Before I explain how this would work, let me explain why it is useful.
In glest, cavalry units are simply soldiers who move fast and have high HP, presumably due to the addition of the horse to the HP of the Rider. This is inaccurate because though there were advantages to mounting horses for battle, the horse could be injured in the fighting, and though they were taught to overcome flesh wounds and other simple wounds, a horse could throw a rider should it break a leg due to an enemy's attack. In this way, mounted troops previous to the introduction of horse armor were more vulnerable to attacks. Horses could not fight in extended melees because a shield or breastplate did not guarantee protection for the horse, and most soldiers would not shy from attacking an unwary horseman's mount. Cavalry were only used in melees with other cavalry, and this was rare. Instead, most mounted troops rode at the enemy, charged the infantry, and either immediately returned to their lines or finished the job as quickly as they could with their lances or swords. They were able to inflict both serious physical harm and serious psychological harm to an enemy-imagine, you are a farmer conscripted into a unit of swordsmen, and you see a mass of warriors riding tall horses at 25-30 miles per hour straight at you, screaming at the top of their lungs!
Now that I have made my case about what cavalry are really like, I will get to my point. In glests newer factions, cavalry should have normal HP, less armor, and at least 2-3 times the movement speed of infantry of their kind. In order to make them worthwhile, however, each cavalry unit should have a second attack called a charge, which would deal high damage and attack quickly. In order to make sure that the units move far from the enemy and then start to charge, a sort of EP system could be implemented, which would not be shown onscreen but you would be able to charge an enemy when it is full. You would fill it up by moving in 'charge_skill' for a couple tiles. I think I heard somewhere that in GAE or in Megaglest units will switch attacks if the current one needs more EP than is available, instead of the age old scene of exhausted archmages standing idle. That way, the cavalry would start out by charging the enemy, dealing deathblows left and right, and then the horsemen would either start spearing or slicing at men with their weapons (my choice), or a more complicated method that would have the cavalry run away and charge again. I think that the second option would be more difficult.
There are really only two things that I would request that are required for this to work. Firstly, a system of EP like, rechargeable resources that you wouldn't see, and secondly a way of making sure that after this resource (or EP for that matter) is out, that the unit switches to a secondary attack.
Just food for thought. I think someone else mentioned this before, but not in detail. I might not be able to respond to posts on this topic, but if this is something you are already implementing, feel free to lock it.
Thanks.
