Unarmored Lancers

[RogerCooper]

How do you classify unarmored horsemen that carry a lance. I have seen this in a number of historical contexts (for example, Early Caliphate) as well as miniature sculpts.

They don't seem to fix of any of the existing troop types. Elite cavalry is generally armored and carries missile weapons. Javelin cavalry carry javelins. Bad horse can't sustain melee.

[David Kuijt]

How do you classify unarmored horsemen that carry a lance. I have seen this in a number of historical contexts (for example, Early Caliphate) as well as miniature sculpts.

They don't seem to fix of any of the existing troop types. Elite cavalry is generally armored and carries missile weapons. Javelin cavalry carry javelins. Bad horse can't sustain melee.

How do they fight?

All the Granadine, Andalusian, and (almost) all the Arab lancers are JavCav. And that works great to represent how they fought against enemy cavalry classed as Knights.

[David Kuijt]

How do you classify unarmored horsemen that carry a lance. I have seen this in a number of historical contexts (for example, Early Caliphate) as well as miniature sculpts.

One note for clarity -- "lance" is almost never the word that historical armies used for their weapon. That's an English translation of some other word -- for example kontos (the two-handed spear of the Sarmatians) or zagaie (the overhand thrusting spear used by the Albanian Stradioti). Modern misconstruals of ancient/medieval technical weapon names is a continuous issue. Jousting lances for very late Medieval tournaments are similar to 15th century weapons as shown in the three paintings of the Rout of San Romano -- except tipped with a coronel rather than a piercing point. But the spears used (as lances) by the knights of the Morgan Bible (1250s) are just spears (except held under arm, sometimes). And neither look much like the weapons used by the Jinetes or Stradioti, although both are called lances in English translations.