Sde Dpon

Overall strategy
Sde Dpon (Tibetan: "founding families") are the nobility of the Tibetan kingdom, and so fight as heavy shock cavalry, armed primarily with bows and arrows. While their range and attack strength are fairly mediocre by the standards of most other factions, what cannot be disputed is their staying power in combat, lent by the strength of their armour. They are best used as a means of deterring light cavalry and missile infantry, thanks to their heavy armour and their ranged attacks, but are otherwise not ideal for use especially against units such as Levy Crossbowmen. Equally, their cost and their tech requirements can be a little steep, so they are best used only by a Tibetan player with access to rare resources, particularly Furs and Horses, which can reduce the time it takes to finally acquiring them for warfare.

History
Lamellar armour, made by horizontal rows of overlapping metal plates on leather backings, formed the most characteristic form of body armor associated with Tibet and was probably in use in Tibet from at least the seventh or eighth centuries CE and was the primary form of body armor until about the 17th century, remaining in sporadic use until the early 20th.