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I was considering starting the game, but was wondering what faction(s) work well with a cavalry theme?

I'd say Menoth. pKreoss or lKreoss work well with Vengers.

Hard to say right now. The next round of books is going to be introducing a bunch of new Cavalry units and who will have the best goodies when the dust settles is anyone's guess.

In general Legion of Everblight probably has the most generally "Good" Cavalry in the game, though they lack a mounted caster.

In all honesty it'll be hard to pull off. Cavalry tends to be FA:1 (meaning you can only take 1 unit in most games) outside of some narrow theme lists.Cavalry also tends to be somewhat specialized and hard to work with as a new player.

However if you wanted to twist my arm and force me to single out a faction: Khador.They have a few different mounted solos, a mounted caster with a theme list that increases the FA (meaning you can't take more than 1 unit) of their cavalry and the battle engine is a big cannon drawn by horses with cavalry rules. Uhlans aren't bad by any means, and they defiantly have that classic cavalry feel.

Still it's going to be narrow any way you slice it. Runner up: Cygnar; they have a caster who can give their 'Jacks cavalry rules. If you want a bunch of dudes on horses as your main focus, this probably isn't the best game to do it in.

Aren't menoth getting a cavalry caster in the next book though?

 motyak wrote:
Aren't menoth getting a cavalry caster in the next book though?

We already got him, Kreoss3. He's a solid caster and even buffs up our Cavalry quite well. However I doubt throwing in a single unit of Vengers would qualify as a "Cavalry Theme" in most lists and Vengers are just to fragile to make up the backbone of even a casual list. Outside of Gravus we also lack any other mounted options at the moment. Whereas Khador has Fenris, the Drakkun and Kovnik Markov and the Battle Engine.

Trollbloods could be another great pick. Their Cavalry is insanely good, and they've got a solid solo. Again though they lack a mounted caster and being a Hordes faction they need to stock up on a certain amount of beasts, and they can't do anything to increase the FA of the Long Riders.

EDIT:

I mean if the op just wants to be able to run a unit of cavalry and have the contribute: Trollbloods or Legion are the most obvious picks. Toughallos and Raptors are all kinds of awesome. However if he's looking to make Cavalry the heart & soul of his army, that's a taller order.

 Osyr wrote:
I was considering starting the game, but was wondering what faction(s) work well with a cavalry theme?

None really.

this game doesnt really reward spam of any unit type, so "cavalry faction" wont really apply. Normally, cavalry is restricted to one unit/army, aside from solos, so straight away, "just cavalry" wont work right out the gate. Now sure, all factions have access to cavalry, and within each faction, there is at least one caster who can run multiple cavalry units via their theme lists - like Vlad3 of Khador, for example, or Kraye of Cygnar, who gives his warjacks the cavalry rules.

Ultimately though, whilst cavalry can and will be a part of your army, chances are it wont define it. and since all factions have access to cavalry, it simply boils down to which faction appeals to you in terms of fluff or aesthetics.

Lets change the question then. Out of the factions I like the aesthetics of, if I made a force that includes it's cavalry unit, what other units in the faction synergize well with them. Alternatively, how could I make a mobility focused force out of one of the factions I like the aesthetics of? The factions being Orboros, Everblight, and Retribution.

Circle and legion are way closer to what you want if you are looking a highly mobile force. Ret isn't slow at all, but the other two factions have what we like to call shenanigans. Both legion and circle have extremely fast light cav with both melee and ranged attacks, making them two of the best around.

Circle has an emphasis on hit and run melee tactics so you will see lots of movement abilities in that faction and even a little teleportation.

Legion are swift glass cannons. They generally have just as high base speeds as circle but don't have all the tricks. Legion likes shooting as much as melee so you can can vary your strategy a little more.

Odd that Mercs havent been mentioned.

Heavy Cav is amazing for them.

I wanted to try... (even though its menoth main and not mercs)

IKeross
Full Vengers
Gravus
Full Steelhead heavy Cav
Stannis
20x Steelhead Halbs
2x priests

12x heavy Cav.. Not to mention menoth is getting light Cav.

Legion has evil moose-riders. If that doesn't sell you, nothing will.

Really? No love for Vlad on a horse with Ulans ect....?

 darefsky wrote:
Really? No love for Vlad on a horse with Ulans ect....?

True, LVlad, ironfang cav and 3 cav/dragoon solos. But pKreoss can spam Vengers with his tier list.

@ OP: I agree with above posters, Legion is probably your best bet. Their Cav is light which allows them to move after they're done moving and attacking, they have poisoned ranged shots and weapon master AND they have a character solo that gives the +2 to attack rolls. They're great harassers.

Would you settle for a cavalry caster who turns his warjacks
into cavalry? Then Captain Jeremiah Kraye of Cygnar is your
man.

Guys, he's asking for a cav faction, not factions with a good cav list. The former is much more rare than the later. There are only couple of cavalry units I know of that are versatile enough to show up outside gimicky lists.

I know what he's asking for, and it doesn't exist. Not in the
way that people would want it to exist.

You could run a Cygnar list with Captain Jeremiah Kraye as your warcaster. He makes your Jacks cavalry. Then you can take Stormlances and Tempest Blazers as your regular units.

It will probably lack support but if you want a cavalry list its probably as close as you can get to all cavalry.



There is no cavalry faction, although that would be a nice addition. Maybe the new hordes army will be cavalry based.

Next book out should have a few more cavalry options. Each warmachine factions will end up with a light and a heavy cav choice. And a Cav caster (at some point)

If you go Khador it is worth mentioning the battle engine is also cavalry.

 Osyr wrote:
Lets change the question then. Out of the factions I like the aesthetics of, if I made a force that includes it's cavalry unit, what other units in the faction synergize well with them. Alternatively, how could I make a mobility focused force out of one of the factions I like the aesthetics of? The factions being Orboros, Everblight, and Retribution.

Legion of Everblight.

Raptors are top notch and the faction in general plays in a way that lends itself to a "Cavalry" feel. A fast hard-hitting force, with a few elite models that tends to use it's mobility in a very offensive manner. Raptors are probably a contender for "Best Cavalry Unit" up there with the Troll Long Riders.

Oroboros is a second, they're also fast and their cavalry is decent. However they tend feel a lot more like skirmishers than a freight train of a force.

Keep in mind that both factions are probably bit on the "Harder to learn" side of things. I had a friend who totally couldn't get over the initial hump because the initial games where he was losing his key pieces in totally unfavourable trades was just too much to get past.

 Surtur wrote:

 darefsky wrote:
Really? No love for Vlad on a horse with Ulans ect....?

True, LVlad, ironfang cav and 3 cav/dragoon solos. But pKreoss can spam Vengers with his tier list.

@ OP: I agree with above posters, Legion is probably your best bet. Their Cav is light which allows them to move after they're done moving and attacking, they have poisoned ranged shots and weapon master AND they have a character solo that gives the +2 to attack rolls. They're great harassers.

Yes, Vlad3 is an excellent cav caster. I've been on the receiving end of this list at 35 points:

Vlad3
Drago
Marauder
Fenris
Uhlan Kovnik Markov
Man-O-War Drakhun
Iron Fang Uhlans

Everything is mounted (except the Jacks of course) and its fast, in your face, and effective. With the new light cav models for khador coming out, it would be expandable with another unit of Uhlans and the new Light Cav

Heavily leaning towards Everblight, but am curious about those Steelhead Mercs. Who can they ally with?

 Osyr wrote:
Heavily leaning towards Everblight, but am curious about those Steelhead Mercs. Who can they ally with?

Everyone in Warmachine except Retribution, iirc. The dirty SOBs well even rent themselves out to Cryx, even what with them being an affront to all life that worships pure evil given material form as immortal world-cancer.

I didn't know the elves were worse that even that.

Its more like the Elves won't hire them than anything the Steelheads have against the Elves. The Elves are in full on "Kill all Humans" mode.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Its more like the Elves won't hire them than anything the Steelheads have against the Elves. The Elves are in full on "Kill all Humans" mode.

Yeah. I'm sure if the elves were willing to hire the Steelheads, the Steelheads would be all over that. It's actually become a running Joke in my IKRPG game where the players are mercs.

NPC makes unreasonable request
PCS turn down the job
NPC "Well the Steelheads would do it"
PCS "We're not the Steelheads"

For cavalry spam, Khador might be the best option I think. Vlad3 with Uhlans, with 2 Drakhuns, with Fenris, Gun Carriage, new Greylord riders etc

Jerry Kraye all the way! Go for the true blue!

I'd second Mercs, mix of steelhead cavalry, Stannis and the steelhead halberdiers is a very good mix.

Spyder68 wrote:Odd that Mercs havent been mentioned.

Heavy Cav is amazing for them.

As someone that has been on the receiving end of this--that is not a theory hammer statement---Spyder's basically tabled me with Merc Cav before--nasty.

Maxus wrote:

 Surtur wrote:

 darefsky wrote:
Really? No love for Vlad on a horse with Ulans ect....?

True, LVlad, ironfang cav and 3 cav/dragoon solos. But pKreoss can spam Vengers with his tier list.

@ OP: I agree with above posters, Legion is probably your best bet. Their Cav is light which allows them to move after they're done moving and attacking, they have poisoned ranged shots and weapon master AND they have a character solo that gives the +2 to attack rolls. They're great harassers.

Yes, Vlad3 is an excellent cav caster. I've been on the receiving end of this list at 35 points:

Vlad3
Drago
Marauder
Fenris
Uhlan Kovnik Markov
Man-O-War Drakhun
Iron Fang Uhlans

Everything is mounted (except the Jacks of course) and its fast, in your face, and effective. With the new light cav models for khador coming out, it would be expandable with another unit of Uhlans and the new Light Cav

Paradoxically, I think Vlad3 runs infantry better than Cav in regards to units (I completely agree that Fenris/Drakhun are autoincludes). While his feat focuses on cav, I don't think Uhlans are that great---and Dash + HOF screams IFP to me.

Mercs seem the spot for what your asking with the Steelheads.

Also doesn't Khador have a Battle Engine called the "Gun Carriage" with two armored horses that looks pretty badass?

I can't vouch for it's effectiveness, but I believe the tier list for Epic Vyros makes Destors (cavalry) FA: U. The Destors seem to be oddball cavalry becasue they seem to be more focused on shooting than charging (ish), but it fits into the whole "mounted army" feel, and into the factions the OP is interested in.