Dragon knights, gryphon riders, that kind of stuff. How would you put them to work, anon? Reconnaissance? Skirmishers? Dragoons? Logistics?
>>47119643
Terror tactics behind enemy lines, destruction of supply chains. Sadly the most effective way of waging a war is being asshole about it.
>>47119643
I have this image in my head of a modern day special forces unit that breeds owl like Griffons who are strong enough to carry one man and his gear but small enough to sneak around with him when he's operating operations operationally
>>47119643
If the numbers are low, reconnaisance. If higher, deep striking behind enemy lines.
The French experimented with flechettes thrown off a plane as a means of aerial attack during WWI. Flying cavalry could use something similar.
>>47119643
Being able to fly is a massive advantage. Even if you only use it for intelligence gathering and sending messages, it would make a primitive army far more effective. But it would also allow you to move troops much faster and bypass difficult terrain. Mobility and terrain are hugely important in combat. Even if they just carry soldiers to a fight and nothing else, that could win battles.
And even if you don't have bombs, being able to drop things on your enemies would be very useful. You could drop alchemist's fire, nets, poison gas, plague infected body parts, or just bags full of caltrops.
>>47119643
Hugely mobile harassment.
Wars are won and lost on the ability to effectively move force around.
Drop shit on people. Fire, explosives, actual shit, all of the above... you might not even have to drop it. Just fly around above and watch them try to hold formation.
Dive bombs also work in nature. Birds do it all the time. Out of nowhere, a 200 MPH steel lance right up your ass.
>>47119643
Bird that big could probably do a flyby and rip your head off without even slowing down.
>>47121341
It would probably work better with some kind of projectile. I imagine if you were using a hand-to-hand weapon you'd have trouble pulling out of your dive, especially if it gets caught in your enemy/victim.
>>47121341
>>47121367
You'd probably do better with something like a gryphon teaching it to grab someone then trying to attack during a dive yourself. One would assume that in the wild they'd probably swoop down on sheep and such, so training one to grab an enemy officer and ascend shouldn't be that difficult.
>>47119643
Warmachine hunting, duh
>>47119643
Bombing.
Dropping caltrops.
Reconnaissance.
Supply chain.
Take a close look at how aircraft were first used in WW1 and you should get a pretty good idea.
LANCES
>>47121517
Goddamnit that's so majestic.
>>47119643
Whenever you don't have a better idea (or just want to conserve your bombs or whatever), just keep pounding arrows into the other guys.
Drop large ceramic pots filled with broken glass and sharp bits of rusty metal into troop formations for possibly devastating shrapnel-bombs.
>>47124643
And if money ever becomes an issue, just drag a banner behind you. "15 mins could save you 500 coins!"
>>47119643
A lot would depend on how durable the flying creatures are. If a single arrow can mortally wound the flying mount, the scales tip in favor of recon, messages, and dropping payloads from high altitudes. On the other hand, if you have dragons that can mostly shake off dozens of arrows, you have the makings of truly terrifying shock cavalry.
>>47119643
My setting has them operate a radio and use signal flags. Also provide another set of eyes. The dragons rank higher than them, and are more intelligent, but you can't operate a radio while flying.
>>47119643
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_in_World_War_I
Like this
>>47119719
No war was ever won by being a nice guy about it.
