Cavalry is underrated

[DarkeReises]

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

Understandable

 

[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?

When the winged hussars arrive!

 

[Bartun]

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?

Yeah, it is rare to find good cavalry battles in fiction. As someone who was on the wrong side of a cavalry charge, I can tell firsthand how terrifying it can be.

I'm going to write several cavalry charges in my story, in the later chapters. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[CypherTails]

A cavalry-focused MC is a story I have thought of writing but I ran into some problems when planning the story. So I can share why I decided to shelve the idea.

The initial idea is that the MC will ride a horse but considering the world was rather fantasy style (Elves, Dragons, etc) I felt the horse was pretty shit (at least a normal one). A normal horse is only really useful on the open plains and would struggle on more difficult terrain. So that means the MC would have to lead the horse slowly through these types of terrain and eventually I felt the horse would just end up as a hindrance.

So then it became a magic horse, then a magic wolf that the MC could ride. But then I ran into the problem of how was I going to make the reader attached to this animal. Which I felt posed a significant challenge to write, as conversations were out of the question and the only thing on the table would be descriptions and actions. I could easily make the reader know that the MC valued his mount but to make the reader themselves care and be invested is another thing entirely.

Then I tried the idea of making the magic wolf be able to talk to resolve this problem. This solved the problem of the above-mentioned restriction but then the final problem came that broke the story idea. I couldn't come up with a plotline that really played into a mounted MC's strengths, because simply put the more I thought about it the more interchangeable it would be with other similar mechanics. Like flying or running really fast. The mounted part would just become a gimmick rather than something unique narratively. It would just be like an MC with an animal friend as they tear themselves across the story. One plotline on the table was a slice of lifestyle plot but I hate writing those so I dumped that quite quickly.

So overall I felt that the mounted mechanic added little to the story besides offering a gimmick. Instead of having a story about a mounted mc it would be a fantasy story where the MC just happened to be mounted on some animal. Which didn't sit well with me so the idea ended up in the trash.

 

[LordJoyde]

Can't use cav when the protag farts and moves at the speed of light, stabbing through you and your horse buddy.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

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?

I appreciate a fellow Cavalry Enjoyer, but I believe it’s a matter of logistics. Cavalry acts as a unit rather than an individual, meaning you’ll have to flesh out several different characters. There is also the matter of horses being extremely expensive to care for, requiring shelter, as well as large amounts of food and water. Horses also take longer than humans to recover from injuries, and certain injuries such as leg injuries are near impossible to recover from. I can see you using the fantasy element to write around some limitations, but they are still there.

 

[Arkus86]

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.

If your cavalry charges the front of enemy formation, you're just asking to decimate your cavalry. Unless the formation in question is a rabble with no morale and/or without spears or spikes to protect themselves.

What you want is a surprise charge into unprotected enemy flanks or rear, hopefuly routing them before you get bogged down in melee.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Cavalry is so-so.

 

[SakeVision]

I use cavalry in my fantasy, if it makes you feel happier.

I love using cavalry in total war games too.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

I love using cavalry in total war games too.

Im a Brettonia simp in TWW. Love microing me some cavalry.

 

[Echimera]

Im a Brettonia simp in TWW. Love microing me some cavalry.

I'm looking forward to doing so with weaponized lawnmowers in game 3.

 

[Mandark]

In real life, Calvary was so powerful because a horse is so much more powerful than a person. In high fantasy settings, usually, humans are far and away the most powerful creatures.

So much so that there aren’t even regular army formations since if there were, they would be blasted to bits by magic.

The only solution I can see to this is to make magic army formations (so you could still have regular army maneuver) and make it so humans are weaker - so that you won’t have 1 powerful mage just rip through magic creatures/beats thus negating the effectI’ve ness of a magical horse.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

In real life, Calvary was so powerful because a horse is so much more powerful than a person. In high fantasy settings, usually, humans are far and away the most powerful creatures.

So much so that there aren’t even regular army formations since if there were, they would be blasted to bits by magic.

The only solution I can see to this is to make magic army formations (so you could still have regular army maneuver) and make it so humans are weaker - so that you won’t have 1 powerful mage just rip through magic creatures/beats thus negating the effectI’ve ness of a magical horse.

Careful there, it is almost like you're saying you want there to be a reasonable balance in fantasy.

Keep going down this line of thought the harem smut LitRPG isekai crowd will be kicking in your door.

 

[NobleTalon]

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

It's not very versatile after all.

I think I've read one too, I don't remember the name tho.

It was something like dragon rider or drake knight cuz at the end he started to use dragons instead of horses as his mounts lmao

and to answer the main topic, in this novel the author focused a lot on cavalry with original tactics and strategy (and a bit of magic)

There was cavalry vs cavalry, cavalry vs foot soldiers, cavalry vs archers etc. and the MC is almost always using a mount when fighting, he rarely fights alone.

It was a pretty good novel, I should try to find it out of my firefox history so I can read the new chapters

 

[Twistedskald]

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.

Cavalry were actually very versatile set of military assets. They were used for scouting, skirmishing, raiding, flanking, etc, the aspect here is that cavalry were highly mobile compared to infantry, so nations with expansive borders or constant border crisis would be incentivized to invest heavily in cavalry. There even formations of irregular cavalry, essentially a militia on horseback, early Hussars and the infamous Russian Cossacks are great examples of this. In fact Cossacks were highly crucial during Napolean's Russian campaign because Napoleon relied heavily on cavalry to gather intel, the Cossacks never launched any glorious massed charges they denied the French from being able to do any recon in addition denying them access to supplies and off small segments of the enemy army.
There are a great many uses or cavalry in warfare. You could have a siege were the protagonist is stuck outside of a city were many friends and family trapped inside by an enemy army, the mc could form up a light cavalry unit to raid the enemies camp in order to destroy their food stores and force them to retreat.

 

[Irl_Rat]

I'm looking forward to doing so with weaponized lawnmowers in game 3.

Simply play khorne and recruit some skullcrushers. Or slaanesh with that absurd flanking trait.

 

[BigBadBoi]

Cavalry isn't underrated. Most authors just suck, don't do their research, and underestimste how a group of galloping wave of death cavalry of death can annihilate an army if done strategically.

 

[Nekroz]

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?

Yeah.

 

[SilvCrimBlac]

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

No, this was only true in the Middle Ages. In the era of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, pitched battles were the norm since the Greeks lacked the resources to fight lengthy campaigns and so preferred betting most conflicts on a single pitched battle. It wasn't until the entry of Persia that long-term campaigns became the new established norm for Greek military practice. I mean the Phalanx was developed by the Greeks due to their preference for pitched battles, which the Macedonians improved upon. The only Greek people besides the Macedonians who ever had any cavalry worth mentioning and in numbers worth using in battle, were the city-states of the Thessalian Plains, most famously, Thebes where the first elite Greek unit of cavalry was created. The Sacred Band of Thebes. Phillip II and then Alexander the Great modeled their own elite cavalry units off of their methods.

Same as the Romans. Pitched battles were the norm, and they were preferred since Legions were trained specifically to fight in pitched battles which is where there advantage lay. Most of the "barbarian" tribes Rome fought, also preferred pitched battles due to this being central to their warrior culture, being Celtic Gaulish and Germanic culture.

Rome never possessed their own elite cavalry units until their Byzantine Empire days, before that, they were almost entirely made of 'barbarian" auxiliaries contracted for a certain amount of time to provide military service. They didn't make their own cavalry until the Eastern Emperor Leo I, (457-474 A.D.), which he did only because of the constant issues he was having with his Gothic generals and auxiliary units. That and Emperor Valens death during a Gothic revolt in 378 during the Battle of Adrianople was still fresh on their minds. Emperor Theodosius, who took power after Valens, after successfully starving out most of the Gothic rebels under Fritigern, attempted to make an elite cavalry unit but spent a good portion of his reign fighting usurpers, the most famous of these being Magnus Maximus and Eugenius with his Frankish right-hand man, Arbogast. Then he needed to keep large contingents of Gothic auxiliary cavalry on his eastern borders with the Sasanian Empire, who were still fighting frequent border clashes despite no outright war being declared. That, and the conflicts with the Persians over Armenia were still fresh in everyone's minds.

Theodosius attempted but never found the time to complete the attempt due to him being on one battlefield or another for the majority of his reign. His last series of battles were in 394, and then he died in 395. Man never had the time. Hell, another good example, Justinian the Great's main general, Belisarius, considered one of the best generals in all of the Early Middle Ages, his armies he marched to reconquer most of the Western Empire's lost territory from the Vandals and the Ostrogoths...his army was 2/3's cavalry. Then you have the early Muslims during the Rashidun Caliphate, the empire Muhammad's religious conquests eventually created, however short lived, their best general was Khalid ibn al-Walid, he was considered their greatest Muslims general of that entire era, and his speciality was using cavalry in unorthodox ways. He was so feared and respected on the battlefield, he was called the Sword of God.

​

So, The Ancient or Antiquity Era as some call it, warfare was predominantly settled by pitched battles in Europe. And lol, in China, siege battles were far, far less common than pitched battles. So again, the only time sieges were more common was in the Middle Ages.

 

[T.K._Paradox]

No, this was only true in the Middle Ages. In the era of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, pitched battles were the norm since the Greeks lacked the resources to fight lengthy campaigns and so preferred betting most conflicts on a single pitched battle. It wasn't until the entry of Persia that long-term campaigns became the new established norm for Greek military practice. I mean the Phalanx was developed by the Greeks due to their preference for pitched battles, which the Macedonians improved upon. The only Greek people besides the Macedonians who ever had any cavalry worth mentioning and in numbers worth using in battle, were the city-states of the Thessalian Plains, most famously, Thebes where the first elite Greek unit of cavalry was created. The Sacred Band of Thebes. Phillip II and then Alexander the Great modeled their own elite cavalry units off of their methods. Same as the Romans. Pitched battles were the norm, and they were preferred since Legions were trained specifically to fight in pitched battles which is where there advantage lay. Most of the "barbarian" tribes Rome fought, also preferred pitched battles due to this being central to their warrior culture, being Celtic Gaulish and Germanic culture.

Rome never possessed their own elite cavalry units until their Byzantine Empire days, before that, they were almost entirely made of 'barbarian" auxiliaries contracted for a certain amount of time to provide military service. They didn't make their own cavalry until the Eastern Emperor Leo I, (457-474 A.D.), which he did only because of the constant issues he was having with his Gothic generals and auxiliary units. That and Emperor Valens death during a Gothic revolt in 378 during the Battle of Adrianople was still fresh on their minds. Emperor Theodosius, who took power after Valens, after successfully starving out most of the Gothic rebels under Fritigern, attempted to make an elite cavalry unit but spent a good portion of his reign fighting usurpers, the most famous of these being Magnus Maximus and Eugenius with his Frankish right-hand man, Arbogast. Then he needed to keep large contingents of Gothic auxiliary cavalry on his eastern borders with the Sasanian Empire, who were still fighting frequent border clashes despite no outright war being declared. That, and the conflicts with the Persians over Armenia were still fresh in everyone's minds.

Theodosius attempted but never found the time to complete the attempt due to him being on one battlefield or another for the majority of his reign. His last series of battles were in 394, and then he died in 395. Man never had the time. Hell, another good example, Justinian the Great's main general, Belisarius, considered one of the best generals in all of the Early Middle Ages, his armies he marched to reconquer most of the Western Empire's lost territory from the Vandals and the Ostrogoths...his army was 2/3's cavalry. Then you have the early Muslims during the Rashidun Caliphate, the empire Muhammad's religious conquests eventually created, however short lived, their best general was Khalid ibn al-Walid, he was considered their greatest Muslims general of that entire era, and his speciality was using cavalry in unorthodox ways. He was so feared and respected on the battlefield, he was called the Sword of God.

​

So, The Ancient or Antiquity Era as some call it, warfare was predominantly settled by pitched battles in Europe. And lol, in China, siege battles were far, far less common than pitched battles. So again, the only time sieges were more common was in the Middle Ages.

Was wondering when you were going to show up. Glad to hear more historical examples on cavalry.