| East India Company Lancers | |
|---|---|
| |
| Belongs to | Great Britain |
| Type | Melee Cavalry |
| Weapon(s) | Lance |
| Soldiers in each unit | 45 |
| Melee Attack | 7 |
| Charge bonus | 25 |
| Defense skill | 7 |
| Morale | 5 |
| Tech requirement | None; can utilize Wedge Formation and Diamond Formation |
| Produced from | Drill School or higher in India |
| Special abilities |
|
| Cost | 920 |
| Upkeep | 270 |
| Turns to Train | 1 |
| Unit Cap | None |
East India Company Lancers are a type of melee cavalry in Empire: Total War.
Description[]
These cavalrymen armed with a long spear or lance that makes them particularly deadly when charging.
The lance is probably the oldest cavalry weapon. It gives the user a chance to put all the momentum of himself and his charging horse into one very sharp point that can, in the hands of a skilled man, be driven right through any man. This is what makes lances so intimidating to face but, if the lancer does not kill his target, he is then vulnerable. A long lance is a good deal less use in a melee than a sword, and a lancer is at a disadvantage once the close fighting starts.
Historically, many nations used lancers, although the European fashion for them owes much to the uhlans: cavalry raised for Austrian and Prussian service. The French adopted lancers with some enthusiasm, and Napoleon even included Polish lancers in his Imperial Guard. In India the lance had long been used as a weapon, and lancer skills were often improved by “pegging” (picking tent pegs out of the ground with the lance tip) or pig-sticking (hunting wild pigs or even wild dogs with the lance). Native Indian lancers were rightly feared by European troops.
General Information[]
Lances make great charging weapons for cavalry. They are some of the strongest cavalry available to European nations on the Indian continent. Protecting flanks is not the Lancers job, however; they should be used to charge lines of infantry or artillery. They also make great charging weapons against other cavalry.
East India Company Lancers have better charge bonus than Native Indian Cavalry, but worse attack, defence and morale, meaning they will suffer far heavier casualties if they are forced to stay in a prolonged melee (if attacked by other cavalry for example, an especially high risk when fighting the Maratha Confederacy) - they also cost more to upkeep than Native Indian Cavalry, and so are an overall worse unit.
Buildings Required
 Drill School |
 Military Academy |
 Army Board |
 Army Staff College |
Notes[]
The icon for the unit depicts an Indian man, while the description image depicts a Caucasian man. This discrepancy was presumably an oversight on the part of Creative Assembly.