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So as the title says, I want to start an all cavalry army with the occasional artillery piece or whatever In warhammer. Im attracted at the moment to a multitude of different ideas, But Im not sure which is the most competitive.
So I had the ideas for these:
A: A all spider mounted goblin army with some goblin artillery pieces
B:A knights of the blazing sun army complete with some handy cannons and what-not.
C: A third possible army I didnt know of (Chaos maybe?)
D:Something different because all cavalry lists are bad? (Maybe I dont know)
What do you think? (Attached poll for easier consensus reference)

Do Orcs and Goblins, but use Wolf Riders, Boar Boys and Chariots. Have a unit or two of Spiders if you must. Don't do all Spiders if you want to be "competitive, but they would look awesome and be a lot of fun..

Actually, the most competitive all cav list is probably Bretonnians, with a Trebuchet and some Archers, or Warriors of Chaos with Marauder Horsemen as core and Chaos Knights, with a couple of Chariots.

Well thanks. By competitive I should of clarified more. I mean more viable. As in, I can win against your average joe, not tournament styled competitive. I dont plan on doing warhammer tourneys.

If you want a vast choice, then go with O&G.
Not just restricted to spiders either.

Characters: Boss on wyvern, boar bosses and shamen, gobbos on giant spiders and giant squigs.

Core: Wolf riders, spider riders.

Special: Boarboyz (savage and normal) Squig hoppers, bot types of chariot.

Rare: Arachnaroc spider.

Could easily have an entire mounted army with plenty of choice and variety.

Looks like Brets were made for you.

Bretonnians is the best from a purely competitive standpoint, just because their lance formation means you can actually get 3-5 ranks in a squad without paying 600 points for it.

From a purely tactical stand point, I love Bretonnians. They are an incredibly unforgiving army that requires you to think at least a turn ahead.

There's also a ton of drama, when you run a couple lances into your opponents toughest CC unit and you might steam roll through or bounce right off. If you don't kill em on the charge you're dead.

Empire would be decent because they have cheap knights, you can get Warrior Priests to maximize their damage potential, and they also have nice variety:

Knightly Orders
Knights of the Inner Circle
Reiskguard Knights
Griffon Knights
Pistoliers (Squires, or knights in traning)

You could back this up with a couple units of gunners and cannons for a cool late medieval style force.

Empire gives you 6 flavors of knights (don't forget outriders)
Orcs and Goblins give you 7 (spider, wolf, boar, frenzy boar, big 'un boar, squig hopper, big bosses gigantic spiders)

O&G cav is cheap, but not very survivable. I've found that you need survivable characters to take up front space so you don't take as many losses on rank and file. While the cav of O&G isn't quite as durable, the wolf chariots are simply awesome.

I've run the nobody walks army O&G army and it's worked as well as the foot list (meaning that either way purple sun and animosity is a big problem).


-Matt

For something different, I run an all mounted Tomb kings army. Good magic, 5 mounted units, easy to paint, and flexible. Several monsters are available, and you can bring dead models back to life. Also a fairly recent army book. And no one expects an all mounted TK army.

Dark Elves can do an all-cavalry list as well.

Dark Riders are core, and can be run either as fast cavalry (with or without shooting) or with shields as cheap medium cavalry. Then there are the Cold One Knights for your big hammer. A couple nice mount options for characters (ranging from elven horses all the way up to dragons). Better still... Hydras are fast enough to keep up.

You'll have to forgo the Sacrificial Dagger Sorceress though; cavalry models are far too expensive to sacrifice.

I think the Goblin Spider Rider army 'cause they're pretty damned hard to put down in combat (play dwarfs so you can see my trauma) and get the poisoned attacks! Also if you're having gobbos have wolf riders and some others (boar riders perhaps?)

Hunh. I find spider riders to be easy targets. A good volley of shooting usually sees them off.

The issue with Goblin cavalry is that they are only so-so in direct combat, and they're hard to maneuver properly since every turn there's almost a 1-in-6 chance your unit will want to charge head-on at the unit 19-21" away (and a 1-in-36 chance they'll want to charge head-on at the unit 26-30" away).

Similarly, Boar Boyz are only so-so as Cavalry, the one suggestion that seems to be uniformly accepted as "acceptable" being Savage Orc Boar Boy Big 'Uns with Additional Choppas and a Shrunken Head somewhere in the unit (for a 5+ Ward Cavalry unit with 4 S5 attacks per front model). Regular Boar Boyz rarely break a unit outside flanking and are lightly armored (for Cavalry), and most Savage Orc Boar Boyz are still unreliable due to the Frenzy + Animosity combo.

Mind, the Arachnarok Spiders and Snotling Pump Wagon rare choices can do some good. Furthermore, outside Bretonnians I don't think anyone matches the cavalry, Chariot, and M6+ monstrous options of OnG (Wolf Riders, Spider Riders, Boar Boyzs, Savage Orc Boar Boyz, Snotling Pump Wagon, Wolf Chariot, Boar Chariot, Special Character WR / SR units, Wyvern, Giant, Troll, River Troll, Stone Troll, Arachnarok Spider).

Main concern with OnG is their unreliability, and the fact that their core choices either require huge bricks of cavalry (18-20+ Wolf Riders, for example) or lots of small units (flanks / redirectors) to be of much use.

Well ive decided based on what I have currently purchased (Some Empire stuff) I will probably take the empire Option. Thanks for all the help guys.

I wish you good luck friend. :-)

Empire have a 1+ cavalery for a "" points I belive. It is -REALLY- cheap, it should work as a very good flanker unit. I hope it works out for you. :-)

I know a guy in the middle of building an Empire army of nothing but 1+ saves. Just Knights, Reiksguard, Demigryphs, and a Steam Tank. I think it'll have a problem with match ups (anything with a decent block of troops with high strength will be a hard match up) but that's true of any army with a really narrow focus. It should be a blast to play with and against anyway.

I made a 3k list of roughly 80 1+ saves all mounted on horseback so Empire gets my vote (Especially since I play em )

I would say Os and Gs cause I like them

Although you've already decided, it is possible to do an all-cavalry Vampire Counts army with Dire Wolves, Black Knights, Blood Knights, Black Coaches and mounted Vampires and Wight Kings. It would be really fun to play and surprisingly fast.

Dire Wolves are capable of 12" vanguard move, 18" march and 8" Vanhel's Danse move all on turn 1 (38" turn 1 move!) putting them in position for a flank or rear charge on turn 2. Vampires can raise them beyond their initial unit size with Invocation of Nehek casts.

Black Knights ignore barded penalties and can make a 24" (16+8) move turn 1 and can move right through impassable terrain for flanking maneuvers almost no other army can do and you can raise up to 5 of them back from the dead per cast.

Blood Knights are the most deadly cavalry in the Warhammer World hitting with three Strength 7 WS 5 attacks each on the charge plus their S4 mounts and they're still strength 5 in subsequent rounds. Vampires also have an abundance of spells to give them re-rolls to hit and wound and have a limited abiliy to raise them from the dead. They can also take a 4+ ward against all shooting and magic.

Not to mention Vampire Knights are the deadliest combat heroes in the Warhammer World.

Tomb Kings possible

Core: Horse Archers, Horse Warriors, Chariots
Special: War Kat, Necro Knights
Rare, Skeleton Galoper guns as Skullapults.

Would have to have kings on chariots and mages on horse, but it's doable.

Though chaos knights are pretty phenomenal you are really limiting your choices if you choose chaos We're really all about the infantry. There are no rare mounted units. One core unit, one special unit. You have marauder horsemen, and knights.

Characters have plenty of mount choices in every army. Chaos has barded horses, daemonic steeds, steeds of slaanesh, juggernauts, and for lords, manticores and chaos dragons.

Lazarus426 wrote:Though chaos knights are pretty phenomenal you are really limiting your choices if you choose chaos We're really all about the infantry. There are no rare mounted units. One core unit, one special unit. You have marauder horsemen, and knights.

Characters have plenty of mount choices in every army. Chaos has barded horses, daemonic steeds, steeds of slaanesh, juggernauts, and for lords, manticores and chaos dragons.

Dont forget chariots, wich are cool

I am bewildered that Bretts aren't on the poll.

My vote is for Chaos. I was thinking of making a cav army too for the 8 pointed star.

sirrah wrote:I am bewildered that Bretts aren't on the poll.

Maybe the OP doesn't like 'em.

Brets are - theoretically - the premeier Cavalry army. The problem is, they are still working on a 6th edition book and several later armies have surpassed them in effectiveness of their cavalry.

Brets can still compete, but it is a VERY steep learning curve. One mistake means you've lost, because Brets cannot recover from a stalled combat, or a failed charge. Even if everything goes right, they can still stall from rubber lance syndrome.

Vulcan wrote:Hunh. I find spider riders to be easy targets. A good volley of shooting usually sees them off.

you arent familar with the 25 strong variety lead by a gobbo warlord.


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Minsc wrote:

Main concern with OnG is their unreliability, and the fact that their core choices either require huge bricks of cavalry (18-20+ Wolf Riders, for example) or lots of small units (flanks / redirectors) to be of much use.

Blocks of 20+ wolfriders do pretty well, but they cost an arm and a leg and they take up so much space in your case.

Exergy wrote:

Vulcan wrote:Hunh. I find spider riders to be easy targets. A good volley of shooting usually sees them off.

you arent familar with the 25 strong variety lead by a gobbo warlord.

Not yet.

But with a 6+ save vs. my DE shooting, I expect that I'd whittle a nice chunk of the unit off before they saw CC, then the hidden assassin executes the warlord, and the RXBs see them off handily. Without ever involving my real combat power.

Honestly i preffer the 25 strong bowspiders with spider banner BSB. March, poison shoot, see 10 strong RXB unit off the table.

HoverBoy wrote:Honestly i preffer the 25 strong bowspiders with spider banner BSB. March, poison shoot, see 10 strong RXB unit off the table.

<snerk>

10? No wonder you think your spiders will weather a volley or two. I run a block of 20 with shields and full command, and sometimes the 'sass goes in there if I think they'll need the backup. Then when it looks like the'll be taking a charge, they reform 5 wide and show what they really do best - kill light units in close combat.

Vulcan wrote:

But with a 6+ save vs. my DE shooting, I expect that I'd whittle a nice chunk of the unit off before they saw CC, then the hidden assassin executes the warlord, and the RXBs see them off handily. Without ever involving my real combat power.

DE shooting has a -2 save modifier now?

Exergy wrote:

Vulcan wrote:

But with a 6+ save vs. my DE shooting, I expect that I'd whittle a nice chunk of the unit off before they saw CC, then the hidden assassin executes the warlord, and the RXBs see them off handily. Without ever involving my real combat power.

DE shooting has a -2 save modifier now?

Spiders have shields and are mounted.
Repeater crossbows are armour piercing at S3
Therefore spiders have a 6+ against repeater crossbowmen shooting.