Scout Cavalry

Their arms regained, Their streaming limbs they cherished till the blood Coursed in their veins; until the shadows fell Short on the sward, and day was at the height. Then dashed the horsemen on, and held the foe Twixt flight and battle.
	— Lucan, Pharsalia (Bk IV)

In game

Scout Cavalry — Vital statistics
	Light melee cavalry, cheap to create and capable of good speed and flexibility Strong versus missile infantry, missile cavalry Weak versus cavalry, melee infantry
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrades to
	11.9s (175t)	73	6	12	1.6s (25t)	41	l l l
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 60; : 40	: 1; : 1	1		2	Melee	Bonus damage versus light infantry. Defensive bonus versus Archers. Attack penalty versus camel cavalry and elephants.

Overall strategy

Scout Cavalry are simply light cavalry units, capable of good speed and flexibility, but much weaker than a fully-kitted lancer. They are not meant to take out heavy cavalry, yet alone towers: the sword and relative lighter armour of a light cavalryman is meant to lend him some speed and good field of vision, as well as the ability to make quick and fast strikes on unarmoured foes, as well as to keep him from posing accounting headaches. Of course this means that he will pose problems if he should run into spear-armed units, but then again that is not what Scout Cavalry units are meant to do.

Unit summary

• Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee — Scout Cavalry are meant to make quick and fast strikes on unarmoured foes.
• Keep Away From Sharp Sticks — The bane of Scout Cavalry units are spear-armed units such as Spearmen and Lancers — if you see any, run away!
• Alforrats — Catalan scout cavalry can be raised as mercenaries by the Sicilians, costing Wealth instead of Timber and Food and with a higher recruitment speed.

History

In the Early Middle Ages, extensive use of troops dedicated to fighting as cavalry was normally confined to the Near East or Northern China, where the nations there often had trouble fighting off nomadic raiders, such as the Arabs or the Tatars, and so mounted troops capable of overcoming more lightly-armed foes was a priority. The lack of pasture and the existence wooded terrain meant that cavalry would not take on a major role until the heyday of the High Middle Ages in Europe, but the tactical usefulness of light horsemen was not entire lost on all. The Spanish had long been known for the quality of their horsemanship, and a breed of Catalan cavalry mercenaries, the Alforrats or the "leather-clad ones" can be raised as mercenaries by the Sicilians, the sole difference between them and normal Scout Cavalry being their recruitment time and cost structure.