As I said somewhere else. This doesn’t make sense, Poles should be quite strong against cav archers, as they historically proven to be good against them.
I nmy thread: How I would "fix" poles - 3 little changes
I proposed to change Lechitic Legacy to give the winged hussar extra HP and bonus damage against cav archers istead of the trample damage. With these Changes Poles could hold their own in the very lategam but their midgame would be a bit tuned down.
Poles aren’t suited for EW tbh - they can’t really abuse their insane eco their and szlachta privileges is too expensive to go for early, as EW is so highly paced.
But the game between villese and vinchester showcased the lategame weakness of poles against FU archery. I think the devs should try to fix this, this kind of all-in mid game military spam ftw or lose is just a bit too much. Ofc the game thrives from weak and strong phases of certain civs, but in case of Poles it’s a bit too much forced into that direction imo.
And thats sad, cause overall I like their design, they are such a versatile civ.