After consulting with TPC, I thought it would be a good idea to open up a discussion concerning some historical elements of EB.

One topic I'd like to discuss is the representation of Central Asian cavalry using the lance two-handed during the early EB timeframe, as in the Saka Heavy Cavalry and Saka Cataphracts units. Here is the description from the Saka Heavy Cavalry:

Historically, the Makedonian invasion of the Achaemenid Empire brought the nomads of the Central Asian steppes, peoples with a long tradition of cavalry warfare of their own, into contact with horsemen charging into contact with the enemy using long lances as done by the Makedonian Hetairoi. The nomads were quick to incorporate this innovation into their own practices, and the partnership of mounted lancers and horse archers would define warfare in the Eurasian steppes for centuries to come. Along history, mounted lancers often wore substantial amounts of armor, at times extended to their horses, as seems fitting for troops destined to engage their enemies at close quarters. However, we also have evidence contemporary with the nomad-Makedonian contact or shortly after it (a terracotta from Koi-Krylgan-Kala, modern Uzbekistan, for example) for unarmored riders atop unprotected horses, wielding long, two-handed lances.
Firstly, it is ironic that contact with Macedonian cavalry would lead to two-handed lance use, since the Macedonians only ever used the lance one-handed in combat. Secondly, the depiction on the Koi-Krylgan-Kala fragment shows a cavalryman wielding his lance one-handed - when the depiction is observed closely, it is evident that the left arm is gripping the reins at the side of the mount's head and that the rider is not gripping the lance with both hands. I don't contest the use of lances two-handed toward the end of the EB timeframe with late units like the Late Saka Cataphracts - as evidenced by the coins of Spalirises from the first quarter of the first century BC. What I am contesting is the depiction of two-handed lance use in the first two centuries or so of EB's timeframe. It is evident from the golden bracer depicting combat between cataphracts in the Siberian collection of Peter I, dated to the 4th-2nd c. BC, that overhand spear use was the norm at this time - the central figure in the scene is spearing another fleeing rider in the back with a spear bearing a massive head held overhand.