In the Laidang list the Huscarls have a 'dismountable' optional characteristic.....but they are not cavalry, only infantry.... am I missing something?
There are quite a lot of infantry in the lists that have the Dismountable characteristic, it isn't just for mounted troops - check out the description in the rule book :)
Looked at that, but the infantry cannot 'remount' and as such can you explain how this characteristic works when the infantry already start dismounted
If the infantry start dismounted they are just infantry.
So why do they have a 'dismounted' characteristic if they are only classed as 'infantry' and cannot 'remount'. Can the infantry start as cavalry???
If they start "mounted" they get to move as cavalry so somewhat faster than if footslogging it. They do this until they dismount. Could be useful as a reserve to be rushed to where you need them.
Also as far as I understand, while mounted they move as cavalry, but they don't get any cavalry factors in combat while mounted, they will fight as combat shy infantry.
The point of mounted infantry is that you can move them into combat quicker or redeploy them faster compared to standard infantry, but once they are off the ponies (or start dismounted) then they are the same as other infantry. I would think that they would work best as a reserve, not so much as simply part of the main battle line, but I haven't used them so I'm just speculating here.