posted September 12, 2013 11:13 AM
I just watched the Return of the King a few days ago and in the battle, after destryoing the first line of Orcish Pikes, the Rohirrim cavalry were literally trampling over hordes and hordes of Orcs. As in a single Rider of Rohan was literally killing hundreds of Orcs because his horse was literally trempling on multiple in its straight path in such rapid speed as though one Rohan Knight was killing at the pace of a stationed machine gunned being attacked by thousands of troops in World War 1. IRL how would such a charge play out? I remember reading somewhere of how human bodies are obstacles to horses and while a horse may actually trample and kill some soldiers in the initial charge, the momentum would be stopped after the penetrating the first row of soldiers (even if the soldiers were disorganized as the Orcs were in the movie).
That real life cavalry charges could be stopped by the weight of men behind the first row much like how a the momentum of a Phalanx would stop the charge of enemy infantry and push off the attack.
I even remember in Shogun:Total War of how the Cavalry units had to use their spears to kill even retreating peasants and don't literally tramp of retreating troops like how Hollywood portrays in movies like Return of the King and Bravehart.
I know of course shields and long polar arms like Pike sand spears would stop such a cavalry charge even assuming it penetrates the first row. But the more I read real battles, the more it becomes apparent even whole groups of men without shields or pole arms would not merely be trampled over and even if the cavalry force was at full momentum and had outnumbered the group of men, horses would normally hesitate attempting to literally stomp over such a group.
Horses are not the killing machines movies portray them as (even if the opponents are not anti-cavalry and are poorly armed to fight cavalry).
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Lindaland
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posted September 12, 2013 11:13 AM