Topic: Lets Discuss Outriders

[adsVampire]

I seem to be having a problem with using Outriders correctly.  Currently my empire army has a unit of 10 with musician.  Commonly I vanguard them forward (hopefully into a wood or behind cover) with the intention of blasting the crap out of whatever comes near them.  I vanguard because I want them to be able to shoot in case I go first.  This unit seems pretty promissing on paper but in actuality its a bit hit or miss ... unless their target is with 12" ... which is almost never the case.  Normally, my opponent focuses quite a bit of effort into eliminating this unit and it is usually gone by turn 3-4.

So, what are other people's experiences with outriders?  What unit size do people think is best?  How do people normally use them?  Any other items I missed are welcome as well.

[Calisson]

It seems that some people use this unit not so much for shooting, but rather for maneuver control, using the "fast cavalry" rule as much as possible.
The shooting possibility is usually used only for a potential threat, i.e. to deny the possibility to go somewhere. Be happy if the area threatened remains empty.
Actual shooting is considered a nice bonus.
In this role, all you need is 5 + musician.

But that's for real tacticians.
Mine have a clear tendency to die young, to shooting and magic missiles.
If your meta-game includes lots of shooters and magic missiles, that's nice victory points provided to your opponent.

The HLR is fluffy but mine are notorious for their unability to kill anything, that's just more VP for the opponent.

[Eighty]

ugh, i have never had one of these units perform well for me. ever    frustrating because i LOVE the idea of them on paper. Will be reading this thread with interest

[Noght]

Two units of 5 is better than a single unit of 10 methinks.  More coverage and maneuverability.

[Mongol]

Jn paper they look rather promising,
but "Move or fire" special rule kills this unit, as they loose all of there mobility if you want to shoot.
Pistoliers usually act better if you want to distress your opponent HTH units or to hunt warmachines.
But both of the units die rather quickly after any MM cast on them.

[middenheimer]

Nought has hit it on the head, 2 units of 5 are much more useful.

Thing is they're not pistoliers and don't work well being used in that role, they are fire support and need to be kept out of harms way if at all possible because they're expensive and have minimal armour, 10 of them is free points to a canny opponent.  Vanilla unit of 5 is great (muso if you must) as point for point they outshoot handgunners.

Vanguard should be used to get your outriders into: 1) a better position to fire, 2) out of harms way, so forward I not always the best option.  If you can get them into a position were they can fire on the enemy as they advance but out/away from the enemies charge arc great, otherwise vanguard just into range, blast away for 2-3 turns and run away.

Another option is make the most of TLoS, park them behind other missile troops/infantry and shoot over their heads

Move and shoot is limiting, but plan ahead and they'll do alright

Middenheimer

[abdulaapocolyps]

Yeah,I actually use these guys like a mobile war machine.  I like to use them behind terrain to scare people from moving into their kill zones.
  I've used them to zoom up behind knights and cause issues late doors..

[Baluc]

I've used 6 with no command pretty well. The idea with them is I like to make the board bigger. Deploying on the flanks and using vangaurd to get in range turn one. Also remember you can vanguard into terrain without taking a Dangerous terrain test as it is a normal move and not a march. I've used this to my advantage several times to keep my guys safe from return fire.

[Holy Hand Grenade]

I have used 2 units of them a couple of times and I like how they get into the head of my opponent.

Like Noght said, 2 work much better than one.  With one, it is easy for your opponent to get out of their arc of fire or mess with them-  either by a charge or mundane/magic missile fire.  With two, you can use them to overlap their fields of fire to assist each other.  Also, if one has to run, you still have the other to toss some lead down range.

Great for clearing out diverters and being a pain for your opponent.  And when all else fails, they can fly forward and divert something nasty getting ready to jam up your flanks.

They just require a little more finesse than Pistoliers...you really need to be thinking about their effects 2 moves ahead (from the moment you place them on the table) to get the most out of them.

[zakalwe]

Handgunners with better BS and movement and save.


Really i think experience is your best teacher. I can spout all sorts of "in this situation they were brilliant/ naff"

Try them, i personally rate them highly, but they eat into special slots.

I treat them as handgunners, vanguard re deploy onto ANY target avilable, also they can deal with most scouting skirmishers purely due to horses etc.

But as i stated ealier, experience is the best teacher,  and that goes for the game as a whole, knowledge is power in warhammer.

[ReiklanderCaptain]

has any one experience with 3 units of 5 outriders?

I have 15 of them (I bought 10 and afriend gave me 5 as a gift) at home and don't know how to use them all

[Belak]

I used a unit of 7 for a while but found that they died pretty ealy in the game as people recognised the threat level.

Noadays, I run a unit of 5 and people generally dont get too fazed by them so they will survive at least the first magic phase!

My ideal use is to deploy them next to my ICK block (9 with WP) vanguard (preferably into forest) and if I am lucky enough to get the first turn take a shot at whatever juicy target stands before me.

I hold back my Knights and when the opponent charges my Outriders I flee which forces possible dangerous terrain tests for the enemy unit and sets up the Knights to charge in the following turn.

Once the Outriders rally, I reform them to a better position and I just keep them in place and shoot until everything is in combat.

When combats prevent shooting in the final turns of the game I bring them behind the enemy units so that when they break I can use them to chase down the remnants.

It is funny how more than 5 are a major target and a unit of 5 is seen as a less important threat.