What makes Dark Riders so good?

Skyre115 · Post by **Skyre115** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:10 pm

So, what makes the dark riders so good, I've heard that they're the best fast cav. in the game, why? Ive want to inlcude some in my growing army but I don't have much experience with fast cav. so I don't know really how to use them other than flanking, but what makes them better than Ellyrian Reavers or Pistoliers.

Post by **General kala** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:38 pm

*looks at his watch to see how long it will take Ras to pitch a fit*

In my opinion, two primary things - a) they are a core choice and b) they are extremely well suited to bait-and-flee tactics (particularly now that Fast Cav can move and shoot after a rally.

With Dark Riders (and Fast Cavlary in general) you can have a measure of control over how your enemy maneuvers and what options they have available. Plus, they have a good deal of flexibility in that they can harass, plink, get behind enemy units for the break, or drop into a flank or rear for some extra combat rez.

At least this is how I have used them to great success.

Skandalix · Post by **Skandalix** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:39 pm

Hmmm first of all they are Core units... In case of Reavers or Pistoliers you have better special choices to take instead of just fast cav...with Dark Riders you don´t have such problem... and the other u mentioned are Special so you still have to take some core and fast cav takes special slot!!! For reasonable price (90pts) you can get fastest cavalry in a game (almost; but only Mnt. Daemonettes are faster) which is quite reliable: fairly good Ld, elvish WS4... and you can choose how to gear them...what you cannot with Glade Riders for example. So mainly 4 things:
*they are Core
*they have nice stats as for Fast Cav
*they are increadibly fast
*you can choose to give them RXbows or not

Fast cav mainly is multiuse unit; here are some functions they can fulfill:
- baiting
- harassing
- warmachine/mage hunting
- flanking
- eliminating enemy fast things

That´s best what you can get from fast cav... and we all now how useful it is.

Skyre115 · Post by **Skyre115** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:03 pm

wow, all this good criticism on dark riders makes me want to take like 10 or 20 of em

Ardude · Post by **Ardude** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:19 pm

well you should!

but unfortunatly they are 9 euros for 1 ( 6 ponds?)

Getwisteerd · Post by **Getwisteerd** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:52 pm

SKyRE115 wrote:wow, all this good criticism on dark riders makes me want to take like 10 or 20 of em

just don't put them all in a single unit if you take that much

@ardude: conversions!

Hyetemplar · Post by **Hyetemplar** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:58 pm

well simply put its because they have movement 9 and core choice and ldr 8 with mus they rally on 9

fast, core, good leadership, they can take on other light units, lone mages, war machines, most flyers, and they bait.

and since i often dont buy rxb on them my 18 points per model unit has been sacrificed many a time to put the opponent in very bad situations that have given me the game.

although now that they may rally, move, and shoot im tempted to buy another unit with mus and rxb just for baiting and shooting

Ardude · Post by **Ardude** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:07 pm

@ getwisteerd
yeah I fought about that but I don't know what type of horse to use.
as most cheap horses have abrding etc.
how did you do this?

Skyre115 · Post by **Skyre115** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:11 pm

I'm thinkin about tryin to convert glade riders to dark riders. What do you all think? Im gonna try and make or use other cloaks, stick some rxb's on em and use the wood elf scout heads and warrior heads for them. It might be a little hard but i think they'll look good.

Hyetemplar · Post by **Hyetemplar** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:18 pm

if you have a dark elf warrior box you probably have tons of extra spears you can use for your converstion to dark riders from glade guard.

speaking of glade guard they are just as good as dark riders (in my eyes a little better).

Rasputinii · Post by **Rasputinii** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:26 pm

General Kala wrote:*looks at his watch to see how long it will take Ras to pitch a fit*

3 Hours and 16 Minutes.

http://www.druchii.net/viewtopic.php?t=44948&start=0
Why talk when you can read?

Post by **Dyvim tvar** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:57 pm

They are fast cavalry and they are core, which means:

1) They can take away rank bonus with a rear or flank charge;

2) They can freely reform to get into position for those charges; and

3) They can move and shoot freely after rallying after fleeing as a charge reaction, making them ideal for bait-and flee tactics.

Plus, they're core, so they don't use up valuable slots that can be used for things like combat troops.

Zeth · Post by **Zeth** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:37 pm

They are the best fast cav in the game because of all of the reasons metioned but i guess ill say them again.

Compared to reavers they are core and have good bow options.
Compared to Pistoliers they are core have base elven stats, so most importantly ws4 LDR 8, and are move 9.

someone mentioned glade riders, well here is why glade riders are worse. they have the option of not taking a bow, and on fast cav the shorter range of our bows doesnt matter, drops the price by a whooping 25% as well. Not to mention our bow option is better 2 shots at 5+ vs 1 shot at 3+ is staticscally the same however im of the opinion the more dice the better in comparisons like that. Oh and they have a 5+ save compared to a 6+.

Now what makes fast cav good?

Board control. few other units in the game establish control over the movement phase like fast cav. They threaten war machines, gun lines, mages, flanks and rears. Fast cav does it better then any unit avaible. Flyers cant negate ranks and few flying units have the power on the a charge that our DR's do.

Just as improtant as threatening those units their rules allows them to bait. they can block charges, force units out of position, help protect our witches from chasing after units they are not supposed to, and lead other frenized units around.

Now the problem with fast cav, is basically what Raz's article says. They die easy.
I bring 3 units into every game and i just about would never bring less. However i also expect that all 3 of those units to die in the first 3 turns or less. Sometimes they don't but i expect them to. Their goal is to mess up my opponents movement and/or gunline/warmachines enough that the rest of my army has an advantage when it reaches combat. It has been a long time since i have been dissapointed in their performace.