STW Yari Cavalry
Yari Cavalry
| STW Yari Cavalry | |
|---|---|
| Unit Name: | Yari Cavalry |
| Type: | Cavalry / Spear |
| Combat Stats | |
| Charge: | 15 |
| Attack: | 1 |
| Defence: | 2 |
| Armour: | 3 |
| Speed: | 8 - 24 - 28 |
| Morale: | 4 |
| Cost: | |
Unit Card: 
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Yari cavalry are, well, cavalry: lightning fast yet pretty decent fighters, they can zoom around on the battlefield, outflank the enemy and lend a hand wherever it's needed. Equipped with Yari, they receive an anti-cavalry bonus just like any other spears: they will totally annihilate Horse Archers, and against Heavy or Naginata Cavalry they will perform much better than one would expect (although they ultimately lose).
However, if they encounter any yari infantry, they will be rubbed out; if caught in the woods, they will be slaughtered. The AI knows that well: if you field an army thick with horses, the enemy will hide in the woods; if you try to flank with cavalry, the enemy will send at least one unit of spears after your horses.
Only after most units are engaged in a melee will you have free roam of the battlefield: until then, even the fastest cavalry usually cannot finish any task before some yari infantry joins in. Bold and daring maneuvers may sometimes be possible, however, given the large amount of spears in most armies who only need to turn a bit in order to counter your horses, this is a rare occurrence. Even if you don't think that you can successfully play any tricks on the enemy, there is no hurt in trying: at the very least this will cause some disarray in the enemy lines, with some luck you may even lure some spears far away from the main army.
Much of their combat power lies in a devastating charge; with the exception of Naginata, any opponent will suffer badly in the initial onslaught. However, in the ensuing melee, any Yari (even the lowly Ashigaru) will have a huge bonus, while No Dachi or Warrior Monks are such ferocious fighters that they will slice up Yari Cavalry even without bonus. One may be tempted to pull them back again for another charge, but this will be either virtually impossible or unnecessary: against strong opponents your Horses will be chopped to pieces while trying to turn around. Their natural prey are Archers, both mounted and otherwise; against those, you usually don't need a second charge in order to win.
In principle, you could also use them as flankers and run them into the back of any melee unit, even Yari Samurai; their charge alone will wreck havoc, and if the melee continues the bonus from tackling the enemy from behind will very much offset any disadvantage. However, you'll be in trouble once the enemy breaks: any horses standing in the way of routing infantry will suffer badly, much worse than in the actual melee. Such a move can well save an otherwise lost battle, but will ultimately sacrifice of the unit.
For all these reasons, the most common in-battle use for cavalry is to mop up the enemy archers once the infantry battle is well underway. Thanks to combat AI, skirmishing archers will usually array themselves nicely for a full-frontal charge.
However, the time for Yari Cavalry really comes only after the actual battle has been decided: no other unit will cause as much carnage among routing enemies.
As to upgrades, you probably shouldn't slap on any armor: the horse will always remain a soft spot, armor upgrades do little to protect Yari Cavalry but will have a noticeable effect on their stamina.
