Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

[Arcrave]

How does everyone allocate the light cavalry they purchase for their armies and how do you arm them? Is it generally better to split them up into 2E screening units or 6E blobs for softening up parts of the line? Would JLS, S be better than B or CB and should I be concerned about their grade?

[Todd Kaeser]

Good morning,

I would say it depends upon the army you are running and the type of LC you have available.

Where you have plenty of options I like having a mix between 2E units and 6E ones. The 2E are used to screen and when possible pop through gaps left by your opponent. Don't underestimate the use of 7E LC and 9E units. The 7E units (typically Ir C/D LC B can absorb more shots counting as 13 for cpf purposes) The 9E units (in skirmish) shoot as 24 figures with the rules and also absorb a lot more shooting.

What army are you thinking about running and I'm sure there will be a few suggestions on how to run your LC.

Todd

[Mark Stone]

Regular light cav generally want to be in 2 element or 4 element units. This way they can capitalize on their maneuverability to fit into gaps and threaten flank charges. Irregular light cavalry generally want to be in 6+ element units for greater ability to absorb missile fire, since they are typically the ones who will be frontally charging enemy light troops.

If your light cav fight rank and a half, especially if armed with both JLS and B, then you can play a very aggressive game of attacking your enemy's light troops. This can directly lead to a substantial victory, but often leads to victory indirectly by stripping away the troops that protect your enemy's flanks and extend frontage coverage.

If your light cav don't fight rank and a half, then they are primarily screening troops to pin your enemy in place. This is particularly helpful if you have a small but potent strike force that needs to line up against particular enemy troops that are vulnerable to the strike force. This is even more effective if your light cav are mostly regular, since they can then counter and skirmish back more effectively.

I could go on. There are interesting tactics that emerge from interleaving bow-armed EHC or SHC in between your light cav units. I've been experimenting lately with combined arms tactics that have LMI shooters working in tandem with light cav.

The possibilities are endless, and light cavalry are one of the most potent and distinctive troop types in the Warrior system.

[Frank Gilson]

There are also Elephant proof LC who can operate in conjunction with Elephants, drawing shooting away from those and charging enemy LI who may otherwise annoy the Elephants.

JLS,Sh LC is best as Regular, as it's difficult to keep Irr JLS,Sh LC in skirmish...and difficult to shoot anything with a 40p range weapon.

Irr LC JLS,Sh who do not fight in a rank and a half are...not worth the lead used to represent them, generally.

[Arcrave]

My list can have up to 12E LC. They can be IRR D or REG D with JLS, Sh or B. They can also have all of those weapons.

[Ewan McNay]

Everyone else has said sensible things.

The LC you describe are not going to want to fight anything ever. So buy them as B only. I personally like Reg D LC B, but it's purely a space-filling tool. IrrD LC B in big blocks (at least 6E) is even cheaper and can often shoot off opposing LC.

So *probably* I would buy a 9E IrrD LC B unit and a 2E Reg D LC B unit, given those constraints.

[Ewan McNay]

If I had spare points after building the army, I would consider giving the 2E unit an element or even 2 of JLS. That makes a small difference in most cases but in the case that you get around a flank, it can be handy (and is critical if fighting a camp!)

[Ed Kollmer]

I would refer to Mark Stone's essay on Light troops. I copied it and refer to it.
Also ToddK's suggestion of 9El LC is true. They are formable. I have faced them and used up to 3 units to deal with them.
EK