05-25-2010, 07:32 PM
Thanks!, all excellent points. Many of these are a matter of degree, not absolute, and I'll make sure its all properly qualified... for example, sure roman legions used fine bows, just not as many, and yes the Principate had client kings and so on, but that empire's survival did not hinge on playing that game to a T, as it did more than a few times down the road.
Interesting point. I guess I don't know anything about Byz. remount practices but its pretty standard cavalry practice to have a low cost riding horse plus the extremely valuable trained fighting horse, if not two. On the other hand, we do know from the Stratekon that the cavalry (normally) had a fairly large horse-drawn wagon train in tow, with numerous servants, ( one servant for each senior trooper and one servant for every 2-3 junior, IIRC). Also I am confident that 17th C. mounted infantry (true dragoons) mounted on nags with only a small pool of remounts to make up casulties, had better operational mobility than the foote infantry, because, when the Poles operated in the wide steppe they often left the foote behind and only had dragoons for infantry.
Quote:•
Mobility in cavalry is only battlefield mobility. Infantry marches faster than horses. Unless you're thinking of changing horses
every 3 days, which I don't think was a Byzantine tactic.
Interesting point. I guess I don't know anything about Byz. remount practices but its pretty standard cavalry practice to have a low cost riding horse plus the extremely valuable trained fighting horse, if not two. On the other hand, we do know from the Stratekon that the cavalry (normally) had a fairly large horse-drawn wagon train in tow, with numerous servants, ( one servant for each senior trooper and one servant for every 2-3 junior, IIRC). Also I am confident that 17th C. mounted infantry (true dragoons) mounted on nags with only a small pool of remounts to make up casulties, had better operational mobility than the foote infantry, because, when the Poles operated in the wide steppe they often left the foote behind and only had dragoons for infantry.
Rick Orli
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/82nd_orta_janissaries.htm">http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/82nd_or ... saries.htm
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<a class="postlink" href="http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/82nd_orta_janissaries.htm">http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/82nd_or ... saries.htm
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