Dark Rider Upgrades

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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Coop
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Dark Rider Upgrades

Post by Coop »

How has everyone been upgrading their dark riders? A until of 5-6 that's a redirector probably doesn't need to be kitted out too much, but what about something like 10 dark riders that you intend to take into combat at some point? Shields are cheap and seem worth it to get to a 4+ save, but are people spending 30 points for all of those Xbows as well? Does your dark rider shooting usually have an impact on the game?
anglais
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Re: Dark Rider Upgrades

Post by anglais »

it depends on the list.
as now a lot of folks are playing scenarios, I start with 6 FCG full grade (150 points). then I downgrade them to unit of 5 with shields and crossbows. Such unit costs convinient 100 points.
both units are good in small skirmishers or if you need to bring flank/hill/banner to combat. Heralds can be handy.
I am playing 10-12 only for games of 3000 or more, but I can understand why they are poplular.
they rarely kill something with RXBs, but it helps to keep characters inside the units and can take down the last wound. It can be a cannon or even a daemon prince. So I prefer to have rxbs in any case, as it makes unit more versatile (and because I like to roll dice). the best use of rbs for me is fast cavalry skirmish, as the unit with a shooting attack always wins . E.g. 6 DR always kill 7 wild hunters in 1 to 1 combat. SNS is handy as well, same goes for charmed shields. so nothing special, but worth its points imo.
I like to win, but not by playing the limit of the rules
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marcopollo
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Re: Dark Rider Upgrades

Post by marcopollo »

At 2.5K this is what I roll out for DR.

2x 10 DR with full command and full upgrades ~230 pts x2.
2x 5 DR with shield and musician ~95 pts x2.
Total 650.

If I am tight on points for other aspects of the list, then I fiddle with command and numbers to get to 625.

Having two units of DR at 10 models each gives a variety of options. There are reasons why DR are comped as heavily as they are in the Swedish system. Together that is 40 shots that can march and fire with AP. Not too shabby against even bretonnia armor. The two small redirectors are also good because they can stop his hammers from hitting allowing for a variety of deployment strategies. Being fast cav with vanguard is also very important as they can move fast enough to fix problems in the deployment phase.

The combat effectiveness is mediocre. So using a lv2 beast sorceress helps buff them into something reliable-ish. But with being fast-cav, a charge, flank and banner (+3 to CR) is decent enough for things like warshrines etc.

You got slaaneshi horsemen cramping your warlocks, take 40 rxb shots to the face once or twice. No more slaaneshi horsemen problems.
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Re: Dark Rider Upgrades

Post by Vulcan »

Marco has the right of it. RXBs on Dark Riders are a broom for precision sweeping away chaff. Fast cav means they'll be able to get close-in shots that Darkshards often cannot manage due to cover and range issues.

Got a problematic chaff unit that's going to block a charge next turn? It's almost impossible to keep RXB Dark Riders out of range of them. 18" march, free reforms, and a minimum of 10 shots with 24" range means that problematic chaff unit goes away fast.
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Lord hajjij
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Re: Dark Rider Upgrades

Post by Lord hajjij »

Well, it depends on who you're playing against, and what the rest of the army looks like, but I believe that in a take-all-comers list shooting in some form is 100% vital in a dark elf army. And because of the sad fact that against some foes your shooting is all but worthless, many people like myself would rather take shooting on multi-purpose units like Dark Riders, Hydras, and Shades - so that they can also perform other functions if necessary - rather than commit points to Darkshard units that don't have the same utility.

So, yes, I think that RxB on Dark Riders are definitely worth it.


Shields are cheap and absolutely a no-brainer choice.


Command group, I'll save you the 400 lines of intricate details, but generally I go full command on most of my Dark Rider units. Again, it comes down to utility and making them a multi-purpose, as well as my army make up. For example, I take Heralds so I can charge a unit in the flank and soak up a challenge from a unit champion who could spoil my CoT Peg Master's charge into a enemy character - or potentially take the challenge of a Chaos Lord so my Manticore Sorceress didn't have to.

All in all, I almost always pay for versatility on units that thrive on it.
So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.

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marcopollo
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Re: Dark Rider Upgrades

Post by marcopollo »

I like to have atleast one big 10 man unit of DR with full command as a bunker for a mobile mage. This means either running them 3 wide when facing combat situations, or adding in two combat characters if I need/find my mage bunkered in the unit.

Typically these two characters are a combination of:
1) Dreadlord with sword of anti heros, OTS, 4++
2) Dreadlord with giant blade, OTS, dawnstone
3) BSB master with ToP and charmed shield
4) master with dawnstone + other items to suit my taste.

I also like to have two small cheap DR for the double flee and warmachine hunting. But, I don't give them xbows as I find that they are usually not well used and dead/sacrificed early on.

I prioritize my command for this big unit like so.

mus>std>champ.

So if running two big units of 10, the one for sure has full command and the other is often paired down to min core costs.
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