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Aaahhh, the Rough Riders. Since the glory days of RT the Rough Riders have been a staple of the Imperial Guard, fast, heavy, cavalry riding out against the enemy.....

Or at least thats what we want to remember. In actual fact, throughout the entirety of there incarnation Rough Riders have always been a bit of an oddity. According to fluff and there weapons/special rules they are intended to act as heavy cavalry, charging through enemy fire and spitting the foe on there lances. However, when it comes to the crunch they perform a little... shall we say differently?
Rough Riders suffer from a combination of things that make them under powered on the table top, something that has been true since there earliest incarnation. And yet despite this, GW has not once tried to fix these issues, so I am going to try too.

Firstly, lets look at a breakdown of the current Rough Rider

Stats: A Rough Rider is essentially a mounted Guardsman, with a WS and BS of 3, one attack and one wound, S, T and I of 3 and a LD of 7. The Sargent has 2 Attacks and LD 8, but thats about it.

Unit Type: Cavalry (duh), meaning that Rough Riders move 12" per turn. It also means that it is more difficult for Rough Riders to gain cover as the model's themselves are larger.

Equipment: Aaah, the big let down: Rough Riders wield only Laspistols for shooting, which given there role seems entirely adequate, but are they? Look at the armour - thats right, its Flak. Flak amour. On a Heavy Cavalry unit. This is the single biggest let down as it means that your poor cavalry will be mown down by small arms fire without (most of the time) being allowed an armour save. Maybe Lasguns would be better?
Finally we ome to the Hunting Lance. In the recent new codex this weapon has undergone a minor buff to make it AP3, something that was much needed as anyone whom managed to get a charge off against SM's will know. The other stats are the same for, with the exception of its new rule: One Use. Thats right folks, your brave cavalry have ONE charge where they can hope to do some damage against the enemy and then they are essentially cannonfodder. Better start praying.

Points: So, for these paper soldiers? 11(!) points per model! Thats right people, GW seems to expect you to pay a whopping 11 points per under armoured, ill equipped Rough Rider. To give you some idea that is over TWICE the cost of an Imperial Guardsman. For the price of one of these suicide squads which will most likely be mown down before they do anything you can have two Infantry squads.


So, what can we do to improve these poor cavalry? Well I did come up with some ideas. Firstly, lets stop trying to amalgam every cavalry role into one, we need to seperate them out. We also need to give the rigional Rough Riders either a way of getting close to the enemy fast or surviving the charge long enough to do something. Like this maybe:

WS BS S T W I A LD S
3 3 3 3 1 3 1/2 7/8 5+

Wargear: Frag and Krak grenades, Flak armour, Laspistol, Hunting Lance

Special Rules

Outflank

Infiltrate

Hit and Run

By doing this we have given them the capability to get close to the enemy without being gunned down. They can also disengage from CC after their charge, allowing them to fulfill their role as a harasser unit.


But how about some other roles?

Knights: 13PPM

WS BS S T W I A LD S
4 3 3 3 1 3 1/2 7/8 4+

Unit type: Cavalry

Size: 5-10 Knights

Wargear: Frag and Krak grenades, Hunting Lance, Carapace armour, Laspistol

Options:
May exchange Laspistol for shield (5++ save)

Special Rules:

Fearless

And there you have a unit to fullfill the current Rough Rider role, a Heavy Cavalry unit that can take the hits and make it to CC.

Now, what about a shooting unit?

Dragoons: 11 PPM

WS BS S T W I A LD S
3 4 3 3 1 3 1 7/8 5+

Unit Type: Cavalry

Size: 5-10 Dragoons

Equipment: Lasgun, Flak Armour, CC weapon

Options:

Any model may exchange their Lasgun for a Hellgun +5pts

Up to three models may exchange their Lasgun for a Plasma/Melta gun +10pts

Unit may take Frag and Krak grenades at +1PPM

Special Rules:

Dismount: If a unit of Dragoons moved 8" or less then they may dismount. Change the unit type to Infantry for this turn and they may gain cover as normal Infantry.

Rapid retreat: If a unit of Dragoons is not dismounted they and an enemy unit declares a charge against them they may take an Initiative test. If passed they may perform Overwatch and then flee 2D6 inches. If this does not take them far enough to escape the enemies charge range then the Dragoons are destroyed.

I say keep them costed the same and give them a 4+ save - give them scout and the ability to charge out of reserve. They should retain poor leadership. Maybe go up to 12-13 points with these changes.

 master of ordinance wrote:
Aaahhh, the Rough Riders. Since the glory days of RT the Rough Riders have been a staple of the Imperial Guard, fast, heavy, cavalry riding out against the enemy.....

Or at least thats what we want to remember. In actual fact, throughout the entirety of there incarnation Rough Riders have always been a bit of an oddity. According to fluff and there weapons/special rules they are intended to act as heavy cavalry, charging through enemy fire and spitting the foe on there lances. However, when it comes to the crunch they perform a little... shall we say differently?
Rough Riders suffer from a combination of things that make them under powered on the table top, something that has been true since there earliest incarnation. And yet despite this, GW has not once tried to fix these issues, so I am going to try too.

Firstly, lets look at a breakdown of the current Rough Rider

Stats: A Rough Rider is essentially a mounted Guardsman, with a WS and BS of 3, one attack and one wound, S, T and I of 3 and a LD of 7. The Sargent has 2 Attacks and LD 8, but thats about it.

Unit Type: Cavalry (duh), meaning that Rough Riders move 12" per turn. It also means that it is more difficult for Rough Riders to gain cover as the model's themselves are larger.

Equipment: Aaah, the big let down: Rough Riders wield only Laspistols for shooting, which given there role seems entirely adequate, but are they? Look at the armour - thats right, its Flak. Flak amour. On a Heavy Cavalry unit. This is the single biggest let down as it means that your poor cavalry will be mown down by small arms fire without (most of the time) being allowed an armour save. Maybe Lasguns would be better?
Finally we ome to the Hunting Lance. In the recent new codex this weapon has undergone a minor buff to make it AP3, something that was much needed as anyone whom managed to get a charge off against SM's will know. The other stats are the same for, with the exception of its new rule: One Use. Thats right folks, your brave cavalry have ONE charge where they can hope to do some damage against the enemy and then they are essentially cannonfodder. Better start praying.

Points: So, for these paper soldiers? 11(!) points per model! Thats right people, GW seems to expect you to pay a whopping 11 points per under armoured, ill equipped Rough Rider. To give you some idea that is over TWICE the cost of an Imperial Guardsman. For the price of one of these suicide squads which will most likely be mown down before they do anything you can have two Infantry squads.


So, what can we do to improve these poor cavalry? Well I did come up with some ideas. Firstly, lets stop trying to amalgam every cavalry role into one, we need to seperate them out. We also need to give the rigional Rough Riders either a way of getting close to the enemy fast or surviving the charge long enough to do something. Like this maybe:

WS BS S T W I A LD S
3 3 3 3 1 3 1/2 7/8 5+

Wargear: Frag and Krak grenades, Flak armour, Laspistol, Hunting Lance

Special Rules

Outflank

Infiltrate

Hit and Run

By doing this we have given them the capability to get close to the enemy without being gunned down. They can also disengage from CC after their charge, allowing them to fulfill their role as a harasser unit.


But how about some other roles?

Knights: 13PPM

WS BS S T W I A LD S
4 3 3 3 1 3 1/2 7/8 4+

Unit type: Cavalry

Size: 5-10 Knights

Wargear: Frag and Krak grenades, Hunting Lance, Carapace armour, Laspistol

Options:
May exchange Laspistol for shield (5++ save)

Special Rules:

Fearless

And there you have a unit to fullfill the current Rough Rider role, a Heavy Cavalry unit that can take the hits and make it to CC.

Now, what about a shooting unit?

Dragoons: 11 PPM

WS BS S T W I A LD S
3 4 3 3 1 3 1 7/8 5+

Unit Type: Cavalry

Size: 5-10 Dragoons

Equipment: Lasgun, Flak Armour, CC weapon

Options:

Any model may exchange their Lasgun for a Hellgun +5pts

Up to three models may exchange their Lasgun for a Plasma/Melta gun +10pts

Unit may take Frag and Krak grenades at +1PPM

Special Rules:

Dismount: If a unit of Dragoons moved 8" or less then they may dismount. Change the unit type to Infantry for this turn and they may gain cover as normal Infantry.

Rapid retreat: If a unit of Dragoons is not dismounted they and an enemy unit declares a charge against them they may take an Initiative test. If passed they may perform Overwatch and then flee 2D6 inches. If this does not take them far enough to escape the enemies charge range then the Dragoons are destroyed.

I like these rules. They make the unit useful but not overpowered.

T4 and scout would be enough. Let them outflank, give them the biker T buff but maybe not the armor. They'd still be situational, but more likely to survive a couple las rounds.

Currently I like to give them 2 flamers, 12" move + torch can do some damage.

Replace them with Death Riders of Krieg.

I have always hated the look and Idea of the IG bringing in mounted units to war.
I feel it should be changed to dirt bikes,
WS BS S T W I A LD S
3 3 3 4 1 3 1/2 7/8 5+

Wargear: Frag and Krak grenades, Flak armour, Lance, CCW, Dirt bike

special rules
outflank/infiltrate/scout
Hit and run

Dirt Bike: gives +1 to T (already added), mounted lasgun, Looks cool

with the mounted weapons they could get X number can be upgraded with Meltas/hotshot/plasma
along with maybe a squad wide maybe TL the lasguns I dont know.

I want DIRT BIKES!