NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/org/sca/16947

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-22 | 2.4 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Dennis O'Connor)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Prepare to receive cavalry!
Date: 22 Dec 92 08:40:25
Organization: Intel i960(tm) Architecture
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References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: potato.intel.com
In-reply-to: [e-mail]'s message of Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:13:49 GMT


[e-mail] (Aryk Nusbacher) writes:
] >A charging armored horseman hit with about three times the
] >impact energy of a .30 caliber round; if what he hit was you, you
] >fell down and probably got trampled.
]
] That is, of course, only IF a charging armoured horseman managed to
] hit you:  no small feat.  A horse does _not_ want to charge into a
] standing man, and it is generally clever enough to avoid doing so.
] Even a trained warhorse _will not_ willingly thump into a barrier.

Napoleonic-era calvary horses where trained to kick, bite, and trample
infantry. I'm not so sure a person with a shield is any more daunting
to a horse than one without.

There's a lot to know about horse psychology, but basicly :
horses are big, people comparatively small, and a horse
being ridden has an enormous amount of respect for (or fear
of punishment for misbehavior from, at least) it's rider.
I own a 1000lb quarterhorse who isn't trained for war, but
is a bit thick-skinned about obstacles : with a little work
I feel I could get him to run through a sheild wall (tho
I never would : too much risk to all involved). Medeveal
horse sometimes weighed twice what my horse did, and were
trained for combat from an early age : I'm sure they'd do it.

] The moral of the story for infantry against horse?  Stick together,
] and make the cavalry charge you.  If you do the job right, the horse
] will have to ride around in frustration while being picked apart by
] your archers.  If you're really lucky, the horse will charge right
] into you, be disordered by the horses' refusal to thump into your
] shields, and the charge will stop dead.  Then you can advance and pike
] the opposing horses and riders to death.

This won't neccesarily work against Mongols. Mongols exploited the
mobility of the horse, and were famed for their horse-archery.

--
Dennis O'Connor            [e-mail]