08-01-2013, 03:59 PM
I can't recall any all heavy cavalry battles but I assume there maybe examples of heavy vs light or medium cavalry or mixed. I think heavy cavalry's role was to drive off enemy light units like horse archers & skirmishers etc. & an all heavy cavalry battle seems pointless to me. Besides protecting the flanks of an army from enemy cavalry, speed & mobility are the advantage of cavalry & heavy cavalry horses although probably bigger would tire & becme spectators in a battle or become an easy target for enemy horse archers or lancers. Against a tiring enemy force an attack by fresh heavy cavalry would be devastating so a wise commander would hold them back & keep them fresh till he saw an advantage. How long would a heavy cavalry horse carrying extra weight last against lighter armed & smaller horses swarming around them continually. From Sarmatians to Mongols, steppe armies made extensive use of remounts which probably gave them a big advantage over heavier, but tiring heavy cavalry.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"