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David Bofinger · 08-02-2018, 06:02 PM

Horses will not charge through solid barriers. Decent infantry from the dawn of organised warfare to mid-C19 pack together tight enough to look like a solid hedge, even without shields. But if there's a gap in the wall every horse in the charge will think, "Oh, it's OK, I'll go through there," and by the time they realise there are a thousand horses with the same idea and they aren't going to all fit into that one little gap it's too late to stop and the horses end up crashing into the line anyway. So discipline is even more essential for infantry versus cavalry than for infantry versus infantry.

How this is all relevant to the small unit tactics of TFT I'm not sure but letting horses break up ordered infantry is making cavalry unreasonably strong. And TFT is supposed to be a game of infantry, mostly, so that would be a mistake.

Cavalry also pack at maximum density. The French said if you threw a plum at a charge one of the lances should skewer it. So movies where an agile warrior jumps around between the charging horses and grabs one from the side really don't work.

On the other hand cavalry on cavalry charges can be even stupider than cavalry on infantry. Nobody wants to turn aside and get stabbed in the flank. Assuming nobody wins the game of chicken, the horses see a mass of other horses coming and slow down. The horses end up face to face, slow down and stop, and if the riders have swords they can hardly reach each other.

Anyway, this only applies to large formations and TFT isn't about large formations.

08-02-2018, 06:02 PM	#24
David Bofinger Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Sydney, Australia	Re: How do you all handle mounted combat? Horses will not charge through solid barriers. Decent infantry from the dawn of organised warfare to mid-C19 pack together tight enough to look like a solid hedge, even without shields. But if there's a gap in the wall every horse in the charge will think, "Oh, it's OK, I'll go through there," and by the time they realise there are a thousand horses with the same idea and they aren't going to all fit into that one little gap it's too late to stop and the horses end up crashing into the line anyway. So discipline is even more essential for infantry versus cavalry than for infantry versus infantry. How this is all relevant to the small unit tactics of TFT I'm not sure but letting horses break up ordered infantry is making cavalry unreasonably strong. And TFT is supposed to be a game of infantry, mostly, so that would be a mistake. Cavalry also pack at maximum density. The French said if you threw a plum at a charge one of the lances should skewer it. So movies where an agile warrior jumps around between the charging horses and grabs one from the side really don't work. On the other hand cavalry on cavalry charges can be even stupider than cavalry on infantry. Nobody wants to turn aside and get stabbed in the flank. Assuming nobody wins the game of chicken, the horses see a mass of other horses coming and slow down. The horses end up face to face, slow down and stop, and if the riders have swords they can hardly reach each other. Anyway, this only applies to large formations and TFT isn't about large formations.