Cantabrian circle

[Puzz3D]

There are some cavalry that will do the trick; Sarmatian Auxilia are fast moving and strong, Burgundian Lancers as well.

Anyway, whenever I suspect my opponent to field a Hunnic Rush army, here is my favorite counter. While I haven't used it much, it has worked in the few practical applications and is solid in theory...

This is wonderful against an army comprised of horse archers and heavy cavalry. Even when Hunnic Elite Warriors are fielded with Hunnic Heavy Cavalry, Hun Horde Chosen Warriors, Hun Lancers, or other high-tier cavalry, it does the job. The heavily armored Auxilia Palatina are the core of your army, and with armor upgrades, they will withhold even the best of horse archer fire from the back. Your opponent will essentially not be able to kill enough. Also, the Sarmatian Auxilia, which are already great with there high attack and defense, solid charge, and fast speed are given armor upgrades to withstand archer fire themselves, and will be used to chase and weaken the enemy army. The 4 archers, fully upgraded, are used as a fodder. They have full armor upgrades to last longer, and full weapon upgrades to be able to at least take out some of the cavalry (I recommend ignoring the horse archers and going for his melee cavalry which will not have the benefit of the Cantabrian Circle). However, there most important function is to draw fire from the enemy horse archers and soak up valuable arrows that could otherwise be used against your cavalry or infantry.

Essentially, this army will exhaust both the stamina and the ammunition of the horse archers, after which you will have your enemy where you want it.

I hope this has helped.

You've only taken 16 units in that army. Certainly, the enemy can make his units stronger as well if he takes 16, although, that won't make his arrows better and may actually give him less arrows. If the armor of your army is in fact good enough to make arrows ineffective, then it is a counter to horse archer armies. It has enough cav that you don't end up completely passive. As you say, it depends upon reducing the losses to arrows by an amount that leaves you with enough melee capacity to defeat the enemy in melee.

The players I play don't fall for that foor archer fodder idea. They will weaken the foot archers, and then maneuver to shoot my cavalry. Those upgraded Sarmatian Auxilia had better be practically impervious to the hail of arrows they are going to encounter if they go out to drive off the enemy's Cantaberian circle archers. If your strategy with this army depends upon the enemy wasting all their arrows on fodder units, it's not going to work against most experienced players.

I could see x-dANGEr's idea of forcing the archers out of Cantabrian circle with light cav and then shooting the enemy horse archers with long range units working, but that light cav might come under fire from enemy archers and be badly damaged. The light cav also has to be strong enough to be a threat to to the Cantabrian cav in melee, so I wonder if it's a cost effective tactic.