Ottoman Turks Cav vs Knights?

Originally posted by BigL Who is the Better Cavalry Ottoman Turks Siphai and or Qapkula or The Knights of Europe??

The Ottoman sipahis. Though the charging knights were irresistable, the sipahis did not want to resist. They simply avoided the charging knights and attacked their sidess and back. They also had less expensive equipment, so they were more in numbers. Hussars were needed to counter the sipahis.

Originally posted by Praetor I think that it depends if Knights has access to sugar or not, if he does nothing less powerful than a leopard 2 tank could stop him   In all seriusness though you need to define what you mean by knights better as they had existed for centuries before the Sipahi's came into existence. Futheremore there were Knights in many European nations at the time of the Sipahis who specifically came from the ottoman empire. They varied greatly in equipment/armour, training, status and methods. Finaly it depends on the situation as each has thier strengths and weaknesses.

Very funny Praetor, but oh so true. 'Knights' vs Leopard 2 Tank: Bring it on!
And yes, in all seriousness, you do need to specify a bit more. At their height, Ottoman heavy cavalry (whether Qapakulu, Sipahi or whatever) would easily take down English Knights, in certain conditions. Adversely, the opposite would probably be the case at the peak of English/European Knight dominance. The situation is not as vital to the outcome but would still play a part. If there is one thing that would cause the Knights to lose, it would be their mentality (arrogance, impetuosity), due to the fact that chivalry (code of ethics) doesn't tend to apply when fighting the Muslims -as far as I'm aware- and therefore wouldn't be a problem or advantage (however you see it)
It would definitely be an epic engagement, the initial collision would be monumental!



Edited by Knights - 09-Feb-2007 at 06:52

Depends on the battlefield as well as the weather... but European knights... gets my vote.

Siphais had the same tactics as Mongol\nomad tactics so Siphais would take out the knights from distance

Originally posted by BigL or Qapkula

Edited by Kapikulu - 10-Mar-2007 at 22:38

By the time that Sipakhs "ruled" in the east, in western europe effective combined infantry (with long pikes and gunpowder) were defeating the mounted knights (Spanish-Frank wars in northern  Italy). It was the dawn of a new type of warfare and the end of knighthood, although the gunpowder was used by Ottomans even before. 

Originally posted by DayI this is a Ottoman sipahi bow, it was more effective then a gunpowder at that time (the speed, the power, the range etc) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0jBsSckdBI

Yes, thanks for the info.I didn't know the exact quality of the christian troops. But i think that it was a combined cavalry force this which defeated the Sipahis.Wallachian in the right flank and Hungaro-Bulgarian in the left. Wladislav made a stupid mistake indeed...