The Elves of the Pale Tower Ride Again - All Cavalry

[Hillbilly Carl]

My List:

Heroes:
Master on Cold One with Cloak of Twilight, Lance, 1+ Armour Save
Master on Cold One with 4+ Ward Save, Lance, 1+ Armour Save and Battle Standard

Core:
6 units of 5 Dark Riders with shields, repeater crossbows, musician and standard

Special:
9 Cold One Knights, Full Command, Razor Standard - BSB goes here
9 Cold One Knights, Full Command, Banner of Discipline, Sword of Might on Champ - General goes here
2 Cold One Chariots
2 Scourgerunner Chariots

Rare:
2 units of 5 Warlocks

I took this list to a gaming weekend and managed to play 4 games. I won't give play-by-plays because I didn't take notes and my memory isn't good enough. What I can give you are the highlights:

Game 1: vs squig-heavy orcs and goblins
- I can't get enough of the maneuverability of this army. He'd move forward thinking he'd cornered me and I'd zip through small gaps in his lines and threaten his backfield.
- My shooting and magic took down his giant early on and then picked off mangler squigs and fanatics for the rest of the game.
-Eventually we reached the end-game where multiple charges took down his two big infantry blocks. - Result was a massacre for me.

Game 2: vs Slanesh-themed Warriors of Chaos
- Again my movement was stellar, I outflanked his flankers and drew his knights forward before zipping behind his lines to harass his rear with shooting.
- A dual-unit cold one knight charge with characters is terrifying. 18 warriors melted like they were goblins and the lone guy left ran away like a little girl.
- Static combat resolution is a dark rider unit's best friend. I sent 2 units into battle against a chaos sorcerer lord on daemonic steed, one to the front and one to the rear. I won combat by 2 (charge, banner, rear for me, 2 wounds for him) he fled and the dark riders ran him down.
- Result was a massacre for me.

Game 3: vs Vampire Counts
- My army does not deal well with etherial units. The only magical attacks I have are from my warlocks (doombolt). I had no answer for his hexwraiths.
- The other thing I did not deal well with was his vampire lord. 5 ASF S7 attacks with red fury cut through my cold one knights like a hot knife through butter. He killed 7 in one turn!
- The rest of my army did well picking off points here and there but in the end I lost too many points to his hexwraiths and vampire lord to make back. Defeat for me.

Game 4: vs Lizardmen
- After the first three games I was ready to scrap my scourgerunners but after this game I need to rethink that. They killed an ancient stegadon, seriously wounded a troglodon and took some wounds off a bastilodon. At the same time they attracted a serious amount of magical and shooting attention and definitely threw my opponent off his game. They'll stay for a while until I can determine whether or not it was a fluke.
- I thought the warlocks were going to be completely outclassed by the Slann in the magic phase but not only did I get a few spells off, I was able to fend off the worst of his magical barrage and emerged relatively unscathed. I think I got off more clutch spells and in my opinion I won the magic-phase of that game.
- At the end of the game he was left with a lone skink character and his templeguard. The rest of his army was decimated. I didn't have quite enough left to make it a crushing victory but it was close.

Thoughts about the army:
- Dark riders are great. They can zip behind enemy lines turn 1 (vanguard and march makes their range 30" turn 1). From there they can begin to pick off enemy support units and war machines, threaten rear and flank charges and be super-annoying with their shooting. I usually spend the first 3 turns or so doing this and then it's time for the big charges.
- Cold one knights are awesome on the charge. Especially when joined by a cold one chariot, they become nigh-unstoppable. It is not unusual for me to be causing upwards of 12-15 wounds on the charge.
- Warlocks are great. The thing I like best about them is their unique miscast results. D3 S6 wounds is not anything to be afraid of so there is no reason not to throw 6 dice at their spells.
- I do want to try a pegasus-mounted character but it is hard to find the points to put one in. I'll play with the numbers and hopefully figure out a way to do it without dropping too much. The obvious choice would be to drop a scourgerunner but I want to give them a real chance before I get rid of them.

[Amboadine]

Interesting list, very mobile. Well done on your wins.
You probably would be better off with a couple of peg masters instead of the runners but it is nice to see you giving them a fair crack of the whip.
I want to run them but not convinced as yet.

[T.D.]

Cool list & great results

You said you had nothing to combat ethereals... but is that not the reason for the SoM on the champion?

The Scroungies are a surprising addition but fit into your list well. Have you considered swapping them out for regular RBTs and comparing the damage output?

[Hillbilly Carl]

Good point T.D., to be honest I completely forgot about the SoM all weekend. I guess that's what happens when I play a new list.

I don't want to take RBTs as I think they will wreck the whole mobile aesthetic of the army. If I drop the scourgerunners it will be for a peg master or two or maybe even a dreadlord. I agree that the RBTs would be more consistant and do more damage but they are also easier to catch and kill and with the chariots I have to option to charge them in on a flank if the opportunity arises.