Heavy cavalry (Age of Empires III)

Melee cavalry, more commonly reffered to as heavy cavalry, are units on horses brandashing a sword to chop down enemies. They have high hitpoints and do a large melee attack, however they are also expensive and normally take 2 or more population slots (there are some exceptions, such as the cossack). They have the highest hitpoints of any units in the game, and can defeat most units 1 on 1, but are fielded in small numbers. They are vulnerable to heavy infantry such as the pikeman, and ranged cavalry, such as the dragoon. The heavy cavalry are highly adept at killing ranged infantry such as skirmishers, and along with light cavalry, are used for killing cannons. A small group of heavy cavalry can take out an opponents cannons in seconds, but they fall easily to a heavy infantry or light cavalry meatshield, so one must be careful how they are used, and use their speed to their advantage.