In the past, cav acted as an ace in the hole of sorts. You used them for key charges, and to protect your spawns. Most didn't buy enough for the whole battle, but for those moments in a battle- so you'd hear 'okay guys, it's time to spawn cavalry' on vent.
At this point, it doesn't look like we'll afford that anytime soon. And when the larger factions do, the smaller ones won't have a chance, either- much like they didn't in the past.
I can't help but feel that it would be more effective to tell all my clan members to respec to archer and polearm. Nothing else seems quite as useful, now.