. Place your melee cavalry right behind your horse archers (needless to say your HA must be in loose formation). If some enemy unit is dumb enough to wander too far away from their main battle line, charge immediatly (and pull back your melee cav once youre done. repeat if necessery).
5. When the enemy approaches your battle line, move your horse archers which are targeted by the enemy back, while your other units should hold their position. Sometimes it leads to a situation when one or more enemy units (sometimes even a whole battlegroup) is surrounded by your HA in loose formation. This takes place only for a second, the enemy will move back as soon as he spots the danger. You have to use that brief moment to you advantage and charge the enemy with your melee cavalry. And remember to pull your melee cavalry back immediatly after the enemy unit is broken, or enemy horse archers will cut your heave cav to pieces!

III If you have to fight on flat spaces (happens often to me while waging war against the saka rauka), use the same rule as above (concentrated fire on the lightest and fatest of the enemy units, charging units which break formation). Never try to envelope the whole enemy army (HAs are too fast for that), never atack the center of the enemy army. I usually send my melee cavalry to attack the weaker flank (and pull back right after the job is done). Pick one unit of enemy melee cav u want to destroy and do it quickly.

IV If you keep you army dispersed, the enemy will usually keep in tight formation. Let your HAs take advantage of this situation and "shoot the crowd". When the enemy pick one of your HAs to shoot at, pull it back immediatly (if u can't do it, use the cantabrian circle - it will minimize your losses).

V Do not ever under any circumstances pursue a non-borken enemy HA unit. NEVER! Such units are uncatchable even by your own fastest HA units.

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

A few rules i used playing as Sauromatae

Send in your heavily armored generals bodyguard in the front line to soak up all those missiles. They usually take minimal casualties during exchanges, but if they are starting to suffer pull them back. By this point you will probably have gained a major advantage already since they die slowly to arrows and you will have been eliminating his soft targets as my next point shows.

Concentrate fire on the lighter horse archers first. This likely eliminates the bulk of his army which means fewer arrows flying at you and also the hardest targets to catch are now dead.

[Parallel Pain]

If you HAVE TO (not at all recommended, but if you have to) attack an all HA army with your all HA army when they got the terrian and is not thinking of moving off it and you don't have numerical advantage and there's no way to maneuver to a better terrain then they (since they got the best), then I suggest you pick two or three medium or heavily armored units and shoot them in cantabrian circle. Let them shoot until they run out of arrows, then the field's yours. You have to sacrifice two units but better than defeat I say.
Especially in VH battle. I found doing it any other way (not counting just retreating) would result in your cavalry getting shot up. In VH don't use your bodyguards though, or the general might very well die.