Talk:Italians/@comment-79.116.194.181-20151226001726/@comment-24444169-20151226015250

I agree, it's pretty pathetic if you consider halberdiers and pike militias were the backbone of any army of the italian peninsula, at that time. Heavy Cavalry was also extremely popular so I don't get the choice of not giving italians the paladin either. Maybe not a FU paladin, say they could remove the last cav armour upgrade, but the paladin was necessary - both to a historical and technical (Game mechanics) extent.

I think it's no coincidence medieval II TW gives the Milanese a very powerful local cavalry made of nobles (That's what the paladins in-game are, nobles on the field). Basically top notch, noble cavalry was popular in all western european kingdoms and empires - especially in the most socially fragmented states (filled with feuds and independent cities). Italy had all of these characteristics.