Cavalry-killers

[Muagan_ra]

Had some problems recently with cavalry. A Byzantine general charges my line all by himself - suicidal you'd think - but some reason the Dismounted Broken Lances they charged (who have very, very high armour and lots of experience) are reduced to 36 men (from 120) before the general finally withdraws?

I had Italian Spear Militia at the other end of the line, but I find it hard to believe that spearmen get such a bonus against cavalry that they would have fared much better than such a high level troop type.

What do you think is the best way to deal with cavalry? Spearmen as standard? Or do you reckon missiles offer the best solution? Or do you fight fire with fire?

[Walternat0r]

Shoot the bodyguard up before he hits your line, even if it doesn't kill the guy it can knock hitpoints off and make them easier to mug in melee. I tend to use my general to hit the rear of the oppositions cavalry once they're engaged with infantry.

Alternatively, be England and use longbowmen

[Panzerbear]

why reinvent the wheel?

spears or pikes. thats what doctor ordered.

[Treize]

Spears.....
Pikes are gay..

You might want to use naffatun or greek fire if you have those...
(put them behind a thin line of crap spearmen).

[Commander5xl]

naaa go stakes, its so funny to see a whole hord of cavalry go flying into the trees after your "defenseless" archers, when suddenly when they pop out of a bush bam they get hit by a hundred sharpened wooden stakes of death, its even better in an all out charge because it seems that the horses fall on the infantry killing them and so my infantry is waiting beinhd to clean them up while my arches laugh their heads off and plunge sea after sea of arrows to add to the killing spree

[Conquistatore]

Couple of ways to combat this. Charge your own cavalry into their rear once they are engaged with your troops. Fill them full of arrows/bolts before they charge or while they are engaged. Use pikes to attack or pin them in one spot and then do the above.

[Old_Scratch]

Pikes are the best infantry counter, and spears work well too. The easiest way to counter a cav charge though is to just counter charge them with your own cavalry. If your cavalry is better, just drive off the enemy cavalry. If it's weaker, run your infantry up and start fighting the enemy cavalry. Then pull your cavalry straight back and clear and you can then use them to flank or charge the enemy infantry. Basically you're swapping out who's doing the fighting. Also, you do not want non-spear or pike infantry taking a heavy cavalry charge. It doesn't matter how armored they are, they will take heavy losses.

[Viking Prince Olaf]

Just like life, it all depends....if it's medium cavelry then you can let Any spearmen take them on. If it's heavy cavelry like Goths with armour piercing wepons,....well your pretty much screwed!!!!!!!

If you want to take out heavy cavelry with charges you need A defensive line. remember any cavery bonus troops loose that ability if their not head first facing them. any long wepons will do just as long as they don't get through. If your not playing Turkey or England you don't have stakes.

Heavy cavelry will dostroy and heavy infantry in their charges but if you delay them with atleast 2 gunpowder wepons behind their effective at takeing them down so it all depends.....

[Surgeon]

Spearmen are specially geared vs. cavalry. Good spearmen get a whooping +8 attack bonus against mounted enemies, plus, when they're being charged, spearmen will begin to stab just as the enemy nears them, whereas swordsmen usually start to swing once they are already engaged. Thus, cavalry charge vs. spearmen = front row of horsemen dead and the charge grinds to a halt faster, but cavalry charge vs. swordsmen = cavalry penetrates very deep into the unit, trampling a goodly number of men.

Swordsmen like DFKs and Broken Lances can fare okay against cavalry in tight spaces like cities where the cavalry can't get good charge space. In open fields they will be run down easily.

[merocaine]

double post

[merocaine]

2 or 3 units of crossbowmen concentrated fire usually softens the General up.
A couple of units of spearmen can also do great damage also one fixes and the other flanks.
But my current favorite is French mounted Archers, two or three units of those bad boys with AP longbows will vaporize any knights or Bodyguards, its almost not fair...

The Generals Bodyguard is a tank though, they will charge almost any unit given a good run up.