Cavalry Charge: Heavy Cavalry and the Battle of Kressenbrun

Good morning gamers,

We're continuing our discussion of cavalry tactics today and we're going to hone-in on heavy cavalry today. Whether they're lancers in heavy armor (like Morgul Knights or Knights of Minas Tirith) or cavalry with high defense but no lances (like Easterling Kataphrakts or Rohan Royal Guards), heavy cavalry are hard to shoot and can pack a punch on the charge (usually). But how do you get these units to get their points worth? Well, let's dig in and find out!

The Battle of Kressenbrun: How to Tip the Scales with Heavy Cavalry

A few months ago, we looked at the Battle of the Marchfeld, which was fought between the Bohemian king Ottokar II and the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph I and featured German heavy cavalry (as well as some Hungarian skirmish cavalry supporting Rudolph's forces). Today, we're looking at a battle earlier in Ottokar's reign, not long after becoming King of Bohemia. While he would later run up against the elected Holy Roman Emperor, his great enemy early in his reign was the Hungarian king Bela IV. For an excellent visualization of this battle, check out the BazBattles video on YouTube - as always, their stuff is excellent! You can also read a bit about it here.

Both kings contested the rule of the region of Stygia and after a series of revolts drove the Hungarian prince Stephen out, Ottokar was quick to sail in and bring the territory of Stygia back under Bohemian rule. Bela rallied a great host of soldiers from many of the neighboring countries and camped on one side of the Morava river while a Bohemian-allied force led by Ottokar encamped on the other side. With neither side wishing to be caught in the river, Ottokar issued an invitation for Bela's forces to be given free passage over the river and meet on the opposite side in a fair fight. If this sounds like the Battle of Maldon, it should - the situation is nearly the same (you know, if Brythnoth was the one to invite Olaf I to come onto his side of the shore).

While the crossing was happening, young Prince Stephen of Hungary attacked the redeploying Bohemian troops, prompting the Bohemian heavy cavalry to launch a counter-attack. The Hungarian forces that had crossed the river were quickly repulsed and the Hungarian forces lost many units to the charging onslaught and the river itself. The Hungarians were in retreat and didn't pose an external threat to Ottokar during the rest of his reign.

Whether some Bohemian troops lagged behind the rest of the Bohemian force in order to bait Stephen's attack is unclear, but what is evident is that the heavy cavalry in the Bohemian force were able to devastate the mostly light cavalry/light troops fielded by the Hungarians. In MESBG, there are several factions that can field heavy cavalry - and they're often quite expensive. When they see use, getting them to have the impact you want can also be really difficult. So today, we're going to use the principles of this battle to give us some insights into how to use heavy cavalry in SBG. Let's take a look.

Heavy Cavalry in MESBG: A Brief Taxonomy

When you look at all the cavalry warrior options in MESBG, there aren't that many that meet our requirements for "heavy cavalry". In the first post in this series, I mentioned that by "heavy cavalry" we mean cavalry models with riders who are D6+. Many of these units are "shock cavalry" as well (lances or bonus wounding capabilities when they charge, designated by an "(S)" below) - here's the complete list of non-monster warriors that make the cut (check my work if you want, guys):

• Knights of Minas Tirith (S)
  
• Knights of Dol Amroth (S)
  
• Riders of the Dead (S*)
• Rohan Royal Guards (S**)
• Sons of Eorl (S**)
• Rivendell Knights with shields (S)
• Galadhrim Knights with shields
• Iron Hills Goat Riders (S)
• Mirkwood Cavalry (S**)
• Morgul Knights (S)
• Easterling Kataphrakts
  

* against low-Courage units only

​** with the army bonus only

While other shock cavalry are not listed here and might operate on offense like heavy cavalry (like Serpent Riders or Mahud Raiders), the advantage we have by buying heavy cavalry is that the riders in this list are pretty resilient to enemy archery - something that can help us stay alive against skirmish-heavy armies (something we'll be looking at next month, actually). 

I should also note that most mounted heroes are going to fall into this category (D6+ riders), so everything we say below can affect both the warriors listed above, but also most mounted heroes. Okay, with this taxonomy out of the way, let's look at how to use our heavy cavalry in our games!

Principle #1: Concentrate on One Place

This principle is very similar to the first principle we laid out in our last article in this series (crash the weak flank): we want our heavy cavalry to attack in one place. Yes, you could have heavy cavalry protecting two flanks, but doing so spreads the damage they deal across two areas - or gives your opponent the opportunity to split up his own cavalry to turn off the charges of your cavalry. By concentrating your cavalry in one area, you can deal devastating losses on one side of the field, freeing up space for you to maneuver on the following turn (and keeping whatever infantry they were supporting from being wrapped on the following turn if the cavalry charge failed).

Principle #2: Charge Second

Charging in with your cavalry is best done on a turn when you are the second player moving, since your opponent doesn't get to react to your charge. Since most heavy cavalry units aren't archers (Rohan Royal Guards can use throwing spears and Rivendell/Galadhrim Knights either have or might have Elf bows), you'll want to spend their movement positioning them in such a way as to make sure your opponent can't get close enough to charge them if he wins priority on the next round.

What you'll also find by moving second is that you can set up your charges for the NEXT turn with any heavy cavalry that would need to stretch to find good places to fight. These reserves are essential to getting the cavalry charge going on the following turn (which can sometimes mean the deaths of a lot of heavy cavalry if they don't get the charge on the following go).

If you must charge first (because you'd be charged otherwise), you'll want to screen off your cavalry's flank with infantry to prevent counter charges. This is very similar to the advice we laid out in last month's article (both fighting near infantry and supporting your heroes). If you want your cavalry to be effective, you need to give them the best chance possible to succeed - so guard their flanks and manage their fights.

Principle #3: Charge Only One Model

Where possible, you want your heavy cavalry to each charge one model - yes, if they have 2 Attacks on the charge (or in the case of Sons of Eorl near Eorl the Young, 3 Attacks on the charge), you might be tempted to run over two guys, but if the infantry you charge have spear supports, you're putting yourself in a very risky position by charging into effectively four people. As I've mentioned in a recent math post, if you've got 2 dueling dice and your opponent has 4 dueling dice with a lower Fight Value than you, the odds that you win are slightly less than 50% - or put another way, you should expect to lose half of the times that you charge into 2 infantry backed by 2 spearmen - even if you have the higher Fight Value. Chew on that for a bit . . .

Principle #4: Bring a Hero Along

Heroes are one of the best parts of MESBG - they get enhanced profiles, they get Fate points and often extra Wounds, but most importantly, they get Might points. And Might points make ALL the difference in this game - especially for cavalry. Mounted heroes deal more damage (in general) than unmounted heroes and they can help cavalry models continue to get the charge on critical turns (or at least have the chance to) with Heroic Moves. Always, always, ALWAYS charge heavy cavalry in with a hero. Always.

This often means you'll want a mounted hero to escort your heavy cavalry (who can serve as archery shields for the hero - and the hero's mount), but not always. If you're running the Return of the King Legendary Legion, for example, you might want to run a few Riders of the Dead with Aragorn (who can't get a mount) to keep them going (both with a banner rule and Heroic Moves - and possibly Heroic Combats). If you're using your cavalry to support your infantry line, having an infantry hero designated to call the Heroic Moves is just fine.

Conclusion

Most heavy cavalry can't skirmish with the enemy, so their effectiveness is almost exclusively based on how much they can kill by charging. The principles provided above are things I've learned from using them, but let me know if there are other things you've found in your use of them! In our next post, we'll be addressing an all-too-common problem that can drive a player mad: how to catch and kill skirmish cavalry. This is an age-old problem both in MESBG and historically, but with some help from history, I've come up with an interesting formation that you can use (as well as other strategies you can use to augment the formation). Until next time, happy hobbying!