D&D General Mounted Archers

[doctorbadwolf]

Reinforcing why, for much of history, cavalry was a rich man's game.

Ya know, it is interesting the difference between cultures where horses that are fit for war are an extreme minority and thus exceptionally expensive, vs cultures like the mongols that fielded hordes of light cavalry on wellbred and well trained horses.

seems like you basically have to center your society on the horse in order to accomplish that?

 

[GrimCo]

Ya know, it is interesting the difference between cultures where horses that are fit for war are an extreme minority and thus exceptionally expensive, vs cultures like the mongols that fielded hordes of light cavalry on wellbred and well trained horses.

seems like you basically have to center your society on the horse in order to accomplish that?

Horses were very different. Golden Horde used steppe ponies which are 120-140 cm tall at withers and weight 250-350kg. Knights in full mail harness used destriers which were 150-170cm tall and weighted 500-650kg. One is bred for self sufficiency and endurance other is for strength and shock combat ( horses were as much as weapon as a lance versus infantry). 700kg of flesh and steel in full charge can do some serious harm when it crashes into something.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Horses were very different. Golden Horde used steppe ponies which are 120-140 cm tall at withers and weight 250-350kg. Knights in full mail harness used destriers which were 150-170cm tall and weighted 500-650kg. One is bred for self sufficiency and endurance other is for strength and shock combat ( horses were as much as weapon as a lance versus infantry). 700kg of flesh and steel in full charge can do some serious harm when it crashes into something.

I mean, yeah, they still ate way more than a human and need more care than any human older than 9 years old.

Now compare Beduin horses, famous for speed and fearlessness, and raised in a harse land where water is an especially highly valued resource.

Either way, you have to center your society on such animals in order to center your military strategy on the use of them.

 

[Stormonu]

A knight with a lance who misses is going to be one who gets dragged off his horse, and stabbed multiple times by his group of foes.

Imho, knight with lance is great vs other knight with lance, or in a line charging against another line of knights with lances or against a line of infantry (really good, unless said infantry also had pikes or lances dug in). But in most D&D combats, pretty useless after initial first round. And that's assuming a wide open field. Once we get into most combat settings of underground small rooms, or forest clearings, or mountain paths carved onto cliff-sides - I'd say mounted knight with lance is not a great PC archetype.

Too bad Overrun didn't get carried over to 5E, that would make mounts frightening (especially if coupled with Ride-by). Calvary charges were more about breaking through or overrunning lines than skewering a single individual with a shishkabob. Once the line was broken, your infantry can follow up through the breaks in the ranks and rout an enemy that's essentially lost its composure.

Also, I think most people tend to think of jousting lances vs. field lances - the latter of which were often little more than spears. Lances/spears often broke on the initial charge, so after that initial hit, you're either pulling a backup lance or switching to something like a flail or horseback sword on your next pass. Where mounted warriors would get in trouble was if they didn't make a clean break-thru pass - one person on a mount in close fray is an easy target to get pulled down - especially with polearms among the ranks that were designed to do just that.

 

[J-H]

My knight uses the lance at first (one-handed with shield), then switches to his battleaxe or mace in melee. I was pretty intentional in not picking up a +1 Lance because it's a sometimes weapon.
Then there are all the times we fight dismounted... but when mounted, advantage on melee attacks against creatures smaller than my mount is pretty sweet.