C A V A L R Y I N S P Q R

Masinissa's Corner: Cavalry Tactics

BY JAMES BURTON

Like our Numidian friend here, the proper use of

cavalry on the battlefield can gain you great glory.

If you are the Romans, you depend on your cavalry

to protect your flanks while your infantry delivers

its hammer blow. If you are a non Roman

type, you hope that your horse soldiers can be the shock weapon that

offsets and overturns the almost overwhelming advantages of Rome's

Infantry.

In this article, I'd like to cover the unit-to-unit tactical abilities of cavalry in Romancavalry vs. other cavalry and in cavalryvs. infantry setups as well as consider theoverall battlefield employment of Romanand non- Roman cavalry forces.

CavalryTactics

I think two points go without saying (ofcourse I'll say them anyway, right?)

1) Take those flank and rear attacks likeyou'd take a date with a person of yourdreams! Although, if you're playing withone of the revisions where a unit canattempt to turn one vertex to face anattack, this will require a pinning attack.

2) Always support your cavalry withinfantry, when you can. Good infantryfor this are light and skirmisher types, butany infantry can add some weight to yourcavalry in attack, and provide a screen torally behind in defense.

Cavalry vs.CavalryHere, I'll cover the heads-up outcomes of: Roman vs. Heavy Cavalry Roman vs. Lancers Roman vs. Light Cavalry

Roman vs. Heavy CavalryHere, the Romans should almost neverconsider attacking (Defender DS !). TheHeavies should pin with a few of theirnumber, and flank with the rest (you'renot AS).

Roman vs. LancersHeads up TQ exchange. Lancers, withtheir better TQs, may have a marginaladvantage here.

Roman vs. Light CavalryHere, it's necessary to consider twocategories, Roman vs. regular Lights(those Greek types, usually) and Romanvs. the dreaded Numidians.

vs. the Greek types — attack!

vs. the Numidians — watch out!These guys will usually just use theirsuperior movement to withdraw andthen whip around you and chop you toribbons! If you can catch some of theseguys pinned in a ZOC, though, hit themhard, and gloat!

In summary, an even fight where neitherside has position is usually a prettyattritional affair. But Roman, remember —the enemy needs his cavalry more thanyou need yours, so if you can sacrificeyours to wreck his, great!

Cavalry vs. InfantryFor your cavalry to attack infantryfrontally, two things have to be in effect:

1) The infantry are already beat up(although unless you're El Cid [andalready dead] you'd have to be feelingpretty lucky to even want to attack abeaten Phalanx head on)

2) If Roman, they've thrown their javelinsand are no longer DS.

Lancers can disregard 2, and if you havecataphracts, probably their best use is inthrowing them straight at the infantry.

For an interesting way to use cavalryfrontally against infantry, seeInterpenetration, in the battlefield tacticsbelow.

22

Analysis of Cavalry Tactics in SPQR

Cavalry on the Battlefield(a.k.a. Grand Tactics)Here are what I'd say are the major usesof cavalry on the SPQR (or any, for thatmatter) battlefields.

Flank AttackHere is where Masinissa, Hannibal, andMarhabal excel. Smash the opposingcavalry, regroup, and wheel into theunprotected flank and rear of the infantry.

ScreenKey tactic with the Numidians, butusually in an aggressive mode (you planto attack with them sometime right?). Forthe Romans, screening your flanks is theprime service your cavalry will beproviding.

InterpenetrationThis one requires some explaining on mypart. What you want to do here, if youcan, is break an enemy line frontally. Todo this you need to charge with one lineof cavalry, with a unit every other hex,and charge next with another line into thegaps. What you hope is that the series ofTQ checks and shocks will rout some ofthe defending units, thus creating gaps,and if you're lucky you will end up in aninteresting follow-up situation.

If gaps open up in the infantry line, youmay be able to move cavalry into thosegaps to wreak havoc in the rear. One ofthe few ways to leave enemy ZOC is if

your unit is faster and one of yourfrontal ZOC's is open. In other words,a cavalry unit can slip past a defendinginfantry unit to hit its flank, rear, or getat other units.

Cut Down the RoutersWahoo! Take no prisoners! A temptingoption for the Romans is to use theircavalry for this and take the hit in theflank you've stripped them from. EvenHannibal can't rally the dead.

CaveatsI'll finish with a few warnings for anywould be Masinissas out there (after all,you don't want to wind up like Antiochusthe Great)...

What a great charge. Let's run the Romansdown like escaping slaves — say what?, we'venow lost the battle, how in the ?1@# did thathappen?).

Beware the crazed pursuit. If you knowthe Magnesia story, mocked above, youknow the dangers of this.

Beware of blowing out. Remove thoseTO hits whenever you can. Blown cavalryare pretty useless.

Beware of Dumbo!

23