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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rykion" data-source="post: 5120835" data-attributes="member: 33035">I would say economics, social conditions, tactics, and politics all play important parts in what military units and defenses are used.  Heavy cavalry filled the void left by the professional armies after the fall of the Roman Empire, but it existed largely because those in power maintained the absence of other forms of professional troops.  There was a large economic factor in this, but it was the fact that resources were concentrated in the hands of a relative few who weren't very interested in sharing their wealth or power.  The harsh conditions of serfdom kept the vast majority of people's time devoted to subsistence farming and little else.  This in turn kept the noble dominated military status quo. The Hundred Years War included a lot of weapon inovations, but it also included in many ways the beginning of the rebirth of professional troops other than cavalry.Flags and heraldry served the same purpose at a fraction of the cost of the bling.  Fully articulated plate is fine, but it doesn't need enough gold and fine work to buy a small town, or equip and train a dozen soldiers.The Vikings seemed to do pretty well for themselves.  By the time knights showed up to help the locals the Vikings were usually on their boats and on their way to the next raid.  A town would have been much better off with a well trained and at least somewhat equipped militia.  As I said, heavy cavalry has a place in an army, but it wasn't the dominate unit of Europe in the Middle Ages because it was cost effective.</blockquote>

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