Italic Equites/Equites vs. Thessalian Cavalry, et al

[morteduzionism]

I don't understand the difference.

Sometime ago I asked: what was the best cavalry available to the Romans? Well, that's basically what I asked. I got alot of various answers.

The only common factor amongst the answers was: ANY CAVALRY BUT ROMANS! There were a few recommendations for Thessalian Cavalry too.

fast forward...

So I finally get the chance to recruit some vaunted Thessalian Cavalry...they essentially have the same stats as Italic Equites and Equites!

Are some units, Equites, just programmed to die easier?(sort of to show the weakness of Roman cavalry) That's the only explanation that makes sense to me, am I wrong? What am I missing?

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I finally got the chance to really compare Italian Cavalry(Equites and Italic Equites) against some of the other immediately available cavalry(RTRE 1.7/Imp II 1.5) and finally came to the personal conclusion that the Italians aren't so bad, in fact they're as good or better than alot of the other cavalry nearby(for performing specific tasks):

EQUITES

Pros: immediately recruitable/retrainable; heavily armored; comparably high charge bonus; Eagle provides inspiration; fast moving
Cons: low attack rating; not very effective against other cavalry; high upkeep
IMO: their armor and the 'fast moving' trait make them a very good option for a cavalry unit. able to chase down fleeing enemies where other, comparably armored, cavalry units would falter. In conjunction with the 'Eagle' this makes them the best option to operate on the flank away from your General/Tribune, they can deliver a decisive charge if/when one is needed.

ITALIC EQUITES

Pros: immediately recruitable/retrainable; heavily armored; comparably high charge bonus; relatively low upkeep
Cons: low attack rating; slow; not very effective against other cavalry
IMO: if used exclusively to deliver a charge, and to a lesser extent to chase the ensuing routers, they are extremely effective and a good unit to have.

GALLIC NOBLE CAVALRY

Pros: high attack value; relatively low upkeep
Cons: not immediately availabe to recruit/retrain; low charge bonus; less heavily armored; supposed to be good against other cavalry...I've never seen it
IMO: it's probable that I just haven't found a good use for them. they usually fail when I engage them against enemy Light Cavalry and on the occasions when they charged an enemy rear...it's never been decisive. they just don't seem to be worth the hassle

GALLIC LIGHT CAVALRY

Pros: high attack value; low upkeep; more soldiers per/unit; fast moving; bonus in woods
Cons: not immediately available to recruit/retrain; not very good against other cavalry
IMO: with their high attack and the 'fast moving' trait they make a good unit to seal a victory with(i.e. killing all the remaining enemies) by chasing routers is this enough to make them a better option than Equites? Not to me.

SARMATIAN CAVALRY

Pros: high attack value; very low upkeep; very heavily armored; bonus fighting other cavalry; recruitable/retrainable from Sardinia
Cons: not immediately available; low charge bonus; longer travel time(they're on an island) between recruitment/use
IMO: these guys destroy Light Cavalry. if/when used to nullify enemy Light Cavalry, giving security to your infantry, they make an army highly effective. they also can deliver a charge if needed

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As it stands now, that I have options, I use the following cavalry contigent:

1 x General: does nothing but stand behind the lines shouting encouragements and maybe plug a breakthrough if one occurs

1 x Tribune: kill enemy general and being a nuisance behind enemy lines

1 x Equites: chase routers; charge the weak side(side with mercs) if needed

1 x Italic Equites: charge the strong side(side with hastati) to break enemy

1 x Sarmatian: kill Light Cavalry units

which leaves one slot in my stack to be filled on a battle-by-battle basis by:

1 x Gallic Nobles: in case the enemy has a lot of cavalry the nobles can kill themselves with the enemy

[Marcus Camillus]

In RTR platinum v1.9, the Equites were corrected to remove the "eagle" effect from them. This ability has been given to the Triarii infantry units. Other than that, nothing has else has been changed concerning Equites.

[Incomitatus]

When playing as Rome my cavalry is engaged in three roles: guarding against enemy cavalry IF I don't have enough spearmen around for the job; chasing down archers and slingers (I'll use my velites or Italian skirmishers to run down javelin armed skirmishers, since they have better hand-to-hand stats than most skirmishers); chasing routers. Very very very rarely will I ask my cavalry to deliver a charge into infantry, even from the rear. I have Italian swordsmen for that sort of thing, after all. Even fresh velites do well in that role if the enemy is tired.

Therefore... the type of cavalry doesn't really matter in terms of effectiveness. So I just do things 'historically'. Consular armies have a unit of Equites with them, and a unit of Italian cavalry, not to mention the odd tribune or two and possibly some locally recruited cavalry if it's needed. Field armies have an Italian cavalry or local equivalent, maybe a tribune, maybe more local cavalry if needed. Legates in command of single legions just do without cavalry.

After all, with Roman troops you don't need cavalry in *most* battles. Sure it's nice to have, but it's expensive. Think about what you could buy with all that upkeep... a new aqueduct or maybe that new linen toga you saw yesterday down at the agora, you know, the one with the gold braiding on real Egyptian flax...