Where are the Stradiots?

[ReiseReise]

Their strength is that they are fast moving and have excellent charge, so they can quickly get to the flanks and charge, retreat quickly and charge again. They are ok but not great in melee so they don't drop like flies, but that is not what they are meant for. They will lose melee against heavy knights but they are almost 50% faster so they can run away.

[Ars Moriendi]

The building requirements for stradiots are in place to simulate their late appearance in history, rather than some high tech development. They are the lightest cavalry unit the Venetians get, having same or less armour than mounted crossbows or sergeants.
Their speed makes up for their lack of armour. Once I was able to build them, they always had a place in my armies and it wasn't just to catch fleeing generals (which they do just fine), but more importantly to annihilate enemy missile units. As Venice, I relied heavily on my Pavise Crossbows ability to decimate slow armoured targets, and I used those guys plenty. However, I met enemies like Hungary who built their stacks with at least one third pav xbows, so a shooting match would result in lots of casualties on my side. Charging the front with heavy cavalry only works 50% of the time, as their slow approach gives the enemy time to pull back its missile units and respond with spearmen, or at least shoot another close range volley at my knights. Stradiots are much better for this job, as they have more chances to catch the missile units and get less exposure to enemy fire.

[ataribaby]

I'm at about the same stage in my Venetian campaign and I haven't got the stradiots either, mainly because the stable upgrades are so expensive. It's the first campaign I've made last long enough to see gunpowder so I'm focusing on guns and big ships.

To get them you need to build two 9,600 florin upgrades that take 6-8 turns each, and, as far as I remember, the first of those merely expands the feudal knight recruitment pool by two (whoop-de-doo!) or something similarly as disproportionately naff!

Still, I will get round to implement them as I've tested them in a custom battle and they're pretty impressive. I love fast-pony cavalry and these tick all the boxes, having a light lance charge and a secondary AP mace attack. Mixed with mounted crossbowmen, Venice can give any HA army a taste of its own medicine.