Epirus Shock Cavalry

Thessalian Cavalry

Thessalian horses, Lacedaemonian women and the men who drink from the sacred Arethusa were, according to one oracle cited by Strabo, the three best things in all of Greece. Regardless of whether the last two parts ring true or not, Thessalian heavy cavalry were without doubt a highly disciplined, mobile and esteemed allied unit in Greek armies. Similar in many respects to the hetairoi, the Macedonian companion cavalry, both units used the xyston double-ended lance, but some evidence suggests that at times shorter spears and javelins may also have been used. Their mobility came from the rhombus formation they adopted, reputedly invented by Jason of Pherae, that enabled a unit to turn with cohesion, form up and charge on any of its four points. During Alexander’s campaigns, the contingent of Thessalian Cavalry accompanying him numbered roughly 2,000 men, 200 for every vote Thessaly had in the League of Corinth. They were commonly assigned the left flank, guarding it from enemy cavalry as the right flank spearheaded the attack.

Unit Name Thessalian Cavalry

Main Unit Key Gre_Thessalian_Cav

Land Unit Key Gre_Thessalian_Cav

Naval Unit Key greek_transport

Soldiers 90

Category Cavalry

Class Shock Cavalry

Custom Battle Cost 600

Recruitment Cost 660

Upkeep Cost 85

Melee Attack 32

Weapon Damage 31

├ Melee Weapon rome_lance

├ Melee Damage Base 16

├ Melee Damage Ap 15

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 10

├ Bonus vs Elephants 12

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 64

Melee Defence 23

├ Base Defence 23

├ Shield none

└ Shield Defence 0

Armour 52

├ Armour spolas

├ Armour Defence 52

└ Shield Armour 0

Health 120

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_heavy

├ Man Health 55

├ Bonus Hit Points 15

├ Mount rome_hellenic_horse_lance_h

├ Mount Entity rome_horse_heavy_shock

└ Mount Health 50

Base Morale 65

Abilities

• Diamond
  The unit moves into a diamond-shaped attack formation.
  Charge bonus, melee attack
  Acceleration, melee defence
• Trample
  Charges are more effective for an extended time.
  Charge bonus
  Exertion: fatigue

Attributes

• Disciplined
  This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very slow speed
• Weak ramming

• Good charge
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Weak in prolonged melee
• Average morale

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Hoplite Barracks (greek_military_heavy_3) Level 2
Lv. 1	Royal Barracks (greek_military_heavy_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Epirus Epirean Nobles Macedon Macedonian Nobles