21. The Steppe Nomads Had Many Advantages
The Steppe nomads’ strategic mobility was supplemented by tactical advantages. First, their horses gave them battlefield mobility. If their civilized opponents managed to force them into a standup fight, it was still difficult to make it a decisive battle. Unlike armies comprised in the main of infantry, if things went wrong for nomadic mounted armies, they were seldom forced to surrender or fight to the death. Unless constricted by some natural obstacle or some other rare situation, the nomads usually had a third option: ride off the battlefield, and live to fight another day.
Another advantage was that the Steppe nomads’ preferred weapon, the recurved bow. It often had a greater killing range than the weapons wielded by their opponents of the settled lands. That created tactical mismatches and gave nomadic warriors a safe standoff from which to kill with relative impunity. They could thus subject less mobile enemies to a rain of arrows, winnow their ranks until they grew disordered and demoralized, then charge in to break them. A prime example is the 53 BC Battle of Carrhae. There, a 50,000 strong Roman army, comprised of the main infantry, was annihilated by a 10,000 strong Parthian cavalry force comprised in the main of mounted archers armed with recurved bows.
