Cavalry is underrated

[T.K._Paradox]

Cavalry which has been a big mainstay for centuries in combat is almost never used in Fantasy.

And when it is, it is almost never the protagonist being a member of cavalry.

It is a shame that these badass shock troops never really get the respect they deserve in Fantasy. Anyone else feel the same?

 

[Representing_Tromba]

I'm actually going to have a cavalry battle within the next few chapters of my current story. I've been planning it out for weeks.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

I'm actually going to have a cavalry battle within the next few chapters of my current story. I've been planning it out for weeks.

A good historical reference would be 'the winged hussars'. They used hollow six meter long long lances in their charges, and Turkish style saddles for their horses.

This allowed the rider and the horse to be more armored.

 

[Sabruness]

depends. fantasy without magic? i've seen it used appropriately.
fantasy with magic? even more depends.

 

[Zirrboy]

I have read a translated story where the MC is cavalry, if only in part.

It's not very versatile after all.

 

[Deleted member 54065]

My work (the first arc at least) got cavalry formations, battles and magic.

And spears and lances too...which I think is 'underused' in typical isekai fantasies.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Cavalry which has been a big mainstay for centuries in combat is almost never used in Fantasy.

And when it is, it is almost never the protagonist being a member of cavalry.

It is a shame that these badass shock troops never really get the respect they deserve in Fantasy. Anyone else feel the same?

It depends on which stories you mean. Isekai and fantasy shit? Not often, but western novels use cavalry quite a bit. A lot of the western novels I've read, with medieval type of settings, have employer cavalry during battles. Maybe the characters arent always a part of it tho

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

Its mainly because quite difficult to write an MC that mainly focuses on Calvary. Your first thought would be using a companion to ride in the battle but you also consider the terrain to fight.

The best use of them would be open spaces which they are mainly shone in the battlefield. Apart from that, there's nothing really special apart from just writing them as having a combination of a man and a horse or other type of companion to ride on.

Plus, their main gimmick is just charging in the front of the enemy which would be kinda boring if they repeatedly copy paste every detail since it usually is the same when you think about it.

 

[Ai-chan]

Ai-chan is pretty sure Ai-chan wrote about cavalry battle at some point in the past... but looking back, it seems like Ai-chan didn't post it here.

The problem with cavalry battles is that most people in the modern world has never ridden a horse. So in order to avoid making mistakes that will make people laugh at them, they chose to just write about stuff that they know through reading. Horseback fighting is also not very intuitive to most people. Until stirrups were invented, most 'cavalry' would only ride into the battlefield, but would dismount and fight on foot during the battle itself.

That being said, you dumbasses who never studied swordsmanship use the sword wrong! The kick is a desperate tactic in order to destabilize your opponent! It is not 'another move'. There is no 'another move' that involves a kick. If your kick destabilize your opponent, while keeping your position more or less the same, that is fine. The problem is when you kick, you also destabilize yourself!

A real swordsman will also not jump high in the air to do a downward slash. Doing so means you can't defend when your opponent sidesteps and slash you from the side. You can't evade, he can. You want both feet on the ground as much as possible. The first person to stand on one feet is almost confirmed to lose the battle, unless the other side loses both feet shortly after.

Keep your feet on the fucking ground!

 

[DarkeReises]

Ai-chan is pretty sure Ai-chan wrote about cavalry battle at some point in the past... but looking back, it seems like Ai-chan didn't post it here.

The problem with cavalry battles is that most people in the modern world has never ridden a horse. So in order to avoid making mistakes that will make people laugh at them, they chose to just write about stuff that they know through reading. Horseback fighting is also not very intuitive to most people. Until stirrups were invented, most 'cavalry' would only ride into the battlefield, but would dismount and fight on foot during the battle itself.

That being said, you dumbasses who never studied swordsmanship use the sword wrong! The kick is a desperate tactic in order to destabilize your opponent! It is not 'another move'. There is no 'another move' that involves a kick. If your kick destabilize your opponent, while keeping your position more or less the same, that is fine. The problem is when you kick, you also destabilize yourself!

A real swordsman will also not jump high in the air to do a downward slash. Doing so means you can't defend when your opponent sidesteps and slash you from the side. You can't evade, he can. You want both feet on the ground as much as possible. The first person to stand on one feet is almost confirmed to lose the battle, unless the other side loses both feet shortly after.

Keep your feet on the fucking ground!

Having encountered plenty of HEMA worshippers, I understand your pain, but also got dulled to it after a while of not focusing on HEMA for a while(Not that I knew much to begin with). But yeah, in realistic sword fights, or even fist fights, keep your feet on the ground. Jumping, and usually spinning around as well, are terrible ideas, since a lot of power comes up from the feet. In some cases the latter works, like in taekwondo, but there are downsides. And that's only in the case of hand to hand combat.

Also, doing a downward slash in the air... Is so many forms of stupid. Not only can you be evaded super easily, but the attack itself won't have as much power as a normal downward slash, no? Without the ground acting as resistance, you're wasting power by pushing yourself back, not to mention you can't keep continuous force after the blade contacts with something(whether the body or an opponents weapon, shield, armor, etc.), which defeats the purpose of a sword strike where you pull or push after contact. You don't just cleave in. Not exactly sure how accurate this information is, but pretty sure I heard stuff like that. Idk, I'm no sword expert.

 

[Echimera]

A good historical reference would be 'the winged hussars'. They used hollow six meter long long lances in their charges, and Turkish style saddles for their horses.

This allowed the rider and the horse to be more armored.

I object to the mention of Winged Hussars without the song.

Cavalry tends to work best in big formations to really use the advantage of a high mass charge into the enemy lines (ideally flanks of back, because rising into a wall of spears is stupid). That's really impressive in a visual medium, and when executed properly even works well in written form. But it doesn't lend itself to showing off a singular character, so it's more often used as a intro and/or backdrop to more personal fights.

Even Lord of the Rings, which as we all know has cavalry that keeps itself a kingdom, and has some awesome cavalry charges in it, does this.
In Helm's Deep the charge out of the castle is the beginning of the end of the battle, and it doesn't even come to the point where meaningful individual fights take place anymore, all that happened before.
In Minas Tirith, the charge is awesome and all that, but the meaningful parts happen after the cavalry has broken into the enemy formation, is split up and all relevant characters have lost their horses.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

I object to the mention of Winged Hussars without the song.

Cavalry tends to work best in big formations to really use the advantage of a high mass charge into the enemy lines (ideally flanks of back, because rising into a wall of spears is stupid). That's really impressive in a visual medium, and when executed properly even works well in written form. But it doesn't lend itself to showing off a singular character, so it's more often used as a intro and/or backdrop to more personal fights.

Even Lord of the Rings, which as we all know has cavalry that keeps itself a kingdom, and has some awesome cavalry charges in it, does this.
In Helm's Deep the charge out of the castle is the beginning of the end of the battle, and it doesn't even come to the point where meaningful individual fights take place anymore, all that happened before.
In Minas Tirith, the charge is awesome and all that, but the meaningful parts happen after the cavalry has broken into the enemy formation, is split up and all relevant characters have lost their horses.

I actually found out about the winged hussars without the help of Sabaton, but the band's song does them justice.

 

[Lloyd]

Calvary is good in a head to head but battles were actually rarely head to head and instead mostly sieges.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

Its mainly because quite difficult to write an MC that mainly focuses on Calvary. Your first thought would be using a companion to ride in the battle but you also consider the terrain to fight.

The best use of them would be open spaces which they are mainly shone in the battlefield. Apart from that, there's nothing really special apart from just writing them as having a combination of a man and a horse or other type of companion to ride on.

Plus, their main gimmick is just charging in the front of the enemy which would be kinda boring if they repeatedly copy paste every detail since it usually is the same when you think about it.

I don't know man a cavalry charge is always pretty intense to me; a lot of things can go wrong or right for the rider. That kind of high risk, high reward is something I like about calvary.

 

[CheertheDead]

Just imagine a group of Indian Heavy cavalry charging at your formation, and your allies were having their head bashed in by their gada.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Cavalry which has been a big mainstay for centuries in combat is almost never used in Fantasy.

And when it is, it is almost never the protagonist being a member of cavalry.

It is a shame that these badass shock troops never really get the respect they deserve in Fantasy. Anyone else feel the same?

They just the running guy on fire

 

[T.K._Paradox]

They just the running guy on fire

Nothing sends you to Valhalla quicker! Onward brother!

 

[Clori]

Playing Mount and Blade for so long has made me respect cavalry more than ever when it runs over your entire armies.

 

[Jemini]

I actually have a group in my world called "the Hidan riders." They are a tribal people with a power to tame animals, which they then use as mounts. I just recently finished writing an arc in my story that involved them crashing their way in on the backs of all kinds of animals and wiping out a group of bandits. It was a perfect victory, wiping out the bandits completely without a single rider casualty. Most of the reason for this was the cavalry advantage augmented several times over by the fact that rhinos were the ones leading the charge.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Nothing sends you to Valhalla quicker! Onward brother!

I mean the first guy in the arrow formwiron