Is there a line missing mentioning mounted Caballarai or did all of his battles involve dismounted them as foot-stiffeners? They are automatically counted as melee expert when dismounted. Yet in the carolingian list, dismounted caballarai are disallowed using melee expert as a characterisitic even if applied while mounted.
[Cavalry (other than Swabians) dismount as Formed Close, Short Spear, Shieldwall of the same quality. They do not get Melee Expert if dismounted, even if they have the characteristic as mounted.]
Thanks.
Ps the swabians have that as an optional characteristic: but dismounted Swabians do not get shieldwall.
This is intentional.
Richard
So no mtd caballari allowed?
I refer you to my previous answer...
Charles' very long and successful career suggests that he must have been a capable and skillful general, with the ability to respond to a variety of opponents and different tactics. It is hard to imagine over such a long career that his army would be less tactically flexible than others. A successful general has a very restricted army list. I cannot see how the feigned retreat at Ambiève could have been so successful without a significant proportion of the army mounted. While references to the battle of Poitiers explicitly mention a dismounted army, the huge losses in the ruthless pursuit of the beaten enemy suggests at least the possibility of troops having access to mounts should be entertained.
Thanks for your time.
Use the Later Merovingian Frank list for the battles where he used different tactics.
Richard