Is cavalry any use for you?

Not a big one for me. Lets face it - we are in a period of bayonets and bullets, cavalry doesn't stand a chance against infantry. However I do take 1 or 2 cavalry units sometimes.
Do you use cavalry?

Not a big one for me. Lets face it - we are in a period of bayonets and bullets, cavalry doesn't stand a chance against infantry. However I do take 1 or 2 cavalry units sometimes.
Do you use cavalry?

Epic.

I used to take 10 cav, but as of late i've been cutting back to 6-8. It's not that I need them, it's just I like them with my playing style, I attack from the beginning of the game and just overwhelm my opponent. This is on the grassy flats or pyrimids map. On all tha other maps I take aroud 4-6 cav.

Originally Posted by spiderman101

cutting back to 6-8. It's not that I need them, it's just I like them with my playing style, I attack from the beginning of the game and just overwhelm my opponent..

Yeah and I would know about that

That early rush screwed me over until I adapted to the situation.

Originally Posted by Point_Man

Yeah and I would know about that

That early rush screwed me over until I adapted to the situation.

nah, you had me in that one from beginning to end bro

That's a really good question MKZ. Some amount cavalry I think is definitely a necessity, if for no other reason than to counter your opponent's cavalry and for use as a highly mobile "quick reaction force", however on maps like Waterloo for instance, I find that one cavalry unit usually suffices. I use it to sweep into my enemy's rear and finish him off after my gigantic heavily "spammed" artillery grand battery blows most of my opponent's army to smitherines! (at least if he hasn't already "rage quit" by then) Most maps however require at least three or four cavalry units in order for your army to be even nominally effective, but as spiderman101 says, most people do seem to "spam" anywhere between six and eight units of cavalry and sometimes ten or more! More than likely, you're using your cavalry wrong. Without support they get slaughtered, and of course I'm sure that you already know that against infantry in square formations they also get slaughtered. Cavalry is best used for flanking your opponent and for protecting your own flanks. If they get caught up in the central area of the main battle where there are usually tons of infantry, they won't last long. Still, occasionaly a "suicide charge" is called for in order to pull your army's ass out of the fire! Also, cavalry can be used very effectively to disrupt your opponent's lines, allowing your infantry and/or artillery (if you bring any) to move up unmolested, but it takes a good deal of practice in order to perfect this tactic. Clausewitz may be one of the best I've seen at employing this particular tactic. LGA kicked my ass several times until I learned to counter their very effective cavalry "spam" rush tactics.

That's a really good question MKZ

Rep me

More than likely, you're using your cavalry wrong

If I have cavalry, than I usually use it to take out enemy artillery and skirmishers. However people usually put stakes in front of them, so I have to flank them or charge into a gap between stakes.
I've seen quite a lot of people charging their cavalry into stakes.

Yes, I've also seen quite a few people charging their cavalry into stakes MKZ, but that's normally not such a good idea. Stakes pretty much decimate cavalry, regardless of what angle of approach or speed you use to pass through them. I would say that charging through stakes with cavalry should definitely be an option of "last resort" and only used in emergency situations.

Also, it sounds like you're already using the proper tactcis to deal with enemy stakes. Either charge through gaps in them or just go around them! Also, you can sometimes "entice" your opponent to leave the area where he's laid his stakes. Since each skirmisher unit can only put them down once per game, this can also be an effective way of circumventing your enemy's "stake wall"!

You don't have to explain me that charging into stakes is a bad idea

plus if you MUST charge stakes as I have had to do on rare occasion put your cav in diamond formation, you'll take less losses this way

Why did you had to charge stakes?

Yes, Major Hemorrhoid's Brother, I was going to add that to my previous post, but you beat me to it dammit!


Sometimes MKZ you have to weigh the risk of losing some cavalry against the risk of losing lots of troops to your opponent's artillery, which is often times entrenched behind a stake wall. Also, if you're about to collapse an enemy's flank or center but just need a little extra "push", it may be worth sacrificing some cavalry to achieve your goal. NTW is all about timing and "feel" (instincts). The more you play, the better your instincts usually become.

Charging the enemy artillery through stakes is extremely risky, stakes will kill at least half of your horseman plus artillery can fire canister shots that are deadly when fired against cavalry.

like we said before, use it only in time of need, if used right a unit of lancers can easily be the best unit in the game, for the price at any rate.

But if the enemy art would fire canister shots you would lost your cavalry and the enemy would still have his artillery.

You're quite correct MKZ, it's an extremely risky maneuver and only to be used in emergency situations! A unit of Polish Guard lancers and/or Dutch Guard lancers comes in very handy for these emergency situations by the way!

The thing to remember is that the person must manualy switch it to canister, often times in the heat of battle people forget to do this. Stay outside of canister range until they fire, then charge in. Remember that it takes time to relaod a cannon, and cav are often fast enough to make it to the art before a second shot can be fired

I just played an interesting match. 2v2. Map: Waterloo. I placed my 4 howitzer units beside each other and 3 line inf units behind them. The enemy took 2 light dragoon units and charged my howitzers. Before he got there one of his units went routing and the other one wasn't in a good shape either. However he managed to charge my howitzers with that second unit. He didn't manage to rout any howitzers of mine. That was quite funny

Good for you mate Keep that up and you will soon become a pro!

I can't bother myself to bring Cav unless I know someone's going to be bringing a lot of artillery. I handle my Cav rather poorly but that's mainly because I'm still adjusting from the hack and slash of Medieval 2 and Rome.