How to use cavalry?

[A7X]

could someone tell me the best way to use cav in med?

[Aeratus]

In a nutshell, there is charge and surround.

Charge - if the enemy is swordsmen or archers, just send the cavalry directly into the enemy. When the cavalry is charging, it should indicate this status when you mouseover the cavalry. The charge mechanic activates the mount crush feature of cavalry, which is extremely damaging to infantry (sometimes sending them flying).

Be aware that sometimes the cavalry will not charge but will simply walk up to the enemy and start fighting. When this happens, there is no mount crush, so the damage is drastically reduced. To avoid this, try charging from a distance.

Also, if the enemy are archers on skirmish mode, their pullback sometimes fool the charging cavalry into stopping the charge. To avoid this, charge the infantry behind the archers.

In general, don't charge into spears, pikes, and halberds. In vanilla, it is sometimes ok to charge into spears, if your cavalry is of much higher quality, but generally avoid this in Kingdoms. Also, in kingdoms, be aware that certain two-handed units with bonuses against cavalry cannot easily be beaten in a cavalry charge. For example, Giltine's chosen will be more than happy to take a head on charge from Feudal Knights (and then easily destroy the feudal knights).

Surround - Well this is simple. Just use the cavalry's superior mobility to surround the other units. The maneuver to surround the opponent is usually called "flanking."

Sometimes, you can do both charge and surround, if you surround the opponent from a distance so that you have enough room to charge.

[A7X]

i know what flanking and charge is and how to do it <<,am just used to hit and run tactics from RTW but the cav here is so slow,and every map seems so hilly in here that flanking becomes a bit hard

[Aeratus]

i know what flanking and charge is and how to do it <<,am just used to hit and run tactics from RTW but the cav here is so slow,and every map seems so hilly in here that flanking becomes a bit hard

Compared to RTW, the charge effect in M2 is stronger. Considering this, and the slower cavalry speed, you'll be charging a lot more than in RTW.

RTW was just ridiculuous in how fast the cataphracts maneuvered. Just saying.

[ChivalrousKiller]

Then you just need to get used to it if you want to use cavalry

Myself, I find the Medieval knights extremely good when it comes to charging. And also the missile cavalry is far better than it was in R:TW. Cavalry is often the key to success in this game, but there are many different ways of using them. You just have to work out a plan yourself and practice

And the maps can't all be that hilly? You could try pulling the fights to the Russian steppes or the Arabian desert

[Silverheart]

I´d say the charge is weaker in m2TW than in RTW - in Rome, one unit of top-tier cavalry could annihilate entire units of infantry in one charge. It makes a lot more sense that they only dig in a few men deep, and then stop - way more realistic.
And besides, when you get lucky, M2TW cavalry can also cause enourmous casualties in their charges.

To "learn to use cavalry" (not very specific there...), try using them more in the battles.
Really not harder than that - if you use them a lot, you´re bound to work out all the little kinks in due time.
Try using a lot of Mailed knights - that´s one of the most versatile cavalry units, and good for beginners.
Also, maybe you should set up some custom battles to practice even more?

[Aeratus]

Well cavalry is overall stronger in RTW. For example, a cataphract can directly charge head on into a silver shield pikemen unit and destroy them.

However, the charge relative to the melee ability is weaker in RTW I think. Cavalry is really strong in melee in RTW, as a cataphract unit can walk up to a legionnaire unit and start clubbing them to death.

[A7X]

thanks everyone for the advices .

[Silverheart]

Well cavalry is overall stronger in RTW. For example, a cataphract can directly charge head on into a silver shield pikemen unit and destroy them.

However, the charge relative to the melee ability is weaker in RTW I think. Cavalry is really strong in melee in RTW, as a cataphract unit can walk up to a legionnaire unit and start clubbing them to death.

I remember the pikemen (and any phalanx troops) were unworldly horse-slayers if the cavalry charged directly from the front. The horses died as soon as they even nudged the spear points. Phalanx troops were of super-high quality in Rome.
Don´t you mean if they charged from the sides or rear?

But as for any other non-phalanx troops, I often used single generals to smash entire armeis into rout simply by charging them. The charge killed so many, it created a huge gap in teh enemy line, so the cavalry just rode on forward after the charge, only to turn and do it all over again when the enemy reformed their line. Such a tactic doesn´t work in M2TW, though - I learned that the hard way.

[Aeratus]

It depends on the type of cavalry and phalanx unit. I haven't played Rome in ages, but this is what I recall:

The best phalangite phalanxes are the Seleucid silver shield pikemen. Against silver shields, cataphracts can simply charge head on and still win. Of course, when taking into account efficiency, nobody would do this in a serious battle or a multiplayer match.

Of course, you might recall that hoplite phalanxes are far superior to phalangite phalanxes (contrary to history). Cataphracts cannot beat the Spartan Hoplites by charging head on. However, even in a 1 on 1 situation, the cataphracts can move quick enough to actually flank the Hoplites before the Hoplies can turn their formation. I believe the Cataphracts will still lose against Spartans even while flanking like this (although it's close), but that's expected because the Spartans are much more expensive. Against Sacred Band hoplites, I do not quite remember if Cataphracts can win by charging head on.

[Silverheart]

It depends on the type of cavalry and phalanx unit. I haven't played Rome in ages, but this is what I recall:

The best phalangite phalanxes are the Seleucid silver shield pikemen. Against silver shields, cataphracts can simply charge head on and still win. Of course, when taking into account efficiency, nobody would do this in a serious battle or a multiplayer match.

Of course, you might recall that hoplite phalanxes are far superior to phalangite phalanxes (contrary to history). Cataphracts cannot beat the Spartan Hoplites by charging head on. However, even in a 1 on 1 situation, the cataphracts can move quick enough to actually flank the Hoplites before the Hoplies can turn their formation. I believe the Cataphracts will still lose against Spartans even while flanking like this (although it's close), but that's expected because the Spartans are much more expensive. Against Sacred Band hoplites, I do not quite remember if Cataphracts can win by charging head on.

You seem to have a weird fancy for cataphracts... or perhaps you just like saying that word
I know I do.

But I still recall any cavalry (just about anything, actaully) getting butchered en masse when trying to charge a phalanx from the front. But perhaps it´s just that average pikemen perform a little worse - logical, what with their very long spears and all

[A7X]

It depends on the type of cavalry and phalanx unit. I haven't played Rome in ages, but this is what I recall:

The best phalangite phalanxes are the Seleucid silver shield pikemen. Against silver shields, cataphracts can simply charge head on and still win. Of course, when taking into account efficiency, nobody would do this in a serious battle or a multiplayer match.

Of course, you might recall that hoplite phalanxes are far superior to phalangite phalanxes (contrary to history). Cataphracts cannot beat the Spartan Hoplites by charging head on. However, even in a 1 on 1 situation, the cataphracts can move quick enough to actually flank the Hoplites before the Hoplies can turn their formation. I believe the Cataphracts will still lose against Spartans even while flanking like this (although it's close), but that's expected because the Spartans are much more expensive. Against Sacred Band hoplites, I do not quite remember if Cataphracts can win by charging head on.

the best phalangite units are Macedonian Royal Pikemen,and i dont remember katas killing them by the front
well,am playing Third Age:TW right now and cav is pretty much like in RTW so am not having the same problem here(yay for eliminating 1000 units with a general )

But as for any other non-phalanx troops, I often used single generals to smash entire armeis into rout simply by charging them. The charge killed so many, it created a huge gap in teh enemy line, so the cavalry just rode on forward after the charge, only to turn and do it all over again when the enemy reformed their line. Such a tactic doesn´t work in M2TW, though - I learned that the hard way.

yeah me too,i kept losing all my cav units on every battle because of that,i've decided to use archers as my strong point,with 8 longbowmen units playing as the english each unit gets about 150/200 kills ,i guess the killing entire armies with 4 cav units days are gone

btw i think the hoplite are weaker than the phalangites,the phalangites have much longer spears,when the hoplites finally manage to get close enough they are already a bit depleted.

[In3x]

When possible charge the into the back of an enemy, if not the front will do. One caveat, only charge spearmen in the back.

[Aeratus]

I count the Macedonian Royal Pikemen as hoplites because they have short spears (3 rows), instead of phalangites with 5 rows. The Egyptian Pharoah's guard would also be a hoplite in that regard. The vanilla RTW wasn't the most historically accurate game, and I think its even more inaccurate than M2.