Boris Gudenuf
Deity
To trot back to Cossacks for a moment.
By not making them replace other cavalry, that indicates that Russia may be the only Civ that can have both tank units and horse cavalry (Cossack) units together throughout their Age.
That is actually quite a neat bit of game design, because the Soviet Army was the last major military force on the planet to have a large horse cavalry force even after they had formed a large mechanized/armored force.
In April 1943 the Soviet cavalry arm still contained over 230,000 men and horses in 7 Guards Cavalry Corps and 4 regular Cavalry Corps. (at the same time they had some 37 tank and mechanized corps) And the cavalry divisions each had a tank regiment included, so the cavalry could dismount and ride the tanks into battle. More often they rode their horses, though, because that made them a much more dispersed target and still got them to the enemy lines as fast as the tanks did. While the Cossacks and regular cavalry were both frequently photographed waving sabers in a charge, they actually fought far more often with submachine guns, which half of them carried, or on foot with normal infantry weapons - a dismounted horse cavalry regiment was the equivalent of a rifle battalion in strength but with twice the number of heavy machineguns and a third more submachineguns, making them very effective assault troops with or without their horses.
And for reference, the Soviet cavalry arm of April 1943 was probably the second largest cavalry force ever fielded, second only to Chingis' massive mounted Mongolian force that invaded and destroyed the Khwarazmiam Empire in 1219 - 1221 CE.
So much for Cossackish Trivia - back to our regularly scheduled Speculation . . .
By not making them replace other cavalry, that indicates that Russia may be the only Civ that can have both tank units and horse cavalry (Cossack) units together throughout their Age.
That is actually quite a neat bit of game design, because the Soviet Army was the last major military force on the planet to have a large horse cavalry force even after they had formed a large mechanized/armored force.
In April 1943 the Soviet cavalry arm still contained over 230,000 men and horses in 7 Guards Cavalry Corps and 4 regular Cavalry Corps. (at the same time they had some 37 tank and mechanized corps) And the cavalry divisions each had a tank regiment included, so the cavalry could dismount and ride the tanks into battle. More often they rode their horses, though, because that made them a much more dispersed target and still got them to the enemy lines as fast as the tanks did. While the Cossacks and regular cavalry were both frequently photographed waving sabers in a charge, they actually fought far more often with submachine guns, which half of them carried, or on foot with normal infantry weapons - a dismounted horse cavalry regiment was the equivalent of a rifle battalion in strength but with twice the number of heavy machineguns and a third more submachineguns, making them very effective assault troops with or without their horses.
And for reference, the Soviet cavalry arm of April 1943 was probably the second largest cavalry force ever fielded, second only to Chingis' massive mounted Mongolian force that invaded and destroyed the Khwarazmiam Empire in 1219 - 1221 CE.
So much for Cossackish Trivia - back to our regularly scheduled Speculation . . .