Nice answer Ludens

Cav are best used as anticav, to harass missile troops, to flank, and to chase routers. As a last resort, I also use cav to plug holes in the line. But its never a good idea to charge cav headon into a unit of spears and leave them there to get poked.

One thing you can also do with cav is the cav tap. Charge a unit of cav into an enemy unit, and just at the point of contact pull the cav back quickly. This will kill a few men, but may also get the enemy unit to chase your cav, disrupting the enemy formation and perhaps getting the enemy unit where you can flank with other units.

ichi