Round Shield Cavalry (RTW Unit)
Round shield cavalry are best used to ride down skirmishers and pursue fleeing enemies.
Overview
Round shield cavalry are best used to ride down skirmishers and pursue fleeing enemies. They lack the armour protection needed for prolonged melees against heavier opponents and, as they are armed with swords, do not have an initial shock value when they charge home. That said, properly deployed they will give a good account of themselves.
Details
Round Shield cavalry are the basic light cavalry unit available to Carthage and Spain. They come from the first stables. They are not great warriors and have somewhat shaky morale but they are decent troops, being fast and having good enough melee stats to fight early enemies. Their lack of a lance means that charging is not a great advantage for them.
They should mostly be used to either flank or charge skirmishers, and engage other light cavalry. They have a chance to catch missile cavalry and if they do they will usually cut them to pieces as they take time to pull out their swords. Round Shield Cavalry should also be used alongside Generals Bodyguard. The Bodyguard should charge the enemy first, since they are tough enough to absorb damage, and then the Round Shields should flank and break them. Used correctly Round Shield Cavalry can often break an enemies morale very quickly, but if this fails then they take lots of casualties.
These troops should form the backbone of an early Spanish or Carthaginian army, because compared to the very weak Iberian Infantry they are excellent. Eventually the superior Long Shield Cavalry will render them obsolete.