Why doesn’t the Hallandren military have more lifeless cavalry?

[Nightstar The Bright]

Why doesn’t the Hallandren military use more lifeless cavalry (both man and horse being lifeless/lifeless man and live horse/live man and lifeless horse) this all seems like it would be a big advantage.

Is there a canon reason or not. And if not, can you guys think of good reasons?

[alder24]

49 minutes ago, Nightstar The Bright said:

Why doesn’t the Hallandren military use more lifeless cavalry (both man and horse being lifeless/lifeless man and live horse/live man and lifeless horse) this all seems like it would be a big advantage.

Is there a canon reason or not. And if not, can you guys think of good reasons?

There is no canon reason for that. However they have a living cavalry, ch 4:

Quote

The twin line of cavalrymen atop enormous, thick- hoofed horses, both men and beasts draped with golden cloth that shimmered in the sun.

The reason for that might be simply that just like in medieval Europe, the position of a cavalryman was reserved only for the richest, because of its prestige. It's possible that while the Lifeless are just a throwaway infantry, the cavalrymen are composed only of living people because they are the ones that would gain all the glory and respect for winning a battle. They might be leaders and commanders of the Lifeless army.

Maybe it's because of the terrain, Hallandren is covered by jungles while Idris by mountains, cavalry in such terrain isn't always the best choice, thus infantry is better. Commanding a living unit of cavalrymen is much better than Lifeless, as they can better judge the terrain and the enemy, thus they won't waste man charging at lines of pikes.

However I think the reason is different - the cavalry aren't needed because the Lifeless already fill this role. Think of it - the role of cavalry is to be a mobile, fast shock unit that will strike with force and overwhelm the enemy in a crucial moment. Well, Lifeless are a mobile, fast and tireless force, that can march all day and night without any logistics, that will fearlessly strike any position without any care for their own losses, overwhelming them with sheer shock value. The Manywar very likely proved that cavalry is simply obsolete on an open battlefield as Lifeless are a much cheaper, easier to maintain force that can replace them even efficiently. Why waste Breaths and alcohol to Awaken a horse, when you can Awaken 2 soldiers who both will fight and thus double the size of your army?

Moreover living cavalry is useless against Lifeless, as cavalry relies on the fact that your opponent will collapse, break apart their formation and scatter - Lifeless won't do that. Using even Lifeless cavalry against Lifeless army is just a waste of Breaths, as cavalry would be simply trapped in front of or in between solid lines of Lifeless. Horses aren't tanks, they won't shove people apart like you see that in movies or games. They need momentum. Cavalry that stops is a dead cavalry.

[Returned he/him]

I'd also think that cavalry charges are pretty easy to disrupt, and therefore hard to execute effectively, via Awakening. Obviously this is just speculative, but things like short lengths of rope or caltrops that can autonomously roam the battlefield and specifically bind or damage horses' legs seem to me like they would make cavalry maneuvers much more difficult and risky. A slow-moving or careful horse might not be felled by those, but such a horse has also lost a lot of what would make it useful in battle.

But we really know very little about Hallendren's economy, social structure, and military behavior overall. They might have a lot of cavalry like you describe! Information about that didn't intersect with the events of Warbreaker, so we don't know either way if they do or not, nor why or why not. I do think that it would make a ton of sense to have Lifeless beasts of burden, for example, even if we don't see much in that vein.

[Nightstar The Bright]

3 hours ago, alder24 said:

The reason for that might be simply that just like in medieval Europe, the position of a cavalryman was reserved only for the richest, because of its prestige. It's possible that while the Lifeless are just a throwaway infantry, the cavalrymen are composed only of living people because they are the ones that would gain all the glory and respect for winning a battle. They might be leaders and commanders of the Lifeless army.

Maybe it's because of the terrain, Hallandren is covered by jungles while Idris by mountains, cavalry in such terrain isn't always the best choice, thus infantry is better. Commanding a living unit of cavalrymen is much better than Lifeless, as they can better judge the terrain and the enemy, thus they won't waste man charging at lines of pikes.

However I think the reason is different - the cavalry aren't needed because the Lifeless already fill this role. Think of it - the role of cavalry is to be a mobile, fast shock unit that will strike with force and overwhelm the enemy in a crucial moment. Well, Lifeless are a mobile, fast and tireless force, that can march all day and night without any logistics, that will fearlessly strike any position without any care for their own losses, overwhelming them with sheer shock value. The Manywar very likely proved that cavalry is simply obsolete on an open battlefield as Lifeless are a much cheaper, easier to maintain force that can replace them even efficiently. Why waste Breaths and alcohol to Awaken a horse, when you can Awaken 2 soldiers who both will fight and thus double the size of your army?

Moreover living cavalry is useless against Lifeless, as cavalry relies on the fact that your opponent will collapse, break apart their formation and scatter - Lifeless won't do that. Using even Lifeless cavalry against Lifeless army is just a waste of Breaths, as cavalry would be simply trapped in front of or in between solid lines of Lifeless. Horses aren't tanks, they won't shove people apart like you see that in movies or games. They need momentum. Cavalry that stops is a dead cavalry.

Good points these, thanks for explaining.

[Elite01]

Somewhat off topic but I would love to see more of the Hallendran government and army. With creatives uses of lifeless they could do lost of interesting things 

lifeless birds to deliver messages 

lifeless wolves or other predators that aren’t usually used in a military would become options even if they aren’t practical 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Elite01

[Nightstar The Bright]

On 11/26/2023 at 10:04 PM, Elite01 said:

lifeless birds to deliver messages 

That could work well.

 

On 11/26/2023 at 10:04 PM, Elite01 said:

lifeless wolves or other predators that aren’t usually used in a military would become options even if they aren’t practical

Actually lifeless humans work so well because they remain some of their humanity (they have a brain)