Belegarth

One of the best Cavalries was the Polish/Prussian Winged Riders. Well that's before they decided to attack tanks with swords and horses ...lol

I've heard about that from a whole bunch of people, but have never actually seen any documentation for it. Do you happen to know a source that proves that actually happened? I've always suspected it might be an urban legend . . .

Someone metioned the Swiss pikemen earlier...however, these gropups, along with the Landsknecht, were pike formations supported by arquebusiers, working from a formation called the Gevierte Ordnung. this formation was adopted by the Landsknecht from the Swiss, so, according to the thread title, this would dicount the Swiss Pikemen and the Landsknecht bands from contention.

All the phalanx formations had the disadvantage of being impossible to deal with an attack from the rear. Also, when advancing over rolling terrain, the phalanx would loosen, and in some cases come apart. (This anecdote is from the book Greece and Rome and War, and was tested many times. If anyone wnts the reference, I can send you the book information).

Honestly, I'd have to agree that the Roman legions from the early empire (Marian reforms through Contantine the Great) were a superior fighting force to many of the day, due to their constant training and drill. The legions also had the ability to adapt to many battle situations, and their auxiliary troops filled gaps in their formations, such as archers and better cavalry.

Oisin,
I read about the Polish cavalry attacking German tanks in the opering days of WW2. I'll see if I can find the reference.

Rufus

Here is a reference to it in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Krojanty

I think I read about it in another forum. What is interesting is that they didn't charge tanks but attacked unprepared German infantry, killing quite a few. They fled when German armor cars came to the infantry's rescue.

Rufus

Thanks!

I'd heard about that as well before (always in the context of "those stupid Poles . . . didn't they know they'd get slaughtered if they charged and armoured column on horses?"), glad to get some info about what actually happened.

The most effective that I've seen and that can be applied to our sport would be the Woads or the Berserkargang. Speed, ferocity, and flexibility have shown to be the most effective tools I've seen on the Belegarth field. The well disciplined Uruk-Hai Army was swarmed to pieces at Chaos this year by smaller, more agile units like the God Squad.