Post by dpd on Jun 2, 2023 12:16:14 GMT
Never liked the lack of differentiation between bow armed and javelin armed cavalry and light horse.
Not because of weaponry, but because these two types of horsemen actually fought differently (the basis of DBA rules) and fought in different terrain with different battlefield roles.
Light Horse should be divided as follows:
"Hobelars", javelin armed light horse (Irish Hobelars, Numidian horse, Moorish horse, Spanish jinetes, Alexander's Thracian and Paeonian light horse) were mostly horsemen that fought in rough terrain (Irish bogs, Balkan mountains, North African deserts, etc.) and placed more emphasis on melee over missile tactics.
and
"Horse Archers", bow armed light horse (Parthians, Mongol light cavalry, Huns, Timurids, and the Dahae horse archers recruited by Alexander after his campaigns in Central Asia - the only army I've found that had both types of light horse) were mostly horsemen that fought in open terrain (steppes of Asia) and placed more emphasis on missile tactics over melee.
Cavalry should be divided as follows:
"Equites", javelin armed cavalry (Greek hippeis, Roman equites, Achaemenid Persian cavalry, Gallic horse) were mostly cavalry that combined a missile assault with a volley of javelins and darts with an immediate clash of a cavalry charge.
and
"Kataphractoi", bow armed cavalry (Late Roman bucceliari, Byzantine kataphractoi, Egyptian Mamelukes, Mongol heavy cavalry) first weakened their enemy with repeated volleys of arrows before pressing home the charge.
So how to differentiate them?
Since javelin armed troopers place greater emphasis on melee and shock, they should be considered the "Solid" (solid-ish?) version while the bow armed units with their emphasis on speed and missile tactics would be the "Fast" (fast-ish?) version.
And so we have:
2lh = horse archers
3lh (new) = hobelars
(Similar differentiation to camelry 2cm and 3cm)
3cv = kataphractoi
4cv (new) = equites
(Similar differentiation to knights 3kn and 4kn)
Thoughts or comments?
Not because of weaponry, but because these two types of horsemen actually fought differently (the basis of DBA rules) and fought in different terrain with different battlefield roles.
Light Horse should be divided as follows:
"Hobelars", javelin armed light horse (Irish Hobelars, Numidian horse, Moorish horse, Spanish jinetes, Alexander's Thracian and Paeonian light horse) were mostly horsemen that fought in rough terrain (Irish bogs, Balkan mountains, North African deserts, etc.) and placed more emphasis on melee over missile tactics.
and
"Horse Archers", bow armed light horse (Parthians, Mongol light cavalry, Huns, Timurids, and the Dahae horse archers recruited by Alexander after his campaigns in Central Asia - the only army I've found that had both types of light horse) were mostly horsemen that fought in open terrain (steppes of Asia) and placed more emphasis on missile tactics over melee.
Cavalry should be divided as follows:
"Equites", javelin armed cavalry (Greek hippeis, Roman equites, Achaemenid Persian cavalry, Gallic horse) were mostly cavalry that combined a missile assault with a volley of javelins and darts with an immediate clash of a cavalry charge.
and
"Kataphractoi", bow armed cavalry (Late Roman bucceliari, Byzantine kataphractoi, Egyptian Mamelukes, Mongol heavy cavalry) first weakened their enemy with repeated volleys of arrows before pressing home the charge.
So how to differentiate them?
Since javelin armed troopers place greater emphasis on melee and shock, they should be considered the "Solid" (solid-ish?) version while the bow armed units with their emphasis on speed and missile tactics would be the "Fast" (fast-ish?) version.
And so we have:
2lh = horse archers
3lh (new) = hobelars
(Similar differentiation to camelry 2cm and 3cm)
3cv = kataphractoi
4cv (new) = equites
(Similar differentiation to knights 3kn and 4kn)
Thoughts or comments?