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So im currently hashing out an Only War campaign to play after our Deadlands and Deathwatch games peeter out (and who knows when thats gonna happen) and i've made a Rough Rider regiment....with soooo many problems






Yes, they ride Giant Rats into battle, and this is whats caused all of their problems.

Now, on Bustalia, the Kubwa is a respected and loved animal as frequent electrical storms force the populace to shut down anything electrical or risk calling lighting down from the upper atmosphere. So for 3 months out of the year, during the height of the Storm Season, Kubwas are pretty much the only mode of transport available, besides walking. This is because, unlike other animals, they arent afraid of the storms and simply go about their business, instead of hibernating. As a bonus the Kubwa is surprisingly clean, despite its furs matted appearance and will happily eat pretty much anything.

When the 67th arrived on *REDACTED* to do battle with the Great and Terrible *REDACTED* a Scintillian Leitenant began making very rude remarks about their mounts. Obviously this angered the Riders, but, since hes a "superior" officer, they couldnt do much. Their Colonel, on the other hand, could. The conversation went something like this:

Posh Fop-"I cant believe they would allow giant rats into the Guard. Did you see their fur? Its all matted and they're probably infested in fleas and lice."
Colonel Shuja "So's your mother you inbred spireborn fop, but you dont see me making fun of her"
*Drops mic and walks off*

This would have just led to a Regimental Rivalry, which would have been fine. Except that The Fop, as he is now known to the Jinetes, has a 2nd or 3rd cousin that happens to be the General of this theater, and while he isn't real keen on his cousin, the Colonel did insult family. And so, he has been redirecting supplies, making it difficult for them to get reinforcements (which is hard enough when you're Rough Riders) and in general just being a giant pain.

So far the Jinetes have taken it well, but with a new push on it might get dicey.

Im not sure who im gonna have them fight. Ork Snakebites could be fun, as they use cavalry too, but Chaos Renegades are always a party, and then theres the Severan Dominate. So many options.

So.... what's the problem?

You looking for an enemy? Flip a coin. Orks or Traitor Guard. Both amount to much the same thing, which is high body-count games.

 Psienesis wrote:
So.... what's the problem?

You looking for an enemy? Flip a coin. Orks or Traitor Guard. Both amount to much the same thing, which is high body-count games.

Primarily ideas. Ive only ever actually ran Dark Heresy for any length of time and its a significantly different game. The current Deathwatch game is all about stopping a unique Hive Fleet and its just "go here and kill this thing" From what i understand, Only War is the more "human" game and if done right gives you all the feels that Saving Private Ryan did.

If you've got a cavalry regiment which is good at remote ops - low resources means problems with munitorum anyway and they can handle pretty much any passable terrain at speed - then I'd probably suggest orks.

A mix of snakebites and speed freeks are a very mobile force - the Scintillan Fusilleers are essentially heavy infantry who can massacre such a force in open battle but need recon and probing forces to track them down and bring them to a fight. Using them as such (and not supporting them well) is a way Malgus can get as many of the Rat Bastards killed as possible without doing something obvious (like ordering a "Charge Of The Light Brigade" style stupid frontal assault) that the commissariat might pick him up for.

Mixing snakebite ferals and mobile speed freeks gives you a mix of opponents who are more and less mobile and who are, and aren't vulnerable - meaning the essentially unsupported cavalry units will have to fight smart.

Plus, I generally recommend Orks to any new Only War group - orks are a nice opponent who are beatable with good tactics, but can be anything from the unstoppable monster to the comic relief depending on numbers and nature, and who can field armour, air support, and essentialy anything the guard can do, but in their own unique style and with hardware essentially unuseable by humans (which avoids 'loot the corpses syndrome').

locarno24 wrote:
If you've got a cavalry regiment which is good at remote ops - low resources means problems with munitorum anyway and they can handle pretty much any passable terrain at speed - then I'd probably suggest orks.

A mix of snakebites and speed freeks are a very mobile force - the Scintillan Fusilleers are essentially heavy infantry who can massacre such a force in open battle but need recon and probing forces to track them down and bring them to a fight. Using them as such (and not supporting them well) is a way Malgus can get as many of the Rat Bastards killed as possible without doing something obvious (like ordering a "Charge Of The Light Brigade" style stupid frontal assault) that the commissariat might pick him up for.

Mixing snakebite ferals and mobile speed freeks gives you a mix of opponents who are more and less mobile and who are, and aren't vulnerable - meaning the essentially unsupported cavalry units will have to fight smart.

Plus, I generally recommend Orks to any new Only War group - orks are a nice opponent who are beatable with good tactics, but can be anything from the unstoppable monster to the comic relief depending on numbers and nature, and who can field armour, air support, and essentialy anything the guard can do, but in their own unique style and with hardware essentially unuseable by humans (which avoids 'loot the corpses syndrome').

Thatnk you, this is very helpful. Im also ashamed that i didn't come up with Rat Bastards before this.