Roman Cavalry troops - hot or not?

[Aleksandr]

Hi!
I'd like to ask a question on roman cavalry troops:
There are three types of them. Which one do you find the most useful? (On "VERY HARD" settings.)

I always start the campaign by dismissing all the troops and recruiting the Nobles. (More of a flavor reason than anything else.)
I tried the Aux. Cavalry for the first time and honestly, I wasn't very impressed by the result. They do not withstand much more damage than Nobles and they flee whenever they can.
The Scouts, however, are no match for a "real" troops. But otoh they cost nothing and because my main cavalry tactics is nearly always the same (read: assault the missile troops), I am more and more leaning towards Scouts, because they can carry out this objective.

What experiences do you have with cavalry troops? Which ones do you find the most useful? Or better said: more convenient in terms of power/cost ratio. (Once again: I'm asking on Romans. Not that I got anything against Gauls... I just like the Romans more.)

Oh, one last note: I don't build great armies; they are hard to manage and I also like the RPG aspect of the game and it works better with little army when every troop has its personality. As such, I use one cavalry unit (two at most) to approximate the real infantry-to-cavalry ratio (7:1) that Roman legions used until the late Ancient Age.

So once again the question:

When (and if) you build a "chamber" Roman army of about ten troops, what cavalry unit will you use, if that horsemen will be your sole (or one of two) mounted troop? And why?

[pgeerkens]

I play the GBOR variant, where I cannot buy nobles until after #9 and Aux Cav until much laer again. As such, I start with 2 Scouts and make heavy use of them in the early scenarios as shock troops, then in later scenarios as true light cavalry sweeping around behind the enemy or taking out missilers. This works well on VH.

[Aleksandr]

I play the GBOR variant, where I cannot buy nobles until after #9 and Aux Cav until much laer again. As such, I start with 2 Scouts and make heavy use of them in the early scenarios as shock troops, then in later scenarios as true light cavalry sweeping around behind the enemy or taking out missilers. This works well on VH.

Well, I also found how useful they really are, when I tried the GBOR.
The play style and tactics in LA and GBOR are very different, indeed. When I am in a mood for great videos and tight armies, I prefer LA. Otoh, when I am in a mood for greater armies, I prefer GBOR - and then I naturally end with some light troops, of which the Scouts are second best to Militia.