Bang per buck: Melee cavalry

[Doug-Thompson]

Take a unit’s maintenance cost from R'as al Ghul's unit guide. Divide that by the combat value given in YAS’ TOOLS. That yields a number: The lower the number, the more combat value per florin per turn — very generally speaking.

This very crude calculation shows a very rough picture of what’s a bargain and what’s not. Buyer beware: A unit that routs in front of a better, more expensive unit is no bargain at all. Also, the combat value for charging with the primary weapon was used in the calculation. Some units are much better in sustained melee.

Anyway, here’s the results from best to worse:

Best in Category: 2.5 florins per combat point.
Mercenary Elephants

The “4s” (4.2 to 4.6)
All bodyguard units

The 5s (5.4 to 5.8)
Italian Cavalry Militia
Polish Retainers
Hussars

The 6s (6.3 to 6.8)
Huscarls
Chivalric Knights
Polish Knights
Quapukulu
Druzhina
Mamluks
Sipahi Lancers
Royal Mamluks
Teutonic Knights
Khan's Guard
Christian Guard
Conquistadores
Eastern Chivalric Knights
Knights Hospitaller
Knights of Santiago
Knights Templar
Norman Knights
Arab Cavalry
Mounted Sergeants
Border Horse
Serbian Hussars

The 7s
Armored Clergy
Scouts
EE Cavalry Militia
Demi Lancers
Portuguese Knights
English Knights
Imperial Knights
Feudal Knights
Stradiots
Albanian Cavalry
Greek Militia Cavalry
Latinkon
Kataphractoi
Crusader Knights
Serbian Knights
Tsars Guard
Granadine Lancers
Mailed Knights

The 8s
Bedouin Cavalry
Alan Light Cavalry
Byzantine Lancers
Noble Knights
Polish Guard
Lancers
Royal Banderium
Gothic Knights
Italian MAA
Famiglia Ducale
Hobilars

The 9s
Armenian Cavalry
Mercenary Frankish Knights
Merchant Cavalry Militia
Gendarmes
Kwarizmian Cavalry

The 10s
Mercenary German Knights
Broken Lances
Mercenary Knights
Tuareg Camel Spearmen

And in a category all their own:
Condottieri — 13.8

[Foz]

This means very little without an attached in-depth explanation of how exactly YAS's "combat value" is arrived at and what it means. If I may be so bold, it'd be nice if someone would add one

[Doug-Thompson]

Attack + Defense + (Charge +Armor+Morale)/2

Whether it means anything is in the eye of the beholder.

[Shahed]

Good work ! It is useful as an indicator of bang per buck.
Is it entirely complete ? Khan's Guard is not there, for example. Just mentioning it.

The calculation is from MTW/VI. We don't know exactly what the calculation is in M2. I emailed Yas about this and posted his reply in the "Total War Korea" (keyword = korea) thread.

[Doug-Thompson]

Is it entirely complete ? Khan's Guard is not there, for example. Just mentioning it.

You are correct, sir. I don't know what else is missing, but Khan's Guard's "score" is 6.5, right in Teutonic Knight range.

Do you have a link to that reply from Yas?

[Shahed]

Yeap I just bumped it here. You might get his attention if you post queries there, or otherwise you can email him, he'll surely respond.

[Miracle]

Yeah there's a lot more things to consider when computing value:

- Likelihood of weapon/armor upgrades and guild/building exp bonuses
- AP weapons
- Speed
- Mass
- Stamina
- Terrain bonuses and penalties

Recruitment cost is almost as important as upkeep cost as well. Melee cavalry gain exp fairly quickly, but will always take casualties in the process. Retraining becomes essential if you want to preserve an experienced cavalry force.

Also, in the late game value doesn't matter as much as other factors because you're usually swimming in cash. Bang-for-the-buck estimates really matter only for early and mid-game cavalry (castle or fortress-level).

[Shahed]

Having played MTW/VI and used Yas's tools in the past years I can clearly understand what these figures represent.

These figures are clearly intended as ballpark figures, not precise algorithms. The establishment of which is, impossible, on a broad level.

[Doug-Thompson]

If somebody has a better calculation than Yas' has, let's hear it.

Allow me to repeat a few key phrases from my first post:

"very generally speaking" ... "This very crude calculation shows a very rough picture" ... "Buyer beware"

If anybody want to explain why his favorite cavalry unit is so much better than these numbers reflect, that would be fruitful.

[Caliburn]

I believe that ranged horse units have the most bang per buck, more than any of the formulas seen on this thread. After all, HA can empty their quivers before charging, causing morale penalties and huge casualties, thus their overall damage potential is greatly increased.

Does anybody have any ideas how to factor in the missile attack? On another note, could this be utilized in creating a more balanced unit training for the AI? I have no idea how the AI prioritizes its unit training.

[Kobal2fr]

Miracle, you forgot one hugely important factor in your calculation : stamina. As in "bodyguards can charge around all day because they have good stamina" :P