Cavalry?! What for?!

[Kietharr]

The only mounted units I build are chariots and calvary. Chariots counter axemen well, but HAs are useless for the mostpart, far better macemen counters are available.

 

[futurehermit]

Numidian Cavalry...have a free Flanking I

This makes them one of the best UUs in the game. The fact that you can promote them to Cavalry with free flanking I is uber because flanking II/combat II-IV Cavalry are some powerful units. But besides being powerful promoted units, Numidians are powerful on their own terms. Flanking II/combat I units go in first then combat II/flanking I units mop up. You can conquer a lot of territory with these guys.

In Warlords the mounted units are next to to useless for attacks.

While the -10% city attack is unfortunate, mounted units are still powerful attack forces. Perhaps your argument holds for horse archers--and to be honest I don't build a lot of them--but if you hit knights before your opponent has pikes or cavalry before your opponent has rifles you can blow through an opponent empire like a knife through hot butter.

 

[GenocideBringer]

Don't know what all the hate is for horse archers.

A shock horse archer can kill anything save for spearmen.

It can pillage the hell out of the guy's resources, stopping him from building spears, axes, or swords

they kill groups of catapults.

 

[futurehermit]

the problem with horse archers is not the unit itself (I think they are pretty decent, esp in BtS) but rather the dead-end techs required to build them in a timely manner. i am usually too busy going for currency/col/monarchy/construction/calendar/cs/etc. to take a time out for hbriding/archery, especially when my other military units take care of any problems I'm having.

however, if I am mongolia or carthage OR if I don't have iron/copper/ivory then I will plan to make them.

 

[civfan2.0]

all i say is if the enemy has spearmen take em out with swordsmen Then move in the horses

 

[Gooblah]

Hmmm...As far as i can tell, cavalry appear to be good if promo'ed properly (i.e. Flanking I/II and/or Combat II-IV). In Warlords, they also counter axes. They are good for mopping up battlegrounds and pillaging, as well as high-speed worker capture. All in all, i have learned a lot of new strategies for them.
Thanks a lot, all...
Gooblah

 

[GenocideBringer]

the problem with horse archers is not the unit itself (I think they are pretty decent, esp in BtS) but rather the dead-end techs required to build them in a timely manner. i am usually too busy going for currency/col/monarchy/construction/calendar/cs/etc. to take a time out for hbriding/archery, especially when my other military units take care of any problems I'm having.

Well, for one, you need Horseback Riding for war elephants, too. Secondly, you can trade HBR for the other techs you need.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

You don't need HBR for elephants! Just construction and hunting (for the camp). It's handy for stables though.

 

[mudphud]

The horse archer's ability to flank attack cats and trebs can be nice when your opponent is pulling up next to your city with a stack of 8+ trebs. I do often get HRB late when it doesn't take long to research or grab it off someone in exchange for peace but even at that point a few horse archers but they rarely make up a significant part of my army.

 

[Percy]

You don't need HBR for elephants! Just construction and hunting (for the camp). It's handy for stables though.

In BtS at least, you need HBR, Construction, and Ivory.

You actually need HBR for every unit riding a horse, i believe. That's true for Knights, Cuirassiers, and Cavalry (and their Unique versions, i presume).

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Righto. I haven't got BtS.

In warlords you don't need HBR for chariots (including war chariots and immortals) and elephants but you do for everything else.

That kind of nerfs dumbo then in BtS.

 

[popejubal]

The only mounted units I build are chariots and calvary.

What if you don't have any Baptists available? They're not an especially common resource.

 

[BronzeAge]

In Warlords the mounted units are next to to useless for attacks. The counter-units are cheap and have great advantages from cities and fortify. But the mounted units are good for counter-attacking an incoming enemy stack. Besides you get more XP when attacking then when defending.

I suggest you take a close look at the true strength of mounted units from any one of Obsolete's walkthroughs. There is far more to them than just counter-attacking stacks.

 

[Antilogic]

Second BronzeAge's post...although I haven't gone through those walkthroughs, I tend to use mounted units whenever I can. They have a mobility advantage to die for, and typically your enemy does not mass spearmen unless it is a UU. Counterattacking, pillaging, and city attacking after softening up with siege equipment are all typical uses for cavalry in my game.

I'll also use cavalry to hunt down enemy cavalry that try to pillage in my lands...sometimes, they manage to evade my spears by appearing on the frontiers, pillaging, and then running away before I can catch them.