Mounted Combat Techniques

November 21, 2025

Tips for fighting on horseback with lances, bows, and melee.

Cavalry charge

Mounted fights are about speed, angles, and refusing bad engages. Use these drills to land clean hits, keep your horse alive, and avoid pikes.

Lance work that lands

Start outside spear range, then angle slightly off-center so you don’t get braced.
Couch on long approaches; switch to thrusts in tight turns. Aim just before the reticle crosses the target.
Break off after impact; don’t linger in infantry blobs. Re-form and cycle charge.
If the line is dense with pikes, dismount and fight as infantry until a flank opens.

Horse archer volley

Strafe in wide circles; avoid sharp turns that kill speed bonus.
Fire during the smooth part of the turn; lead shots more at low speed.
Run light gear to reduce encumbrance penalties; keep arrows near max stacks.
Rotate quivers between fights and pick battles with clear sightlines. Pair with Party Speed & Map Movement to choose terrain.

Open-field skirmish

Use long polearms (glaive/pike) for reach; sabres work when you’re surrounded by friendlies.
Swing early; account for travel time as you pass a target.
Keep a shield if fighting javelin-heavy enemies; swap to one-hand + shield when your horse is low HP.
Ride the flanks rather than the main line to avoid stun-locks.

Horses win fights: buy barding early and track HP; see Horses & Mounts and Best Horses and Mounts.
Avoid forests and steep slopes where speed bonus disappears.
Respect spears: soften spear walls with arrows first or force them to turn by flanking with infantry. Read Cavalry Tactics for formation calls.
Keep carry weight low; see Equipment Weight & Encumbrance.

Training ground

Arena horse rounds: practice circling and hit timing without risking your campaign save.
Custom battles: 50 vs 50 cavalry duels to learn turn radii and speed bonuses.
Training fields: run lance couched passes and slalom around dummies; then replicate against real troops.