Let's talk regular (non worm) cavalry!

So far, my impressions are:

Holy crap, are these guys dangerous.

The fact that they can pair a blue March 2 modifier with their regular marches has a number of implications:

1. They can shoot out at speed effective 6 on turn one. I know, I know, it's not a charge, but getting that attack and taking a panic token is NOTHING compared to engaging a boldly placed group of archers on turn one.
2. They are the only unit in the game that can leave terrain AND move in the same activation at present. This can also be HUGE, since when exiting they can aim themselves in any direction (As allowed by the battlefield layout) They can engage a unit the enemy wasn't expecting to be engaged, cancelling any marches/charges they were planning. They can jump out and shoot for an objective token or zone, they can move to block a charge at a vulnerable unit... the possibilities are nearly endless depending on circumstance!

They seem interestingly matched against Reanimate Archers. Archers can take them apart if they get to shoot at them, but the Oathsworn will ride right through archers if they get into contact.

In the games I had the oathsworn had a hard time reaching other targets. The reanimate archers are deffinetly the right counter against the oathsworn and if played right will absolutely destroy them. However I still only play with the core set and am convinced that you want to play them in a bigger unit then just 2 trays. With all the defense buffs the daqan will be able to do they will absolutely be a force to reckon with

I've been experimenting a bit, looking for good combos. So far:

• Fire rune is pretty interesting. If they don't need to charge or turn then a ranged attack is a nice option, though it's probably too volatile for the points it costs. Did 8 damage and wiped out a unit of Reanimate Archers turn one of one game, but that's far from typical performance.
• Wind rune gives a shift and reform as a modifier, both of which ordinarily take an action. Opens maneuverability up nicely, but requiring a blue is more restrictive than I'd like, and the shift length being tied to Natural runes is also a bit wonky. Probably worth taking on a big enough unit, if a big enough unit is worth taking.
• Moment of Inspiration, Rank Discipline, and Tempered Steel are all nice damage buffs. Rallying to refresh slows them down quite considerably, but if you're looking to hit hard and fast to break through an enemy line, frontloading the damage might be good enough to get access to the softer backline.

Although they're fast in a straight line, they have a pretty miserable time coming about and maneuvering in tight areas. I think that terrain idea is going to help with that quite a bit.

The next thing I mean to try is several 2x1 units running very lean on upgrades, to hopefully present enough threats that they can get around behind Reanimates and Carrion Lancers to attack the Archers.

45 minutes ago, Bhelliom said:

I've been experimenting a bit, looking for good combos. So far:

• Fire rune is pretty interesting. If they don't need to charge or turn then a ranged attack is a nice option, though it's probably too volatile for the points it costs. Did 8 damage and wiped out a unit of Reanimate Archers turn one of one game, but that's far from typical performance.
• Wind rune gives a shift and reform as a modifier, both of which ordinarily take an action. Opens maneuverability up nicely, but requiring a blue is more restrictive than I'd like, and the shift length being tied to Natural runes is also a bit wonky. Probably worth taking on a big enough unit, if a big enough unit is worth taking.
• Moment of Inspiration, Rank Discipline, and Tempered Steel are all nice damage buffs. Rallying to refresh slows them down quite considerably, but if you're looking to hit hard and fast to break through an enemy line, frontloading the damage might be good enough to get access to the softer backline.

Although they're fast in a straight line, they have a pretty miserable time coming about and maneuvering in tight areas. I think that terrain idea is going to help with that quite a bit.

The next thing I mean to try is several 2x1 units running very lean on upgrades, to hopefully present enough threats that they can get around behind Reanimates and Carrion Lancers to attack the Archers.

I experienced something like this yesterday and can confirm that 2x1 cheap units flanking wide and wheeling to hit the rear of a tarpitted formation is brutal.

3 hours ago, Bhelliom said:

• Moment of Inspiration, Rank Discipline, and Tempered Steel are all nice damage buffs. Rallying to refresh slows them down quite considerably, but if you're looking to hit hard and fast to break through an enemy line, frontloading the damage might be good enough to get access to the softer backline.

Something I initially overlooked was that inspiration tokens can be spent to refresh upgrade cards. 2x2 with Moment of Inspiration and maybe Rank Discipline seems to be something to fear. Or maybe go for the 3x3... Death and destruction awaits.

23 minutes ago, playnwin said:

Something I initially overlooked was that inspiration tokens can be spent to refresh upgrade cards. 2x2 with Moment of Inspiration and maybe Rank Discipline seems to be something to fear. Or maybe go for the 3x3... Death and destruction awaits.

Yeah, good point. A white die increases their expected number of surges per attack pretty nicely too, so it helps to fuel itself. Lord Hawthorne and other Inspiration synergy effects will help, too.

Now something like the Aggressive Cornicen for Oathsworn Cavalry, that would really be something.

28 minutes ago, Bhelliom said:

Now something like the Aggressive Cornicen for Oathsworn Cavalry, that would really be something.

Whoa, now, we don't want the Oathsworn to become full gods of death. Charging six forward would be insane.

1 hour ago, playnwin said:

Something I initially overlooked was that inspiration tokens can be spent to refresh upgrade cards. 2x2 with Moment of Inspiration and maybe Rank Discipline seems to be something to fear. Or maybe go for the 3x3... Death and destruction awaits.

Moment of inspiration is the better choice in this case.

With two starters, I have only been fielding two units of 2x1 Oathsworn, each with Master Crafted Weapons and Rank Discipline. So thats 28 points each. They can hit like a truck but ... I've found it so easy to lose a tray of them to undead snipers, even with the +1 def on the dial.

When wave 1 hits, I'm grabbing a few oathsworn expansions to make two units of 2x2 Oathsworn at 34 points. For a few points more, thats going to be way more tanky imho.

Tempted to also run a single 2x1 oathsworn, to go for scenario objective points, and/or stay in reserve and look for flanking opportunities.

That's a lot of Calvary, I like it. Will they all be painted the same? Or different paint scenes?

i know odd question, I'm picturing what I would do with a. Inch of Calvary units. Different schemes to keep them identifiable.

45 minutes ago, Ywingscum said:

That's a lot of Calvary, I like it. Will they all be painted the same? Or different paint scenes?

i know odd question, I'm picturing what I would do with a. Inch of Calvary units. Different schemes to keep them identifiable.

yeh Hos likes his cavalry I'm thinking I'll paint them the same , but maybe minor differences like the color on the spears or different shield transfers

13 hours ago, Bhelliom said:

• Wind rune gives a shift and reform as a modifier, both of which ordinarily take an action. Opens maneuverability up nicely, but requiring a blue is more restrictive than I'd like, and the shift length being tied to Natural runes is also a bit wonky. Probably worth taking on a big enough unit, if a big enough unit is worth taking.

Picking up any shift is a pretty huge deal for a unit which lacks it. March 4, March 2 is pretty impressive, but March 4, Shift 3, Reform is absurd in terms of mobility. I can see scenarios where you can dash them into an Escort target or jam them into an enemy's deployment zone for Breakthrough at the last minute.

You definitely risk getting hosed out of any Natural runes at all or being forced to shift further than you want to. Even so, having the option to march 1, shift (even shift 0!), and reform might let you consolidate forces and then re-apply flanking cavalry a lot more easily than is currently possible.

May not be a thing, but without shift Calvary cannot disengage

Im not sure that is a huge concern, but maybe Im wrong.

I haven't had the need to disengage with anything but heroes yet.

Wind rune specifies that it can't be used to disengage.

Hawthorne allows a 3x2 formation. That's a crazy amount of damage output.

I can see combat ingenuity being super useful for these guys as well. Inspiration tokens will be generated 275% more often (before rerolls), and that will be quite useful for units that grab a lot of attention and/or have exhaustible upgrades. It'll pair well with nearby spearmen formations with dispatch runner as they'll be able to shake off the stuns brought on by it.

EDIT 2017-05-07

Ignore this whole post or just read it as wishful thinking, CI is a waiqar only upgrade

Just now, SwagonBallZ said:

I can see combat ingenuity being super useful for these guys as well. Inspiration tokens will be generated 275% more often (before rerolls), and that will be quite useful for units that grab a lot of attention and/or have exhaustible upgrades. It'll pair well with nearby spearmen formations with dispatch runner as they'll be able to shake off the stuns brought on by it.

Shield wall might actually get used more than once per game then.

Combat ingenuity is waiqar only. For the sake of god!!!

http://runewars.wikia.com/wiki/Combat_Ingenuity

The game is IMO currently unbalanced. This is arguable but quite a lot of waiqar players say so.

Combat ingenuity will be the major rebalancer, transforming the archers from a mediocre unit into a real threat for debuff and serious damage if combined with master crated weapons.

50 minutes ago, druchii7 said:

Combat ingenuity is waiqar only. For the sake of god!!

Whoops, ignore my post then

56 minutes ago, druchii7 said:

Combat ingenuity will be the major rebalancer, transforming the archers from a mediocre unit into a real threat for debuff and serious damage if combined with master crated weapons.

isn't master crafted weapons melee only?

Doh! That's right!

On 5/7/2017 at 9:15 AM, Klaxas said:

isn't master crafted weapons melee only?

Yes, but that combo will certainly be amazing on the sure to come Deathknight Waiqar cavalry unit...

4 minutes ago, FatherTurin said:

Yes, but that combo will certainly be amazing on the sure to come Deathknight Waiqar cavalry unit...

you could also throw them on a block of worms...they get a lot of surges potentially, so you could dial in a hit, roll damage basically turn everything to a hitthen multiply by 3, max damage 6 from the dice with that set up and then 1 from the dial, 21 damage? for a unit that ends up with more damage soak of 54...