There's not much point discussing playing cav except in the most viable way. You CAN get kills and do damage via a more frontal approach, but it's not as efficient and much more risky. I agree that even in Native backstabbing is the best way to play, but due to Native horses' tankiness they were able to be more direct, and could bump-slash/stab without worrying about getting reared and dismounted by a guy with a 1H sword.
IMO, cav was by far the strongest class in Native, but it's definitely not in cRPG. It's not just the fragility of cavalry, the class's maneuverability and stab radius have also been severely reduced. Its strengths lay in its speed and ability to deal a lot of damage at once, but because every strike needs to be so precise, it loses a lot of the finesse and IMO skill that you see in Native cavalry. I'd rather see a compromise of how cav is in Native and cRPG than what we have now.
I can dig that. I wouldn't say cav is a glass cannon though (maybe little bitch cav is), and while I do get what you're saying I'm not unhappy with cavalry's role in cRPG myself. My view of that would be:
1. neutralize enemy cavalry,
2. support footmen by flanking developing melee,
3. chase down stragglers,
and all that seems fairly legitimate to me. It is absolutely easy to get kills on cavalry, and often that means a horseman will attempt to catch someone on foot off-guard from behind, as is the Cavalry Prerogative
TM, but plenty of cavalry attacks come head on as well. It's quite true that winning that kind of engagement is more rewarding than meming someone from behind, as you said, but I don't think cavalry is ill-equipped to handle that as much as you may think. As long as a person understands the length of their lance (which should always be MW Heavy) and the characteristics of whatever weapon they're facing it just comes down to timing and belief in their own ability. When Sparvico is on his cav alt I tell him all the time to go in on a guy that knows he's there, because I know that Sparvicav can take him, but he doesn't follow my advice because, frankly, he's a little bitch.
It's my belief that the "glass cannon" here is more a state of mind. I believe a horseman is rewarded for playing smart, but not playing like a pussy. There's really nothing like dumping on a man with an Ashwood or some such thing who had all the time in the world to prepare for you but still couldn't cut it. Same with your fellow cavalryman, asserting your dominance in a cav-on-cav imbroglio is the ultimate expression of your ability. Soft targets die first, sure, but if that business is done with and I'm still on horse I don't consider myself unlucky or unprepared to engage more heavily armored/armed/prepared individuals or groups.
tldr pusscav is badcav, charge into pikes; God will recognize his own.
24/21
WM 7
A 7
R 7
PS 8
All Polearm proficiency all the time. Champ Destrier always.