With the publishing of 7th ed I took a years break in Warhammer. After reading loads of posts for the last weeks I find that many people have trouble fighting heavy battle lines and heavy cavalry. One of my key tactics in handling such armies was a trick with DR's. Some people call it baiting, I think, but that can be done with any unit. This trick I call "block, flee, rally" (BFR), a refined version of baiting tailored for DR's. A year ago, I still assumed everyone was familiar with this technique, but now I'm not so sure. If this has been explained before on this forum, spank me with the search engine
DR Tactic: Block, Flee, Rally.
The key goal of this tactic is twofold:
1. Mess up the enemy battleline
2. Put his units out of the battle.
This is accomplished by controlling the movement of his unit, using a baiting tactic with your Dark riders. Having fast cavalry as core units, such a unit should be easy to come by in a dark elf army. I hope many will find this guide helpfull.
So how does it work?
The trick consists of three stages in this sequence:
- block
- flee
- rally
And this sequence can be repeated ad infinitum.
Step 1: Block
Imagine an enemy unit, be it infantry or cavalry. Run with your DR's in front of the unit. Like this:
KKKKK = knights
***** - a couple of inches
DDDDD = Dark riders
The distance between these units is your chosing, but i suggest at least 7" if the cavalry can charge 16" or less if they are slower (like 4" for infantry).
The unit of knights is now blocked. They can either wheel around the dark riders or they can charge the DR's.
Usually, wielding such a unit should be cumbersome and leave little movement for positioning, if any. This would succesfully put the unit 'out of business' as it may have to spend another movement turn to get back into a usefull position.
The alternative is to charge our DR's as described in the next step.
Step 2: flee
If you have blocked the unit quite well, it will be 'forced' to charge the DR's. Evidently, the DR's flee with the hope of outrunning them. they fail their charge and move X inches straight towards your DR's. To increase your chances of outrunning them, increase the distance between the DR's and the enemy unit in "step1: block", but keep in mind that this reduces the effectiveness of the block.
Step 3: Rally
You may rally your DR's, which shouldn't be too hard with a musician. After rallying them, they may run again as per 'fast cavalry' rules. So you move them again... again in the face of the enemy unit, blocking it.
This trick can be repeated for as long as the enemy unit doesn't catch up, your DR's rally or no enemy support unit comes into your little scheme.
Now onto some specific situations to elevate this trick to the next level.
Directing the enemy
With the trick mentioned above, you can redirect the baited enemy unit. For example, taking knights again,
KKKKK***
********
***DDDDD
In this way, your DR's are blocking a side of the enemy unit. He can start his cumbersome wield again, or charge, just as before.
If he charges, he is now forced to first wheel to your DR's, then run straight. This has the following advantages,
- you can force his unit to turn
- if he fails the charge (which is obviously the point), he still has the wield fully at first
- he runs in a direction dictated by your DR's.
- the distance he has to wheel is part of his charge distance. This means you can put your DR's closer to his unit, increasing the effectiveness of your block.
With this trick, you can totally take a unit away from the battle field. But there is more. You can take this one edge further,
Messing up a battle line with 1 DR unit.
Let's raise the stakes: One DR unit versus two knight units standing next to one another. You place the DR's in front of them, blocking them both, but a little assymetrical (leaning more to one unit than the other).
1: Knight unit 1
2: Knight unit 2
D: Dark Rider
11111**22222
************
**DDDDD****
************
The Dark riders block the knight's advancements (step 1). They charge, you flee and outrun them (hopefully). Because Knight unit 1 doesn't have to wheel as much... the can run almost straight. Knight unit 2 has the wheel and thus won't charge as far. you get,
**22222**
*11111***
*********
*DDDDD**
This is a great situation:
- Knight unit 2 is blocked by knight unit1.
- You can flank them with the same support unit, if you wish.
- He will have trouble getting his knights out of this knot.
But best of all: you can rally the DR's, run back and block knight unit 1, preferably to the right, thereby blocking knight unit 2 as well.
Screw his elites, I'll roast the rest
This is simple use of the tactic. You pick out one of your opponents better units and use the block, flee, rally trick till the end of battle. Meanwhile you have an open game with that enemy unit out of comission. You don't get the VP for that unit, but perhaps the victory on all the rest.
Distortion as my ally
This is way of using this trick in a bigger plan. Imagine:
3 heavy knight units vs
2 DR units + 1 COK unit
An obvious approach would be to flank and all but this may sometimes prove hard to come by. Here is a way that may force a flank charge. Consider the following lineup:
1: knight unit 1
2: knight unit 2
3: knight unit 3
C: cold one unit
D: dark rider unit 1
R: Dark rider unit 2
********11111**22222**33333**
*************RRRRR**********
*****************************
DDDDD************************
**********************CCCCC*
Now a position like this is much more attractive for the opponent. He won't see the Dark riders as opposition and see his outnumbering on the COK's. But in effect, your 2nd DR unit is blocking units 1 and 2, but unit 2 more than 1. Why?
- if he charges with 1 and 2, you flee and obtain a result similar to explained above.
- if he charges with 1 alone, you flee and his unit 1 will block unit 2.
- if he charges with 2 alone, he is still forced to wheel to the left flank. He will block unit 1.
Either way, units 1 and 2 are in a bit of a mess. The next step for you is to charge them with your CoK's as they should have a flank attack. Get the first DR unit to support where needed and the second DR unit, after rallying, to mess up unit 3.
Some Remarks
- I make it sound easy but this tactic is not that simple and will always contain a certain risk. Train on it for best results
- Enemy support units are your opponent's vital element to undo such a situation. This is often why I spent my first rounds eliminating support units. (that and they can die easier, causing panic tests).
Please comment if you have remarks or improvements to add. thanks.
