Roman Cavalry

[Asiriya]

I just wish to ckeck which is better, Italian Cavalry or Equites. Usually in RTW Equites are fairly rubbish cavalry, due to their being light cavalry. Ive so far been using Italian Cavalry, and they appear quite competant. But quites have a better charge and better armour according to their stats, which leads me to presume that they are better. But i wanted to check; the better unit, Equites or Italian Cavalry?

[Invoker]

I just wish to ckeck which is better, Italian Cavalry or Equites. Usually in RTW Equites are fairly rubbish cavalry, due to their being light cavalry. Ive so far been using Italian Cavalry, and they appear quite competant. But quites have a better charge and better armour according to their stats, which leads me to presume that they are better. But i wanted to check; the better unit, Equites or Italian Cavalry?

Right click on the unit cards on the campaign map and compare the stats, that will tell you which is better.

[Asiriya]

Mmm, i know, it says that equites are, it just surprised me somewhat.
Thanks dude

[Invoker]

Mmm, i know, it says that equites are, it just surprised me somewhat.
Thanks dude

I find that Roman cavalry in general just sucks. No matter what I do, even when using them properly to get the charge right, I always take heavy cavalry losses.

[Dramascus]

[Ares82]

I find that cavalry is general in RTR is rather weak. There are some exceptions like Kataphractoi (and a few others I can't remember at the moment ) which can last a while if they stay in melee. But most of the other cavalry is only good for charge in the back, retreat, charge in the back kind of tactics

[Asiriya]

true, but when i have loads of cavalry i just commit it all. you lose some chaps but generally if you get a good charge you just wipe straight through em and rout em. Great on phalanxes too; distract with one cavalry so the AI follows it, then smash it in the back.

[florin80]

About the cavalry being weak. It was discussed in the RTRPE privat forum and the conclusion was that the strong cavalry didn`t appear yet for this time frame. Then it was also decided that they should have high charge to do great damage at impact, but low attack because in the melee the horses would have been at a disadvantage against the infantry and the riders would have had difficulties in handling their long spears from close range. So (just as in reality) you have to charge, retrait and charge again. Also please be sure you charge correctly. See the first post from this topic about what has changed in RTRPE regarding units and the second post about how to use your cavalry correctly.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=59640
About the equites vs italian cavalry I too think that the italians should have higher stats then the equites.

[mcantu]

About the cavalry being weak. It was discussed in the RTRPE privat forum and the conclusion was that the strong cavalry didn`t appear yet for this time frame. Then it was also decided that they should have high charge to do great damage at impact, but low attack because in the melee the horses would have been at a disadvantage against the infantry and the riders would have had difficulties in handling their long spears from close range. So (just as in reality) you have to charge, retrait and charge again. Also please be sure you charge correctly. See the first post from this topic about what has changed in RTRPE regarding units and the second post about how to use your cavalry correctly.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=59640
About the equites vs italian cavalry I too think that the italians should have higher stats then the equites.

What about cavalry armed only with swords?

[The Walrus]

What about cavalry armed only with swords?

Those probably wouldn't be too long so the infantry could duck and the cavalry man would have to lean over and then he can be pulled/dragged off.
Just a guess. I haven't researched this so.....

[florin80]

What about cavalry armed only with swords?

IIRC they were not touched as much, but someone needs to check and compare their stats. This point was brought up during the discussion of the cavalry stats.

[Quinn Inuit]

Equites (pre-Marian) are definitely better than plain Italian Cav. Should that be changed? I'm working on a moderate unit rebalancing right now, and I can work that in.

IIRC they were not touched as much, but someone needs to check and compare their stats. This point was brought up during the discussion of the cavalry stats.

Compare their stats to what?

Good question about the sword cav. I'm honestly not sure if they'd do better in melee than spear cav or not.

[The Walrus]

I just use praetoria. Make your faction leader lead an army and the faction heir another and we have like 70 dudes autamatically on huge coupled with a two normal ones as one they are fine.

[Amur_Tiger]

Trust me you Romans have nothing to worry about when it comes to weak cavalry, the greeks get signifigantly worse faction cavalry and have no AOR units other then the Thessilians.

[Warmaker]

Trust me you Romans have nothing to worry about when it comes to weak cavalry, the greeks get signifigantly worse faction cavalry and have no AOR units other then the Thessilians.

The problem for the old Greek City-States was that there was not as much of a Cavalry tradition, much less elite, Heavy Cavalry.

Now, when Macedonia under Phillip and Alexander took over and the eventual breakup of Alexander's Empire, then you really began to see it in the Hellenic world.

As for the Romans, the only thing their Cavalry is good for:
* Moderate Defenses from missile fire.
* Decent Charge mods.

You can only use Roman Cavalry for:
- Cavalry Screening for your army, esp. on the flanks.
- Harass / Destroy Light (non-spear) Infantry.
- Charge formations from the rear / flank.
Don't expect them to do much, and you won't be disappointed (as much).

Essentially, you have to treat them as very brittle Hvy.Cavalry.

Send them against Companion type of Cavalry, and they'll get torn to pieces.
Medium - Heavy Cavalry that they may face will in all likeliness be dangerous for Roman Cavalry.

Still, I keep at 1-2 units of them around in my Legions. But preferrably, I'd rather have AOR / Mercenary Cavalry. Gallic and Sarmatian Cavalry units are great in all roles for Light thru Heavy Cavalry.

[mcantu]

Would it be possible to give certain cavalry units a 2nd weapon; like some of the spearmen have? A spear/lance to charge with and a sword for melee...

[The Walrus]

Would it be possible to give certain cavalry units a 2nd weapon; like some of the spearmen have? A spear/lance to charge with and a sword for melee...

I believe so. At least in vanilla you could. But the model would have to have that.

[Quinn Inuit]

I've been poking around the EDUs for awhile, and here's what I've discovered:

Spear cav tends to have a lower attack stat than sword cav, but the more expensive spear cave is just as good or better

Sword cav frequently has charge ratings as good as light spear cav, and nearly as good as heavy cav

I don't know which cav units have sarissas

[Warmaker]

Cataphracts and Hellenic Companion-style Heavy Cavalry have those long spears / lances.

The Macedonians have a poorly armored light cavalry unit that has long spears / lances and a good charge stat.

Those are the ones that I'm aware of.

But those Sarmatian Heavy Cavalry have insane Attack stats at the cost of some Charge stats. They can really nail units and linger around for melee combat. Real nasty units to face against...

[Quinn Inuit]

Ok, so all cataphracts and Companions (and the associated general units) have the super long spears?

I knew the Macedonians had a light cav with them, but I couldn't figure out what their EDU name was.

Interesting about the Sarmations. Which ones are you thinking of?