Heavy Lancer

The heavy lancer of Antiquity pushed shock cavalry to its logical extreme: a rider encased in overlapping iron scale armor in the cataphract tradition, mounted on a horse protected by its own barding, carrying a kontos lance sometimes exceeding four meters. At the charge a kontos-armed cataphract delivered blows of such concentrated force that accounts describe it skewering two enemies with a single thrust. The Parthians who destroyed Crassus at Carrhae and the Sassanid heavy cavalry that fought Roman legions both embodied this principle. The weakness was mobility — fully armored horse and rider were nearly immovable against disciplined massed spearmen. In the game this unit excels on open terrain, deals enormous impact damage, but is sluggish, expensive, and stopped cold by spear formations or missile fire it cannot close with quickly.