(noob question) How to use horse archers prooperly

[Yakov]

Hello everyone I’m need some tips managing a cavalry based army like the Huns

[Guy]

Try sending them to attack the ground units first. If you do this usually makes the ground unit want to attack, when they try just make your horse archers run back to your army then do it again. (They aren't the best unit you can use) Hope this helps.

[mukali]

All cavalry based armies are lots of fun and well suited when playing as Huns and Parthians (in the original).

I like to have about a 2:1 ratio of horse archer:cavalry (heavy or lancers). As TWdude has suggested, horse archers are terrific for harassing the enemy and with enough horse archers you can really decimate the enemy with little or no loss to yourself. Keep your heavy cavalry and lancers back to protect your horse archers from enemy cavalry. Enemy cavalry are the only real threat to you. Once you defeat the enemy cavalry, then let your horse archers resume their steady decimation of the enemy infantry from range until they finish using their arrows. If the enemy has lots of archers, then use your melee cavalry to run the archers down while your horse archers take care of the infantry. The remaining enemy infantry will be severely weakened by the time your horse archers finis their arrows, and unlikely to put up much of a fight vs well coordinated charges by your reformed heavy cavalry and lancers. Like in all combat try to hit enemy formations from 2 or 3 sides to break the unit quickly. Horse archers can be used to run down routing units. Have fun.

[Legionary Jezza]

An army of horse archers the enemy would hope his units have testudo. Anyway surrond the enemy army with HA so they attack all sides of the unit, because attack their units from behind increases your chance of killing them.

[Mithradates]

As Parthia my standard army was 14 horse archers and 6 cataphracts and absolutely no infantry, I finished multiple campaigns without loosing a single battle with them.

Before the battle deploy your horse archers as near the enemy as you can and make sure that skirmish mode ON, if the enemy has foot archers than focus all your fire at them, 1-2 full volley will severely reduce their numbers so they will cause no more real problem, you can forget them.

If the enemy try to pursue you with infantry than move your archers backwards from them (not running, just walking) that way they can fire at them from very close -> more kills

If they use cavalry, let your horse archers shoot them, heavy cavalry can not reach your fast archers, light cavalry are lightly armored so they will die in the pursuing.

You dont need to use your heavy cav yet.

Start focusing your fire on single infantry units and when their number goes down to 10-15 men change your fire for another, you dont want to kill units with archers because shooting them all will require a lot more arrows so you just want to cripple them.

At this point the enemy most likely will brake and the whole army start routing, chase them down

If you run out of arrows and the enemy still doesnt rout than this is the time to use your heavy cav, you can headlong charge them in the front, all of the enemy units are reduced in numbers and exhausted so they will brake and the battle is over.
Chase down the routers with the horse archers, they are faster than the heavy cav so they can cach everybody and their experience will grow -> greater missile attack in the next battle.

Most of the time you will have just 20-30 casualties (mostly frendly fire) and the enemy totally annihilated.

Good luck!

[Tzif]

I use my horse archers to flank the enemy and cut them down from behind.

Tzif