Katharon
09-05-2013, 02:02 AM
Imperial Guard, Fast Attack Choice Tactica
Rough Riders
Those brave fools that still move across the fields of battle in the 41st millennium atop horses and armed with a lance...
Baseline:
Firstly, lets look at point cost. As far as most Fast Attack choices go for the Imperial Guard, the Rough Riders are a cheap niche choice. I will highlight the fact that I used the word 'niche' because it is important later on in this tactica. So, for a set of five rough riders you have to spend 55 points and nothing added to spice it up. But is that 55 points well spent? Base attributes of the Rough Riders: count as cavalry, ignore terrain when moving, have the Fleet and Hammer of Wrath special rules, and are equipped with their signature weapon the Hunting Lance.
Cool rules to say the least, but riding atop those horses and wielding that lance is still your regular Imperial Guardsman with only a toughness 3 and 5+ armor save. Very fragile for a unit that, uncharacteristically for the Guard, is meant to charge out from behind defenses and over trenches to fight an enemy in close combat.
Best way to field them?
If you have a themed army or simply like cavalry charges and you just GOTTA get that unit on the table, then here is how to best utilize them. Ultimately, pay the points. Bring that unit up to 10-man strength and pay the extra bit to put Mogul Kamir as a replacement for the unit's sergeant.
Why Mogul Kamir? Because he gives the unit the Furious Charge, Fearless and the Rage special rules. That way your men (who usually only get +1 attack on the charge with a hunting lance) get +2 attacks on the charge thanks to Rage and are Fearless enough that even if they take casualties in the pursuit of their target they won't break and run before delivering the blow.
Why ten men? Because they're Guardsmen. No matter how cool the weapon, the man using it is still a Guardsman. The motto of the Imperial Guard is “strength in numbers,” hence why they are called the Hammer of the Emperor. If you have 10-men survive to charge into an enemy unit (led by Kamir) they will be attacking with 36 (does not include Kamir's attacks) Initiative 5, Strength 5, AP 3 attacks at weapon skill 3. Statistically speaking, you will miss half of that, so you're only guaranteed (unless you're god-awfully unluckly or lucky) only about 15-18 attacks. (And of course you get your 10 Hammer of Wrath attacks at initiative 10, but those are only strength 3 AP 0...)
10-man squad, led by Mogul Kamir, and those Rough Riders will charge their way to combat.
Battlefield Role
Everything in your army has a role to play. If you try to go chasing after a Land Raider with Rough Riders, please stop reading at this point and go find a car outside your house to play chicken with.
Rough Riders are specifically designed to be Marine-Killers. They will excel at charging home slaughtering regular Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine infantry. With a Strength 5 hit from the Hunting Lance they will be able to wound anything with regular SM stats on a 3+ and because the Hunting Lance counts as a power weapon, they won't get an armor save.
Your best option for using Rough Riders is to have them hunt down Devastator/Havoc Squads, regular Tactical Squads, and maybe gunning for isolated Independent Characters. Do not go after Terminators! 2+ armor save means that they will just laugh off your tickling lances and then proceed to murder your Rough Riders.
Equipment
Never, ever, never, ever replace a Rough Rider's hunting lance for another special weapon like a Flamer, Grenade Launcher, melta gun, or plasma gun. Just DON'T. The moment you take away the Hunting Lance, that guardsman stops being a Rough Rider and starts being a liability. You want plasma guns, buy one for an Infantry Veteran. Don't waste the effectiveness of the Rough Rider close combat charge by lessening it by fielding a rough rider with a flamer.
How to Maneuver
Because they are cavalry and because the Rough Rider will have to charge out to meet his enemy, there are two main tactics to using the Rough Riders.
Offensive:
You're gung-ho and howling for your opponents green stuff blood. So you decide to charge forth and have at them. All well and good, if you can do it right.
If your opponent is not familiar with Rough Riders then they may ignore them as a secondary target, shifting the majority of their fire power at any tanks, blob infantry squads, or fliers you may have. However, you cannot count on them being ignored until the last moment. Proximity will play a huge part of this – the closer you get the scarier they will seem to your opponent. So be clever about it.
If you are moving your Rough Riders up the left side of the board (you see a tasty looking devastator squad sitting behind a rock), simultaneously begin moving up a few vehicles or targets in the middle or right. Chimera transports with veterans in them, rushing up the middle is a nice distraction tactic. Thus, your opponent will be worried about seeing three melta guns charging down his throat – capable of wrecking his walkers or precious tanks – and shift more fire power to that whilst your Rough Riders continue to move forward unmolested.
Use intervening cover to your advantage. Don't string your riders out in a long conga-line, rather have them in pairs, side by side, in a neat column when possible. And as tempting as it is, do not set them up line-abreast, one next to another, as if you are reenacting the Rohirrim charge at the Battle of Minas Tirith from LOTR. That is just begging to be target practice and it will be dangerous to riders who might clip difficult terrain (which counts as Dangerous for cavalry since they get to ignore it).
Defensive:
You're like most Guard players – those idiot Khornate bezerkers will come to you in your entrenched and heavily defended perimeter anyway, so why go to them? And let's not forget any of those nasty drop pods or deep striking units.
In this scenario you keep your Rough Riders in the rear areas of your deployment area. Have them stick to cover and hover about. They will act as your fireman unit. If a unit of Assault Marines deep strikes into your deployment zone, intent on killing off your artillery or behind your Aegis defense line, then your Rough Riders will be heroes – the cavalry arriving in the nick of time. Pun intended.
You use them as a mobile reserve, countering any threat that appears in your deployment zone. They can also be used to reinforce one of your flanks. Maybe a blob squad or some veterans were taking too many casualties and fell back, running for their lives. You simply wheel your cavalry around and the Rough Riders plug the gap while your infantry reform. Then, the short skirmish over, you pull your cavalry back into cover and have them lurk for another target once again.
Final Word
The Rough Riders are an interesting Fast Attack choice, but they are niche role: Marine-Killer. They aren't good for taking on fliers, tanks or terminators – but they will get their job done if you keep them to it.
Rough Riders
Those brave fools that still move across the fields of battle in the 41st millennium atop horses and armed with a lance...
Baseline:
Firstly, lets look at point cost. As far as most Fast Attack choices go for the Imperial Guard, the Rough Riders are a cheap niche choice. I will highlight the fact that I used the word 'niche' because it is important later on in this tactica. So, for a set of five rough riders you have to spend 55 points and nothing added to spice it up. But is that 55 points well spent? Base attributes of the Rough Riders: count as cavalry, ignore terrain when moving, have the Fleet and Hammer of Wrath special rules, and are equipped with their signature weapon the Hunting Lance.
Cool rules to say the least, but riding atop those horses and wielding that lance is still your regular Imperial Guardsman with only a toughness 3 and 5+ armor save. Very fragile for a unit that, uncharacteristically for the Guard, is meant to charge out from behind defenses and over trenches to fight an enemy in close combat.
Best way to field them?
If you have a themed army or simply like cavalry charges and you just GOTTA get that unit on the table, then here is how to best utilize them. Ultimately, pay the points. Bring that unit up to 10-man strength and pay the extra bit to put Mogul Kamir as a replacement for the unit's sergeant.
Why Mogul Kamir? Because he gives the unit the Furious Charge, Fearless and the Rage special rules. That way your men (who usually only get +1 attack on the charge with a hunting lance) get +2 attacks on the charge thanks to Rage and are Fearless enough that even if they take casualties in the pursuit of their target they won't break and run before delivering the blow.
Why ten men? Because they're Guardsmen. No matter how cool the weapon, the man using it is still a Guardsman. The motto of the Imperial Guard is “strength in numbers,” hence why they are called the Hammer of the Emperor. If you have 10-men survive to charge into an enemy unit (led by Kamir) they will be attacking with 36 (does not include Kamir's attacks) Initiative 5, Strength 5, AP 3 attacks at weapon skill 3. Statistically speaking, you will miss half of that, so you're only guaranteed (unless you're god-awfully unluckly or lucky) only about 15-18 attacks. (And of course you get your 10 Hammer of Wrath attacks at initiative 10, but those are only strength 3 AP 0...)
10-man squad, led by Mogul Kamir, and those Rough Riders will charge their way to combat.
Battlefield Role
Everything in your army has a role to play. If you try to go chasing after a Land Raider with Rough Riders, please stop reading at this point and go find a car outside your house to play chicken with.
Rough Riders are specifically designed to be Marine-Killers. They will excel at charging home slaughtering regular Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine infantry. With a Strength 5 hit from the Hunting Lance they will be able to wound anything with regular SM stats on a 3+ and because the Hunting Lance counts as a power weapon, they won't get an armor save.
Your best option for using Rough Riders is to have them hunt down Devastator/Havoc Squads, regular Tactical Squads, and maybe gunning for isolated Independent Characters. Do not go after Terminators! 2+ armor save means that they will just laugh off your tickling lances and then proceed to murder your Rough Riders.
Equipment
Never, ever, never, ever replace a Rough Rider's hunting lance for another special weapon like a Flamer, Grenade Launcher, melta gun, or plasma gun. Just DON'T. The moment you take away the Hunting Lance, that guardsman stops being a Rough Rider and starts being a liability. You want plasma guns, buy one for an Infantry Veteran. Don't waste the effectiveness of the Rough Rider close combat charge by lessening it by fielding a rough rider with a flamer.
How to Maneuver
Because they are cavalry and because the Rough Rider will have to charge out to meet his enemy, there are two main tactics to using the Rough Riders.
Offensive:
You're gung-ho and howling for your opponents green stuff blood. So you decide to charge forth and have at them. All well and good, if you can do it right.
If your opponent is not familiar with Rough Riders then they may ignore them as a secondary target, shifting the majority of their fire power at any tanks, blob infantry squads, or fliers you may have. However, you cannot count on them being ignored until the last moment. Proximity will play a huge part of this – the closer you get the scarier they will seem to your opponent. So be clever about it.
If you are moving your Rough Riders up the left side of the board (you see a tasty looking devastator squad sitting behind a rock), simultaneously begin moving up a few vehicles or targets in the middle or right. Chimera transports with veterans in them, rushing up the middle is a nice distraction tactic. Thus, your opponent will be worried about seeing three melta guns charging down his throat – capable of wrecking his walkers or precious tanks – and shift more fire power to that whilst your Rough Riders continue to move forward unmolested.
Use intervening cover to your advantage. Don't string your riders out in a long conga-line, rather have them in pairs, side by side, in a neat column when possible. And as tempting as it is, do not set them up line-abreast, one next to another, as if you are reenacting the Rohirrim charge at the Battle of Minas Tirith from LOTR. That is just begging to be target practice and it will be dangerous to riders who might clip difficult terrain (which counts as Dangerous for cavalry since they get to ignore it).
Defensive:
You're like most Guard players – those idiot Khornate bezerkers will come to you in your entrenched and heavily defended perimeter anyway, so why go to them? And let's not forget any of those nasty drop pods or deep striking units.
In this scenario you keep your Rough Riders in the rear areas of your deployment area. Have them stick to cover and hover about. They will act as your fireman unit. If a unit of Assault Marines deep strikes into your deployment zone, intent on killing off your artillery or behind your Aegis defense line, then your Rough Riders will be heroes – the cavalry arriving in the nick of time. Pun intended.
You use them as a mobile reserve, countering any threat that appears in your deployment zone. They can also be used to reinforce one of your flanks. Maybe a blob squad or some veterans were taking too many casualties and fell back, running for their lives. You simply wheel your cavalry around and the Rough Riders plug the gap while your infantry reform. Then, the short skirmish over, you pull your cavalry back into cover and have them lurk for another target once again.
Final Word
The Rough Riders are an interesting Fast Attack choice, but they are niche role: Marine-Killer. They aren't good for taking on fliers, tanks or terminators – but they will get their job done if you keep them to it.