Lancer

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[T]hou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army.

— Ezekiel 38:15

In game[edit | edit source]

Lancer rkc.png
Lancer — Vital statistics

Heavy cavalry, with powerful attack, exceptional armour, but far more limited mobility compared to more agile medium cavalry or horse archers.

Prereq: Build time HP LOS Attack Attack speed Movement
speed
Upgrades to
  • Axial Age [3]
16.1s
(245t)
181 6 15 5.9s
(35t)
30

Sdisnvsb ico.png l Xianbei Lancers

Cost Created from Armour Weapon range Specialty
Base Ramp Pop
Metal.png: 60;
Wealth.jpg: 50
Metal.png: 1;
Wealth.jpg: 1
1

Stable.png

4 Melee
  • Bonus damage versus light infantry.
  • Defensive bonus versus Archers

Roundel scythoi.png Roundel phrygia.png Roundel ord.png Tartessos.png Roundel korea.png Roundel assur.png Roundel troy.png Roundle belgae.png Roundel chimp.png

Overall strategy[edit | edit source]

Easily one of the most fearsome units in the game, Lancers pack quite a punch. Armed with a lance, and encased from head to toe in the finest armour of the day, Lancers have an immense attack as well as a hitpoints score which is second to none other than Spearmen. They have their disadvantages, though. With so much armour, they tend to be slower than most cavalry units, but are sufficiently fast and hardy enough to take out all but the staunchest and hardiest of foes.

Thus, the best use for Lancers is as a shock component to break enemy units, particularly light and medium infantry. Also of note is that their speed also helps them as a rapid response team to be used to screen your flanks from other cavalry units. However, like many cavalry units, they are susceptible to dedicated anti-cavalry units such as Spearmen. Remember this should you expect your battles to involve heavy cavalry, whether on your side — or that of your foes'.

Unit summary[edit | edit source]

  • Shock and Awe— Heavy cavalrymen are fairly slow, but still fast enough to chase and hunt down lightly-armed infantry, and also are the bane of light or medium cavalry.
  • Shiny Happy People Holding Spears —The main weakness of the Lancer is in being swarmed — or being force-fed into a grinder of spearwalls, such as those at Kontrijk.
  • Scolarios — Byzantine heavy cavalry is known for its armour which is superior to normal lancers. This type of heavy cavalry is also available to factions who historically had interests in the Adriatic and Mainland Greece, such as Venice and and Serbia.
  • Jarl Cavalry — The Danes have recently learnt the benefits of heavy cavalry, and their war-leaders now often ride to battle. Because of the fracticious nature of Danish politics, some of these have become swords for hire, serving whichever faction has their interests at heart...
  • Steppe Cataphract — Steppe Cataphracts sacrifice mobility and affordability for attack and armour, making them highly proficient, especially against most infantry, bar the heaviest spear units.

See also[edit | edit source]

CtW information[edit | edit source]

Horse Archers are a common sight in Magyar armies, where they boost the production of food, making them highly dangerous, alongside the Persians. Taking them out is a must if you can raise sufficient resources, since they can translate excesses of wealth in the Persian stockpile into more food, which in turn means more infantry to block your way.

Notes[edit | edit source]

Lancers for Age of Chariots are required for all factions (except Egyptians and Africans, of course).

History[edit | edit source]

Still, the cost of raising horse and rider and then arming them however was problematic to the extreme in the mostly agrarian societies of the pre-modern, and so it was that only people of means could furnish cavalry units to fight for their kings, meaning the ruling aristocracy (and in more modern times, yeomen as well). These aristocrats were often landowners and in good time evolved into the warrior known to us as the knight in the Middle Ages, and were often found in the most warlike of societies.