That seems very accurate to me... unarmoured horses are quite susceptible to massed missile fire- unshielded men even more so. Han armies beat Xiongnu, Rome beat Parthians, etc. Massed missiles backed by some fast cavalry that waits until the enemies unarmoured cavalry is weakened/disordered from the missile volleys then charges out routing them/picking off stragglers. Bannerlord simulates this quite well- the main part where Bannerlord is still not getting it right is melee combat at the line where clipping, weird weapon ranges + too closely packed of soldiers makes numbers in the mob decide a fight in 10-20 seconds.
Shielded infantry counter unshielded infantry by blocking/re-directing the single weapon of the enemy and getting closing to finish while also are protected pretty well against archers.
Cavalry can wreck shielded infantry because it is quite awkward to use a spear/long weapon while holding a shield and a shield does virtually nothing against a horse while also being very heavy/awkward to raise high when a cavalryman is usually slashing/stabbing downwards from a height where shield are usually aimed to block against forward attacks not high attacks. Raising a shield and hiding behind it when arrows come raining down works- hiding behind a shield and blocking your own vision against a mobile and aggressive opponent does not work very well.
Unshielded infantry with a long weapon has the reach and rank depth+reach so 2-3 ranks are attacking incoming cavalry and can attack aggressively with both hands at higher speed/accuracy. Phalanx, Swiss pikemen, etc. Well organized pike formation can sometimes beat shielded infantry but once the infantry closes the distance... like Rome vs Greeks, Spanish sword&bucklers vs Pikes, etc then the Pikemen are usually at a disadvantage.
Almost all pikemen had ranged infantry in their ranks to weaken cavalry and other unshielded pike formations while armour in the late medieval got good enough that the front ranks of a pike formation were highly armoured and shields become less important. Swiss pikemen actually often attacked very aggressively in a column at a jog/run before an opposing pike formation could react thus overrunning them and avoiding the 'bad' battle of pikes. Swiss could manoeuvre more quickly due to long training and experience- approach an enemy pike formation at a brisk walk, turn and jog quickly to the side while ranged soldiers in the center/side of the Swiss pikes opened fire, then the main body of the Swiss would come in at an angle against the enemy pikes before the enemy could adjust the formation- usually, the enemy broke and ran when they realized they couldn't meet the Swiss in the correct formation.
What eventually brought down the Swiss was the introduction of rapid-firing and accurate artillery that could make a mess of approaching columns. When the Swiss had to try and change their formation into a long line to reduce the damage from cannon balls bouncing thru the ranks they lost all their mobility and weren't much better than opposing infantry as well the Swiss didn't add musketeers and combined arms with cavalry as the Spanish and eventually everyone else did because they had more limited population and economic resources.
