Rome (Empire Divided) Melee Cavalry

Equites

Recruited from the gentry and lower aristocratic classes of Roman society, equites were the cavalrymen of the royal and early Roman armies. To be a member of the equestrian class meant that a man was rich enough to keep a horse, and provide his own armour, shield and spear. There were usually some 300 equites in each Legion, organised into ten turmae of thirty horsemen each under the command of three decuriones. One of these men would be the praefectus, or commander, of the squadron. Mostly drawn from the young sons of elite society, these were men keen to show their courage; showing prowess on the battlefield was an important step towards gaining political office and prestige for their families. Mundane duties such as patrol or reconnaissance would be the work of the allied cavalry. Augustus had opened the equites’ ranks to first class commoners. Although they received none of the equestrians' social and political powers, they eventually replaced the aristocracy in the ranks of the Roman cavalry, allowing the equestrians to become senior officers in the new Legions.

Unit Name Equites

Main Unit Key 3c_Rom_Equites

Land Unit Key 3c_Rom_Equites

Naval Unit Key 3c_pel_transport

Soldiers 80

Category Cavalry

Class Melee Cavalry

Custom Battle Cost 500

Recruitment Cost 500

Upkeep Cost 100

Melee Attack 33

Weapon Damage 25

├ Melee Weapon rome_spear_cav

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 5

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 15

├ Bonus vs Elephants 15

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 29

Melee Defence 32

├ Base Defence 12

├ Shield cavalry

└ Shield Defence 20

Armour 70

├ Armour mail

├ Armour Defence 40

└ Shield Armour 30

Health 75

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 40

├ Bonus Hit Points 10

├ Mount rome_horse_spear_shield_m

├ Mount Entity rome_horse_medium

└ Mount Health 25

Base Morale 40

Abilities

• Cavalry Testudo
  The unit raises their shields and turns towards the aggressor.
  Protection against missiles
  Can't move
• Flying Wedge
  The unit moves into a flying wedge-shaped attack formation.
  Charge bonus, melee attack
  Acceleration, melee defence

Attributes

• 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

• Average attack
• Weak defence
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Poor morale

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Cohort Barracks (3c_rome_military_2) Level 1 Legionary Barracks (3c_rome_military_3) Level 2 Cavalry Barracks (3c_rome_military_cavalry_4) Level 3 Castrum Stativum (3c_rome_military_infantry_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Empire Divided	Britannia (Empire Divided) Hispania Citerior (Empire Divided) Lusitania (Empire Divided) Egypt (Empire Divided) Galatia (Empire Divided) Lydia (Empire Divided) Numidia (Empire Divided) Latin Rebels (Empire Divided) Roman Pretenders (Empire Divided) Roman Secessionists (Empire Divided) Rome (Empire Divided)