Cavalry aren't rubbish at all. Are they slightly more difficult than they were in MM? Yes, but if you were a good cavalryman in MM, you'll be a good cavalryman in NW. In MM Russia, you could get away with being a poor cavalryman and still do relatively well. That's no longer possible, cavalry takes skill to do well. I would like to see cav be slightly faster (hussars were a bit too fast in MM, but they now feel slightly sluggish), but otherwise cav feels good.