[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally posted by ywl:
I found the contrary - most nations have better cavalry than Tien Chi's, except for their heavy horsemen with bow. Tein Chi's cavalry has low protection comparing to the others. Even Man's regular knights have better stat than them.

Man's regular knights have better stats? Only if you like MR 10 on expensive units. I do not. I hate low MR on expensive units. There are so many spells, even fairly cheap spells, that can neutralise a small number of dangerous troops if they have low MR. Take Shadow BLast, for instance, which will wipe out a force of MR 10 troops (like standard knights) while only damaging a force of MR 12 troops (like the Red Guard), or the ever dangerous paralyse or soul slay spells, which can rip a cavalry charge to shreds - if you use low MR cavalry. Absent magic and absent blessings, I would agree that Man's regular knights had better stats, but those factors are not necessarily absent.

Likewise, I value high morale on expensive units and especially on flankers, as beginning to flee while you are flanking an enemy that is still capable of fighting is a losing proposition, and any sacred unit gets a +3 morale when blessed. That effectively means that Red Guards have 18 morale - which beats all non-sacred cavalry hands down.

So, if we compare on a nation by nation basis:

• Abysia: no cavalry
• Arcoscephale: inferior lanceless low-morale cavalry
• Atlantis: no cavalry
• Caelum: no cavalry
• C'tis: no cavalry
• Ermor: no cavalry
• ...Ashen Empire: knights of the unholy sepulchre are decidedly inferior to T'ien C'hi's cavalry - but they do not cost money. On the other hand, they evaporate when the opponent brings along priests. Overall: inferior
• Jotunheim: the wolf rider is decidedly inferior
• ...Niefelheim: no cavalry, but the Niefel Giant beats any cavalry any day and is as swift as slow cavalry. It also costs 115% more.
• ...Utgard: no cavalry
• Machaka: The Heavy, Imperial, and Red Guard beats the Spider Knights any day, but the Black Hunter is stronger than the Red Guard. It also costs 70% more. Even so, Machaka has the edge in pure quality here. (And the Hunter Spiders look cooler)
• Man: The Knight of Avalon is powerful indeed, but he is hideously expensive in resources and he is not sacred, which gives the edge to the Red Guard of T'ien C'hi if you use blessing effects. If not, the Knight of Avalon wins hands down
• ...Last of the Tuatha: the Cu Shee and the light cavalry are decidedly inferior
• Marignon: Those sacred Knights of the Chalice are truly supermen. At their price (29% more expensive than the Red Guard) they had better be. Unit for unit the Knights of the Chalice are stronger, gold piece for gold piece I am not so sure
• Michtlan: no cavalry
• Pangaea: the Centaur cataphract is inferior. It has low morale, low damage, and is non-sacred.
• Pythium: lower morale, MR, damage, and being non-sacred means that I value the Serpent cataphract rather less than T'ien C'hi's cavalry, despite the cataphract's protection bonus and the fact that it lives twice (or rather, the serpent fights after the rider is killed)
• ...Serpent Cult: with the Serpent Cataphract sacred, it is a much better unit. It still suffers from low MR and damage, but being blessed helps its morale and can make it a very strong unit with a blessing effect. This one beats the Red Guard unless you are up against heavy magic
• R'lyeh: no cavalry
• Ulm: Despite their incredibly low defense (9), Black Knights rule so long as they do not face magic. They can face any conventional threat with glee. Against magical nations, the T'ien C'hi cavalry is better though, as there is a lot of difference between MR 9 and MR 12, and blessings only tip the scale further towards T'ien C'hi. OTOH, Red Guards are capital only, and Black Knights beat Imperial Horsemen hands down
• ...Iron Faith: Black Templars are sacred Black Knights with an extra point of magic resistance, which still leaves them with the low MR of 10. They are better than Red Guard if you do not face heavy magic. On the other hand, they cost 29% more, and if you face heavy magic, they drop like flies.
• Vanheim: Red Guard, meet your master. The Van is probably the best cavalry in existence despite its low damage potential, because it is exceptionally hard to kill. High MR and defense coupled with glamour means that the Van can survive many things that others cannot. It may only have 13 protection, but you need to hit the damn thing in the first place. Since the Van is also sacred, it can be made into a truly exceptional unit with a good blessing effect. Add to that the cost of 70 gold and 16 resources and the fact that it can be recruited in all castles, there can be no doubt. The Van is the best cavalry in existence.

In conclusion, I find that preciously few nations have better cavalry than T'ien C'hi, and that most of those that can be considered contenders either have cavalry that is awfully vulnerable to MR dependent spells or suffer from the fact that their cavalry is much more expensive than the Red Guard.