Let's talk fantasy cavalry

Ai-chan

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Everyone knows of horse cavalries, right?

Did you know that there are also goat cavalries and elephant cavalries? Yes, people actually rode goats in real life, but not into battle. That part is entirely Tolkien. But the idea itself is sound, assuming your goats are huge and your legs are shorter than goat legs.

You would have probably also heard that Putin rode bears into battle, but that's completely fictional. He only rode a bear to cross a fast river because bears are good boats better than actual boats. And he can just feed the bear some political enemies that nobody would miss.

However, to use bears in battle as a mount is a very huge logistical issue, assuming you can tame them in the first place. Bears eat a lot. And unlike horses, they don't eat grass or straw, they require meat as part of their diet. And guess what, your soldiers need to eat meat too, so your logistical supply train would be extremely stressed to the point that you won't be able to travel far from a town or supply node with a division of bear cavalry.

In one of Ai-chan's stories, the humans managed to tame a flock of giant eagles from eggs after they killed the mother. However, their number is kept low because of the high food requirement, as they are unable to rear enough livestock to feed more than a dozen such flying weapons. So although they are powerful terror weapons, they are not particularly useful due to their small number and how easily it is to penetrate their thin hides and brittle hollow bones.

What about you? What kind of fantasy cavalry have you designed for your own stories? What are the pros and cons of such cavalries? Let's poke holes at each other's fantastic cavalry ideas.
 

longer

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However, to use bears in battle as a mount is a very huge logistical issue, assuming you can tame them in the first place. Bears eat a lot. And unlike horses, they don't eat grass or straw, they require meat as part of their diet. And guess what, your soldiers need to eat meat too, so your logistical supply train would be extremely stressed to the point that you won't be able to travel far from a town or supply node with a division of bear cavalry.
I don't remember the exact details, but I believe that during the siege of Dyrrachium during Caesar's civil war, Caesar's legion ran out of grain supplies while having surplus meat. And because the romans considered meat to be weakening food and grain to be proper energy, this turned out to be an issue. Though it also depends on the culture of your world. But I do think bears and the like would be a logistical nightmare. Things like dragons might manage to ruin a supply line all be themselves.

Another issue is that some fantasy stories are litrpgs. This begs the question of mount scaling. Does the mount become tankier or faster as you level? Does the mount even have the ability to level by itself or with you? Is there a point where mounts are made redundant because footsoldiers outscale a horse in spite of the logistical difference? And will the mount be scared shitless when you have to fight endgame creature like dragons or an isekaid Japanese teen.

In regards to non-horse cavalry, there is the issue of the creature's gait. Fighting on a creature that moves unpredictably or one with sudden movements would be very difficult to fight atop. There might be a need for specialized saddles or specifically developed weapons.

As for what I'm toying around with, I am going with a few monstrous cavalry and specially bred horses. Monstrous cavalry such as demigryphs from warhammer or smaller sized wyverns because it looks cool. The horses are intended to be the product of magical breeding programs that have developed a sort of chimera, which retains mostly horse features with occasionally visible phenotypes, but is drastically superior to normal horses in terms of performance.
 

NotaNuffian

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Ostriches were used when the silver fleece cavalry had lost their argent sheeps. The team became more dangerous when instead of the ram's ramming, it is now the beak pecking got added to the lance thrusts.
 

CarburetorThompson

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705EB2F6-969D-4843-B246-AA64176010F8.jpeg

I quite like these guys from Warhammer AoS. Skeleton horses but just made up from a bunch of random bones. I don’t have any cavalry any story I’ve written so take this.
 

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ConansWitchBaby

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I'm making a throwaway story so I can finally post something where the MC is mounting a zombie. Reasoning being that he just wants a ladder so he can be above marsh water. He's on the zombies shoulders.
 

Ilikewaterkusa

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Everyone knows of horse cavalries, right?

Did you know that there are also goat cavalries and elephant cavalries? Yes, people actually rode goats in real life, but not into battle. That part is entirely Tolkien. But the idea itself is sound, assuming your goats are huge and your legs are shorter than goat legs.

You would have probably also heard that Putin rode bears into battle, but that's completely fictional. He only rode a bear to cross a fast river because bears are good boats better than actual boats. And he can just feed the bear some political enemies that nobody would miss.

However, to use bears in battle as a mount is a very huge logistical issue, assuming you can tame them in the first place. Bears eat a lot. And unlike horses, they don't eat grass or straw, they require meat as part of their diet. And guess what, your soldiers need to eat meat too, so your logistical supply train would be extremely stressed to the point that you won't be able to travel far from a town or supply node with a division of bear cavalry.

In one of Ai-chan's stories, the humans managed to tame a flock of giant eagles from eggs after they killed the mother. However, their number is kept low because of the high food requirement, as they are unable to rear enough livestock to feed more than a dozen such flying weapons. So although they are powerful terror weapons, they are not particularly useful due to their small number and how easily it is to penetrate their thin hides and brittle hollow bones.

What about you? What kind of fantasy cavalry have you designed for your own stories? What are the pros and cons of such cavalries? Let's poke holes at each other's fantastic cavalry ideas.
I read horse Calvary as House Calvary….
 

Sola-sama

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I am always interested in insect. I am planning to use insect cavalry because they are relatively cheap to grow and maintain depending on their species. If insect cavalry are properly scaled into as big as a horse, their spec is great. I think there's a manga that did try to use insect if they are scaled up to human size: Terra Formars.
Giant spiders would be an excellent example. Depending on the species it is based on, this all-terrain mount can help weave webs for the army to lay traps or for defend in general. The logistic wouldn't be problematic if they consume the corpse of their enemies. If magic or high-fantasy (high-sci-fi) element is used in the story, we can argue that the mount can sustain themselves through photosynthesis or something equivalent though consuming mana or something like high-energy crystals.
 

Schultz_von

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You know usually in a fantasy world, the mounted troops usually consist of land animals like horses, goats, elk, or giant lizards and flying animals, like dragons, wyvern, pegasus, etc. But what about the aquatic animals? did it still consider a mounted troop if my army rides a dolphin or a killer whale?
 

Echimera

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I would offer dinosaurs riding dinosaurs, elves riding birds not-ukrainians riding bears, daemons riding metal-bull-rhinos, not-chinese riding dragon-horses, knights riding squished daemons, ... (we also have griffins, griffins without wings, hippogryphs, pegasi, dragons, mammoths, woolly rhinos, wolves, boars, sabertooth cats, giant cat statues, giant undead crabs and more but I'll stick with three videos).
You know usually in a fantasy world, the mounted troops usually consist of land animals like horses, goats, elk, or giant lizards and flying animals, like dragons, wyvern, pegasus, etc. But what about the aquatic animals? did it still consider a mounted troop if my army rides a dolphin or a killer whale?

1648868856020.png
 

Draconite

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Can't you solve the supply chain problem with a space prop?
 

TotallyHuman

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Everyone knows of horse cavalries, right?

Did you know that there are also goat cavalries and elephant cavalries? Yes, people actually rode goats in real life, but not into battle. That part is entirely Tolkien. But the idea itself is sound, assuming your goats are huge and your legs are shorter than goat legs.

You would have probably also heard that Putin rode bears into battle, but that's completely fictional. He only rode a bear to cross a fast river because bears are good boats better than actual boats. And he can just feed the bear some political enemies that nobody would miss.

However, to use bears in battle as a mount is a very huge logistical issue, assuming you can tame them in the first place. Bears eat a lot. And unlike horses, they don't eat grass or straw, they require meat as part of their diet. And guess what, your soldiers need to eat meat too, so your logistical supply train would be extremely stressed to the point that you won't be able to travel far from a town or supply node with a division of bear cavalry.

In one of Ai-chan's stories, the humans managed to tame a flock of giant eagles from eggs after they killed the mother. However, their number is kept low because of the high food requirement, as they are unable to rear enough livestock to feed more than a dozen such flying weapons. So although they are powerful terror weapons, they are not particularly useful due to their small number and how easily it is to penetrate their thin hides and brittle hollow bones.

What about you? What kind of fantasy cavalry have you designed for your own stories? What are the pros and cons of such cavalries? Let's poke holes at each other's fantastic cavalry ideas.
Maybe large undead horses? Slimes? Haunted houses on wheels? Monster worms and slugs?
 

Ai-chan

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I think a battle turtle could be cute
It would have to be big, though. And the head would have to be armoured too, otherwise, it won't function as a tank, which would be its only existence for being used as a mount.
I read horse Calvary as House Calvary….
Calvary means church though...
I am always interested in insect. I am planning to use insect cavalry because they are relatively cheap to grow and maintain depending on their species. If insect cavalry are properly scaled into as big as a horse, their spec is great. I think there's a manga that did try to use insect if they are scaled up to human size: Terra Formars.
Giant spiders would be an excellent example. Depending on the species it is based on, this all-terrain mount can help weave webs for the army to lay traps or for defend in general. The logistic wouldn't be problematic if they consume the corpse of their enemies. If magic or high-fantasy (high-sci-fi) element is used in the story, we can argue that the mount can sustain themselves through photosynthesis or something equivalent though consuming mana or something like high-energy crystals.
Giant insects are an interesting option. If a person has the ability to spread pheromones for whatever purpose, he can even lead giant soldier ants into battle. Unlike in popular culture, there is no ruler in a true hive. Every creature follows its own designation and purpose. So if there is a way to instruct soldier ants into battle as cavalry, there is nothing stopping them because they don't feel fear.

Ai-chan did consider giant spider cavalry, but spiders are solitary creatures and will likely fight each other when in a unit with other giant spiders. So even if the food problem is solved by eating the corpse of their enemies, the infighting problem would be a huge issue. Perhaps they can only be utilizes as elite units mounted by elite warriors to spread shock and terror in order to destabilize enemy formations.
You know usually in a fantasy world, the mounted troops usually consist of land animals like horses, goats, elk, or giant lizards and flying animals, like dragons, wyvern, pegasus, etc. But what about the aquatic animals? did it still consider a mounted troop if my army rides a dolphin or a killer whale?
Yes, if the army rides a dolphin or killer whale, that would still be considered cavalry. In the game Dominions, undersea factions use mermaid type creatures that ride dolphins and seahorses.
 

Bartun

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I've been considering several types of mounts for my fantasy/sci-fi story. Since there are no horses, people resort to other animals for mounts. The main mount used is a bull-like creature that feeds on grass. Striders, ostrich-like creatures are also mentioned but they are extremely rare. People recall seeing "dragons", dinosaur-like creatures employed by the Empire in small numbers precisely because of logistical issues, they eat meat which means only a handful of units can be properly deployed and supported.

f575db38-3939-41e2-a2d7-9c58b78390c3.jpg
 

Reborn_Cat

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I think a battle turtle could be cute
Kinda reminds me of syrup.

I remember reading a story in which they were developing something like golem horses, the horses would be powered by magic of some sort and hence not require food
 

Schultz_von

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Okay now that I think about it - this may be stupid - if an army riding an undead horse or golem shape horse can be considered cavalry. What if my army riding a robot shape horse? Is it still considered cavalry? or just straight-up modern mechanized infantry? the same way modern soldiers use Armor Personal Carriers (APCs).
 

Ai-chan

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Okay now that I think about it - this may be stupid - if an army riding an undead horse or golem shape horse can be considered cavalry. What if my army riding a robot shape horse? Is it still considered cavalry? or just straight-up modern mechanized infantry? the same way modern soldiers use Armor Personal Carriers (APCs).
Yes, but if the army rides a robot horse, that's not what we would call fantasy. We'd call that sci-fi. Let's not get out of topic. Otherwise we can argue that riding a spaceship or starfighter can also be considered cavalry.


fantasy
/ˈfantəsi,ˈfantəzi/

noun
noun: fantasy
  1. 1.
    the faculty or activity of imagining impossible or improbable things.
    "his researches had moved into the realms of fantasy"
 

owotrucked

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Ai-chan did consider giant spider cavalry, but spiders are solitary creatures and will likely fight each other when in a unit with other giant spiders. So even if the food problem is solved by eating the corpse of their enemies, the infighting problem would be a huge issue. Perhaps they can only be utilizes as elite units mounted by elite warriors to spread shock and terror in order to destabilize enemy formations.

As the fantasy author, you can choose which features to keep and which to distort. And apparently some real life species of spiders exhibit diverse degree of social behavior. So I think it's convincing if you write about spider mounts that don't eat each others.

In Fallen Enchantress, there's the civilization bonus 'cult of a thousand eyes' to train spider mounts. Doesn't really add that much gameplay but it's pretty nice RP.

The single most annoying feature of most spider is their instinct to only eat live prey. They won't eat anything that doesn't wriggle in their net.

Btw, if your character is ever cocooned by a spider without rationality, just have them play dead and not move an inch, then the spider will throw it away, thinking it's expired meat.

I think Tarantulas are different from this because they don't rely on their spider web to eat. So they might accept dead preys
 
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