History Main / AntiCavalry

* In ''{{Braveheart}}'', when the Scottish army encounters the English infantry, the English don't want to take advantage of such unfair terms, but the Scots taunt them into attacking. As soon as the English are too close to pull back, the Scots drop their facade and pick up long pikes, which slaughter the horses. The depiction was graphic enough that the ASPCA investigated the footage to see if the horses had actually been hurt (good news, horse lovers; the horses were fine).

In some games, there are [[MountedCombat horseback units.]] Given their speed, it can be a hassle or worse to deal with. Thankfully (or unfortunately, if you are a horse-lover), there are weapons to deal with them, both rider and steed. Very much a part of TacticalRockPaperScissors.

* Pikemen from ''{{Civilization}} II'' and on.

* Lancers and trolls (who also wield lances) in the old DOS game ''Conquered Kingdoms'' can kill cavalry in one hit, without taking any damage in return.
* [[BladeOnAStick Spearmen]] perform this function in ''TotalWar''. The square formation in Empire is also used for this purpose.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_square Infantry Squares]]. Their ancestors, the pike and various shield wall formations (the most famous being the Greek phalanx) were more anti everything up front. Though pikes are better optimized for stopping cavalry then the shield formation, which has its advantages against missile weapons.
** The rarer times infantry squares got broken (during the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Garcia_Hernandez Battle of Garcia Hernandez]], for example), there was a ''massive'' rout.

* By the 18th century, it was considered [[{{Understatement}} Ill-advised]] for a Cavalry unit to attempt to attack an infantry formation in any frontal fashion. For one thing, a whole bunch of guys on horses is hard to be sneaky about unless they attack from cover, and well-drilled soldiers could fire their muskets as many as ''[[MoreDakka three times a minute]]'', and assuming that the cavalrymen made it through that barrage intact, they would still have to deal with the [[BayonetYa bayonets]]. A bayonet is a very long knife that you stick onto the end of a musket or a rifle to turn it into an [[ImprovisedWeapon improvised spear]], and these could do considerable damage if you tried to force your way through a formation of them. Instead, cavalry units preferred to try and attack the flanks or the rears of formations when possible, or else pursue retreating enemies who had broken formation.
* Extend your definition of cavalry to include helicopters and armored vehicles, and missile launchers and anti-armor/[[AntiAir anti-aircraft]] guns fit too, serving much the same purpose of dealing with the threat posed by enemy cavalry units.

* In ''{{Braveheart}}'', when the Scottish army encounters the British infantry, the British don't want to take advantage of such unfair terms, but the Scots taunt them into attacking. As soon as the British are too close to pull back, the Scots drop their facade and pick up long pikes, which slaughter the horses. The depiction was graphic enough that the ASPCA investigated the footage to see if the horses had actually been hurt (good news, horse lovers; the horses were fine).

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''FireEmblem'': [[CoolSword Long Swords, Zanbatos]], [[BladeOnAStick HorseSlayers]], and [[AnAxeToGrind Halberds]] are effective against horseback units.
* Pikemen from ''{{Civilization}} II'' and on.
* Many unit types in the ''AgeOfEmpires'' series, most notably certain infantry such as the pikemen, can deal with cavalry. ''AgeOfEmpiresIII'' gave ''ranged'' cavalry significant AntiCavalry damage as well.
* Lancers and trolls (who also wield lances) in the old DOS game ''Conquered Kingdoms'' can kill cavalry in one hit, without taking any damage in return.
* [[BladeOnAStick Spearmen]] perform this function in ''TotalWar''. The square formation in Empire is also used for this purpose.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* The ''[[http://www.maxgames.com/guides/age-of-war-2.html Age Of War]]'' flash games had this.

* [[BladeOnAStick Spearmen]] perform this function in TotalWar. The square formation in Empire is also used for this purpose.

In some games, there are horseback units. Given their speed, it can be a hassle or worse to deal with. Thankfully (or unfortunately, if you are a horse-lover), there are weapons to deal with them, both rider and steed. Very much a part of TacticalRockPaperScissors.

* By the 18th century, it was considered [[{{Understatement}} Ill-advised]] for a Cavalry unit to attempt to attack an infantry formation in any frontal fashion. For one thing, a whole bunch of guys on horses is hard to be sneaky about unless they attack from cover, and well-drilled soldiers could fire their muskets as many as ''[[MoreDakka three times a minute]]'', and assuming that the cavalrymen made it through that barrage intact, they would still have to deal with the bayonets. A bayonet is a very long knife that you stick onto the end of a musket or a rifle to turn it into an [[ImprovisedWeapon improvised spear]], and these could do considerable damage if you tried to force your way through a formation of them. Instead, cavalry units preferred to try and attack the flanks or the rears of formations when possible, or else pursue retreating enemies who had broken formation.
* Extend your definition of cavalry to include helicopters and armored vehicles, and missile launchers and anti-armor/anti-aircraft guns fit too, serving much the same purpose of dealing with the threat posed by enemy cavalry units.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_square Infantry Squares]].

* In {{Braveheart}}, when the Scottish army encounters the British infantry, the British don't want to take advantage of such unfair terms, but the Scots taunt them into attacking. As soon as the British are too close to pull back, the Scots drop their facade and pick up long pikes, which slaughter the horses. The depiction was graphic enough that the ASPCA investigated the footage to see if the horses had actually been hurt (good news, horse lovers; the horses were fine).

* In ''Braveheart,'' when the Scottish army encounters the British infantry, the British don't want to take advantage of such unfair terms, but the Scots taunt them into attacking. As soon as the British are too close to pull back, the Scots drop their facade and pick up long pikes, which slaughter the horses. The depiction was graphic enough that the ASPCA investigated the footage to see if the horses had actually been hurt (good news, horse lovers; the horses were fine).

[[AC:((Film))]]

[[AC: RealLife]]

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_square Infantry Square]]

** [[TheArcher Bows]] are [[AntiAir effective against winged units]] such as Pegasus and Wyvern ones.
*** [[CoolSword Wyvernslayers]], [[BladeOnAStick Dragon Spears]], and [[AnAxeToGrind Dragon Axes]] are also effective against Wyvern units.
* Pikemen in ''{{Civilization}} II''.
* Many unit types in the ''AgeOfEmpires'' series, most notably certain infantry such as the pikemen, can deal with cavalry.
** Don't ever forget Light Cavalry, although they are Cavalry themselves.

[[AC: RealLife]]
* The [[{{BFS}} Zanbato's]] intended purpose was to kill both horse and its rider, as well as the ''Zhanmadao'', which the former is based on.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_square Infantry Square]]
* In the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guldensporenslag Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302)]], the Flemish forces managed to [[CurbStompBattle thoroughly trounce]] and demoralize the French cavalry thanks to several tactical advantages:
** The Flemish were positioned just behind ditches that couldn't be easily cleared by the cavalry forces, causing the cavalry to loose the advantage of open terrain;
** The Flemish forces used a combination of pikes to block the horses and a relatively new weapon, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goedendag goedendag]], to kill horses and rider;
** The Flemish [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized didn't care for feudal code of chivalry]] and killed the cavalry forces (most of them were noblemen) instead of taking them hostage.

** The Flemish [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized didn't care for feudal code of chivalry]] and killed the cavalry forces (most of them were noblemen) in stead of taking them hostage.

*** The Flemish were positioned just behind ditches that couldn't be easily cleared by the cavalry forces, causing the cavalry to loose the advantage of open terrain;
*** The Flemish forces used a combination of pikes to block the horses and a relatively new weapon, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goedendag goedendag]], to kill horses and rider;
*** The Flemish [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized didn't care for feudal code of chivalry]] and killed the cavalry forces (most of them were noblemen) in stead of taking them hostage.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* The [[{{BFS}} Zanbato's]] intended purpose was to kill both horse and its rider, as well as the ''Zhanmadao'', which the former is based on.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_square Infantry Square]]

*** The Flemish didn't care for [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized feudal code of chivalry]] and killed the cavalry forces (most of them were noblemen) in stead of taking them hostage.

* The [[{{BFS}} Zanbato's]] intended purpose was to kill both horse and its rider.

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