In vanilla ETW, cavalry is still the most dominant unit in the game imo
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
In vanilla ETW, cavalry is still the most dominant unit in the game imo
Foederatus
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
Dominant? You'll hardly win the game without it, but it's not like it will win the game for you on its own. Which is exactly how it should be, and which can be said for infantry as well. Myself, I've found cavalry to be quite well-balanced in ETW. Hardly the king of the battlefield it was in Rome and Medieval 2, but absolutely useful.
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
I use mine to screen artillery, protect the general, or most of all charge into the flanks of line infrantry when they go melee. I could never go into a battle with out them, i would feel naked and gimped.
Well used at the right moment can defo change the tide of battle.
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
The AI cavalry becomes ineffective as soon as you become smart enough to reserve 3-4 units of line infantry and arrange them behind your lines facing to the sides and to the rear.
The AI will try to flank you and run around behind your army. The entire time your side facing and rear facing infantry will be shooting them. If any cavalry survive they will eventually just suicide into your infantry.
When the cavalry threat is gone you can move those infantry up to reinforce your front lines. This also protects cannon from cavalry attack. I havent tried it yet but I bet arranging those 3-4 infantry units using square formation around the back would also work.
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
Same thing works in MP as well, using a staggered, echelon or some refused line setup negates any immediate cavalry flank the opponent might want to throw at you.Originally Posted by BigB
Forces them to bait you into moving your lines a certain way or hold their horses back to screen the rear lines for reinforcements, etc...
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
I use cavalry in what I think is a similar manner as it was historically used in this period - it is a screening force to be deployed on your flanks. Use it to screen your artillery and infantry flank, then crush the enemies cavalry, then use it to flank the enemy. Works well when used for what it is designed for.
Tiro
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
That is another thing about the period that I think a lot of people forget:
Spreading your line completely out actually works against you becase it opens you up to lots of risks. Stagged formations, as well as holding units in reserve are both key things.
If you assume an open field, you should, really, have a unit stationed behind your line on either flank. This allows you to move them out to crate a right angle if you are flanked by infantry or to rush them out to form a square if you are flanked by cavalry. Likewise if you see a weakness forming in your center, you can move them towards it to support to to form two sides of a V that your center can fall back through. It provides more ~options~ to you as the commander to deal with the variations on the field.
Calvary are best when used as they were intended: Quick strikes to weak spots. Scoutting. Flanking. Light Dragoons can quickly get to a flank, fire a volley and retreat. Regular dragoons can quickly get near a flank, dismount and rush in to fire before the main line can react fully. this is especially useful if you see that your opponent hasn't refused the flank and is instead engaged in a drawn out volley to volley echange taht he cannot risk withdrawing from.
What calvary isn't that good at is simply rushing across the length of the field and into the enemy line. As I understand this does represent a pardigm shift from previous games.
In other RTS's like this the equation went: Missle Infantry > Heavy Infantry > Calvary > Missle Infantry
Meaning that your calvary could ride down bowmen and slaughter them, but would die on the pickes of heavy infantry, where your spear men were sitting ducks for archers but could go after enemy horse.
In Empire, the Regiment of the Line is a form of both Heavy Infantry and Missle Infantry which requires re-thinking this general strategy.
Mr. O
Libertus
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
lols, people really like cavalry :L
Civis
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
I am just so happy now that playing this game MP means other players have (slightly) more balanced armies than back in MTW2. Back then other players would just bring mass armies of Gothic or Chivalric Knights and just run over your armies which was kind of annoying (you missed out on watching some good fights which is what MTW2 was all about). You couldn't really use spearmen because you'd still lose a large chunk of the unit in the initial charge even if they were braced and by the time you got pikemen then they had gunman or heavy infantry and they would absolutely slaughter pikes and then cavalry would rush in or around meaning that horseys were dominant (which I guess they were)
But now Infantry can form Square (oohhh) which is still kind of useless but looks cool and means that no player with half a brain is going to rush them with cavalry.
Unless it's a feint of course to make your infantry a nice juicy target for enemy artillery or infantry.
So in summing up I think that cavalry are probably more useful than ever in that they cause players to panic or re-arrange their line or rush their own cavalry out to meet yours.
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
The only thing I constantly see spammed in MP is the mortar, which needs its range reduced ASAP.
Its not hard to beat really, but you'd think people would catch on that no one single tactic works in this game.
Civis
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
Anyone remember Cossacks (European Wars)
People spammed a lot of mortars when playing that game MP
Maybe its just that era. Anyway weren't they horribly inaccurate (in a historical sense not in a computer game sense)?
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
You'd think that the longest range weapons would be those firing close to the "critical angle" of 40-43 degrees or so, basically howitzers. Direct trajectory cannon and high-angle mortar shots would have to be shorter range. This assumes the same sort of powder, gun, projectile weight, etc.
Mortars are generally the least precise (precision not being the same as accuracy) due to their high loft time where aerodynamic forces can have their way with the projectile longer.
Great Ramen Connoisseur
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
I have to agree with the OP and disagree with a lot of the people on this thread. Compared to the other TW games, the role of cavalry is largely diminished in this period. Historically this is true as this was the age of the heavy infantryman. I have noticed that once line infantry gets the "New Bayonet Drill" unlocked, they become extremely resistant to cavalry. I remember in the previous TW games were the "pin and flank charge" tactic was basically an auto-win button. But now this is not the case.
As an extreme example. I was wrapping up a flank on some Bavarians and I ordered a bayonet charge on a largely intact unit of Bavarian line infantry. Meanwhile 3(!) units of heavy cavalry wrapped around, LINED UP even and charged home. The Bavarians took a good 10 seconds before they even began to flash white.
I could have achieved the same effect by using 2 units of line infantry instead, plus the line infantry would be more versatile.
I have tried Lancers and Uhlans, but they drop like flies after they charge.
This is my signature. Isn't it awesome?
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
I almost never use cavalry! I prefer the musket and shot over cold steel, and carbines too are too inaccurate. Dragoons are usefull sometimes as reserves.
Re: Have Cavalry Became Obsolete?
When mortars were used they were mostly used as seige weapons and often their diminished ranges (since you know you're firing a projectile at nearly 80-60 degrees..not at 45) required that you trench them in and slowly move towards an enemy fortification.
In open field battles, they were often places well behind hills and ranges so as to obscure their location. They were then told to fire for effect at specific areas of the field, essentially using them as denial weapons and not for immediate kills.
Howitzers were the open field range kings since their firing angle could be adjusted to provide both area of effect, location denial, and immediate fire support, while cannons were again used mostly on the front lines.
But then again, howitzers as we see then technically weren't in wide spread use until the end of 1700's. So some leeway for it being a game has to be given at times.
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