Medaeval War Tactics

[Boyar Son]

Playing MTW2, and seeing a certain pic from AoE2 (cav in bac)

I wonder... how'd they fight?

Just a big ol' scrap based on skill? What about the champions of each nation? Nobody used much tactics?

Why knights in bac?

[Watchman]

What ?

[Hound of Ulster]

Most medieval knights fought in small 'battles' of varying numbers. Some, who didn't own horses or chose to, fought on foot with the peasant levies. The horse-borne knights were organized by the affinity of the noble they were vassals of, and serve as a shock cavalry to break the opposition line. Lances and broadswords were preferred in the early medieval period, but would later be supplemented by maces, axes, shortswords, zweihanders and morning-stars. I recommend watching Kenneth Branagh's version of Henry V, it depicts the late medieval soldier in terms of equipment and tactics very well.

[Furious Mental]

Obviously tactics were involved if they had a reasonable commander. For instance at the Battle of Hastings the Normans realised that they couldn't overcome the English just by charging up the hill so they spent most of the day skirmishing and drawing out some of the English with feints. Later in the middle ages, when men-at-arms started to fight on foot, obstacles were placed in front of armies to impede the enemy or force them to manouevre a particular way. The English were noted for this.

[Innocentius]

and serve as a shock cavalry to break the opposition line.

That varied from battle to battle of course. During some early medieval battles, the cavalry would do pretty much all the fighting, and knights fought knights, causing low to moderate casualties among the knights themselves.

There was no defined use for heavy cavalry in the 11th, 12th and 13th century.

Lances and broadswords were preferred in the early medieval period, but would later be supplemented by maces, axes, shortswords, zweihanders and morning-stars.

I think you are confusing things here. First of all, lances and swords (not necessariyl broad ones) were used during the entire medieval period and well into the 16th century. Further east, lances were used by cavalry - and with great success - into the early 18th century.

Second, maces, axes and morning stars were common and popular weapons, even among knights, already during the 12th century, it's just that it is mainly the high-quality swords that have survived to today. I realise you refer to the extended use of maces and such by the 15th century as armour improved, but it's important to remember one kind of weapon didn't replace the other.

I take it that you by shorswords refer mainly to the Katzbalge of the Landsknechts? Both the Katzbalge and the Zweihänder were rather typical weapons for the Landsknecht, but had little or nothing to do with knights. "Knights" in the early 16th century still fought with lances, swords and maces, and with the addition of the pistol or rifle later during the century. Also, Landsknechts are usually considered a part of Renaissance or early modern era warfare rather than late medieval, since gunpowder and pikes played such a big part in their warfare.

[Hound of Ulster]

The zweihander was used as early as the 14th century. The famous German mercs were merely most famous users of the big bad body-cleaver.

Nope, I was thinking of the Falchion.

[Watchman]

Two-handed swords have had many forms and sizes over the centuries you know, and go back to quite far Antiquity in some places (although they tended to get fogotten for a while at some point). The version the Doppelsöldners of the gaudily dressed Early Modern mercenary armies are famous for was AFAIK the largest ever actually used for combat, and a rather late developement (off the top of my head I'd guess second half of the 1400s at the earliest); it has been suggested it was developed partly to chop pike-shafts. Partly on the basis that they seem to have been largely withdrawn to bodyguard duties once people started adding metal reinforcements to their pikes to put a stop to such vandalism.

Knights those days, and not a few others, conversely favoured the "hand and half" longsword, as it was versatile, light and small enough to be carried as a sidearm and wielded one-handed from horseback, and the point could be thrust through the very few weaker points there were in period plate armour.

[Innocentius]

The zweihander was used as early as the 14th century. The famous German mercs were merely most famous users of the big bad body-cleaver.

Two-handed swords were used as early as the late 13th century, the famous Zweihänder only appeared towards the late 15th century however, as a response to pike warfare.

Nope, I was thinking of the Falchion.

The falchion was mainly popular during the early to high middle ages, but faded in popularity towards the end of the 14th century, when armour started to improve dramatically.

[...]it has been suggested it was developed partly to chop pike-shafts.

Ah, one of the oldest debate topics among military history nerds

I think it has been proved, through some research, can't cite any source unfortunately, that they were not likely to be capable of chopping off pike-shafts, they were rather designed to

a) shatter the pike-shafts (sweep them aside)
b) reach through the ranks and cut the pikeman (thus its great length)

[King Jan III Sobieski]

Archers...and trebuchets. That's my tactics!