How to play as Sarmatian?

[Alsagoz]

I found that Sarmatian is a different kind of cavalry army. While I can have the whole army of lancers, I'm not sure whether they can hold the line well like most infantry and they are not evasive like those horse archers. Is it necessary to use other troops outside lancers? How to deploy them effectively? How do they fight with different matchup especially strong spear/pike armies?

[kongxinga]

From that other thread where I realized pikes and spears LOSE their POA bonus in impact if they are attacking mounted shock troops.

Heavy theory crafting here.

Buy all the unarmored noble lancers you can, fill out the rest with cheap medium javelins. Any money remaining goes towards skirmishers. Avoid extra armoured lancers.
Assign a lancer versus each pike unit, and sit in front of them but do not charge. At 48 for lancers , you can more than 1 to one match each pikemen or spear (these cost more), even warbands lose their impact bonus if charging lancers. Use javelinmen in rough terrain to face off against enemy heavy inf. If there are warbands here you are in trouble, so pay attention (move some flankers to zoc). You often can avoid rough terrain altogether.

With the extra lancers, you want to use them to set up a flank threat on the enemy infantry. Delay enemy cavalry with your horse archers or simply roll over them with lancers since you get a POA advantage. Once that is done either pepper the enemy foot that are being zoced by your lancers with missile fire to cause cohesion checks, or engage them with cheap javelins then hit them in the flank with the extra lancers. Rout one infantry, retrieve lancers, rout the next.

Main idea is the fact that a 42 cost lancer can tie up a 80 dollar phalanx or warband. If they charge, lancers engage at +100, which is pretty bad for the heavy inf. By sitting in front of their heavy inf you essentially stopped them cold. Since you get so many lancers, and you are getting as many as you can by buying the cheaper lancers, use the extras to win the cav fight, or immediately set up flank threats. Javelinmen are probably mostly for bad terrain and to have yet another possible cheap flanker for the troops frozen by the lancers. After that roll up the flanks.

[devoncop]

If the right was only one round your logic works...but over multiple rounds the pikes will surely wear down the landers pretty quick given the respective unit sizes?

[rbodleyscott]

If the right was only one round your logic works...but over multiple rounds the pikes will surely wear down the lancers pretty quick given the respective unit sizes?

The lancers will break off after impact.

[devoncop]

Thanks Richard.....yes of course they will.
As with much in this game it then boils down to whether the opposing army can benefit from the "bounce back" by having other units to follow up.

[MaxDamage]

From that other thread where I realized pikes and spears LOSE their POA bonus in impact if they are attacking mounted shock troops.

Heavy theory crafting here.

Buy all the unarmored noble lancers you can, fill out the rest with cheap medium javelins. Any money remaining goes towards skirmishers. Avoid extra armoured lancers.
Assign a lancer versus each pike unit, and sit in front of them but do not charge. At 48 for lancers , you can more than 1 to one match each pikemen or spear (these cost more), even warbands lose their impact bonus if charging lancers. Use javelinmen in rough terrain to face off against enemy heavy inf. If there are warbands here you are in trouble, so pay attention (move some flankers to zoc). You often can avoid rough terrain altogether.

With the extra lancers, you want to use them to set up a flank threat on the enemy infantry. Delay enemy cavalry with your horse archers or simply roll over them with lancers since you get a POA advantage. Once that is done either pepper the enemy foot that are being zoced by your lancers with missile fire to cause cohesion checks, or engage them with cheap javelins then hit them in the flank with the extra lancers. Rout one infantry, retrieve lancers, rout the next.

Main idea is the fact that a 42 cost lancer can tie up a 80 dollar phalanx or warband. If they charge, lancers engage at +100, which is pretty bad for the heavy inf. By sitting in front of their heavy inf you essentially stopped them cold. Since you get so many lancers, and you are getting as many as you can by buying the cheaper lancers, use the extras to win the cav fight, or immediately set up flank threats. Javelinmen are probably mostly for bad terrain and to have yet another possible cheap flanker for the troops frozen by the lancers. After that roll up the flanks.

yes you can catch pikes with a passive lancer unit. Move a couple of skirmishers and shoot the pike unit, too. this is the best case scenario. Pikes dont want to attack lancers. but they dont want to sit there while being shot at either.

In pike and shot you could do that 2 squares away using priority targeting rules.