History Main / AntiCavalry

* Subverted in ''Fanfic/SarumanOfManyDevices'', when the orcish commander sees the Rohirrim approaching slowly and cautiously, and takes the opportunity to reform his troops into a dense pike wall. Normally this would be a perfectly good tactic that would massacre the horses, but [[DidntSeeThatComing what he doesn't know]] is that the Rohirrim are working with Isengard, which has made great strides in using gunpowder, and his big block of close-packed soldiers makes a perfect target for their rifles and cannons.

Most such units use weapons based either on polearms (spears, pikes, etc.) or camels. Horses are naturally skittish and scared silly of unfamiliar things that might hurt them: Anything resembling a [[BladeOnAStick pointy stick]] will keep horses away, and the longer the pointy stick the scarier it becomes. The fact that spears and pikes are really cheap and relatively easy to train with has historically made them excellent anti-cavalry weapons; indeed, the rediscovery of pike tactics by the Swiss and Dutch in the late Middle Ages is generally considered to be the real death knell for the age of knights (rather than gunpowder as generally assumed). Horses are also scared or disoriented by the scent of unfamiliar animals; reports of horse cavalry collapsing before camelry and WarElephants are fairly consistent across time and space (from the time of UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat through to the Arab empires, and in Central Asia as well).

*** Most civilizations will end up using Musketeers as their anti-cavalry since they don't suffer from the low speed and single-focus role of Pikemen and they scale better. Some civilizations also have access to [[BladeOnAStick Halberdiers]], who are just as good against cavalry as Pikemen but since they have a higher base damage and lower anti-cavalry multiplier they're better against other things.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'': [[CoolSword Longswords/Zanbatos]], [[BladeOnAStick Horse]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Slayers]], and Halberds are effective against horseback units.

** Most Lord/main characters usually have a personal weapion that is both Anti-Cavalry and Anti-Armor. The [[RoyalRapier Rapier/Regal Blade]] is the most common, but some others are [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim's]] [[BladeOnAStick Reginleif]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Lyn's]] [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana Mani Katti]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Hector's Wolf Beil]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Caeda's]] [[BladeOnAStick Wing Spear]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Micaiah's]] [[LightEmUp Thani]].

** [[BladeOnAStick Spearmen]] in any game get a combat bonus against cavalry units. This doesn't mean that heavy melee cavalry can't smash into a unit of levy spearmen and inflict horrible casualties in the initial impact, and possibly rout them in a single charge, but in protracted combats, horsemen fall quickly to mobs of pointy sticks. Units with pikes and halberds, however, can adopt a phalanx formation that will murder any cavalry stupid enough to try a frontal charge, but [[CripplingOverspecialization they are pretty helpless when flanked and usually can't hope to catch ranged infantry before getting shot to pieces]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Wargroove}}'': Pikemen (being reskins of ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' bazooka infantry) counter cavalry (reskins of the ''Advance Wars'' light tank'' on the the offense. Being charged by cavalry (especially if the cavalry have their CriticalHit condition) will still hurt them badly, though costing less than half of cavalry means almost any exchange of blows is in the pikemen's favour resource-wise.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wargroove}}'': As in real life, pikemen counter cavalry.

[[folder:FanWorks]]

* ''Film/{{Glory}}'': A southern cavalry unit charges through light woods against a Union rifle unit. They may have been counting on the wood to give sufficient cover -- if so, it doesn't work. The cavalry is mowed down by the Civil War era single shot riles.

* ''Film/WarHorse'': A contemporary variant is seen; during the early years of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the British army were still employing horseback cavalry. Initially during the attack on a German camp the BEF Calvary were doing surprisingly well and had managed to drive the occupants back to the woods... only for the retreating Germans to suddenly man the machinegun nests hidden all along the treeline and [[CurbStompBattle return fire]]. By the next scene, there are plenty of riderless horses wandering about and even more dead ones strewn all over the battlefield.

* ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'': In the later books, "volley guns" are introduced as groups of barrels which can all fire simultaneously and be reloaded quickly, so they put an amazing amount of projectiles into the air at once, and do it repeatedly over the range of a cavalry charge. They repeatedly break cavalry charges in various battles.

* ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'': Referred to in ''The Sleeping Beauty'' -- Siegfried doesn't normally ride, because as soon as he gets attached to a horse (easy to do when you can speak with animals) someone decides that the best way to slow down the big barbarian is to kill his steed.

*** Most civilizations will end up using Musketeers as their anti-cavalry, since they don't suffer from the low speed and single-focus role of Pikemen and they scale better. Some civilizations also have access to [[BladeOnAStick Halberdiers]], who are just as good against cavalry as Pikemen but since they have a higher base damage and lower anti-cavalry multiplier they're better against other things.

* ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'': No matter their other defenses, units on horseback are extra-vulnerable to piercing attacks like spears, pikes, and arrows. Made worse by the fact that some of these units can only make charge attacks on the offensive (for double damage inflicted but also received) and some spear-carriers get the "first strike" ability, allowing them to potentially get one good stab in even ''before'' getting hit by said charge.

** ''VideoGame/CivilizationII'': The Pikeman has double defense against mounted units, so that it's even more effective against them than Musketeers were. After the combat system is revamped in ''Civilization IV'' and again in ''Civilization V'', Spearmen and Pikemen have an advantage against mounted units (in ''Civ V'', it's a 100% bonus).

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'' has three foot unit types: basic infantry, heavy infantry and ranged infantry (turns into basic (ranged, with rifles), heavy (ranged, with [[ArmorPiercingAttack anti-tank rifles or rockets]]), or [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrower]] in the modern age and afterwards). Heavy infantry, initially pikemen or similar, are Anti-Cavalry. Later, the same units upgrade to anti-tank infantry as the cavalry upgrades to armor.

Most such units use weapons based either on polearms (spears, pikes, etc.) or camels. Horses are scared silly of anything resembling a [[BladeOnAStick pointy stick]], and the longer the pointy stick the scarier it becomes. The fact that spears and pikes are really cheap and relatively easy to train with has historically made them excellent anti-cavalry weapons; indeed, the rediscovery of pike tactics by the Swiss and Dutch in the late Middle Ages is generally considered to be the real death knell for the age of knights (rather than gunpowder as generally assumed). Horses are also reputed to be scared or disoriented by the scent of camels; while this may not be true, reports of horse cavalry collapsing before camel cavalry are fairly consistent across time and place (from the time of UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat through to the Arab empires, and in Central Asia as well).

[[folder:{{Film}}]]

SubTrope of WeaponOfXSlaying. See also AntiAir, AntiInfantry, AntiVehicle, AntiStructure, and AntiArmor. Can lead to InertialImpalement. A common part of TacticalRockPaperScissors.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Subverted. When the Rohirrim cavalry appear in the rear of Mordor's army assailing Minas Tirith, the Orc commander orders his troops to turn, face, and present a wall of pikes. However, due to the Mordor orcs' lousy discipline and morale they fail to hold their formation and get overrun. The Uruk-Hai {{Super Soldier}}s (who have much better equipment and none of the discipline issues) only lose at the exact same tactic at the battle of Helm's Deep due to a probably-supernatural event.

In some games, there are [[MountedCombat horseback units]]. Given their speed, it can be a hassle or worse to deal with them, moreso if they are heavily armored. Thankfully, there are weapons to deal with them, both rider and steed. Not one for the horse lovers.

** ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'': Anti-cavalry infantry and cavalry are available to all four civilizations.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'': [[CoolSword Longswords/Zanbatos]], [[BladeOnAStick Horse]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Slayers]], and [[AnAxeToGrind Halberds]] are effective against horseback units.

** Most Lord/main characters usually have a personal weapion that is both Anti-Cavalry and Anti-Armor. The [[RoyalRapier Rapier/Regal Blade]] is the most common, but some others are [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim's]] [[BladeOnAStick Reginleif]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Lyn's]] [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana Mani Katti]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Hector's]] [[AnAxeToGrind Wolf Beil]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Caeda's]] [[BladeOnAStick Wing Spear]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Micaiah's]] [[LightEmUp Thani]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
* By the mid-18th century in Europe, it was considered nigh-suicidal 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 four times a minute]]'', and assuming that the cavalrymen made it through that barrage intact, they would still have to deal with the [[BayonetYa bayonets]], which allowed them to use their firearms as spears to fend off charges. This forced cavalry into secondary roles, such as reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance; horses were increasingly used to also provide extra mobility to infantry, who would ride into battle and dismount to fight on foot. However, that is not to say that cavalry could not perform any combat roles at all: they could try and attack the flanks or the rears of formations when possible, or else pursue retreating enemies who had broken formation.
* 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. It's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Zan (斬) = Slash,[[note]]Or strike[[/note]] Ba[[note]]Normally "Uma"[[/note]] (馬) = Horse, To (刀) = Sword or "Horse Slashing/Chopping Saber". Its use is to slash at a horse's legs before fishing it and its rider off though legend states that some slashed through both horse and rider.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_square Infantry Squares,]] Although this formation dates back to the Roman era, it was successfully employed on 18th and 19th-century battlefields as a defensive formation to ward off cavalry. To compensate for the slow reload of flintlock muskets, infantry could form into hollow-centered squares roughly two or more ranks deep, possibly with the front rank kneeling and bracing their weapon on the ground. This formation not only presented attacking enemy cavalry with a bristle of bayonets that would be difficult to overcome but also prevented cavalry from outflanking them, while additionally allowing the infantry to safely fire and reload their weapons. Infrequently, infantry squares could break, especially if the troops involved were poorly trained or lacking in morale, which would often result in a massive rout. The men tightly packed together in squares were also rendered more vulnerable to artillery and shootouts, and so cavalry could [[BatmanGambit feint a charge against infantry to force the unit to form a square, and then break off instead to let allied infantry and artillery shoot the square to pieces]].
* 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 lose 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.
* At the battles of Crécy and Agincourt during UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, the English forces, mostly commoners with longbows, defeated numerically superior French forces, mostly nobles on horses in armor, by their use of ranged attacks from behind stakes driven into the ground.
* Swiss mercenaries, armed with [[BladeOnAStick pikes and halberds]] routinely defeated cavalry forces, and if they didn't, they tended to [[PyrrhicVictory inflict such horrendous casualties that the enemy couldn't capitalize on their victory]]. Like the Flemings, they also didn't adhere to the guidelines of chivalry and took no prisoners.
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_and_shot Pike and Shot]] formation was invented expressly to deal with armored knight charges.
* Behold, the {{Caltrops}}, a passive anti-cavalry weapon designed so that no matter how it is dropped, [[BoringButPractical it always lands with at least one sharp point pointing upwards.]] Unwary cavalry and infantry risk [[AgonyOfTheFeet severe injury]] if they step on one. Chariots went obsolete whenever they popped up [[note]]Even wary chariots will have trouble steering their 2+ horses away from a bunch of caltrops effectively, and everyone involved with the chariot will be lucky to not be put down after being incapacitated from the terrible spill that will occur when the horses run over the caltrops[[/note]] What's better, they can still be effective against modern vehicle using air-filled tires.
** The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheval_de_frise Cheval de frise]] is a larger anti-cavalry obstacle consisting of a rack of spikes mounted in a portable frame that can be set in place and anchored.
* Horses being startled by camels [[TruthInTelevision has some recorded evidence.]] When United States border patrol agents near El Paso, Texas tried to supplement their horseback patrols with a squad of camels, the camels so profoundly scared the horses that they were nearly unridable if there was a camel within several hundred yards. The project was scrapped shortly thereafter.
* Pikes, English bill hooks, halberds, and voulges/pole cleavers were designed from earlier spears to form a wall of sharp pointy shit for cavalry to not run into and therefore protect the muskets behind the wall. Halberds and billhooks were also designed to rip the rider from his horse and be chopped to bits when on the ground.
** In particular, the Scots had a pike formation called the schiltron that made them effectively invincible against cavalry. Unfortunately, it was also the ''only'' thing they could do against cavalry, and the people in it had to stand very close together, meaning that a combination of cavalry with archers could bring it down.
* Even throughout the 20th century, cavalry units were still used by major armies all over the world. However, the final nail in the coffin for traditional horseback cavalry was no longer pikes nor rifle bayonets; the [[MoreDakka machine gun]] simply outclassed any kind of massed charge, horse or infantry.
* In regards to modern cavalry (aircraft, armored vehicles, and the like), specialized missiles and guns are often necessary. Attack aircraft are often very fast and agile, and use the terrain for cover, meaning AntiAir personnel have a narrow window to engage them, [[UsefulNotes/WildWeasel especially if the Anti-Air units are the aircraft's target.]] Armored vehicles are often designed to be mobile bunkers, and require specialized weapons with either enough firepower to penetrate the heavy armor, or enough precision to [[AttackItsWeakPoint Attack Its Weak Spot]].
* UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga came up with the idea of rolling fire volleys several centuries before Europe did, which he used to demolish the powerful Takeda Clan's cavalry in Nagashino. He built lines of palisades beyond the river, which functioned as a barrier to slow the horses down. The battle was such a staggering defeat that the Takeda clan never recovered.
[[/folder]]

In some games, there are [[MountedCombat horseback units]]. Given their speed, it can be a hassle or worse to deal with them, moreso if they are heavily armored. Thankfully, there are weapons to deal with them, both rider and steed. Not one for the horse lovers. Very much a part of TacticalRockPaperScissors.

Historically accurate: Most such weapons are based either on polearms (spears, pikes, etc.) or camels. Horses are scared silly of anything resembling a [[BladeOnAStick pointy stick]], and the longer the pointy stick the scarier it becomes. The fact that spears and pikes are really cheap and relatively easy to train with has historically made them excellent anti-cavalry weapons; indeed, the rediscovery of pike tactics by the Swiss and Dutch in the late Middle Ages is generally considered to be the real death knell for the age of knights (rather than gunpowder as generally assumed). Horses are also reputed to be scared or disoriented by the scent of camels; while this may not be true, reports of horse cavalry collapsing before camel cavalry are fairly consistent across time and place (from the time of UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat through to the Arab empires, and in Central Asia as well).

SubTrope of WeaponOfXSlaying. See also AntiAir, AntiInfantry, AntiVehicle, AntiStructure, and AntiArmor. Can lead to InertialImpalement.

Contrast InvulnerableHorses (although scenes involving such units may still pretty up their tactics by having them exclusively target the riders instead of the horses).

** Most Lord/main characters usually have a personal weapion that is both Anti-Cavalry and Anti-Armor. The [[RoyalRapier Rapier/Regal Blade]] is the most common, but some others are [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim's]] [[BladeOnAStick Reginleif]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Lyn's]] [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana Mani Katti]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Hector's]] [[AnAxeToGrind Wolf Beil]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Caeda's]] [[BladeOnAStick Wing Spear]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Micaiah's]] [[LightEmUp Thani]].

* ''Videogame/{{MORDHAU}}:'' With horses being available, some weapons have emerged as particularly effective cavalry killers.

* ''Videogame/{{Wargroove}}'': As in real life, pikemen counter cavalry.

* In ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', when the Scottish army encounters the English infantry, the Scots taunt them into attacking with heavy cavalry. As soon as the English are too close to pull back, the Scots drop their facade and pick up sharpened stakes, which [[InertialImpalement 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 ''Film/{{Glory}}'', a southern cavalry unit charges through light woods against a Union rifle unit. They may have been counting on the wood to give sufficient cover - if so, it doesn't work. The cavalry is mowed down by the Civil War era single shot riles.
* Averted twice in the film adaptation of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. When the Rohirrim cavalry appear in the rear of Mordor's army assailing Minas Tirith, the Orc commander orders his troops to turn, face, and present a wall of pikes. However, due to the Mordor orcs' lousy discipline and morale they fail to hold their formation and get overrun. The Uruk-Hai [[SuperSoldier Super Soldiers]] (who have much better equipment and none of the discipline issues) only lose at the exact same tactic at the battle of Helm's Deep due to a probably-supernatural event.
* A contemporary variant is seen in ''Film/WarHorse''; during the early years of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the British army were still employing horseback cavalry. Initially during the attack on a German camp the BEF Calvary were doing surprisingly well and had managed to drive the occupants back to the woods... only for the retreating Germans to suddenly man the machinegun nests hidden all along the treeline and [[CurbStompBattle return fire]]. By the next scene, there are plenty of riderless horses wandering about and even more dead ones strewn all over the battlefield.
* This trope made Hela's battle against the Valkyries in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' the CurbStompBattle that it was. In a battle between a goddess who is able to summon knives, blades, and spears larger than buses versus a battalion of winged-horse-riding Asgardians, it's a miracle that even one was able to survive, and it suddenly makes sense why we never saw a single Valkyrie previously in the series.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* Jerry Pournelle's ''King David's Spaceship'': on the planet Makassar infantry square techniques introduced from offworld are used to protect against barbarian cavalry attacks.
* In the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' series, the pike formation is a standard Legion fighting technique and proves to be very handy in slowing down charges.
* In ''[[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1632]]'', large tercio formations are quickly slaughtered by a M-60 machine gun.
** Which are technically not cavalry, being simply large blocks of foot soldiers. However, in the later books, "volley guns" are introduced as groups of barrels which can all fire simultaneously and be reloaded quickly, so they put an amazing amount of projectiles into the air at once, and do it repeatedly over the range of a cavalry charge. They repeatedly break cavalry charges in various battles.
* Referred to in ''[[Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms The Sleeping Beauty]]'' -- Siegfried doesn't normally ride, because as soon as he gets attached to a horse (easy to do when you can speak with animals) someone decides that the best way to slow down the big barbarian is to kill his steed.

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' started to get into this. In ''Civilization II'', the Pikeman had double defense against mounted units, so that it was even more effective against them than Musketeers were. After the combat system was revamped in ''Civilization IV'' and again in ''Civilization V'', Spearmen and Pikemen have an advantage against mounted units (in ''Civ V'', it's a 100% bonus).

** In ''Civilization IV'', Rifleman have a moderate strength bonus vs. cavalry, representing their ability to fix bayonets to counter a charge. (Musketmen lack this bonus.) In ''Civilization V'', they no longer have this bonus; instead, Pikemen can be upgraded to Lancers (cavalry units themselves) which are especially strong against other cavalry units. In much the same way that Cavalry upgrade into Tanks, Lancers upgrade into [[AntiArmor Anti-Tank Guns]].

* ''Conquered Kingdoms'', a game from the DOS era has Lancers and lance-wielding Trolls who can kill cavalry in one hit, without taking any damage in return.

** Zanbato literally means 'Horse-Executing Sword' in Japanese, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and it does just that.]]

** [[NotTheIntendedUse A somewhat unintentional one]] is the Toolbox. Sure, you ''can'' lay down a wall of wooden spikes in frequented horse lanes to hamper their efforts, and that works as intended, but many prefer to instead lay one down ''right'' as the cavalry comes charging in so they run into the half-assembled structure and stop cold out of nowhere, vulnerable to getting floored by the aforementioned Billhook.

** In ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'', some units of archers, like English Longbowmen, can deploy sharpened stakes while setting up for a battle. These form an immobile obstacle that will instantly kill any horses (friend or foe) that try to move past the business end of the stakes at more than a walk. Sharpened stakes trivialize the Mongol invasions, as during city sieges, the Mongols will have their crappy infantry use a BatteringRam to open a settlement's gates, then send all their cavalry - including their generals - pouring through the gatehouse, directly into the spike trap.
** The square formation in ''VideoGame/EmpireTotalWar'' is also used for this purpose, and some skirmisher units can also put down sharpened sticks.
** FlamingArrows in ''VideoGame/TotalWarAttila'' are very effective against cavalry - even an army's most basic archers can expect to pull off a very good showing against the {{Horse Archer}}s that the titular man is ''definitely'' going to be using.
** ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'' generally gives spear units bonus which improves their effectiveness against "large" units such as cavalry, but that's just the tip of the iceberg for the potential weapons armies will employ to counteract large units, from javelins, cannons, [[{{Dracolich}} undead dragons]], or just the {{Giant Mook}}s of the Greenskins.

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

[[folder:RealLife]]

* The ability to explicitly set spears and similar weapons against a charge (typically for double damage) in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' hails all the way back to its early editions, sometimes treated as a special fighter maneuver, sometimes more as a property of the weapon itself. While many monsters may simply make charge attacks on their own without needing to mount up first, the inspiration is still obvious enough.
* Bretonnian archers in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' can set up stakes in front of them to prevent cavalry charges. If they panic and run, the stakes go with them...[[FridgeLogic somehow, in spite of them being presumed to be ignoring all else for self-presevation]].
* Units with the Phalanx special rule in ''TabletopGame/KingsOfWar'' penalise cavalry and flyers who charge them, but only if that unit charges their front arc. Naturally, most of these units are flavoured as pikemen.

* Many unit types in the ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' series, most notably certain infantry such as the pikemen, can deal with cavalry. ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' gave ''ranged'' cavalry significant Anti-Cavalry damage as well.
** Camels and Heavy (-armored) Camels in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' were very good at dealing with horsemen as well, and cost slightly less.
** In ''Age of Empires III'' most civilizations will end up using Musketeers as their anti-cavalry, since they don't suffer from the low speed and single-focus role of Pikemen and they scale better. Some civilizations also have access to [[BladeOnAStick Halberdiers]], who are just as good against cavalry as Pikemen but since they have a higher base damage and lower anti-cavalry multiplier they're better against other things.
** In the spinoff ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' anti-cavalry infantry and cavalry are available to all four civilizations.
* Despite the aversions in the films, this is played very straight in ''VideoGame/TheBattleForMiddleEarth'' and is one of the few things that prevent massed Rohirrim charges from sweeping the field of enemy infantry. You can maneuver around the pikemen to attack, but they can also turn to keep the pikes towards your main force. The best case of (heavily upgraded) Rohirrim vs. pikemen head-on still leads to your charge being brought almost to a standstill, while the worst case is a lot of dead men and horses. [[TacticalRockPaperScissors But that's what mounted archers are for]]!

* ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'': No matter their other defenses, units on horseback are extra-vulnerable to piercing attacks like spears, pikes, and arrows. Made worse by the fact that some of these units can only make charge attacks on the offensive (for double damage infliced but also received) and some spear-carriers get the "first strike" ability, allowing them to potentially get one good stab in even ''before'' getting hit by said charge.

** Interestingly, the Camel Archer and Keshik (the unique Knight replacemets of the Arabs and Mongols, respectively) are not as weak against pikemen as other mounted units, because they're ranged attackers instead of heavy cavalry. [[FridgeBrilliance Under ideal conditions, they would never have to even get close to the pikemen to effectively attack them.]]

* ''Conquered Kingdoms'', a game from the DOS era has Lancers and lance-weilding Trolls who can kill cavalry in one hit, without taking any damage in return.

* By the mid-18th century in Europe, it was considered nigh-suicidal 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]], which allowed them to use their firearms as spears to fend off charges. This forced cavalry into secondary roles, such as reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance; horses were increasingly used to also provide extra mobility to infantry, who would ride into battle and dismount to fight on foot. However, that is not to say that cavalry could not perform any combat roles at all: they could try and attack the flanks or the rears of formations when possible, or else pursue retreating enemies who had broken formation.

* Many unit types in the ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' series, most notably certain infantry such as the pikemen, can deal with cavalry. ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' gave ''ranged'' cavalry significant AntiCavalry damage as well.

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'' has three foot unit types: basic infantry, heavy infantry and ranged infantry (turns into basic (ranged, with rifles), heavy (ranged, with [[ArmorPiercingAttack anti-tank rifles or rockets]]), or [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrower]] in the modern age and afterwards). Heavy infantry, initially pikemen or similar, are AntiCavalry. Later, the same units upgrade to anti-tank infantry as the cavalry upgrades to armor.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'': [[CoolSword Longswords/Zanbatos]], [[BladeOnAStick Horse]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Slayers]], and [[AnAxeToGrind Halberds]] are effective against horseback units.
** Zanbato literally means 'Horse-Executing Sword' in Japanese, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and it does just that.]]
** Most Lord/main characters usually have a personal weapion that is both Anti-Cavalry and Anti-Armor. The [[RoyalRapier Rapier/Regal Blade]] is the most common, but some others are [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim's]] [[BladeOnAStick Reginleif]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Lyn's]] [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana Mani Katti]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Hector's]] [[AnAxeToGrind Wolf Beil]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Caeda's]] [[BladeOnAStick Wing Spear]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Micaiah's]] [[LightEmUp Thani]].
** However, while Anti-Cavalry weapons has consistently been effective against Cavalier and Paladins, some classes are not vulnerable to them in some games like Nomad and Troubadour, despite being on horseback.

** Camels and Heavy Camels (which is a bit of a misnomer, since the camels weren't any heavier, it was the armor of the riders that was) in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' were very good at dealing with horsemen as well, and cost slightly less.

* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' - [[BladeOnAStick Spearmen]] perform this function. The square formation in ''VideoGame/EmpireTotalWar'' is also used for this purpose - some skirmisher units can also put down sharpened sticks. Additionally, even a single unit of pikemen in formation will stop cavalry (and lots of other units, really) dead on a charge, but [[CripplingOverspecialization they are pretty helpless when flanked and usually can't hope to catch ranged infantry before getting shot to pieces]].
** Additionally, FlamingArrows in ''VideoGame/TotalWarAttila'' are very effective against cavalry - even an army's most basic archers can expect to pull off a very good showing against the {{Horse Archer}}s that the titular man is ''definitely'' going to be using.

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'' has three foot unit types: basic infantry, heavy infantry and ranged infantry (turns into basic (ranged, with rifles), heavy (ranged, with [[ArmorPiercingAttack anti-tank rifles or rockets]]), or [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrower]] in the modern age and afterwards). Heavy infantry, initially pikemen or similar, are AntiCavalry. Later, the same units upgrade to anti-tank infantry as the cavalry upgrades to armor.
* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' started to get into this. In ''Civilization II'', the Pikeman had double defense against mounted units, so that it was even more effective against them than Musketeers were. After the combat system was revamped in ''Civilization IV'' and again in ''Civilization V'', Spearmen and Pikemen have an advantage against mounted units (in ''Civ V'', it's a 100% bonus).
** Interestingly, the Camel Archer and Keshik (the unique Knight replacemets of the Arabs and Mongols, respectively) are not as weak against pikemen as other mounted units, because they're ranged attackers instead of heavy cavalry. [[FridgeBrilliance Under ideal conditions, they would never have to even get close to the pikemen to effectively attack them.]]
** In ''Civilization IV'', Rifleman have a moderate strength bonus vs. cavalry, representing their ability to fix bayonets to counter a charge. (Musketmen lack this bonus.) In ''Civilization V'', they no longer have this bonus; instead, Pikemen can be upgraded to Lancers (cavalry units themselves) which are especially strong against other cavalry units. In much the same way that Cavalry upgrade into Tanks, Lancers upgrade into [[AntiArmor Anti-Tank Guns]].
** Additionally, in the fourth and fifth games, a unit that gains enough XP in combat can be upgraded with the Formation promotion, making them stronger against mounted units.
* ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'': No matter their other defenses, units on horseback are extra-vulnerable to piercing attacks like spears, pikes, and arrows. Made worse by the fact that some of these units can only make charge attacks on the offensive (for double damage infliced but also received) and some spear-carriers get the "first strike" ability, allowing them to potentially get one good stab in even ''before'' getting hit by said charge.
* Despite the aversions in the films, this is played very straight in ''VideoGame/TheBattleForMiddleEarth'' and is one of the few things that prevent massed Rohirrim charges from sweeping the field of enemy infantry. You can maneuver around the pikemen to attack, but they can also turn to keep the pikes towards your main force. The best case of (heavily upgraded) Rohirrim vs. pikemen head-on still leads to your charge being brought almost to a standstill, while the worst case is a lot of dead men and horses. [[TacticalRockPaperScissors But that's what mounted archers are for]]!
* ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' makes pikes and other long weapons an infantry-only weapon (meaning that you can't wield them on horseback) that can do rather respectable damage to cavalry when they charge into a mass of pikes. Against light cavalry, this will often unhorse or kill riders. It'll still wound and bog down heavy cavalry, enough for them to get surrounded by weaker infantry and ground down one at a time.
* ''Videogame/{{MORDHAU}}:'' With horses being available, some weapons have emerged as particularly effective cavalry killers.
** Polearms in general have the reach to at least attempt ''something'' on a charging horseman. But the Billhook, while not having quite as much range, excels at it by way of directly separating rider and mount when making impact. When you need to remove an enemy's ass from a saddle and send them [[RagdollPhysics ragdolling into the ground]] so your angry team can get some payback on them, accept no substitutes.
** [[NotTheIntendedUse A somewhat unintentional one]] is the Toolbox. Sure, you ''can'' lay down a wall of wooden spikes in frequented horse lanes to hamper their efforts, and that works as intended, but many prefer to instead lay one down ''right'' as the cavalry comes charging in so they run into the half-assembled structure and stop cold out of nowhere, vulnerable to getting floored by the aforementioned Billhook.

* In regards to modern cavalry (aircraft, armored vehicles, and the like), specialized missiles and guns are often necessary. Attack aircraft are often very fast and agile, and use the terrain for cover, meaning AntiAir personnel have a narrow window to engage them, [[UsefulNotes/WildWeasel especially if the Anti-Air units are the aircraft's target.]] Armored vehicles are often designed to be mobile bunkers, and require specialized weapons with either enough firepower to penetrate the heavy armor, or enough precision to [[AttackItsWeakPoint Attack Its Weak Spot]].