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Horse Archer: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|'''Wil:''' ''"So, the archers of Sacae, they're all mounted, aren't they? I'd have trouble just staying on... If I had to shoot, too, I'd be in trouble!"''
'''Rath:''' ''"...The beasts of Sacae are swift... If we could not shoot from the saddle, we would starve..."''|''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|FireEmblem: Blazing Sword]]''}}
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Even in the era of the gun, firearms were almost impossible to use effectively from horseback, as a muzzle-loaded weapon requires stability, dexterity, and two hands to reload. This meant that bow-wielding horsemen held on to an advantage up until the invention of the revolver.
The ''[[
In [[Tabletop Games]] and [[Video Games]], these are often [[Game Breaker]] units, but not always. For balance reasons, they are often less powerful than archers who go on foot, and if [[Annoying Arrows]] are in place already, this can lead to them being [[Master of None|unable to effectively damage the enemy]]. Given that they often trade armor for speed, they can also easily be portrayed as [[Fragile Speedster
{{examples}}
== [[Film]] ==▼
▲== Film ==
* [[Badass Princess]] Mérida from ''[[Brave]]'' is an ace with a bow and arrow, and she can hit a perfect bullseye while on horseback.
== [[Literature]] ==
* The Dothraki and the Dornishmen from ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''.
* The Mongols in all books, naturally enough.
* The various steppe tribes in Harry Turtledove's [[Videssos]] books. The Videssians themselves may also qualify, though they prefer more armor than the average horse archer.
* In [[The Lord of the Rings]] the Rohirrim field a number of these. However most of their army seems to be lancers.
* The Haldane Household Archers function this way in battle, as seen in ''[[Deryni|The King's Justice]]''. In that same book, Kelson himself is one {{spoiler|when he executes Sicard by shooting an arrow through his eye}}.
* In [[Belisarius Series]] the Persians prefer steppe style bows that have a great rate of fire. Romans prefer giant bows that can penetrate armor. Rajputs are also notable
* In [[Harald]], The Westkin tribes are the lightly armored sort, and the Vales have cataphracts who wear heavier armor.
* In the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series, the Skybolt mercenary company is primarily composed of horse archers trained in skirmish tactics. The rest of the company are [[Combat Pragmatist|dirty tricks specialists]].
* Implied to exist in the Zlobenian army in ''[[
== [[Live
* In the ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'' TV movie "Clash of the Red Rangers", Blue Ranger Kevin uses his Hydro Bow while on horseback.
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* ''[[Mount & Blade]]'' has the Khergit faction, almost every single one of their faction troops is one of these (with the exception of heavier lancers in the Warband expansion). It's also possible to make your player character one.
** If you choose to start in the Khergit Khanate and you don't put any points into riding or horse archery and only use infantry in your battles... Well even the small packs of roaming steppe bandits that provide low level characters exp will stomp all over you. In fact the steppes is probably the hardest starting region because of the prevalence of horse archers.
* ''[[Age of Empires]]'' has them, along with several varieties such as Chariot Archers and Elephant Archers. II has Horse Archers, and two civilisations have them as unique units, namely the Mongol's Mangudai and the Spanish Conquistador (which might not count since it uses a gun, not a bow). III has Dragoons which are basically the same as the Conquistadors from the previous game, some civilisations who have actual horse archers instead of the more usual Dragoon, and the Indians even have gunners firing from camelback. The spin-off, [[Age of Mythology]] has the Turma which throws javelins from horseback, the Centaur,<ref>which is both horse ''and'' archer</ref>
* ''[[Shining Force]] I and II'' have Lyle and May, ''centaur'' archers who are one of the best ranged characters in their respective games.
* ''[[Total War|The Total War series]]'' has them as a staple unit for most cavalry centered factions particularly in...
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* A basic mounted unit in ''[[Civilization]] IV''. Appears as unique Mongol unit in ''Civilization V'', while the Indians get Elephant Archers.
* A patch in Skyrim allowed the player to become this, although it is a bit hard since you have to aim without a retical.
* ''[[Master of Magic]]'' has Horsebowmen, as a Nomad unit with unique type. But there are many other non-ship units that can move and shoot. Centaurs (Beastmen) are very close: slightly better defenses, but weaker melee attack. Pegasai (High Elf) are flying (though expensive and low figure count makes them less effective despite great stats). Since most Dark Elf units have Ranged Magic attack, their Cavalry is close enough too, and Nightmares (elite unit) are more powerful counterpart of Pegasai.
** Of course, many non-cavalry units have similar functionality, Rangers (Nomad) and High Elf Magicians just walk that fast, etc. And since Endurance spell increases Movement, it turns any shooty unit into move-and-shoot unit.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' Geisterdamen [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20161104 use crossbows] while riding their spiders. Not very accurate when both shooters and their target are bobbing, but still a threat.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Featured prominently in the Tales of Ubernorden story [https://web.archive.org/web/20150829155817/http://www.ubernorden.com/the-sword-of-war.html The Sword of War].
== [[Real Life]] ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Equine and Equestrian Tropes]]
[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Horse Archer]]
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