Every horse archer asks the same awkward question of the army in front of him: how do you hit a man who will not stand still? Infantry cannot catch him. Heavy cavalry can, if he lets them, and he almost never does. For roughly two thousand years, from the Black Sea to the Hungarian plain, the honest answer was "with great difficulty", and the armies that found a better one tended to write the history books. Rome lost an army to the problem. So did Hungary.
Most of us meet the problem at Carrhae, where Parthian archers wore down a Roman army under a Syrian sun, or at Mohi, where Mongol riders did something similar to a Hungarian camp. Both battles are famous and both are well covered, so we won't retell them here. What they don't show is how much the archers differed from one another. Take a Scythian riding for a Persian king, a Hunnic raider on the Catalaunian Plains and a Mongol officer in Poland shared a weapon and very little else. Different bows, different horses, different armour, different ideas about when to close and when to run.
So this is a side-by-side look. We'll go through the Scythians and Saka, the camel archers of the Persian world, the Huns, the Alans and the Mongols: what each carried, how each fought and what finally beat them. Every one of them comes with a battle you can lay out on the table using ready-printed armies on plexiglass sprues. Alexander on the Jaxartes with Antiquity PD, the Catalaunian Plains with Late Romans PD, and Legnica with Mongol Invasion PD. Everything mentioned here is available in 18 mm and 28 mm, so you can pick the scale that suits your table. No painting. No assembly. No glue.
One warning before we start. Horse archers are more fun to read about than to play against, at least until you learn what they hate. Each section below follows the same order: who they were, how they fought and what to put on the table, and by the end you will know what they hate.
The problem every horse archer had to solve
Strip away the culture and the job is simple: put enough arrows into a formation, from far enough away, to break it before the enemy gets hold of you. Three things made that hard. The bow had to be short enough to use from a saddle yet strong enough to matter, which is why the steppe peoples built composite bows from horn, sinew and wood. The rider had to aim while his horse moved, and the Scythians managed it without stirrups. And he could only carry so many arrows.
That last limit decides more battles than courage does. A horse archer who has run dry is a light cavalryman with a knife, so each people below found its own way round the problem: a supply train, a string of spare horses, a screen of heavier friends, or simply the discipline to leave while the quiver still had something in it. Most of the differences between these armies are different answers to the same shortage.
What makes a horse archer different from other light cavalry?
A horse archer wins by staying out of reach. Javelin-armed light cavalry has to ride close to hurt anyone, while a mounted archer hurts the enemy from a distance, withdraws before the enemy can answer and comes back. His value lies in range, speed and a retreat that does not turn into a rout.
Scythians and Saka: the template, and the Jaxartes
The Greeks called them Scythians. The Persians called the eastern branch Saka. They were Iranian-speaking nomads who ruled the steppe from the Black Sea deep into Central Asia, and they gave the ancient world its picture of what a horse archer looked like. Saka cavalry served the Persian kings for around two centuries, which is why Alexander knew what he was getting into when he reached the river Jaxartes in 329 BC.
Who were the Scythian horse archers?
The Scythians and Saka were nomadic horse peoples of the Eurasian steppe, famous as mounted archers from about the seventh century BC. They fought in loose swarms, shot from the saddle, circled their targets and slipped away when charged. Persian kings hired them as cavalry, and Alexander the Great met them in Central Asia.
On the Jaxartes, in August 329 BC, the Scythians gathered on the far bank, expecting to shoot the Macedonians to pieces as they crossed. Alexander took that plan apart in a morning. His catapults outranged the bows and cleared the bank, his archers and light troops went over first to cover the landing, and the cavalry and phalanx followed. Then he pushed a detachment of mounted lancers forward as bait. The Scythians did what they always did: they circled, shot and rode in. The trap closed behind them. More than a thousand died.
Antiquity PD has the pieces for this one. The Wars of Alexander the Great Starter Pack gives you the Macedonian side: phalangites, hypaspists, Companion cavalry, sarissa-armed light-medium cavalry and light infantry. That is 445 figurines on six sprues at 18 mm, with Andy Callan's rules in the box. The Scythians come from the Antiquity PD collection as add-ons. Persian Saka Horse Archers are the obvious core, 24 figurines at 28 mm or 48 at 18 mm, enough for six or twelve bases. Thracian and Scythian Mercenary Cavalry and Scythian Mercenary Archers fill out the rest of the line.
The advanced version of Andy Callan's rules is where the Scythians come alive. Horse archers form units of six bases: three skirmishing out in front, three held back in support, with the front line sitting three base widths ahead. A base width is 4 cm at 28 mm and 3 cm at 18 mm. Range is only four base widths, but they roll two dice per base and fire in both the shooting and the movement phase, so a full unit throws twelve dice a turn. Their arc of fire is 360 degrees. If someone charges them they get a free evade and a parting shot, the famous Parthian shot. In a straight fight against cavalry they are poor: they need a 6 to hit and save only on 5 or 6.
Put a stream down the middle of the table and let the dice decide how hard it is to cross. Give the Macedonian player his light troops, his sarissa cavalry and the Companions held back. Give the Scythian player three units, which is three Saka sprues at 28 mm or two at 18 mm, where each sprue carries twice the figures. The game turns on patience. A Scythian who keeps circling bleeds the Macedonians dry. A Scythian who gets greedy and lets one charge connect watches the Companions eat his skirmish line. Alexander won by making the Scythians stop moving.
Camel archers: the odd ones out
Camels are a strange choice for a battlefield, and that is partly the point. At Thymbra, around 547 BC, Cyrus the Great put his baggage camels in front of his line to face the Lydian cavalry. Horses that have never met a camel hate the smell. Croesus's riders wheeled and bolted, and both Xenophon and Herodotus tell the story with some relish.
Why use camel archers instead of horses?
Camels carry more, drink less and cope with desert that kills horses. Their smell and size panic horses that are not used to them, which gave Persian and Arab armies an easy way to disrupt enemy cavalry. A camel is slower and a poor platform for quick manoeuvre, so camel archers support the line rather than lead the charge.
Persian Arab Camelry is the Antiquity PD set: 20 figurines at 28 mm, 40 at 18 mm, six or twelve bases. In the advanced rules camels move like medium cavalry and fight like light cavalry, which feels about right: respectable on the march, unhappy in a brawl. The rules say nothing about frightened horses, so agree a house rule before you start. A simple one: enemy cavalry that charge within two base widths of camels roll a die and halt on a 1 or 2. Then set up a small Thymbra of your own: camels in front of Persian archers, and a Greek cavalry commander who thinks he can ride through.
Huns and Alans on the Catalaunian Plains
By the fifth century AD the western steppe had produced two famous horse peoples, and they ended up fighting each other. The Huns were the newcomers: light, quick and frighteningly good with the bow, with an army that grew by swallowing others. They had overrun many of the Alans in the 370s. The Alans were older hands, Iranian-speaking cousins of the Sarmatians, many of them heavily armoured lancers who also carried bows. The Romans hired Alans, the Huns ruled them, and in 451 AD on the Catalaunian Plains the two sides met.
The Roman commander Aetius put the Franks and his own troops on the left and the Visigoths under King Theodoric on the right. In the centre he placed the Alans under Sangiban, with Roman infantry behind them in case they thought about leaving. Attila gathered his best troops opposite that weak point and charged it. The centre bent, but it held, and the allied flanks closed in. Attila withdrew into his wagon circle, and Aetius, for reasons historians still argue about, did not finish the job.
How did Hunnic and Alan cavalry differ?
Hunnic cavalry were lightly armoured horse archers who relied on mobility and massed arrow fire, with a core of heavier noble riders. Alan cavalry were more heavily armoured and leaned on the lance, carrying a bow as a second weapon. The Huns wore the enemy down from a distance. The Alans meant to ride through him.
Late Romans PD covers both sides. The Late Romans Enemies Pack holds the Goths, Huns, Alans and Franks in one box: 347 figurines on eight sprues at 18 mm, sixteen at 28 mm. Among them are 21 Hunnic Heavy Cavalry, 19 Hunnic Armoured Horse, 17 Alan Heavy Cavalry, 20 Alan Light Cavalry and 36 Gothic cavalry. For the true horse archers, Hunnic Unarmoured Horse Archers add 22 figurines at 28 mm or 44 at 18 mm. The Roman line, with its cataphracts, horse archers and shield wall, comes from the Arthurian Age Full Pack in the Late Romans PD collection.
There is no rules booklet for this collection, so treat the battle as a set-up and agree your own mechanics. Put the Alans in the middle with a rank of Roman infantry behind them, a ridge on one flank that both sides want, and the best Hunnic cavalry facing the Alans. The Alan player's job is to survive the first Hunnic charge. The Hunnic player has to decide between wearing the Alans down with arrows and risking the all-in charge Attila actually tried. A careful Hun usually wins that argument. History says the bold one lost.
Mongols: the system behind the archers
The Mongols did not simply have better horse archers. They had better arrangements. Every trooper rode with several remounts, so an army could cover distances that seemed impossible to the people on the receiving end. Units were organised in tens, hundreds and thousands, with a chain of command that let them carry out a plan rather than a charge. In 1241 their columns came through Poland and Hungary separately and met again when it suited them.
At Legnica, on 9 April 1241, Duke Henry II of Silesia gathered an army of Polish and Silesian knights, with Templar and Teutonic contingents and a crowd of foot soldiers. A light vanguard fell back in apparent panic. The knights chased it, thinning out as they went. Then the Mongols used smoke to cut the horsemen off from their infantry and shot men and horses until the formation collapsed. Henry was killed.
Could Mongol horse archers beat armoured knights?
Yes, and at Legnica they did. Mongol archers could not safely meet knights in a head-on charge, so they never gave one. They drew the knights out with a feigned retreat, separated them from their infantry, then shot men and horses until the line broke. Knights won when they closed. The Mongols made sure they never did.
The Mongol Invasion PD collection has both armies. Mongol Horse Archers give you 24 figurines at 28 mm or 48 at 18 mm, six or twelve bases, and the same sprue size applies to Mongol Heavy Cavalry (20 and 40). Against them stand Polish Knights and Teutonic Knights, 16 figurines each at 28 mm and 32 at 18 mm, plus Templars, Noble Cavalry and militia. Everything is in the Full Pack Mongol Invasion 28 mm, 1,074 figurines on 38 sprues, with a smaller 18 mm version on 19 sprues. No rules ship with it, so, like the Late Roman game, this one is a scenario to play your own way.
Deploy the knights on a low ridge with the militia behind. Put the Mongol light horse out in front and the heavy cavalry and Khan's Guard well back. Use cotton wool or counters for the smoke line: once it is down, no line of sight between the knights and their infantry. The European player wins by keeping the knights on the ridge, which is hard, because the Mongol player will spend every turn trying to make that ridge look like a bad idea.
Horse archers side by side
|
|
Era |
Weapon and armour |
Signature tactic |
Weak against |
On the table |
|
Scythians and Saka |
7th to 3rd century BC |
Composite bow, little armour |
Circle, shoot, evade |
Combined arms and light troops that will not chase |
Antiquity PD: Saka Horse Archers, mercenary cavalry |
|
Camel archers |
6th century BC onwards |
Bow, light protection |
Panic enemy horses, support the line |
Fast cavalry and a brawl |
Antiquity PD: Persian Arab Camelry |
|
Huns |
4th to 5th century AD |
Reflex bow, light armour, heavier nobles |
Mass arrows, then a hard charge |
Shield walls and pressure on the flanks |
Late Romans PD: Hunnic horse archers and heavy cavalry |
|
Alans |
1st to 5th century AD |
Lance and bow, mail or scale |
Armoured charge with bow support |
Missile fire and being outflanked |
Late Romans PD: Alan Light and Heavy Cavalry |
|
Mongols |
13th century AD |
Composite bow, lamellar for heavy troops |
Feigned retreat, remounts, columns |
Stretched supply and fortified towns |
Mongol Invasion PD: Horse Archers, Heavy Cavalry |
The Scythians and Saka perfected the swarm, the camels disrupted horses, the Huns scaled it up, the Alans added armour and the Mongols turned the whole thing into a system.
Choosing your army
If you like finesse, start with the Scythians. They reward timing and punish impatience, and the Starter Pack means you can be playing in an evening. If you want a bigger spectacle, the Mongol collection offers the widest range of opponents, from Poles and Templars to Russians, Bulgars and Lithuanians, all in the same Full Pack. If you prefer a clash of lancers and archers on an open plain, Late Romans PD is the one, and the Enemies Pack alone can field both sides of the central fight.
Whichever you choose, you will be solving the same problem the ancient generals faced: what do you do about a man who will not stand still? Choose 18 mm if you want big armies on a small table, or 28 mm if you would rather see every rider. The miniatures arrive ready to press out and play.