Swedish Reiter

Swedish Reiter
Troop Information
Culture	Kingdom of Sweden
Wages	33 thalers
Acquired from...	Prisoners or Commander
Upgrades to...	Swedish Reiter (veteran)
Upgrade Cost	160 thalers
Ransom Value	109 thalers

The Swedish Reiter is a heavy cavalry unit and the most powerful unit in the Kingdom of Sweden. They can be bought from a commander of a Swedish alignment in fortifications or can be acquired as a prisoner from enemy armies.

The veteran carries a more-than-impressive Armet and has slightly better proficiencies. Strangely, half of the veteran Reiter's abilities are actually worse than the standard Swedish Reiter.

Tactics

Carrying impressive Swedish plate armor and equipped with a Good Broadsword and Good Pistol, the Swedish Reiter is possibly the most powerful melee cavalry unit in the game, rivaling the Russian Noble Guard and Polish Winged Hussar. They can easily defeat any type of medium or light cavalry units from other nations. Since a majority of Eastern European infantry and cavalry units are equipped with sabers, the Swedish Reiter's armor can deflect saber cuts, but can easily be pierced by thrusting swords or lances. They also ride Troop Horses, which are perfect for melee engagements.

Swedish Reiter is the best cavalry unit that the Kingdom of Sweden can muster. Since it carries strong and powerful equipment, it can be deployed just to charge into enemies head on. Carrying one of the best pistols in the game, Reiters can shoot from a medium to close range distance for a hit-and-run method. Keep in mind that although the Swedish heavy cavalry unit has impressive equipment and stats, it can easily be killed from a well-aimed musket shot or a couched lance or pike.

In a strategic sense, like all melee cavalry units, Swedish Reiters are vulnerable to musketeer units at long range, as well as shock cavalry and pikemen in melee. Charging at full speed into enemy formations can result in many enemy casualties and eventually forcing them to run, but don't expect 10 or less Reiters to completely defeat an enemy army of 90 troops or more. In the worst scenario, the Reiters can get shot to pieces from afar and will be overwhelmed with shock cavalry and pikemen. Therefore, to use them effectively, you should have at least 20 or more Reiters should the enemy have Winged Hussars or Noble Guards. Order them to form 2 columns and then to follow you. As you approach the enemy, which will fire a round at you, order your Reiters to open fire with their pistols, then tell them to hold fire and charge the enemy (always charge with your Reiters into enemy musketeer or cavalry units - don't charge them into enemy Pikemen Units, or else their horses will stop moving, allowing the enemy to swarm around your Reiters and shoot them down). If there are large amount of enemies, inflict as much casualties as possible to the enemy musketeers and cavalry, so you can retreat in order and use your pistols and mobility to shoot down the pikemen.

During sieges, Reiters can be classified as Heavy Infantry, as they can inflict a lot of casualties to the enemy attackers and defenders. If you mix them with pikemen at the bottom of the staircase, you can bet that they will hold their position well from enemy waves. Like their other Heavy Cavalry counterparts, Swedish Reiters are expensive troops and are very rare to find, as they can only be acquired from commanders in fortifications or as prisoners from enemy armies or patrols from either the Polish Commonwealth or the Muscovite Tsardom.

Stats and equipment

Note: Troops have a set of default stats; at the beginning of a new game, these stats are randomly adjusted for each type of troop. The following is the default set for this troop as seen within the game code and may not reflect the specific stats you will see during actual gameplay. For more information, see troop stats.

Swedish Reiter - Default Stats and Equipment

Attributes Stat Points Level 21 Strength 13 Agility 7 Intelligence 0 Charisma 0 Health 60 Armor Head Reiter Helmet Body Reiter Half-Armor Hand Infantry Gloves Foot Good Jackboots Skills Skill Points Ironflesh 6 Power Strike 3 Grenade Throwing 0 Power Draw 0 Weapon Master 6 Shield 0 Athletics 0 Riding 4 Shooting from Horseback 6 Looting 0 Trainer 0 Tracking 0 Tactics 0 Path-finding 0 Spotting 0 Inventory Management 0 Wound Treatment 0 Surgery 0 First Aid 0 Engineer 0 Persuasion 0 Prisoner Management 0 Leadership 0 Trade 0 Proficiencies Weapon Type Points One Handed Weapons 180 Two Handed Weapons 160 Polearms 170 Archery 0 Firearms 140 Throwing 0 Weapons Melee Good Broadsword Ranged Good Pistol, Bullets Shield ? Mount Hunter

Wikipedia has an article on this subject at: Reiter