Yellow Banner Cavalry

==In game==
===Overall strategy===
While they may lack the heavy armour of cuirassiers or demi-lancers, do not underestimate the power of Yellow Banner Cavalry. These units may not have the staying power of such units owing to the antiquated armour, yet in the early game, Yellow Banner Cavalry are very much second to none with regards to speed. Their combination of shock force with the finest steeds China can ever buy or exact from her Mongol subjects make them a force to be feared in the early game, especially against lightly armoured infantry. 
==History==
Unlike the cavalry traditions of the West which had initially favoured super-heavy armour in the early days of gunpowder weapons, only to gradually drop it for all but dedicated melee units, cavalry traditions in northern Asia remained fairly unchanged until the 20th century. This was due to the ineffectiveness of muzzle-fed firearms in so vast an open area, as well as the construction of armour which from the beginnings of time (perhaps inspired by the Scythians) favoured mobility and flexibility over individual protection.
For this reason, the heaviest cavalry fielded by late Ming and early Qing armies did not feature plate armour heavily (as opposed to Sengoku Japan which had begun to experiment it following contact with the Portuguese and black powder), but rather instead continued to use scale armour, chainmail and coat of plates. While this meant they were not very well suited to attacking enemies armed with gunpowder weapons such as muskets, they were still terrifyingly fast and efficient in melee. In any case, armoured cavalry warfare was on the decline even in Europe — the preference was for cavalry to either be equipped with guns when charging, or to be held back for non-line duty, such as harassing or performing flanking charges on an unsuspecting or broken enemy.