Sabre Cavalry (FOTS Unit)

Sabre Cavalry (FOTS Unit)
File:Sabre Cavalry FOTS.png
Class	Sword Cavalry
Recruitment Cost	1200
Upkeep Cost	150
Requires	Buildings: Cadet School
Melee Attack	18
Charge Bonus	10
Bonus vs Cavalry	0
Melee Defence	7
Armour	2
Morale	8
Speed	8

Description

All dash and fire, les beaux sabreurs!

These splendid cavalrymen are best employed to flank the enemy line, and to charge into enemy infantry in the hope of disrupting their formations and driving them from the field. Their sabres are excellent melee weapons, but lack the reach to get to grips properly with spear-armed infantry or cavalry lancers. Sabre cavalry can be used to overrun artillery units, but they should not be needlessly exposed to artillery fire. Like many dashing horsemen, sabre cavalry have good morale, as they are convinced that they are a cut above ordinary soldiers!

It seems a little odd that the Japanese, with a centuries-old tradition of exquisite swordsmithing, would abandon the deadly and beautiful katana in favour of a machine-produced foreign weapon like the sabre. However, thousands of sabres produced in German and English factories were exported across the world, and Japan received its fair share of blades; they were adopted as symbols of modernity. Sabres, however, were not particularly modern, or particularly European or American. The weapon has Turkish roots, and was copied by European powers. It is, however, superbly designed for slashing attacks from horseback, and this undoubtedly was the reason it was so widely adopted. In Europe, the sabre was regularly used to disperse troublesome mobs: the Russian Cossacks became notorious for their use of the sabre and even the British authorities had ordered cavalrymen to use their sabres against civilians on more than one occasion. On the battlefield, however, the days of the sabre were numbered: firepower was the main method of killing.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very good in melee.
• Average charge.
• Weak against missile attacks and spear units.
• Good morale.

Abilities

• Wedge Formation - Trained to charge in a wedge formation in order to better penetrate enemy formations

Other Information

In an era dominated by guns and cannons, Sabre Cavalry are completely useless for anything else other than ambushes and butchering routed units. Any attempt at using them for a flanking maneuver or a frontal charge will most likely end in total disaster due to their slow speed. Among their greatest weaknesses are Bow Ki, Revolver Cavalry, and Carbine Cavalry who can simply thin out the Sabre Cavalry and then run back to the safety of their lines without ever giving them a chance at retaliation.