If cavalry was countered by pikemen because they had longer reach, then why can't they just counter them back with even longer lances?
If cavalry was countered by pikemen because they had longer reach, then why can't they just counter them back with even longer lances?
It was easier to just give them a carbine and have them take potshots from a safe distance.
Horse archers>all
You can carry a longer pike on foot than on a horse.
Foot archers > horse archers
don't seethe at me Mongol(oid)
Horse archers actually had some trouble dealing with certain kinds of Heavy Cavalry and could be frustrated by high quality Foot archers.
Foot archers can shoot stronger bows and reload faster.
Horses are big ass targets.
Banned by treaties to prevent an increasing escalation in pike/lance length
Polish hussars did just that
I knew their lances were long but man this is actually obscene. 6 meters? It's like... what... 18-19 ft?And they even called them "trees". Were they compensating for something? How do you even handle this?
>Were they compensating for something?
yes, the length of the swedish and german pikes they were fighting during that period. with some success, even, considering there are a number of battles where polish cavalry routed western-style infantry formations in swedish and russian service.
How do you even hold that shit
It has counter-weight and is hollow inside. It's designed to break with ease
What stops the pikeman from using an even longer lance?
Foot soldiers will always be able to carry more.
lances like that were pretty expensive and expendable.
So what? Horses are expensive. A foot soldier army has more money to buy longer and more lances and aim them better.
>Horses are expensive
yes, which is why for cavalrymen the added expense of a lance is not a big deal. but for infantry it's a problem
might as well ask why they put real wood interiors in bentleys and not hyundais
Are you brain dead or what? If you have limited budget it's more advantageous to get more foot soldiers with long lances than meme horse homosexuals.
Cavalry is garbage.
>hurr you're already paying more so
Losing wars like a moron 101
>doesn't understand comparative advantage
>calls others braindead
I'm not going to argue with you, child. Have it your way.
it sucked ass to carry a pike. it was heavy and awkward. it was such a problem that there were serious penalties if someone was caught cutting their pike short to make it easier to carry.
Hussar lances had empty spaces on the inside to lower the weight
This is pure poolish propaganda.
There's nothing stopping the foot soldier from getting an even longer stick.
It's easier to carry shit on foot.
These moronicly long lances would work once or twice after introduction.
>It's easier to carry shit on foot.
No it's not, fricking homosexual ass moron. Every hussar had a bunch of attendants and pack horses to carry his shit for him, while infantry had to lug their pikes themselves. And infantry are supposed to be cheap and expendable. A 5m pike works fine in 99.9% of all scenarios and in the 0.01% when they actually get charged by hussars you can generally just bank on the first line soaking up the impact and stopping the charge in its tracks.
When will moronic zoomers finally understand that pitched field battles make up a tiny fraction of war, especially in this period dominated by months- to years-long sieges?
Aside from the mentioned empty spaces and counterweights Poles actually attached the lances to the saddle (which is visible in that image even). This helped to carry the lances around and also meant that when hitting the enemy it wasn't relying on the human strength to hold the lance because the horse, the hussar upon it and the lance were all attached together.
Because a cavalryman has to carry the lance and absorb the impact, the pikeman can brace his pike into the ground.
lances are hollow and shatter on impact, at least proper ones over 3-4m in length.
they did exactly that, anon.
What stops the foot soldier from getting even bigger pikes?
practicality. which is also what stopped everyone else bothering with even longer lances. cavalry sucks at engaging infantry that doesn't budge regardless of how long their weapons are.
Also everyone started using guns more. Cavalry would carry pistols to ride up and shoot the pikemen, and pike formations started to integrate the Arquebus.
>Cavalry would carry pistols to ride up and shoot the pikemen
That's disputed nowadays, the consensus seems to be that pistols were fired after charging with the sword. They'd shoot if the charge failed to press home but the primary weapon of the cuirassier was always the sword. It was the arquebus armed cavalry that would ride caracole.
>Charge cavalry into a disciplined formation of pikes
There are better choices than wasting your best men and horses on a frontal attack.
That is a quality fat dog wife.