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I will be posting this in two parts since I have a lot to say:

HOW TO USE CAVALRY IN MEDIEVAL 2
(part 1)

After being stuck on RTW for a number of years (didn't have a system that could run M2TW) I've now been playing M2TW for about 6 months now, and here's my take on cavalry and charges:

In Rome if you knew how to use them, cavalry could be absolutely devastating, worth far more than the computer calculates them to be in assessing the "odds" of a battle. You can make cavalry worth five times their numbers or more if you use tactics correctly. This is also the case in Medieval 2, you just have to learn some new tactics when it comes to your cavalry. I will cover those tactics momentarily.

This applies primarily to field battles, any battleground where your mounted units have open space to deploy and outflank and build up speed. This means open field battles but also sally battles once the defending units come out from behind their walls. If you're the defender during a city battle, cavalry aren't much use for the obvious reason that they are confined to the tight streets and are utterly unable to charge.......city battles are where INFANTRY truly shine. The only possible exception to this would be the Mongols & Timurids, whose units (mounted and otherwise) are so fierce, and whose tactic is for the most part to keep their distance and hit you with an endless barrage of arrows, they are a special case when it comes to tactics and that includes use of your own cavalry. Still, when defending or attacking a city you still want two or three cav units to ride down fleeing enemies, and with their mobility they can get around behind an enemy in good time using side streets. When taking a city defended by wimpy foot units, I won't hesitate to send in tons of cavalry to ride right through their weaker infantry units; you can usually pick them off in the streets before they fall back to the town square later on. As a general rule you always want at least 2 mounted units in your forces for chasing down the routing enemies and for providing rapid heavy support at key locations of the battle.

Now for the open-field tactics. I fully back up the following pieces of advice with many instances of having taken a general and anywhere from 3 to 8 elite cavalry units (Templar, Hospitaller) and utterly wiping out vastly superior forces, where my odds were less than 1 to 1. (It's always flattering to win crushing victories with minimal losses of your own when the computer thought you didn't have a chance. Plus, makes your general seasoned real quick-like!) This can also be done with a bunch of general units, you know, those guys in your family who just aren't suitable to leave managing a city and are good for nothing but killing and being killed. Nothing like a cavalry force that has top-notch endurance and TWICE the hit points of any others they face (the generals, that is.)

1) As mentioned in this post, you definitely want to spread out your cavalry's width to give maximum number of lances bearing down on the enemy. You always want them spread to only 2 or 3 ranks deep, otherwise the men in the rear ranks of a charging unit simply never have a chance to hit the enemy while moving fast. Sometimes in the heat of battle there is no time to re-form your lines and you should simply have them charge no matter their formation at the time, but whenever you can, line up your cav as a parallel line against their own line shape, be it an attack from the front or rear. If the enemy lines is wider than the maximum you can extend your cav's line, then spread your men as thin as possible, maximum linear area. It is also sometimes useful to have two cavalry units of smaller numbers stacked within one another, both spread wide. The only time you want your cavalry in a "deeper," more box-shaped formation is when they are chasing down fleeing foot soldiers.

2) You need to start off a charge from a certain minimum distance from the enemy. If you're starting from a standstill, this distance is quite large, they need lots of space to get up to speed. (In Rome this wasn't really the case.) This is especially what you want to do against pesky enemy missile units who are usually out in front and exposed, but will run away if they see your cavalry coming in time- giving your cavalry the space to get up to high speed makes it so that by the time their crossbowmen or archers realize they're in harm's way, it's too late and your cavalry will hit them in their scurrying backs and cut their numbers in half with one blast. Once battle has been joined, you mostly will be dealing with shorter distances in your charges, so from that point on make sure your men are already in motion before you give the charge order; it's okay to be moving laterally or even away from an enemy and then give a charge order. I've noticed if you give a charge order right when your men are coming to a stop, they often won't charge at all. Let them build up momentum perpendicular to the enemy or away from them, and THEN charge while they still have momentum.

3) Once you hit with a charge, in most cases DO NOT just leave them in hand-to-hand melee with enemy infantry. Only leave them in there if the enemy foot units are weak, or about to crack anyway (wavering.) Cav versus cav, if you have numbers, you should certainly leave your boys in there, especially versus enemy generals, but pull away from infantry you've just decimated with a charge and hit them with another charge, as many times as you need to. Pulling away from enemy cavalry is always a bad idea, you will take heavy casualties. With regards to multiple charges on infantry, you need to make sure nearly ALL of your cav unit's members have freed themselves from the enemy and are a decent distance away again otherwise they will not charge but will merely "run into" the enemy again. Once battle is joined you don't want to bother with lining your guys up properly again, just pull away and hit them again as soon as you can.

4) Flanking and enveloping are KEY to truly maximizing cavalry usage. Sure, a full strength, upgraded, elite cavalry unit can charge head-on into a heavy infantry unit's front line and still do amazing damage- as much as 1/3 of the enemy will die in that first hit if you do everything right, but they will do even more damage when you are hitting them from the flanks or rear, and if you surround ANY enemy unit, no matter their discipline and morale, they will begin to quickly lose heart. Even if they don't retreat right away, scared men make poor fighters, and that means less casualties for you. If you have the luxury of around 6 or more powerful cavalry units in your force, you should ideally have your infantry pin down the enemy's front, and then with your cavalry and generals sweep around their forces and hit them from ALL SIDES. That means both flanks, and from the rear. I emphasize both flanks. Sending all your cav around only one side of the enemy army is a bad idea because if you ever need to pull back some of your cavalry to rescue some of your own units on the opposite side, they will never make it there in time. Other benefits of envelopment- sending one or two cav units to take care of those damn catapults or trebuchets that are raining fiery death on your grunts. When their army begins to crack, drop sword and run- which will happen very quickly when you have them surrounded- you have hundreds of riders right there behind them to "capture" every last one of them, to be executed later if you so please. Understand that the advantage of cavalry is not merely their charge, but their mobility- the ability to quickly get to anywhere they want on the battlefield. This means surrounding your enemy whenever possible.

(see next post for more)