Horseman

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"Day was the grandeur that was borne before the horse as he galloped,
 the eastern ocean gave it birth;
 night was the grandeur that was borne behind him
 and its birth was from the other waters."

—The Upanisads

In game[edit | edit source]

Lhorse ron.png
Horsemen — Vital statistics

Light melee cavalry, cheap to create and capable of good speed and flexibility

Prereq: Build time HP LOS Attack Attack speed Movement
speed
Upgrades to
Level 3: Heraldry and Code of Honour Military
11.9s
(175t)
59 3 8 3s
(45t)
34 Jav rkc.png
Cost Created from Armour Weapon range Specialty
Base Ramp Pop
Timber: 50;
Food.jpg: 10
Timber: 1
1 Stable.png None Melee
  • Bonus damage versus light infantry.
  • Bonus damage versus light infantry.
  • Attack penalty versus camels, elephants.
  • Defensive penalty versus heavy infantry.

Roundel ark.png Roundel knaan.png Roundel mitanni.png Roundel teresh.png Roundel scythoi.png Roundel othala.png Roundel celtic.png Roundel yin.png Roundel greek.png Roundel zhou.png Roundel elamite.png Roundel s3ba.png Roundel troy.png Roundel vietnam.png Roundel hatti.png Roundle qmt.png Roundel ord.png Roundel bbwel.png Roundle nub.png Roundel bharat.png Tartessos.png Roundel korea.png Roundel assur.png Roundel melayu.png Xianyu.png Roundel sibir.png Roundel media.png Roundel gaul.png Roundle belgae.png Roundel garama.png Roundel hellenic.png Roundel rome.png Roundel illyria.png Choson.png Nan yue.png Roundel japan.png Roundel .khmer.png Roundel germania.png

Overall strategy[edit | edit source]

The very first true cavalry unit you will receive, Horsemen are in effect warriors that ride on horseback. Unfortunately in the early stages of Warbirth, horses reflect their early Bronze Age counterparts - they are fairly weak, and suffer from poor attack speed, thus they work only against very light units with almost no armour. Chariots are far more useful as they have the same speed, yet have better offensive strength, but if you are planning to upgrade later in the game to Javelin Cavalry, it isn't a bad idea to raise a vast number of Horsemen early on and to keep them alive as a defensive force against light melee and ranged units.

Some factions, however, do have some proficiency with mounted cavalry, but do not train Horsemen. For instance, the Arabs are capable of raising Camel Warriors instead of Horsemen, while the Phrygians can raise Phrygian Horsemen, which are trained more quickly and run faster.

Unit summary[edit | edit source]

  • Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee — Scout Cavalry are meant to make quick and fast strikes on unarmoured foes.
  • Keep Away From Sharp Sticks — The bane of Scout Cavalry units are spear-armed units such as Spearmen and Lancers — if you see any, run away!
  • Alforrats — Catalan scout cavalry can be raised as mercenaries by the Sicilians, costing Wealth instead of Timber and Food and with a higher recruitment speed.

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  • Greek - "briefs" with simple leather helmet.
  • Middle Eastern - wrap tunic, with fillet.
  • Chinese - just a robe. Shared with Europe.
  • Egyptian - well, Egyptian.

History[edit | edit source]

It is not known how horses first began to be used for locomotion and riding, but the current consensus so far was that horses may have been domesticated in Central Asia around 3500-3000BCE. Even so, these animals may have been tamed and bred solely for food, not transport. Fossil horse teeth recovered in Kazakhstan show wear patterns consistent with the use of rope or leather bits, proving perhaps that locals had attempted to tether horses for the purposes of riding or transport as early as 3500BCE.

Even so, these first horses were not very large, and thus not powerful with regards to speed or stamina so they could not operate as true cavalry. Rather, they may had been used either on short-distance travel like donkeys, or more likely as draught animals to carry baggage or haul chariotry. It would take centuries of careful breeding and husbandry by humans before horses that were sufficiently large to be ridden could emerge.