Pontus Melee Cavalry

Pontic Noble Riders

Macedonian Companion cavalry, known in Greek as the hetairoi, were the foremost shock troops of their age. Originally formed from the Macedonian nobility, esteemed friends and companions of their kings, these elite horsemen evolved under Philip II and Alexander the Great into a highly disciplined and formidable force with the adoption of the wedge formation that increased not only their manoeuvrability, but also their impact. Eventually their numbers were extended to include not just nobles, but in fact anyone who had been a friend to the king. Early Greek cavalry had been limited to skirmishing scouts and archers, as square formations of heavy cavalry up until this point were difficult to direct and wheel. However, the adoption of the wedge formation enabled the companions to exploit weak points or break the flanks of enemy infantry with precision. To achieve this they were armed with the 'xyston', a fearsome double-ended lance, designed to counter-balance itself and be reversible should one end break, plus a straight sword or curved kopis for close-quarters fighting. Armour took the form of a shaped bronze corselet, with optional greaves, and an open Boeotian helmet, which afforded some protection without hampering vision. The horse itself was unarmoured. The rider sat on a blanket, as neither saddle nor stirrups were used at this time.

Unit Name Pontic Noble Riders

Main Unit Key Gre_Pontic_Companions

Land Unit Key Gre_Pontic_Companions

Naval Unit Key greek_transport

Soldiers 90

Category Cavalry

Class Melee Cavalry

Custom Battle Cost 1250

Recruitment Cost 1250

Upkeep Cost 100

Melee Attack 36

Weapon Damage 38

├ Melee Weapon rome_kopis

├ Melee Damage Base 32

├ Melee Damage Ap 6

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 6

Charge Bonus 41

Melee Defence 60

├ Base Defence 40

├ Shield hoplite_cav

└ Shield Defence 20

Armour 119

├ Armour bronze

├ Armour Defence 74

└ Shield Armour 45

Health 120

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_heavy_fast

├ Man Health 55

├ Bonus Hit Points 15

├ Mount rome_hellenic_horse_sword_shield_h

├ Mount Entity rome_horse_heavy

└ Mount Health 50

Base Morale 60

Abilities

• Flying Wedge
  The unit moves into a flying wedge-shaped attack formation.
  Charge bonus, melee attack
  Acceleration, melee defence
• Draco
  Reduces the effectiveness against mounted units of any nearby enemies for an extended time.
  Bonus vs cavalry, bonus vs elephants, bracing
• Rapid Advance
  Improved unit movement speed over an extended period.
  Speed, acceleration, charge speed
  Exertion: fatigue

Attributes

• Disciplined
  This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
• Encourage
  This unit provides a morale bonus to nearby allies.
• 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

• Very good attack
• Average defence
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Good 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	Pontus Pontic Nobles
Imperator Augustus	Pontus (Imperator Augustus)