Horsemen
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[edit | edit source]
Horsemen — Vital statistics | ||||||||||
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Light melee cavalry, cheap to create and capable of good speed and flexibility
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Prereq: | Build time | HP | LOS | Attack | Attack speed | Movement speed |
Upgrade of | Upgrades to | ||
11.9s (175t) |
73 | 12 | 13 | 1.6s (25t) |
41 | 73 | 12 | |||
Cost | Created from | Armour | Weapon range | Specialty | ||||||
Base | Ramp | Pop | ||||||||
1 | 2 | Melee |
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Overall strategy[edit | edit source]
The very first cavalry unit you can raise, Horsemen are basically men on horseback with a weak attack. They are not as effective as other cavalry units such as Camel Warriors or Light Chariotry, but they are still sufficiently cheap and easy to amass should the need for a fast-moving unit arise. Even so, you should think of them more as a weaker but faster-running low-level infantry unit than the genuine cavalry fielded by the armies of equestrian nations such as those of the Arabs or the Thracians. Eventually, the best use for them would be to upgrade them to Javelin Cavalry, which combines the cheap cost of Horsemen with the attacking power of the Light Chariot.
Unit summary[edit | edit source]
- 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.
CtW information[edit | edit source]
Horse Archers are a common sight in Magyar armies, where they boost the production of food, making them highly dangerous, alongside the Persians. Taking them out is a must if you can raise sufficient resources, since they can translate excesses of wealth in the Persian stockpile into more food, which in turn means more infantry to block your way.
History[edit | edit source]
Cavalry are mounted soldiers riding horses into battle. Cavalry dominated early battlefields but fell out of favor with the invention of firearms.