knights in the desert ???

[fester]

So can ck be used in the desert effectively or am I wasting them?

[econ21]

They are good for one charge, but then get spent. Their quality is such that even exhausted they are not too bad, but still it seems a waste. My SP desert battles were often my beleaguered outnumbered forces (e.g. crusades) defending against hordes of Muslims. In such a situation, light cavalry that could frequently chase routers was much more useful than knights.

To be honest, I never used knights much in MTW so I might not be the best person to answer this.

[Vladimir]

Best to use them on "defense" and get close to the enemy before the battle begins. Don't give their lighter troops space to maneuver and hit them when you're at full strength right away (kill their general and DON’T chase the routers). Try not to use them on the offensive because the usual amount of maneuvering required before combat will make them much less effective.

[Grey_Fox]

As long as they are not expected to fight more than one wave of reinforcements they should be ok. You'd probably want to use something like Steppe Cavalry or Jinetes in a drawn out fight though.

[antisocialmunky]

Ideally, you should replace knights with something else like Jinettes, Horse Archers are particularly good due to the low armour ratings of desert units. I personally prefered Cathedral morale boosted Gallowglasses instead of knights.

[Yoyoma1910]

Personally, I'd leave the CK's at home. If you wear them out, which you will do if you use them very much at all, then they become vulnerable in this arena to some of the muslim anti-horse/anti-tanker units. And who want to loose their CKs to a bunch of peasants on Camels.

I'd load up on missles or some light cav instead. Or maybe peasants. I like crusading with peasants. It does them good to get off the plow and get some sun, you know.

[The Darkhorn]

The only way I've really effectively used armored horse in the desert is for one devasting charge when I have reinforcements. After that charge they are withdrawn and replaced with lighter cavalry like Steppe Cavalry. They are the best medium cavalry in the game and HA cannot deal with them.

[Knight Templar]

I'd not suggest you to use any heavily armoured unit (especially CK) in desert. Armoured targets get tired very quick in desert, and their low fatigue decreases their attack, defence and morale. Exhausted units are usually useless. Best units for fighting in desert would be lightly armoured units like Bedouins, Nizaris, Ghazis, Galowgassles, Feudal Sergeants and so...

For example, check this battle

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...2&postcount=13

and Marquis de Said's explanation (2nd paragraph, for the desert with the sand storm)

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...2&postcount=15