The couched lance is the cavalry charge proper — a lance lowered at the gallop to deliver a single devastating jousting hit on the pass. It's slow and weak swung by hand, so the lance is a mounted weapon first: its whole purpose is the couch.
Couching the lance
Mounted, use the couch key to lower the lance and strike on the way past — the damage comes from your momentum, so a clean pass at speed lands far harder than a standing poke. The lance has the longest reach in the game (13 units), so you hit before the target can answer.
- Line up early. All horses share the same top speed — you can't out-accelerate a target, so commit to the lane before you're on top of them.
- Strike on the pass, then leave. Ride *through* and reset; a horseman who stops to trade is a big, expensive target the infantry will swarm.
- Pick soft targets — a flank or rear, archers, stragglers, routers. Never couch into a braced, intact front of spears.
Resetting for the next pass
The charge is a cycle, not a commitment: hit, ride clear, loop wide, and come again once the lance and your horse's stamina are ready. Bogging down in the melee throws away everything that makes cavalry dangerous — the speed, and the freedom to choose where the next blow lands.
On foot, the same lance is planted with the throw key to 'brace', so a charging horse impales itself — the infantry's answer to enemy cavalry. Plan the rider in the Build Maker and the horse via the Horse Spawn Map; the wider mounted game is in Mounted Combat.