Disappointed by the Cataphracts of Hayasdan

[Gryphon Templar]

Why should I recruit Noble Cataphracts and not recruit Armoured Horse Archers that can do the same + can shoot and have better charge bonus?

[athanaric]

Because they have better morale, stamina, and defence skill, and a secondary melee weapon that's a lot faster than their lance while still being AP. They're two different units with slightly different purposes; it makes sense to use both.

Compare:
http://europabarbarorum.heimstatt.ne...y&category=any
http://europabarbarorum.heimstatt.ne...tegory=cavalry

[Boriak]

The primary role of a horse-archer, even an armoured one, is being a missile unit. Use armoured horse-archers against other, less armoured, horse-archers as well as foot archers who can also get quite heavily padded (Heavy Persian Archers).

Compare the two armoured horse units. The essential difference is in the defense skill. Defense skill is only used in defense when the units enter hand to hand combat. A cataphract will have greater chances of survival in melee due to its higher defense skill. Use the cataphract to charge in and then fight the enemy, while use the armoured horse-archer to shoot at the enemy from afar (especially their archer units) and then charge in when the battle is already turning in your favour. The armoured horse is the trump card, not the main assault unit as is the cataphract.