Re: Medieval III is "something we will do"
Thanks, it seems that Reiters were cavalry armed with pistols and a sword (at least, according to the MilitaryWiki and Weapons and Warfare). Weapons and Warfare suggests that massed Reiters were effective against pike infantry:
The massed fire of the caracole proved effective against densely packed squares of pikemen and other formations of ground troops. Although short-ranged owing to their relatively short, smoothbore barrels, the wheel-lock pistols did reach significantly farther than the pike, and massed fire compensated for the pistol’s inaccuracy.
How would Reiters deal with a mixed regiment of pikemen and arquebusiers? While early muskets were inaccurate and slow, I imagine they would be more accurate than a pistol. One side could bring a lot of Reiters, but of course cavalry units (at least in Total War) tend to be smaller than infantry regiments - and the other side could use infantry regiments to provide fire to support each other. The Reiters could close to melee range, but a cavalryman with a sword might struggle to defeat a pikeman. Even if a unit of Reiters would be unlikely to defeat a pike and shot regiment, I can see how Reiters could disrupt enemy units (like using horse archers to thin the enemy ranks in an earlier period) with hit and run attacks.
I was reading about the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, where the English apparently brought "a contingent of Italian mounted arquebusiers under Don Pedro de Gamboa" (Military History Fandom), so it seems that the pike and shot era had some interesting mercenaries - including German Reiters and Italian mounted arquebusiers.
Last edited by Alwyn; October 23, 2022 at 08:27 AM.