“Hunters all their lives*”: Core principles for Missile Cavalry

[Doug-Thompson]

I let the Missile Cavalry Tactic Guide grow into a tome. Here are the boiled-down useful points:

1. Get to high ground.
2. Know the enemy’s weak spots. Exploit them.
3. Create cross fire.
4. You own the battlefield. The enemy's trespassing.
5. Attack morale at least as much as units.
6. Attack or neutralize the biggest threats first.
7. If enemies aren’t dying, get closer.

Now, thumbnail explanations of what those mean:

1. Get to high ground. That’s self-evident. If there’s a hill you can get to and fire from, get there first with the most men. If the enemy holds high ground, find the gentlest slope and go up it instead of riding directly at them. Missile cavalry are among the fastest units in the game. Use that.

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2. Know the enemy’s weak spots. Exploit them. These spots are, in priority order:

a. From the back.
b. On the enemy’s “weapon hand,” his right flank. This matters less with units that have no shield, like peasants, but most units have shields.
c. The other side, “shield side.”
d. In front, from the “weapon” or right end. If you are in the enemy’s “2 o’clock” position, you get at least some of the raking effect.
e. In front, “shield” end.
f. Dead ahead.

(See the link to enfilade fire below)

Note that the ability of missile cavalry to get to those spots is its greatest advantage over missile infantry.

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3. Create cross fire. Shields can only face one direction at a time. Even shieldless, unarmored units present a smaller target when facing you. This is particularly true of horses and camels. This level of detail is apparently present in the game. Give units more than one direction to face. You will find that horses and camels make particularly inviting targets from the side. Also, see the tactics guide or this thread for an opinion on enfilade fire.

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4. You own the battlefield. The enemy's trespassing. Rush out and keep him in the middle and make him pay for any ground gained. Make him pay for any ground lost. Make the only part of the battlefield he controls the poor, low ground he's standing upon and make him pay rent in lives for that. Don’t get pinned. Battle map corners and sides are almost as big a threat as the enemy. Those borders are the anvil. The enemy is the hammer. Don’t get close to the anvil without a compelling reason, and keep a way of escape in mind. Also beware of getting one of your units surrounded and terrain obstacles like rivers or structures. See the main tactics thread.

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5. Attack morale at least as much as units. Nothing helps win a battle like a dead enemy general. Javelin cavalry are the best general-killers available. Also, note that having your missile cavalry behind and flanking units create big morale penalties for your opposition. Use it. If your melee units can rout one unit, the rest may soon follow.

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6. Attack or neutralize the biggest threats first. A set of spear infantry that can't catch you and can be easily shot up later are not the biggest threat. Cavalry that might catch your units or enemy missile units that reach you are. Kill them as soon as you can, especially if you can goad them out and destroy them in detail with your melee cav and javelins. In Sinan's juicy expression: "An army without missile or cavalry against an all cavalry army is the best meat you can buy."

Foot archers are a threat, but they cannot fire on the move. Get them moving with treats of charges from melee cav or even your HA, if they have decent melee stats, then shoot them to bits.

"It is natural to target first fast missile cavaly, fast cavalry, and ranged units, but not all seem to do it," notes Oleander Ardens.

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7. If enemies aren’t dying, get closer. Self-explanatory.



*”Hunters all their lives” comes from Age of Empires II: Age of Kings. The last “chapter opening” in the Mongol campaign starts: “Hunter’s all their lives, old wolves …”