Cavalry, Charge!

[IhatehateBtS]

When I play I almost NEVER build cavalry prefering instead (assuming I'm on the attack) to build tons of good infantry (with some differentiation...pikemen/axemen whihch are solely for Defense while on the move) and LOTS and LOTS of artillery. I tend t think the cavalry cannot attack on its own and be successful very often. What do you guys do?

(studying WW1 MAY put me off on cavalry preternaturally, who knows)

 

[L4zXX0r]

To be honest, it all depends on the situation. I will say this about cavalry units, beside the chariot (which is a specialized cav unit) I like to use them primarily as pillages, and home land defense. When I say defense, I mean I keep them in cities and use them to attack people who are about to stage a siege upon one of my cities. I really don't think horse units are worth it until knights mostly. Of course, if it's my UU then I do care. I have found there is nothing like a few veteran Cavarly especially if they have a GG attached to them. You can make them into awesome attacking machines designed to take out melee/archery/gunpowder... However, as I stated, I find horse units best for fighting on an open battlefield.

 

[aronnax]

I never built cavalry too.

Chariots suck at fighting anything but axemen
Horsearchers are better off scouting
Knights are more useful for pillaging by for some @#$% reason the enemy stack has a war elephant or a pikemen
War Elephants, i rather have a Maceman
Coi#$%^&*, ????
Cavalry is a little better But i rather have Riflemen

I agree with ^^ that cavalry is better off for city defense. I never use them for wars

 

[L4zXX0r]

I never built cavalry too.

Chariots suck at fighting anything but axemen
Horsearchers are better off scouting
Knights are more useful for pillaging by for some @#$% reason the enemy stack has a war elephant or a pikemen
War Elephants, i rather have a Maceman
Coi#$%^&*, ????
Cavalry is a little better But i rather have Riflemen

I agree with ^^ that cavalry is better off for city defense. I never use them for wars

I've done Keshik rushes before. But, once the AI see's me with a lot of horses, they seem to spam out spearmen.

 

[lutzj]

then do a numidian cavalry rush: like an axe rush, but the AI is pre-dispositioned to make spears! remember to give 'em shock

 

[Bushface]

I use cavalry a lot, provided that I can train them early enough for them to be the strongest units in existence. Train where there's a Barracks and a Stable, of course, so they start with Combat 2; work them up to Combat 3, then to 17XP and give them Blitz as soon as that promo is available. Later, upgrade them to Gunships. Up to four attacks per turn with strength 31.2, rising to 33.6 when they've attained Combat 4 - very useful, very fast units.

 

[stoots]

Mounted units have their place.

Flanking II can be very handy.
Any game where I have ivory, I'll find myself with more War Elephants than any other military unit during their age.

Variety is the key to having an army that can adapt to whatever the situation calls for.

 

[Scaramanga]

I find Flanking promotions to be cause enough to build cavalry units. And, of course, if my civ's UU is mounted then I'll make sure to get the most of them.

 

[Mr. Civtastic]

Cavalry are great because with the stables and some combination of military specialists and civics, its very easy to get them combat I, combat II AND pinch. That makes them more then relevant for Infantry and Marines. You give them pinch and they will be an effective fighting force until TANKS. Plus they make great pillagers, solid range, get xp from barracks and stables...all the things that make mounted units fantastic. Plus another thing I like to do if I am about to raze a city is use my cavalry (or any horse unit) for the last kill so that I can move the unit back to my stack (and under the protection of my medic III GG) instead of stranding him on a tile by himself, wounded.

Thats why I like civs with mounted UUs that predate cavalry. By the time you get cavalry you will have a huge base of strong mounted units. Thats when you make your run at the domination/conquest victory.

 

[Carnage04]

I'll crank them out after my initial force is built. I'll take slightly worse power in favor of getting to the front nearly twice as fast.

 

[LemonJello]

I use mounted units as my reaction force, I stack them in a few key spots throughout my territory (maybe on a tile with a fort if I can spare the worker) and use them to rush at an enemy SoD or pillagers before they can do too much damage. They also make for good scouts/pillagers of my own; I like to keep the AI chasing them around while my main force either heals or moves on to my next target.

 

[SLM]

I used to undervalue cav's too, but with flanking II they make excellent attackers even if the odds are low. Besides, with a medic, commando or blitz promotion they make for radical gunships

 

[Andraeianus I]

I use mounted units for harrassing stacks and taking out individual units. By giving them flanking promotions they have good chance of survival even if the odds of winning are low. Simply attack with another mounted unit and you have a more than fair chance of winning and survival of your (counter)attackers. Chariots are good for conquering early cities, especially if there are no spears around. Six chariots are sufficient for taking out an enemy city guarded by three archers and you will still have about 4 chariots left!

 

[Diamondeye]

Mounted units are great - although there are some cases where they aren't of much use. Generally speaking, they are a good addition to an army and can provide some cover for outsider units such as xbows or machineguns.

 

[lutzj]

cataphracts with flanking II rock, it's like having a knight with combat II but with the withdraw bonus. keep in mind that shock horse archers are as good as axes against most early infantry

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I use mounted units a lot, but only in FfH, not vanilla BtS. A unit with potentially 5+ movement is much more useful than one with only movement 2.

 

[kniteowl]

Try out a Stack of Charismatic 13XP (4 Promotions) Cavalry with Spies revolting Cities while your Cavalry SOD quickly conquers left, right and center.

 

[jackdog]

Also almost never use Cav, prefer to go straight for reiflemen first and then infantry, if you have a teh lead as you should then the riflemen take care of the mounted stuff below cav due to their bonus and then when you have infantry and the others have muskets or rifleman if you are unlucky their 25% vs gunpower is very useful with the extra promo for this.

I don't know if you dont have the tech lead maybe..I would. I used to always play catherine in old civ 4 no mods or expansions get to cav first then wipe everyone out with them, they were a bit over powered then but now seem to lack a little something..

 

[laserburn]

I don't know if you dont have the tech lead maybe..I would. I used to always play catherine in old civ 4 no mods or expansions get to cav first then wipe everyone out with them, they were a bit over powered then but now seem to lack a little something..

Cossacks are weakened, no doubt, but this strategy still works. Cossacks can't be well countered with Cavalry or Grenadiers, so if your oponent doesn't have Riflemen, he's in trouble.

I hate being next to Cathy on a map, because I know the back-stabing b*tch will try to pull a cossak rush no matter how friendly we are. That's why I always have to get to rifling early if she's around.

 

[eewallace]

A small cavalry stack that accompanies your main attackers is great. 2-4 cavalry, along with 1-2 defender/medic and they can spread out in a tight circle and pillage/heal/move/pillage, etc.