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Rough Riders are they any good? does anyone use them? how do people use them?
Any comments would be very useful , Thanks dakkas!

I've used rough riders as a counter-assault unit . Strength 5 Int 5 pw's can be brutal . Screening them from shooting is a must , they go down just as easy as regular guardsmen .

The problem or reason no one thinks about fielding them . Is the fact that they compete for slots in FA , which also contains Vendetta/Valkyrie & Hellhounds .

Maybe fielding a squad , take Creed & an Astropath . Outflanking w/ re-rolls for board edge could take your opponent by surprise .

Give'em a go , I like fielding the odd choices in any codex . It's awesome taking a unit that no one expects much from & hitting hard .

Btw don't forget that rough riders are cavalry , move 6" fleet & 12" charge . They can cover a lot of ground. And they got grenades . So assaulting into cover is still viable.

It was just a thought really rather then any thing else.
If you did run them would your run them near a company command squad with straken, so on the first charge they have 21 str6 int6 attacks?? any thoughts on that.

Can't outflank them with Creed. His entry for the rule lists the unit types he can have outflank and cavalry isn't on that list. Sad really. I used to make that mistake myself all the time.

I like them thematically but they're pretty janky. Casual game only type stuff. In even semi-competitive games they die too easily. Screening them with vehicles is a good idea in theory, in effect it's often impossible. Models are too big, too tall, on too big a base, etc.

I think they can be okay if you plan the list around them, but they are sort of a one trick pony (hehe), and die pretty easily if you can't find something useful for them to charge soon enough. With the number of mech armies around, you'd have to pop a transport before you could charge the contents. Leaving them in the back and hoping they don't get shot at until the time is right for them to charge is probably the best thing to do, though i think using those points for more shooting is probably the best decision overall. And, this is from more of a competitive point of view.

That being said, give them a try for a few games (proxy them if you don't have the models), and see how you like them. If you don't like them, try something else. If you do, then use them.

Stelek's yesthetruthhurts blog used to have a list up that had something like
CCS in Chimera
Platoon with 2 infantry squads all in chimeras, all with melta
2 meltavets in chimeras
2 rough rider squads with grenade launchers
3 manticores

Might also have had some SWS with meltas and stormtroopers with melta if points allowed (can't find the exact list anymore). The solid foundation of 6-8 chimerae plus heavy-duty artillery support makes the rough riders hiding behind the chimera wall feasible as counter-assault. Just hope you don't meet GK with halberds.

http://yesthetruthhurts.com/2011/06/the-mighty-manticore/

Is what you were thinking of, i think. It's pretty much what i was talking about, where they sit behind the tanks or in reserve waiting for the right time to strike. I'm sure it works about as well as rough riders can.

I'm thinking of adding a squad of 10, with 2 flamers, power weapon on the sergeant, and melta bombs, to an all infantry list. Sounds like you guys aren't convinced? The squad rocks in at 130 points, which is quite high vs the other squads in my list, but I think they would add value (please prove me wrong). They'll be getting cover saves from the infantry squads in front of them, thanks to the long charge range, so he'd have to direct twice as much firepower at them as he would at the infantry, and he'd be shooting at them not the other boys. And if he doesn't deal with them they can pack a nasty punch when I get that charge off. Flamers + power sword + melta bombs mean they still have a use after the first charge. I hope...

the rough riders didnt do that well this year. didnt even make the playoffs.... :(



.....


oh you meant the imperial gaurd version. i guess they do ok, never really used em.

While they might look good on paper, they never really conviced me when playing against them - up to the point where I simply let them charge whatever they want. they're not hurting it much anyways. Might be a different story for marines though.

12" charge with power weapons. Give them furious charge from Straken/Creed. Excellent, if not only real counter charge unit in the codex.

Only really works for a foot list, as for a mech list you can take a vendetta.

If you've got an infantry list then you're likely to be near your own board edge to delay getting charged. Keep the RRs in reserve and because of the 12" charge range and fleet they can probably get a charge against anything that is threatinging your gunline, or currently fighting them when the RRs arrive. On their own they can effectively gut the target unit on the charge, although they tend to dissolve quite quickly shortly thereafter Supported by other units they might survive the combat to be useful later in running around using their special weapons on other targets. I wouldn't stick them back into combat unless you really need to though

Flinty wrote:If you've got an infantry list then you're likely to be near your own board edge to delay getting charged. Keep the RRs in reserve and because of the 12" charge range and fleet they can probably get a charge against anything that is threatinging your gunline, or currently fighting them when the RRs arrive. On their own they can effectively gut the target unit on the charge, although they tend to dissolve quite quickly shortly thereafter Supported by other units they might survive the combat to be useful later in running around using their special weapons on other targets. I wouldn't stick them back into combat unless you really need to though

That's why you give them a melta ... or two!

I like buying a minimal squad so they can lurk around my infantry lines in case an overzealous Death Company squad gets too close.

I've ran them several times in my Footguard list.
Using them as a Backup, for if my rush would grind to a halt.
And i've found out that the best way to run them is:

10 roughriders with a meltabomb.

Meltaguns are redundant, because of the 12 inch charge.
They have to be within 12 inch to fire and within 6 to have their armour pen.
But because of your charge range....Why wouldn't you charge? and hit the backside with a meltabomb and a couple frak grenades?

Flamers, the power of roughriders lay in their armour negating weapon mass, losing a couple is bad. And you'll probably going to have to use your full 12 inch charge, because normally they will be far behind. To insure they don't die fast.Wich makes the flamer a burden to the combat potential of your fist attack.

Powersword, not necessary, you're only going to get one good use out of you're roughriders. They don't have enough manpower,
to fight a second time. Preferably, you charge something first, and then use them (with a Meltabomb) to go hunt some light armor.

If you aren't using their Hunting Lance you're wasting their ability.
if you add upgrades like Meltaguns/bombs and power weapons, you're spending too much on a glass hammer.
If you run them, i'd keep them cheap, and generic. l

I have some counters to the comments above. Not saying my honourable colleagues are wrong (as this game is so damn situational its hard to be certain about anything), merely throwing more ideas out there

Giving them meltaguns gives them the opportunity to pop transports and charge the crunchy contents Giving them flamers allows them to be used for crowd control as well as counter-charge duty when the lances are less useful (against Tau for instance). Its quite likely that 1 or 2 guys might survive to round 2 of combat and a 10 point power weapon has a decent chance of making its points back.

Grenade launchers are harder to justify, it is true, and Plasma guns are a tad suicidal.

Giving them a meltabomb encourages charging vehicles which can waste their lances.

Problem with flamers and meltas is that they're so short ranged without a transport delivery system. Your opponent isn't very likely to put his units in a position where a 6" walk + short range on melta/template are going to hurt him that badly.

Also, I think alot of this "what to do after the charge" talk is irrelevant. If they charge something they're decent enough in melee that they'll probably destroy or sweep the target. Then be standing around unlocked in melee. Then, being fragile, they'll almost certainly die to shooting during the enemy's turn. Or the fight will drag on (stubborn or whatnot) and the riders will get killed in the next rounds of combat since they're pretty puny in melee once they've used up their lances.

Either way, I really don't see any point to taking the special weapons. Jacks up the points even higher and replaces the lance... which is their whole reason to exist anyway.

If they do happen to survive after lances are used up, I'd stick with their free krak grenades and maybe try to charge a vehicle or something.

Its a fair point on the flamers, but on meltas agaisnt most transports they have a 12" effective range plus their move, which isn't that shabby. S8 against transports is usually all you need, without even needing to resort to the 2D6 below 6". Especially if they are coming on from reserve into an on-going close range firefight.

Alternatively, I run several chimeras in my army as well, and the RRs can lurk along behind the vehicles quite handily until they need to pounce on something.

Furious charge will not work with something that strikes at a specific strength. I believe this is true for hunting lances.