Empire All Cavalry Army Tactica
Here is my attempt at a tactica for those interested in building all-cavalry armies. I define this as an army made up solely of units with M7 or greater. Obviously there are many potential variations on the theme, but that’s my working definition.
I hope folks will chime in with their own experience and with helpful additions. I think that the more perspectives we can provide with this, the more helpful it can be. I’m not a defensive guy, so please, if you disagree with something, let me know!
Some context: I’ve been playing an all cavalry army since the new book came out. I’ve taken 2nd a few times in local tourneys of 15 or so players, and am generally considered a challenging opponent. This tactica is mostly for players who want to be similarly competitive. I’ve found all cav to be a refreshing and fun alternative to the infantry line, and I’ve also found it far more effective than I initially thought it would be. There has been a steep learning curve for me, and I’m hoping I can share some of my experiences with those who might be interested in trying this flavor of Empire. I also hope that this can be a bit of a living document, in that readers can offer to fill holes in my reasoning, or expand on some tactical ideas. With that said, let me begin with some initial principles that are important, in my opinion, to grasp as you build an all cavalry force.
Principles for an all cavalry army.
I) Armor as a defensive multiplier.
A 1+ armor save acts much as wounds do. It increases a unit’s survivability. Against a S3 enemy, 5 vanilla knights have as many EFFECTIVE wounds as 30 free company. Why? Because 30 S3 wounds will kill, on average, 30 free company (who have no armor save), or 5 vanilla knights (who each require, on average, six armor saves before failing). Similarly, 5 vanilla knights vs. S4 have the effective wounds of 30 halberdiers, or spearmen, or flagellants for that matter. You get the point.
Thus, armor saves are what provides an all cav army with durability, as opposed to lightly armored infantry armies, who rely on wounds to provide durability. This means that as you consider how best to use your cavalry, you must always ALWAYS be thinking of their armor.
II) Movement is your friend.
One shift that can be very challenging is that of realizing the difference between marching 8” and 14” and charging, on average, 11” vs, on average 16”. This can require a substantial shift in how you think about deployment and tactics. With many units of cav, it is possible to feint at one flank during deployment, and then shift your forces to the opposite flank before your opponent can react.
Thinking about flexibility and movement can be very hard for generals who are used to the more static tactics we build infantry-heavy, or even balanced lists around (it certainly was for me). You cannot count on being within 12” of your general, or your BSB. Similarly, strategies centered around the hurricanium or luminark are unlikely to be as effective. This was a big challenge for me – modifying my thinking to realize that units have much greater reach. Hell, cavalry can move 3 ½ inches backward! There are tactical implications.
III) It’s all about the charge. (Well, it's all about winning combats)
S5 or S6 is massively more impactful than S3 or S4, and an all-cav army will inevitably have fewer attacks than an infantry army. Grinding an opponent down is not that viable. Therefore, we need to be executing charges and winning combats. My experience with all cav lists feels more like 7th edition, where multi-charges were game winning, and jockeying for field position was half the battle. Part of being an effective general with an all cav list is knowing how to get charges off. You need to know that, with swiftstride, the average roll is 9, making 16” your average charge range. You will need to take risks to set up multi charges, and attempt to lure your opponents into breaking their battle line to give you such options.
Calisson has an excellent post on charge ranges. Use it. http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=42599.msg705514#msg705514 (http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=42599.msg705514#msg705514)
Summary
With excellent movement, high durability and substantial shock on a charge, an all cav army is about generating the maximum amount of CR while denying as much CR to your opponent as possible. Higher WS and 1+ AS mean our opponents should be killing far fewer knights, while kinghts' relatively higher WS and high S on charges should be generating a lot of casualties. Spells and items that augment this are vital. Everything else is, in my opinion, extraneous. An all cav general wants to be breaking and running down enemy units. Period. No grinding. No shooting. Just beautifully choreographed, completely overwhelming, charges. Of course this doesn't always work. But this is what we're aiming for.
Tactical considerations for an all cavalry army.
I see several different kinds of units in an all cav army. These roughly correspond to infantry armies:
1) Hammer Units – Most of your units will be hammers on the charge.
2) Anvil Units – This depends on your opponent. Against S3, S4, all your units are anvils.
3) Chaff/Hunter Units – Small frontage, disposable.
4) Ranged Units – Sure. I don’t use any. Pistoliers, Outriders.
5) Utility Units – Luminark, Altar, Hurricanium.
Troop choice really follows from tactics (picking the best units to fit tactical roles), so I figured I’d lay out my opinions of Cav Army tactics before discussing troop types. I’m hoping for lots of input from other players here. These are oriented around three principles:
a) Principle One: Divide and conquer
This is a fundamental principle behind a successful cavalry army. Essentially, this involves using your increased mobility to spread out an opponent’s forces and tear them apart one by one. Surprisingly, this seems to work best against opponents with “elite” armies. They are confident in the strength of their units in combat, and often make mistakes out of eagerness to get engaged. If you can get this tactic down, you will find that your most difficult opponents are the ones who work hard to maintain a battle line and deny flanks or ganging up. Some tips on that later, but here are the fundamentals to divide and conquer:
a. Know how you stack up.
You need to know the odds of winning combats. As you build units, you should think about their hitting power… their defensive ability… 6 charging Empire Knights vs. 4 Ogre Bulls will hit first, hit on 3s, wound on 3s, and do, on average, 2-3 wounds. 3 Horses hit on 4s, wound on 5s, and do, on average 0-1 wound, trending towards 0. 4 Bulls will hit on 4s, wound on 3s – 6 hits, 4 wounds. You save on 2+. On average you take less than 1 wound so, 0-1 wound, trending to 0. You get the point. Know this stuff! It’s what makes for excellent generals. All of your decision-making should be predicated on this knowledge.
b. Multi-charge everything.
If you can, this is the way to set up overwhelming victories. Be thinking about flanks, frontage, and charge distances. A good opponent is going to try to prevent you from doing this. Sometimes it is worth sacrificing units to set up a later multi-charge. Hordes are a lot less scary if you’re charging their front with two units of 15 inner circle knights (well, IC and Reiksguard, you get the point). Deathstars can be shattered with good multi-charges. The more you can bring all your hurt to bear on one unit, the better. With good charge ranges, you can make an opponent think you are preparing to charge several different units, and then divert all your charges into a single enemy unit. This works.
c. If you can’t win a fight, avoid it.
Leave pride at the door and accept that you are going to have to avoid some opponents. Huge horde units can be the rock to our scissors. Fortunately, they’re the easiest to avoid. High strength units are dangerous and worth avoiding while you kill off easier meat. Obviously, you won’t be able to avoid everything you might want to, but this needs to be a part of your thinking, particularly since the army is so mobile.
d. Sacrifice units.
Much like 7th edition, you can still use chaff units to force an enemy to offer a flank, or break a line and expose themselves to multi-charges. Granted, in this army, chaff units are more than 100 points, but this still is an invaluable tool. Also, our chaff won’t be taken out by most small arms fire or magic missiles.
You can also pin enemy units with durable cav. Demigryphs can be excellent at this, because they can continue to dish out pain after round 1 of combat. The Steam Tank is another very useful unit for pinning enemies, which can allow you to disrupt the advance of an enemy line, and force them to delay their advance, or expose flanks.
b) Principle Two: Get in the backfield.
This is a nice holdover from any balanced Empire list. The major difference is that in an all-cav army, you won’t have a lot of artillery to pick things off behind enemy lines. So this tactic is all the more important. Fortunately, you will have many tools capable of managing this.
a. You need to be thinking about charging artillery, mage bunkers, etc. by turn 2. High S or no AS artillery are the bane of an all cav army, so you need to have a plan to eliminate them. This is where a Captasus can shine, as well as those small units of vanilla knights. A griffon could be very effective here as well, if you could figure out how to effectively field one. The key is to send multiple units to perform this task. Devote substantial resources to this, so that your opponent is unable to block them all. In an all-comer’s tourney, most folks won’t be expecting an opponent with so many small, fast, dangerous units.
b. Magic can also be helpful here. A comet, or long-range magic missile can help with artillery and shooters. Timewarp can increase your march range to 28” More on that later…
c. Try to set yourself up so that IF an opponent blocks you from getting in their backfield, they will be forced to expose themselves to multi-charges or flank charges from your hammer units.
c) Principle Three: Be Proactive
This was probably the biggest shift in thinking tactically for me. With so much movement, and devastating charges, you should have a plan before you begin your deployment. Part of the fun, and power, of a cav list is that you can dictate your opponent’s response.
a. Pick which units you want to focus on. Does your opponent have some units that will provide you with good points value and lower risk? Mage bunkers and artillery are particularly juicy. How can you draw out defending units to expose that soft, delicious, underbelly?
b. Identify which units will be the greatest threat. Plan to avoid these, hold them up, or divert them. If you sacrifice two units of 5 vanilla knights to keep the Gutstar occupied all game, consider that a job well done! You have the ability to do this with high movement.
c. Drive the tempo. Think about chess. Plan several moves ahead. Remember that you can feint and withdraw, flee and rally, etc. Think about these opportunities. Your opponents won’t have played against many armies with the mobility of yours.
d. Lastly, I think that if you can hold your major charges for turns 5 and 6 it’s better than early charges. By major charges, I mean ones in which you commit substantial points values to a combat. I like to hold off on them because I don’t want to risk being caught in a drawn out grinding battle. If I don’t break an enemy on a charge (which happens, even when the odds are in your favor), I’d rather not risk having my units eventually broken. Delaying those charges is helpful for this. It requires planning ahead.
V) Why No Artillery?
Well, for starters, they don’t have M7. More importantly, your army should be darting all over the field. Unless you have artillery that can defend itself, you place it at great risk. I’m not saying it can’t be done. One of my favorite cav lists had two hellblasters in it. I think I lost one or both in pretty much every game. If enough folks want, we can cover artillery options in here.
VI) A Note on Armor
There are certainly differing opinions about this, but I fall firmly in the 1+ camp. Do everything you can to have a 1+ across the board. Most opponents are S3 or S4. That 1+ really matters for survivability, and you’ll need it.