Tutorial Cold One Cavalry Tactica

EDIT: On top of fixing a few typos I have added a few simple statistics to the bottom of the post after the Final Thoughts section. Hope they help a bit.

TL;DR – They are expensive. Don’t worry about Stupidity. Keep them on the flank. Stay out of frontal assaults unless it’s against a supporting unit. They are expensive.

As to not remake the wheel, the much credit in this thread needs to be given to Barotok and his post concerning 7th edition tactics. That topic can be found here: Cold One Cavalry Tactica (Updated 9/2/09) (Beware, there are some rather childish jokes contained within.)

What’s good about them?

Move, Strike, Destroy

First things first, these guys are one of our most elite units. They are essentially mounted Temple Guard. They have 4’s across the board, a hefty 3 attacks per model (including the Cold One chomp), and smack into an enemy at Strength 5. Not bad stats at all. A unit of 10 Cold One Cavalry models can dish out 15 Strength 5 attacks and 5 Strength 4 attacks on the charge. Against most enemies they will cause massive casualties in the first round of combat, as they are designed to do so. Their ability to weather an enemy attack is also impressive, having a Toughness of 4 and an Armor Save of 2+. Nothing to shake a stick at, unless that’s all you have.

First to the Front

They are one of our fastest units, falling second to Terradons and tied with the Carnosaur. Their Movement of 7 and the fact that they have Swiftstride gives us an 80.5% chance of making 14-inch charge. Be sure you don’t forget the extra D6 allowed by this special rule. If you do their chance of making a successful charge at 14-inches drops down to 58.3%. That’s a gamble in my book.

Give ‘em the Shaft

Having an Armor Save of 2+ and a Toughness of 4, these guys don’t fall as easy to shooting as some others would. Against regular shooting you need not worry too much. Even against the Elves they can often weather a hail of arrows for a few rounds. There are many tricks you can do to minimize casualties like taking banners, hiding them behind Skink screens, buffing them, debuffing enemies. Just try your best not to turn your flank to a bolt thrower.

Courage Conquers

Their final perk is that they are both Immune to Psychology and cause Fear. I personally believe that Fear is quite nerfed in this edition as even troops with a Weapon Skill of 1 can hit on a 5+. Indeed that is better than being hit on a 4+, so I guess there is a use for it. Of course being Immune to Psychology means you can gladly charge them into a Terror-causing Greater Daemon and not worry about them chickening out and returning attacks at a Weapon Skill of 1.

What’s bad about them?

It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse

They’re stupid. They look kinda ugly. Man, the Dark Elves got away with murder on that note. Their Cold Ones are SOOO much cooler looking than ours. Anyway, most people will tell you that you will find yourself failing their Stupidity test every other game or so. The statistics show that our Saurus have an 89.3% chance of success, so don’t get too worried about it. If you are crafty you can give them the Banner of Discipline and boost that up to a 94.9% chance of success. And if they are within BSB range they are almost guaranteed to pass at a 98.8% chance. Add both of those together and it’s up all the way to 99.7%. Remember that when you are in combat you do not have to test for it, so use that to your advantage. Besides, sometimes you just want to meander forward a couple inches, right? Guys? Guys…

But it’s so Expensive…

Their biggest drawback by far is their massive price tag. Just three of these guys cost the same as a single mounted Scar-Veteran. Why the heck would you dish out the points for the regular guys when you can make a unit of Scar-Vets? Consistently Strength 5, capable of taking magic items, capable of being the BSB or General, et cetera. I’m not sure I have an answer for that yet. Perhaps that can be a starting point for another thread. Earlier I mentioned them being essentially mounted Temple Guard, right? Apparently the addition of a Cold One is enough to more than double their points cost, but they don’t get halberds anymore. Oh, if you really want to get irate about their price tag, take a gander through the Dark Elves book and compare their Cold One Knights to ours. They have Weapon Skill 5, lances (at the same Strength of 4), Leadership 9, a 2+ save, Hatred, AND they cost 8 points less. I mean, come on! It’s just disgusting. Yeah, ok, we have Cold-Blooded, Toughness 4, and 2 attacks. But is the extra attack really justifiable for the price hike? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.

Anyway, they’re spendy.

Cold One Cavalry in 8th Edition

I’m sure you have heard that cavalry isn’t as good in 8th as it was in 7th. While I cannot attest to this as I didn’t play during 7th, I do agree that the new rules for Close Combat have made cavalry units a little harder to field effectively. Steadfast is the biggest impasse by far, with supporting attacks and striking order coming in tied for second. Let’s take a look at each rule and how it interacts with our mounted lizards.

Steadfast: At the current price tags our cavalry are very unlikely to ever be steadfast against another unit. But that is not what I am concerned about; the bigger and more common issue is another unit being steadfast against us. Anytime a unit has more ranks than another unit it is considered Steadfast. With most cavalry units rarely going over 3 full ranks, many rank and file troops are very likely to remain Steadfast.

Striking Order: Back in the good ol’ days, the charging unit was allowed to strike first. This was a HUGE advantage. Nowadays all combat takes place according to Initiative steps. While the mounted Saurus have a decent armor save of 2+, the loss of one model can rob you from precious attacks in response.

Supporting Attacks: This rule simply allows more attacks against our elite lizards. Always a bad thing, especially when combined with the prior rules. If we have 2 ranks it becomes beneficial.

Overcoming our weaknesses

This is definitely a hammer unit. The best tactic that Cold One Cavalry can use is flanking, particularly when combined with frontal assaults from regular Saurus. This means you are using your unit to smash into the side of large blocks of rank and file or to clean up those supporting units.

Getting flank charges with this unit is a huge advantage. Not only do we gain an additional combat resolution point or two for being on the flank, we also mitigate the attacks sent back towards us. This means we can continue to hack and slash away at an inferior race with our spears and teeth while only receiving a handful of hits in return. In addition to this, there is a rule that can use to our advantage called Disruption. This rule states:

For us that means we need 10 guys to flank and disrupt, potentially making an enemy unit lose the combat by an even higher margin. The downside to this is that you are now fielding a very expensive unit to accomplish your goal. If you are so fortunate or tactful to be fighting a single unit with both Cold One Cavalry and Saurus, you may have a chance of breaking Steadfast.

As a flanking unit you can also use them to clean up enemy flankers. This would be things like skirmishers, light cavalry, some chariots, detachments, and the like. Whatever your foe may be, you should always plan on being on the giving end of a charge.

How to field them

As with most units, you can expect different configurations, sizes, upgrades, and whatnot. The following quote was written by Barotok concerning 7th edition tactics, found here: Cold One Cavalry Tactica (Updated 9/2/09)

The Lizardmen rulebook has not changed since the spawning of this particular thread, so the majority of his points are still valid.

Unit Sizes - with credit to Barotok

Barebones: The smallest you can go with them is 5 models. This allows you a decent flanking unit with 15 attacks and a nice charge range. This unit type is best reserved for smaller games. It can also be used as a Scar-Veteran delivery system to give you the Look Out Sir save and add even more punch, but I’d just as soon consider spending these points on another Scar-Vet. As mentioned in the other thread, this is a viable size if you want to learn how to use them with some basic flanking roles.

Barebones with Standard: This unit is slightly more expensive than its predecessor but it comes with some welcome bonuses. Having a standard is always a good thing as it grants you an extra combat resolution point. Having access to a magic standard is even better. In this case Haunchi’s Blessed Totem is likely the best bet, allowing you some flexibility in case you fluff a charge. Second to that would be either the War Banner or the Sun Standard of Chotec, depending on what you feel is better for your meta.

Barebones with Champion and Standard: Similar to the prior, but now you have the ability to issue challenges and are given an extra attack. This is an upgrade you should consider if you have some points just lying around and aren’t sure what to do with them. The champion or standard bearer can be a Scar-Veteran if you’d like. As said before, they add quite a bit of punch to the unit and benefit from the protection of similar unit types.

Extra Riders: At this point is assumed that you have taken Full Command. The addition of extra riders gives you some flexibility in combat and can allow your unit to reform into more useful formations. More riders can let you reform in combat to expand your frontage, giving you 2 more attacks per model in the front rank. This can be quite handy if you are really trying to lay the hurt on an enemy flank since 6 models in the front rank put out a total of 18 attacks. 7 gives you 21 and so on and so forth.

Full Strength: For me this means either 10 riders with full command OR 9 riders with full command and a Scar-Vet OR 8 riders with full command and 2 Scar-Vets. The latter of these 3 is clearly the most powerful, but has the disadvantage of being a very expensive unit. The most common of these is 9 riders and a Scar-Vet, as this gives you access to an awesome character with a tough-as-nails unit and a magic banner. This kind of unit is the type where you can start playing the Disruption game, assuming you don’t lose one guy before combat.

10+ Riders: I honestly haven’t tried this yet. Unfortunately these guys are so expensive that I likely will not. The only advantage I can see in this is the possibility of having 2 ranks of 6 models, giving you just that much more damage output in combat. The addition of a more riders beyond 10 could let you soak up some damage before combat so you can still try for disruption in case of casualties.

Final Thoughts

While Cold One Cavalry can indeed be a standalone unit, they perform much better in a supporting unit role. They can in some cases take on large infantry blocks or elite troops in head to head combat but that is not often the case. Their relatively small unit size means most troops will survive the first round of combat and begin to grind them down in the following turns with a high volume of attacks. They are not likely to be steadfast making several rounds of combat their undoing. This unit is not meant to replace the role of Saurus but to enhance it with supporting charges and keeping your own flank clear of the nasties.

There is a psychological factor that they bring to the table as well. Seeing a full unit of them is impressive and can lead your opponent to make silly little mistakes here and there. For me it seems that they aren’t seen very often, making people unsure of what to do about them. Either that or they have bad memories of Scar-Vet Cowboys cleaning house.

So there you have it. Comments and criticism are welcome.

NUMBERS!!!

Chance to pass Stupidity:

For a Dark Elf:_________83.3%
For a Saurus:__________89.3%--Yay for Cold-Blooded!
With Ld 9:_____________94.9%
With Slann at Ld 10:____ 98.1%--Assuming Inspiring Presence
With BSB:_____________98.8%
With BSB and Ld 9: _____99.7%
With BSB Slann at Ld 10:_99.9%


Chance to succeed on a Charge, based on Distance:

9"___100%
10"___99.5%
11"___98.1%
12"___94.9%
13"___89.3%--Same as passing Stupidity!
14"___80.5%
15"___68.0%
16"___52.3%--Getting risky...
17"___35.6%
18"___19.9%
19"____7.4%
20"______0%--Can't roll 13 on 2 dice, silly kid.


The following was included in the 7th edition tactica, written by Barotok. The chart was made by snowywlf.

Example Damage Potential:
Below is a chart which exhibits the damage potential of a unit of Cold One Cavalry along with the addition of a Sarus Scar Veteran.

5 Cold One Cavalry
Full Command
(225)

Sarus Scar Veteran
Scimitar of the Sun Resplendent
(163)


(thanks to snowywlf)

 

I knew your Tactica would be worth the wait!

And they are Initiative 2. That’s good for a Saurus (I play a lot of low Initiative opponents so this sometimes matters).

You can get another Cold One Rider for the cost of the Banner of Chotec, I think the extra casualty will give you more protection versus shooting than the Banner, unless you are fighting Wood Elves maybe.

I’ve used the War Banner defensively since it once caused me to lose CR by one point less than I would have otherwise lost saving the unit from breaking. One point on an Ld test makes a huge difference for Cold Blooded units.

I’ve tried going 11 or 12 once or twice I can lose one or two and still keep my extra ranks. Generally the dice gods laugh at me when I do this and I lose x +1 where x is the number of extra Cavalry I took. It’s still a good THEORY.

Immune to Psychology trumps the fact that Terror outweigh Fear. That’s why most Temple Guard don’t have to take Fear tests either.

 

Yeah, Games Workshop is mean like that. They give you a box of 16 Saurus, which is not quite enough. They give you 24 Skinks, which is good, but the last 4 guys usually sit at home or get converted. And then they give you 8 Cold One Cavalry. Just weird numbers.

They only reason I prefer the units of 5 or 10 is because of the benefits of having a full rank. If you only have 9 guys you can still play them effectively, you just happen to fall short of the Disruption game by a mere one model. But then having a Scar-Vet can provide the damage output to offset the loss of disruption. And adding in the War Banner will help too.

For your battalion box, I would recommend that you model at least 1 of the riders as a Scar-Vet, if not 2 models. There are plenty of bits in the kit to give you that flexibility. That way you'll have the option of Scar-Vets and enough rank and file Cold One Cavalry to take them with the unit.

Good points on the banners. I generally take the War Banner with my Temple Guard as a defensive measure, not an offensive one.

I actually have 23 Cold One Cavalry models, though most aren't fully assembled. I wrote up a list with 2 units of 10, but the point cost was so painful that I dropped one so I could get some Saurus.

Thanks! I kind of want to do the same thing with Stegs now.

 

^^^ Yah, the price is awful. And yes, any Saurus unit buffed by Light gets pretty mean. Especially with another attack and ASF at initiative 10. Talk about a meat grinder...

When I say rank and file I am just referring to regular Cold One Cavalry riders. The ones that aren't characters. Since you need at least 5 to make a unit, keeping a few as regular riders is a good idea.

This is true. If you are lucky enough break/run down an enemy you can really set yourself up for some nice follow-up charges.

I added some numbers to the original post, hopefully allowing my fellow generals to make better informed decisions.

 

Oh, I suppose I could update this.... Admittedly I've only played one game since the new book came out. I'd like to run around with some spear-less guys and see how they handle. Kinda think they'll be better, especially with easy access to Wyssan's Wildform and cheaper Scar-Vets.