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Alright, so I managed to grab one of the last of the old Empire battalion boxes (yay) but what I mostly got it for was...well, everything else. Now I have these guys and I dunno what to do with them.

Since I'm running a pretty gun heavy list my first thought was to use the Outriders, who can move into a nice position and use the range and mulitple shots to demolish enemy units. However, the pistoliers ability to move and shoot suggests they might have more than a few uses...even with a shorter range.

I am new(ish) to Fantasy, however, so I'm not one hundred percent sure I have this right...the Outriders can't move and shoot there weapons while the Pistoliers can but get a minus 1 to there shooting for moving. The Outriders get -1 for anything over half range and -1 for using multiple shot weapons. That sound right?

Take pistoliers. Any weapon that requires fast cav to remain stationary is a no, no (unless you give them barding). Also pistols do not suffer penalties for moving and shooting. Since you have a focus on guns fast cav will help slow down a unit or two buying you time for your guns to wittle down the enemy. Granted if you have to throw the pistoliers into combat they are not as nasty as they used to be, but they have their uses.

For the points you would have spent on the outriders just spend a few more and get a helblaster or a cannon (for less points).

Outriders cost the same as the equivalent number of handgunners to get the same firepower, but they have less wounds.

Pistoliers are amongst the best units in the Empire list.

Throw in a champ with repeater pistol and a warrior priest (so they get hatred) and you have a flanking unit that can put the smack down on most enemy units when they flank charge.

Outriders are great for having a lot of firepower coming from a small frontage.

Pistoliers are very versatile. Btw, you got their rules wrong, they do not get a -1 to hit for moving (or for over half range) this is explained in the rules for Pistols.

However, they do have a Brace of Pistols so when they fire they actually fire with Multiple Shot x 2 and suffer the -1 to hit penalty for using multiple shots. (you could use single shot but this is usually not worth it unless using multiple shot would get you a 7+ to hit number [multiple shots at skirmishers in soft cover for instance]).

Personally I don't like to put a Warrior Priest with them. For me they're a unit that should be easy to sacrifice.

Keeping a Warrior Priest near an Outrider champ with a HLR is a very nice thing though, he can really improve the accuracy of those shots. (or draw out dispell dice because your opponent does not like to see this happen)

Thanks for clearing that up, BAWTRN, still getting used to Seventh Edition rules. And thanks for the advice in general...it looks like Pistoliers have it.

The good thing with you picking up Pistoliers now is that you won't expect as much from them as we did when the book first came out. Plus you can give them musicians which is vital when playing fast cav. Good luck with them and may Sigmar guide their shots.

One good advice regarding both pistoliers and outriders is that you really have to be careful with the panic as these guys are very vulnerable to ranged fire and can get panicked/destroyed and thus may demoralize your battleline. This problem is more common with the outriders as they tend to hang back with the main parts of the army.