Western Roman Empire Shock Cavalry

Catafractarii

Having faced the deadly Parthian cataphracts at Carrhae, come off worse, and then struggled against the awesome crushing strength of the Sarmatian lancers, it wasn't long before the Roman army was tailoring its own cavalry to match, despite resisting the idea for some time. Gradually, Rome began to integrate its own versions, the catafractarii and clibinarii, into the Legions. They were probably first fielded during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, as an auxiliary force of Gauls and Pannonians. However, despite their general success, it was the 4th century AD before catafractarii became a permanent addition to the ranks, possibly due to Macrinus' catastrophic defeat at Nisibis in AD217, by the Parthians. Covered head-to-foot in scale or mail armour, and armed with lances, it is clear that the 'iron horsemen' were the forerunners to the more familiar knights of the Medieval age.

Unit Name Catafractarii

Main Unit Key att_rom_catafractarii

Land Unit Key att_rom_catafractarii

Naval Unit Key att_cor_light_rom

Soldiers 80

Category Cavalry

Class Shock Cavalry

Custom Battle Cost 550

Recruitment Cost 650

Upkeep Cost 390

Melee Attack 38

Melee Damage 10

├ Melee Weapon att_lance

├ Melee Base Damage 3

├ Armour-piercing Damage 7

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Attack Against Cavalry 10

├ Attack Against Elephants 0

└ Attack Against Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 204

Melee Defence 19

├ Base Defence 19

├ Shield att_none

└ Shield Defence 0

Armour 27

├ Armour att_iron_lamellar

├ Armour Defence 27

└ Shield Armour 0

Health 232

├ Man Entity att_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 90

├ Bonus Hit Points 17

├ Mount att_rom_catafractarii_horse

├ Mount Entity att_horse_medium

└ Mount Health 125

Morale 34

Abilities

• Wedge
  The unit moves into a wedge-shaped attack formation.

Attributes

• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

No Strengths and Weaknesses

Recuitment Requirement
Required Technology Cost 163 Upgrade From
Upgrade
Required Technology Cost 150 Upgrade To

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Ostrogoths Ostrogothic Separatists Egypt Africa Asia Britain Dacia Gaul Hispania Illyria Italia Macedonia Oriens Pontus Eastern Roman Rebels Western Roman Rebels Septimania Domain of Soissons Eastern Roman Empire Eastern Roman Separatists Roman Separatists Western Roman Empire Western Roman Empire Western Roman Separatists Roman Separatists Western Roman Empire Western Roman Empire
The Last Roman	Roman Rebels (The Last Roman)