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Ive seen some of the rumor lists, and the ad hoc post on CotE, and I got thinking it would be fun to have an all cav list.

Something like:

New lord on steed model
Maybe archaon standing in as a lord or hero

Mounted sorcerer x2

3-4 units of maurader horsemen with flails (and maybe MoK)

2-3 units of knights

For rares, maybe hellcannon or shrine?

Any thoughts? Anyone planning on doing something like this?

All cav was the most competitive build in the previous mortals list, and is expected by tournament players to be the most effective build in the new book as well.

Marauder Cav and Knights are clearly two of the best and most cost-effective options in the book. Mounted characters are essential, both for the additional save, and for the fact that they allow the character to move quickly and strike light units (like shooters, war machines, and skirmishers) independently if needed.

Pretty much the only way to get an infantry-based list to work in the tournament metagame is using the Banner of the Gods to prevent your infantry units from breaking and running away before you can countercharge. I still like a lot of the infantry models, though, and am trying to work a list that uses some and can still compete.

Do I still need 1-2 foot units though? Back when I played Fantasy a lot more, it was beat into me that static CR wins, and it doesnt matter what your stats are, especially when backed up by a good character with good items.

What marks would you give the units? Can you mix marks in an army? I know that khorne on the Marauder cav looks nice, thats 10 st5 attacks from just the riders for like ~105 points.

Frenzy might be a downside if it covers the whole army though.

You’re right that static CR is a huge advantage. The problem is that if you’re not able to get that static CR into a fight, it’s pretty useless. M4 really stinks. If you’re going to use infantry, you’ve got two real options- expensive Chaos Warriors, of whom you can’t really afford to take enough to actually get any static CR, or marauders, who are cheap and have good stats for the cost. Marauders are definitely the way to go if you want static CR.

As for Marks, Khorne is potentially brutal for hitty units- knights, marauder cav, warriors. Slaanesh is fantastic. All the advantages of Immune to Psychology without the drawbacks, and it’s cheap. Nurgle is really great for combat units, though it loses significant value if you play a lot of undead and/or daemons. Chaos does not have great LD, and against those opponents you really can’t afford blown Fear tests. Tzeentch is basically useless for RnF units. It’s nice on casters and on the War Shrine.

You can mix and match marks and characters freely now. Except for a few explicitly-stated exceptions, you can even give magic items named for one god to characters marked for another.

Awesome, thanks for the advice.

Right now I am thinking khorne would be a good mark for the marauders and nurgle for the knights, or maybe reversed. I like the idea of such hitty marauders, but they are the most likely to be baited or rerouted i think. They will die easiest to shooting though and the -1 would really help.

For the knights, I think khorne would be good as they would hit that much harder, and will probably be going straight ahead anyway. -1 will save my arse from bolt throwers and other nasty shooting though i believe.

Slaanesh is nice, maybe for the marauders, but I think Knights cause fear to begin with, and their LD isnt too bad especially with a character. That is one I would have to think more about.

As for characters I am thinking one lord, possibly the juggy rider, but I dunno if I like the decreased movement of it. Such a nice model though.

And then sorcerers, probably all mounted since a lot of the spells have short range.

Sounds pretty solid.

I think it's hard to go wrong with Slaanesh for Marauder units of any kind; cheap, saves you from multiple leadership issues, not subject to baiting like Khorne, and still able to flee from a charge if needed.

I think Nurgle may be best on Knights, since they have Fear already and thus start off less vulnerable to psychology issues.

Khorne is great except for the vulnerabilities of Frenzy-baiting. I think to make best use of it you need to work on establishing bait/flee/countercharge traps with your infantry. It's also extremely nasty on a chariot; chariots already throw out d6+1 S5 hits, and 2 S5 attacks, and 2 S4 attacks; MoK adds two more S4 and 2 more S5. Hitting very much like a unit of knights, for around half the price, on a narrower frontage.

Help me out here.

I am a Warhammer noob, with only a basic understanding of the game mechanics. I'm thinking about starting fantasy and building a Chaos cavalry army (i.e. all fast moving, dogs, marauder cav, knights, ogres, mounted characters etc)... however, the lack of static CR in a cav list is giving me pause. Is this a serious drawback?

See above. See also most current Dark Elf builds that use no infantry, just fast cavalry, heavy cavalry, chariots, and monsters.

Yes, many armies live and die by static CR (Empire, O&G, Skaven, Undead). However, some armies have models that are too expensive and must win by beating the snot out of the other guy (most Elf and Chaos Builds).

It IS something of a drawback, because a bad turn of the dice puts you down in CR. However, good planning and positioning can negate this (for instance, charging a unit with Chaos Knights in front and Marauder Horsemen in the flank).

If you set the list up right it can be worked around. Basically, you use knights to threaten and marauder cav to draw out units (so your knights smash them) or flank units that your knights frontal charge. Hounds are essential as screens and to block charges.

Khorne on fast cav seems kind of risky. On knights, it's a bit overkill and still leaves them somewhat vulnerable. I do intend to run a unit of Plague Knights with the Banner of Rage. 3S5 attacks and -1 to hit? Yes, please! For everything else, the MOS. It's cheap and basically negates psychology (but still allows my fast cav do do their thing!). Flails on marauder cav is definitely the way to go (even though spears look much better).

My 2000 plan is 3 units of marauder cav with flails (really helps with flanking and killing small units), 3 units of knights, 2 mounted ECs (a bit overkill with knights, probably, 1 EC with Glaive is probably enough), and 2 mounted Sorcs sporting Lore of Fire. Rest in dogs (3-4 units). Hellcannon is too stationary and infantry/shrine too slow to support my cav. Ogres are ok, but knights seem to be punchier. DOs are worth considering (S7 is always useful). I wish we still got furies as those we champs for WM hunting and march blocking.

Hell Cannon is viable in an all cavalry army - it offers some limited tar pitting, and a way of dealing with some units that can be problematic (dragons et. all, knight formations). The cost is not so extravagant as to be overly resrictive, and the fact it is in an all cavalry army means it can be protected quite well.

Playing without static CR is certainly doable, as is playing without chariots (whom are quite slow when not supporting infantry).

Knights and horsemen certainly are the big winners in the list, while Dragon Ogres still are as good as they ever were (with better leadership now as well which is nice).

I would like to see a workable infantry list, and yes, as suggested by Mannahnin, the Banner of the Gods looks essential - although, boosted with terror as it is now, the banner certainly adds a lot. I also feel that Throgg, added into infantry units, would add a lot as well (fear, anti knight, good in challenges, adds constant CR and magic attacks).