Steppe Cataphract

White as snow their armour was, Their steeds were white as snow.
	—Lord Macaulay, The Battle of Lake Regillus

In game

Steppe Cataphract — Vital statistics
Steppe Cataphract	Upgrade of Steppe Lancer shock cavalry. Expensive to outfit, but devastating to most light units, especially archers and skirmishers. Strong versus missile units, especially missile cavalry Weak versus heavy melee infantry.
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrade of
[3]	11.9s (175t)	245	6	19	1.6s (25t)	30	| |
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 60; : 50	: 1; : 2	1		7	0-1	Shock cavalry: +1 splash attack radius Bonus damage versus light infantry.

Overall strategy

A novelty for its time, Steppe Cataphracts are in effect lancers clad in heavy armour - both bronze scales and thick hide perponto alike, the riders bearing armoured waistcoats, particularly chainmail haubergeons. As such they are tougher and stronger than most Lancers, and can be used by Aryan nations - the Iranians, Cimmerians and Siberians - to amass cavalry superiority. Not only do they have armour that makes them fairly impervious to most ranged attacks, they in turn also deal splash damage and also can deal added damage against light infantry.

Use this unit to macerate all vintage chariot armies, but beware of units such as spearmen, camels or elephants — the armour and experience of your Cataphracts will avail little against them. If you are playing against the Iranians, it behooves you to remember one thing — they are wholly dependent on cavalry, so make sure you gather as many spearmen as you can and try to do what Alexander the Great did, and that was to use agressive shock infantry tactics against the Scythian cavalry on ground that you have prepared. If all else fails, then turtle up and try and constrain your opponent. Factions with fort bonuses, such as the Thracians, Indians or Lydians are very much expert at this, but factions with access to camels - whether as a unique unit or a mercenary, such as Egypt and Babylon will ultimately far greater success in fighting cataphract cavalry.

See also

Lancer Hippomachoi Light Horse

Semitic Battle-Chief Renegade Chinese Warlord Mistophor Archigos Hurrian Warlord Anatolian Warchief

Light Chariot Chariot War Chariot (Intiau-Chianki) Werryt Maryannu

Notes

In Alexander, this unit requires Military Level 6 (Strategic Reserves).

History

The term "cataphract" finds its origins in Classical Latin "Cataphracti", derived from the Greek "Kataphraktos" meaning "fully armoured" or "fully enclosed", a term that came to refer to fully armoured cavalry in the Imperial Roman Period. The warriors which came to be regarded as cataphracts. wore heavy armour, both on themselves and their horses, using as primary weapon a two-handed lance called kontos, composite bows, long swords and/or maces as secondary weapons.

However, the first cataphracts or clibanarii were rather an invention of the Iranian Saka tribes of the Central Asian steppes, but little more than that has ever been verified. Two possibilities based on historical evidence and excavations make the Massegetae and the pre-Achaemenid kingdom of Media the most likely founders of cataphract warfare.

The lands of Central Asia, where Indo-Iranian peoples such as the Massagetae, Saka, and Dahae dwelled since ancient times, developed heavy armour for both horse and rider, expensive commodities reserved for the a minority among the horse-archer armies of steppe tradition; the nobility and military elite which served as a personal bodyguard for rulers and tribal leaders, which could afford its expense. Mutual contact with other regions, such as Achaemenid Persia, contributed to the adoption of these new heavy cavalry troops.

Proponents of the Median theory argue that the early Medes of the Zagros Mountains through careful selective breeding, were the progenitors of the Nisaean horse, a breed of horse strong enough to be able to bear the weight of metal-armoured cavalrymen. Starting from the Medes or the Massagetae, the type of the cataphract cavalryman gradually spread to almost all the Iranian tribes and soon to the neighboring non-Iranian peoples.

References

• Deligianis P; Cataphractarii! (I) – The cataphract cavalry in a period of 2,500 years
• Rise of Nations Wiki; Cataphract — History