Hamilton321
Prince
"Without cavalry, battles are without result." -Napoleon
In this article I will provide a brief overview of the various light cavalry units of Great Britain, France and Austria. I will avoid covering elite light cavalry units because unless you are playing online battles you will be far less likely to encounter these than you will the non-elite units. This guide is intended for people who play standard campaign. So first let us talk about some of the roles of light cavalry. Much like in the real Napoleonic wars, in Napoleon total war light cavalry have superior speed and stamina to other cavalry units and therefore are suited to quickly attack isolated units, disrupt the formation of enemy lines, force the enemy to be more cautious with his forces, run down enemy light troops, charge into artillery and slaughter routing infantry.
The formations available in Napoleon Total War are the close order line formation and the diamond or echelon formation. Sadly one is unable to use certain real life cavalry formations such as the extended order formation used for skirmishing. Light cavalry should not engage in direct melee during the peak of battle when heavier units are available and when they are used they should charge, disengage and then charge again. Light cavalry should not engage in battle with heavy cavalry. To properly use light cavalry requires a fair amount of micromanagement, however if one learns how to use light cavalry successfully in conjunction with other units then they will be rewarded with decisive victory in battle.
Now that I have spoken of some basic roles and tactics, let us compare the various factions' light cavalry. First of all, the standard light cavalry of Russia, Prussia and most minor factions: the hussar with stats of 9/15/6/6: attack:9 charge bonus: 15 defense: 6 and morale: 6 Hussars are the cheapest and most basic cavalry unit. They are weak in prolonged melee but strong when charging. Next there is the Hungarian Hussars, these are the light cavalry of Austria, they are both more expensive and more effective. their stats are 11/17/9/8 This makes them well suited to fight other light cavalry and engage in prolonged melee against enemy lancers.
Next there is the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Grande Armee. They have relatively poor cavalry stats of 10/12/9/8 making them poor at charging, in addition they cannot for echelon formation further limiting their melee capabilities against infantry, however they have guns and can skirmish, meaning they are very effective at firing from a distance and falling back when focused by the enemy. Chasseurs a cheval are far better in practice than they are on paper and they are simply excellent skirmishers. If properly managed they can cause massive disruption, they work excellently with chasseurs, horse artillery and voltiguers.
Finally, British light dragoons which are the most expensive standard light cavalry to maintain and are quite unique. Light dragoons can dismount, but have quite mediocre gunnery skills. They are also impetuous, which makes them able to remain in melee for longer without breaking. their stats are 10/12/8/6 I find these units to be inferior to the chasseurs a cheval in many ways. They have echelon formation, but lack the stats to really take advantage of it.
In terms of what I think is the best light cavalry I would say that the Hungarian Hussars are the best at independent operations and can easily defeat other light and medium cavalry units if used correctly, and the chasseurs a cheval are best when pushing a flank in conjunction with other units and the chasseurs a cheval fit very well with the rest of the French unit roster both on offensive and defensive. I find the light dragoons to be mediocre operating independently but effective when pushing a flank alongside other units. This is all for now, later on I might provide an analysis of standard cavalry, probably not heavy cavalry as that is pretty straightforward. Dos vidaniya.
In this article I will provide a brief overview of the various light cavalry units of Great Britain, France and Austria. I will avoid covering elite light cavalry units because unless you are playing online battles you will be far less likely to encounter these than you will the non-elite units. This guide is intended for people who play standard campaign. So first let us talk about some of the roles of light cavalry. Much like in the real Napoleonic wars, in Napoleon total war light cavalry have superior speed and stamina to other cavalry units and therefore are suited to quickly attack isolated units, disrupt the formation of enemy lines, force the enemy to be more cautious with his forces, run down enemy light troops, charge into artillery and slaughter routing infantry.
The formations available in Napoleon Total War are the close order line formation and the diamond or echelon formation. Sadly one is unable to use certain real life cavalry formations such as the extended order formation used for skirmishing. Light cavalry should not engage in direct melee during the peak of battle when heavier units are available and when they are used they should charge, disengage and then charge again. Light cavalry should not engage in battle with heavy cavalry. To properly use light cavalry requires a fair amount of micromanagement, however if one learns how to use light cavalry successfully in conjunction with other units then they will be rewarded with decisive victory in battle.
Now that I have spoken of some basic roles and tactics, let us compare the various factions' light cavalry. First of all, the standard light cavalry of Russia, Prussia and most minor factions: the hussar with stats of 9/15/6/6: attack:9 charge bonus: 15 defense: 6 and morale: 6 Hussars are the cheapest and most basic cavalry unit. They are weak in prolonged melee but strong when charging. Next there is the Hungarian Hussars, these are the light cavalry of Austria, they are both more expensive and more effective. their stats are 11/17/9/8 This makes them well suited to fight other light cavalry and engage in prolonged melee against enemy lancers.
Next there is the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Grande Armee. They have relatively poor cavalry stats of 10/12/9/8 making them poor at charging, in addition they cannot for echelon formation further limiting their melee capabilities against infantry, however they have guns and can skirmish, meaning they are very effective at firing from a distance and falling back when focused by the enemy. Chasseurs a cheval are far better in practice than they are on paper and they are simply excellent skirmishers. If properly managed they can cause massive disruption, they work excellently with chasseurs, horse artillery and voltiguers.
Finally, British light dragoons which are the most expensive standard light cavalry to maintain and are quite unique. Light dragoons can dismount, but have quite mediocre gunnery skills. They are also impetuous, which makes them able to remain in melee for longer without breaking. their stats are 10/12/8/6 I find these units to be inferior to the chasseurs a cheval in many ways. They have echelon formation, but lack the stats to really take advantage of it.
In terms of what I think is the best light cavalry I would say that the Hungarian Hussars are the best at independent operations and can easily defeat other light and medium cavalry units if used correctly, and the chasseurs a cheval are best when pushing a flank in conjunction with other units and the chasseurs a cheval fit very well with the rest of the French unit roster both on offensive and defensive. I find the light dragoons to be mediocre operating independently but effective when pushing a flank alongside other units. This is all for now, later on I might provide an analysis of standard cavalry, probably not heavy cavalry as that is pretty straightforward. Dos vidaniya.
