Ragon Sauromatae Uaezdaettae (Sarmatian Noble Horse-Archers)

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Ragon Sauromatae Uaezdaettae (Sarmatian Noble Horse-Archers)
Ragon Sauromatae Uaezdaettae (Sarmatian Noble Horse-Archers)
Primary Weapon	Type: none(bow) Attack: 5 Charge: 33 Lethality: 1 Range: 187 Ammo: 40
Secondary Weapon	Type: spear Attack: 4 Charge: 33 Lethality: 0.33 Attributes: Armour Piercing
Defence	Armour: 10 Shield: 0 Skill: 11
Recruitment	Soldiers: 25 Cost: 2508 Upkeep: 627 Turns: 1
Mental	Morale: 13 Discipline: disciplined Training: trained
Other	Hit Points: 1 Mass: 1 Attributes: Can board ships, Can hide in forest, Hardy Formation: square Side/Back spacing: 2/4 Mount effects: chariot +3 Ownership: Aedui, Arche Seleukeia, Arverni, As'Sab'yn wal'Jau, Baktria, Casse, Epeiros, Hayasdan, Iberia, Koinon Hellenon, Makedonia, Pahlav, Pontos, Ptolemaioi, Safot Softim biKarthadast, Sauromatae, Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs, Swebozez, Eleutheroi

Sauroma Wazdatæ (Sarmatian Nobles)
Sauroma Wazdatæ (Sarmatian Nobles)
Primary Weapon	Type: bow Attack: 6 Charge: 0 Lethality: 1 Range: 100 Ammo: 40
Secondary Weapon	Type: spear Attack: 10 Charge: 28 Lethality: 1 Attributes: armor piercing
Defence	Armour: 8 Shield: 0 Skill: 6
Recruitment	Soldiers: 40 Cost: 2250 Upkeep: 563 Turns: 1
Mental	Morale: 8 Discipline: impetuous Training: trained
Other	Hit Points: 1 Mass: 1 Attributes: Can board ships, Can hide in forests, Inspires nearby units, Knight, Cannot skirmish, Power charge Formation: square Side/Back spacing: 3.7/3.7 Mount effects: elephant -3 Ownership: Bosporan, Sauromatae

These noble warriors though capable of shock action, should concentrate on using their speed and agility to weaken an opponent through archery before closing in for the kill.

Description

Sarmatian nobles are among the few in their society that can actually afford the very high costs of reasonably good defensive gear and of the larger horses which are able to carry a rider wearing such heavy equipment. Those expenses pay off by conferring them the ability to engage in hand-to-hand combat with some guaranties and, not to be forgotten, better looks than their less wealthy fellows. Nonetheless, in the early stages of the Sarmatian culture, even nobles carry only limited amounts of armour and are better thought of as medium or even light cavalry. Fortunately, they can still rely on their archery skills, in no way inferior to those of any other Sarmatian warrior and, although modest, the improvement in their equipment does allow them to carry out certain special tasks. Thus, they can fight enemy light cavalry with good prospects of victory. They can deal with enemy horse archers by either winning archery duels with them (thanks to their better armor) or by chasing them and beating them in melee (if they manage to catch them). They can also accelerate the collapse of enemy infantry still in relatively good shape through rear or flank charges and take good care of foot skirmishers. However, they are not prepared to frontally charge any decent close order infantry.

Historically, the noble elite of the steppe nomads was able to afford better equipment for war and, thus, provided their armies with a core of heavier cavalry capable of hand-to-hand combat. How many of the nomads could afford the better gear and its amount and quality, depended on the wealth and access to resources such as mineral ore of each nomad group. Consequently, it varied substantially in space and time. In the particular case of the Ancient Sarmatian Culture, archaeological and literary sources suggest than metal armour was quite rare.

Usage

These heavy archers are the heavy hammer of every Sauromatae army, weakening enemies with their bows while waiting for the right moment to unleash as powerful charge. They are quite heavily armored and they will defeat light horse archers in melee combat.

They lack the melee staying power or the high armor of the cataphracts however and their spears aren't very useful in melee combat, so they must rely on their bows and their powerful charge to inflict damage. Their lack of shields also makes them the perfect target for slingers and heavy cavalry good at melee combat.

Ragon Sauromatae Uaezdaettae AOR