Cavalry too weak??

[Illyrians]

Does anyone think Cavalry is too weak? I sent me General into a archer unit and he couldn't kill them. They are really under-powered, imo. I know I can just edit their stats but I want to see what anyone else thinks.

[gaius_caesar]

I do. Thats why I don't use cavalry to often unless when I'm using Parthia and Baktria

[Publius Quirinus]

Nyah, imo cavalry is just fine. You just can't use it like in vanilla, you generally need to charge, retreat, charge again.

[Subrosa Florens]

I found it to be under-powered, so I increased the base size of cavalry units to 27, and decreased the size of non-phalanx infantry (the ones that were at 50) down to 40.

[Illyrians]

Nyah, imo cavalry is just fine. You just can't use it like in vanilla, you generally need to charge, retreat, charge again.

They can't even take out a bunch of archers one on one.

[Publius Quirinus]

They can't even take out a bunch of archers one on one.

The generals' bodyguard in XGM has only one hp, I think, as opposed to two hp in vanilla, which may be why you were expecting them to do more. Cavalry isn't all that tough in melee, abusing the charge makes a huge difference.

[DimeBagHo]

Cavalry will generally make short work of archers, but of course the results of a particular engagement will depend on many factors. Your cavalry may get whipped if it is heavily outnumbered, already worn down from earlier engagements, doesn't charge properly, is fighting on scrub, is facing very experienced archers, and so on.

Illyrian: Did you actually have 100 cavalry vs 100 archers? If it was a general unit vs a full unit of archers then typically the cavalry would be outnumbered maybe 2:1 or 3:1. If the cavalry have already been in combat then the ratio of hitpoints might be a lot worse.

[Total Roach]

My generals will always take out a unit of archers 1v1, charge them but use alt fire and they will switch to swords once the charge is done

[Scutarii]

I find cav fine right now. Make sure you get a good charge off, make sure you alt-click to switch to swords, and try to use overwhelming cav numbers to rout missiles quick to avoid casualties (missile's large formations is good to bog down your cav, then they start to die. ). I would never send one single generals bodyguard (24 men against 80? Please.), since you would get lots of casualties and might even lose. Send in one more unit of cav, and your fine.

[hungba]

Yeah, I think cavalry's fine. I play H-H and normally 1 fresh heavy cavalry unit can easily knock off more than one fresh missile units

[Dog Fart]

I find cavalry to be more realistic in XGM. Especially with how both ai and human player must use them more carefully. I thought vanilla stats were ridiculous, especially with how a cavalry unit could smash right through an infantry unit in a head on charge. In reality, horses shy away from a dense formation of shields. Basicly beacause they know better than to run straight into it. They're not that dumb, and often smarter than the rider.

Just be a bit more patient. As it's been said many times before, use your infantry to pin down the body of the enemy and send your cavalry rournd the flanks and rear. Then pull out and charge again. You cannot forget how vulnerable a mounted cavalryman is when surrounded by pissed off infantry.

[Total Roach]

Did a quick test in custom battle using the normal circumstances I would have in my campaign. Gold weapons and armour and 2 experience. Yes I would think twice about attempting this in a campaign without min silver, but as your General in the Custom battle has less men than on the Campaign map (avg for me is around 52, huge units) I put on the full upgrade. Typical scenario, 1v1, general rides out on his own from a nearby city to squash a 1 unit rebel army, typically an archer unit, in this case Nubian Archers with 2 exp, as you will find on the campaign map with spawned armies. Alt-fire charge, bowmen dead. I was surpised not to take any casualties, normally I would expect around 3-5%. This is on Medium difficulty just to clarify, I'm happy there Oh, he gained an exp in the fight, missed that in the battle.

[gaius_caesar]

maybe he was playing on VH thats why its tough to beat a bunch of archers...

[Total Roach]

Let me try it on VH, same scenario.

Ok, done this one exactly the same only difference being battle difficulty set to very hard and not medium:

[gaius_caesar]

Let me try it on VH, same scenario.

Ok, done this one exactly the same only difference being battle difficulty set to very hard and not medium:

How the **** did it become a Heroic victory? Are archers really that strong right now?

[s/laughter]

WTF!

you can use Alt-Fire with cavalry??!! man, I never knew that... hmm, what are the situations best to use that in?

[CaesarVincens]

When they are engaged in melee. Certainly not on the charge though.

[Total Roach]

both of these test were done holding down the alt button and double right clicking on the archers, once the charge is finished they will switch to swords

[Scutarii]

Simple rule: Always Alt+Double Click. The cav will charge, then switch to their secondary.

[Spartan198]

Cavalry's fine, IMO.