TOP 12 cavalry of all time.[no order]

[AUSTERLITZ]

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The combination of horse archers and armoured lancers as a small arms unit was lethal.
To avoid the deadly hail of missiles, enemies would frequently spread out, or seek cover, breaking up their formations and making them more vulnerable to the lancers' charges. Likewise, when they packed themselves together, into dense square or phalanx style formations, they would become more vulnerable to the arrows.
Once the enemy was deemed sufficiently weakened, the noyans would give the order. The drums would beat and the signal flags wave, telling the lancers to begin their charge. Often, the devastation of the arrows was enough to rout an enemy, so the lancers were only needed to help pursue and mop up the remnants.
When facing European armies, whose emphasis was in formations of heavy cavalry, the Mongols would avoid direct confrontation, and would instead use their bows to destroy enemy cavalry at long distances. If the armor withstood their arrows, the Mongols killed the knights' horses, leaving a heavily armored man on foot and isolated.



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The mongol imperial guard was the elite keshig.Under superb commanders like subedei,genghis,jube,batu and hulugu the mongols swept all before them.Their ahead of time signals and communication system in campaign and battle using flags ensured superb co ordiantion.Espionage and psychological warfare were also used.Terror and massed butchery werea instrument of state policy.



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Th traditional mongol recurve bow.For its time it was unmatched in accuracy,firepower and range.



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Mongol heavy cavalry.These were a prime example of how timurid and kublai khan's yuan heavy cavalry looked like.All subsequent armies of the east were influenced by mongols.



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The battle of kalka river.The beginning of subedei's assault on russia.Mongols are the only army to have conducted a large scale successful winter campaign in russia.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

That's it.Honorable mentions of some that just missed out-
African numidian skirmisher cavalry,frederick the great's prussian cavalry,prussian death's head hussars,Austria's hungarian hussars,Native american apache and sioux,indian maratha and rajput light and heavy cavalry,Mughal heavy cavalry,afghan/iranian heavy lancer,safavid iranian heavy cavalry,finish hackapellita,chinese tang and han cavalry,spanish mounted conquistadors,gothic heavy cavallry.

 

[kobiraaz]

Very lengthy thread. Bookmarked. Will read later. Whatever the truth is, to me Mobile Guard of Rashidun Army are number one , victorious in their numerous battles against larger Army Persians, Arabs, Persians, egyptians, north africans!!

 

[KS]

@AUSTERLITZ...what is a swastika doing on a mongol horseman ?

 

[KingMamba]

@AUSTERLITZ...what is a swastika doing on a mongol horseman ?

He was probably a Hindu, the Mongols had no fixed religion and Genghis Khan was known to have scholars of all faiths in his court. Eventually over time some Mongols adopted the religion and culture of the areas they conquered.

As you can see the Mongols conquered Nepal so perhaps they picked up on Hinduism from there??

Another example would be the conversion of the Golden Horde of Russia to Islam.

 

[KS]

He was probably a Hindu, the Mongols had no fixed religion and Genghis Khan was known to have scholars of all faiths in his court. Eventually over time some Mongols adopted the religion and culture of the areas they conquered.

As you can see the Mongols conquered Nepal so perhaps they picked up on Hinduism from there??

Another example would be the conversion of the Golden Horde of Russia to Islam.

Mongols were never Hindus.....They were Tengriists in the time of Genghis ..and they also did not conquer Nepal..but rather Tibet IIRC...so they picked up Buddhism from them....current form of Lama Buddhism practised by the mongols is heavily influenced by the Tibetan budddhism...Maybe they picked up the swastika from the Tibetans...not sure

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

No probably buddhist,swastika was a symbol of prosperity for all indic faiths not just hinduism.Thats why the nazis adopted it as a ancient symbol of prosperity.Buddhism was prevelant at that time in central asia and china.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Very lengthy thread. Bookmarked. Will read later. Whatever the truth is, to me Mobile Guard of Rashidun Army are number one , victorious in their numerous battles against larger Army Persians, Arabs, Persians, egyptians, north africans!!

Everyone has their own favourites.Enjoy the thread mate,hope u like it.

 

[KingMamba]

Mongols were never Hindus.....They were Tengriists in the time of Genghis ..and they also did not conquer Nepal..but rather Tibet IIRC...so they picked up Buddhism from them....current form of Lama Buddhism practised by the mongols is heavily influenced by the Tibetan budddhism...Maybe they picked up the swastika from the Tibetans...not sure

I never said they were Hindus, but why is it hard to believe a few may have picked up on it? Mongols have been openly perceived to have been generally open to all faiths, as long as the people did not rebel against them. The extent of the Mongol conquest differs depending on who you ask, some maps have them controlling all of the subcontinent which is obviously not true. The above map is the generally agreed upon extent of the Mongol empire.

He was probably a Hindu meant specific to that one person but yeah it was probably Buddhist then.

Everyone has their own favourites.Enjoy the thread mate,hope u like it.

What is your favorite??

 

[Azazel]

No mention of Her Majesty's Cavalry forces.

Remember how 17th lancers became a part of history by getting themselves killed.

 

[KS]

No probably buddhist,swastika was a symbol of prosperity for all indic faiths not just hinduism.Thats why the nazis adopted it as a ancient symbol of prosperity.Buddhism was prevelant at that time in central asia and china.

@AUSTERLITZ - would be great if you open a thread on ancient navies too..

What is your favorite??

Mongol horde. Evident in his words.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

I never said they were Hindus, but why is it hard to believe a few may have picked up on it? Mongols have been openly perceived to have been generally open to all faiths, as long as the people did not rebel against them. The extent of the Mongol conquest differs depending on who you ask, some maps have them controlling all of the subcontinent which is obviously not true. The above map is the generally agreed upon extent of the Mongol empire.

He was probably a Hindu meant specific to that one person but yeah it was probably Buddhist then.



What is your favorite??

Not sure lol,too many good ones.I am a fan of napoleonic heavy cavalry but that's mostly because its my special area of interest the napoleonic age.The polish hussar,ottoman spahi and mongol horde are also favourites.

@AUSTERLITZ - would be great if you open a thread on ancient navies too..



Mongol horde. Evident in his words.

Possibly.But if ask in any reputed militray history forum,u'll get the same answer.Almost unanimously mongol horde.Infact the general consensus is mongol horde was the greatest military machine of all time followed by the roman legion.This is mostly because in their timeframe they almost didn't have ANY weaknesses.

 

[Surenas]

Infact the general consensus is mongol horde was the greatest military machine of all time followed by the roman legion.This is mostly because in their timeframe they almost didn't have ANY weaknesses.

Roman legions? They got their as$'s kicked a couple of times.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Ok but navies will take some time,will finish within the week though.First infantry.

 

[KingMamba]

Roman legions? They got their as$'s kicked a couple of times.

True, but they have written the history books and the history books always give a Western Biased view of the situation. So although the Persians pretty much stopped the Roman Legions dead in their tracks, historians instead focus on the land the Romans did conquer.