Huszar Cavalry

"A single lion may put to flight many deer."

In game

Huszar Cavalry — Vital statistics
	Light cavalry unit low in hitpoints but high in attack, with a propensity for hunting other cavalry. Strong versus missile infantry; Weak versus melee infantry and missile cavalry, especially elephants.
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrades to
[3];	11.9s (175t)	131	9	18	1.79s (26t)	41
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 150	: 3	1		2	Melee	Bonus damage versus light infantry and all horse cavalry. Defensive bonus versus Archers and Gunpowder Infantry. Attack penalty versus elephants.

Overall strategy

Raised from Serbian exiles fleeing the forces of Islam in their homes, Huszar Cavalry (or as they are known in English, "Hussars") distinguish themselves as having a propensity for hunting cavalry, meaning that factions such as the Italians, French, Germans and Turks better watch out when the East European nations reach the Imperial Era. The Russians may be hunting down your artillery and logistical support, but Poland and Hungary — the main powers recruiting them — can train many of these units to counter them. In sufficiently huge numbers, Huszar Cavalry can tip the balance of any Imperial Era battle in your favour. Cavalry aren't the only favourite targets of this unit — gunpowder infantry, with their slow reload times, are no match for them whenever they meet. As Huszar Cavalry are a unique cavalry unit, they take reduced damage from non-naval gunpowder units.

There are downsides, of course - some factions are simply resistant to medium cavalry. If an enemy can build up numerical heavy cavalry superiority, your Huszars will be easily destroyed, even though they have an anti-cavalry bonus. Take the Mongols, for example. Their medium cavalry units are still the best, and in a one-to-one fight, the Huszars will be eliminated, even after having inflicted heavy losses. If you are playing as the Muslim factions, China or Mongolia, you can raise camel units to counter the threat of Huszar Cavalry, since they can somewhat negate the anti-cavalry bonus that Huszar Cavalry usually enjoy against other horse units, although 3-5 bands of Almogavers or Daylamiyan are probably more effective at fending them off. All told, the Huszar Cavalry is best used against factions with an edge with melee cavalry, especially the Russians and the French owing to the existence of powerful, fast-moving cavalry in their ranks.

If you are playing as Poland, consider upgrading your Huszar Cavalry as soon as possible to the tougher Banner Huzar.

Unit summary

• Point and Flank — Although still tactically inferior to heavy cavalry, you can use them on flanking attacks on other players' cavalry, where they will be most devastating.
• Thin Skin, Black Heart — As with other cavalry units, mounted cranequiniers, polearms and heavy infantry still remain Hussar Cavalry's worst nightmare - keep them out of range of anti-cavalry units at all times.
• Bulletproof — As the Huszar is a unique light cavalry unit, it takes reduced damage from non-naval gunpowder units.

History

Contrary to popular belief, the first Hussar units did not emerge in Poland, but in Hungary — these were originally light cavalrymen trained to defeat the heavy Turkic sipahis which were making their unwelcome presence felt in battles. The word "hussar" itself is thought to be a transliteration of the word huszar, which in turn is suggested to be of Serbian origin. The first Hussars raised were meant to be anti-cavalry units following light cavalry traditions. Only much later did the Poles introduce Winged Hussars (Towarczy Huszaria, or "Companion Hussars") which were in fact heavy cavalry following Hussar-style tactics.