this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2025
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Neat - For neat stuff you found
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For stuff that's neat. Neat article? Neat video? Neat pic of a bug you saw? All good. Neat meme? Ehhh... take it to the meme subs.
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And, watching from afar, the archer smirks.
The rumble of approaching cavalry hooves dampened his amusement.
That's why you keep their numbers hidden and voluminous. You know. Like Stormtroopers that can actually hit something.
To follow up: horse archers win, period.
Fearless, lightning-fast war ponies that're so fond of meat, they bite at will. (Hun, var. First Nations)
Optimized bows that can punch through plate at all ranges and small form factor to promote confoundingly unorthodox combat maneuvers (Hun, Saracen, etc.)
Supreme technique (eg. multi-knock, hand quiver, etc.) allows mounted archers to fire 5 arrows in ~3 seconds (Saracen [Crusades era, IIRC?])
Bows were invented to improve upon the spear via increased target distance and risk-mitigation. Simple as.
(FWIW: Militarized cavalry was only one way the colonizers kept the sub-classes in line, as well as giving those not-as-rich-as-royals someplace to send their extra crotch fruits.)