Swedish Reiter

Swedish Reiter is a regular cavalry unit in Cossacks 3.

Background
As a result of the development of military science, knighthood was replaced by cavalry. Individual fighters gave way to tactical squadrons made up of riders - heavy cavalrymen. Protected by heavy armour, they excelled in hand-to-hand combat. The number of armour plates they wore decreased, but the weight and thickness became greater. All these changes were intended to defend them against the rapidly developing firearms. Only a point-blank pistol shot or a musket shot from less than 50 steps away could pierce an armour. A sword or a sabre was virtually helpless against a plate armour, unless it happened to hit a joint. Cavalrymen were armed with quite expensive wheel lock pistols (2-6). In close combat they wielded swords, daggers, halberds and occasionally long lances (depending on tactics). A cavalryman was quite heavy - his armour weighed about 35 kg (77 lbs) and consisted of a steel helm, a cuirass, bracers and knee-length leg-guards. Riders wore jackboots. Their horses were strong but not very manoeuvrable.

A rider's attack was initiated at a slow pace. Only in close vicinity to an enemy cavalryman did their horses fall into a faster trot. Heavy cavalry tactics varied and depended mainly on the level of battle training. Well-trained cavalrymen - e.g. Austrian or Swedish riders (in Gustaf Adolf's army) - wielded cold steel weapons. Poorly trained riders charged an enemy with pistols.