Sometimes in Warhammer: The Old World, bigger is better. If you are talking about Cavalry, these are biggest and best Monstrous Cavalry Units around.
We’ve all had our hands on The Old World for a bit. The game is starting to shake out. We’ve gotten a decent look at what is good and bad and how people like to play. Today, we are continuing our series, looking at the best units form various categories. We’ve at a lot of infantry such as basic core infantry, elite heavy infantry monstrous infantry and ranged infantry. That’s covered most of the infantry and we’ve gotten into cavalry and chariots.
Today lets take a look at one of the more powerful, and often dominant units types, Monstrous Cavalry. Not ever army gets these, and not all of them are good, but those that are good tend to be really good, and become a dominant force in games. Today we are looking at both core and legacy armies.
5. Necropolis Knights (Tomb Kings)
We are starting off with a strong Tomb King unit. Now they don’t hit as hard as some other monstruous cav unit, but this is a unit that puts out a lot of attacks. With impact hit they get six a model (7 for champ) and are a decently tank-y unit themselves. Poison for the serpents is a nice buff and being undead they’ve got some nice tricks, like getting healed, which just makes them a lot better. Necro Knights exile in smaller units and are great for running down lightly armored enemies. However their lack of AP makes has them struggle a bit with heavy armored enemies.
4. Demigryph Knights (Empire)
Demigryph Knights are one of the few things the Empire has going for it, and probably the second best unit the faction gets. They are a nice combination of hard hitting and tough. Getting up to a 2+ save gives them the best save in the class and makes them a pain to take down. Though the rider only has a single attack, it does get a lance. The mount with 3 S5 ap-2 attacks is the real star here. Overall they are great at taking down heavier units with a good amount of good AP attacks. Counter-charge is a nice buff, but outside of that they lack any interesting special rules. In another army with better access to some good combos they would be a real terror, but in Empire they are just pretty decent.
3. Mournfang Cavalry (Ogre Kingdoms)
If we are talking about sheer hard hitting power, then honestly Mournfangs are number one. You’ve got three attacks each from rider and mount, plus d3 impact hits. No other monstrous cav unit gets up to 9 attacks a model! You really don’t want to be on the receiving end of these guys charging. While they can’t get lances, the riders can take Great Weapons giving them a nice AP -2. Outside of that option however the AP of the unit is on the lower end. But it’s a flexible unit, being able to get up to a 3+ save and have 4 wounds. They have some good combo options. The units is also pretty fast. Overall it’s a really solid unit, that while lacking some of the cooler special rules, hits like an absolute train.
2. Dragon Ogres (Beastmen and Warriors of Chaos)
A rare unit that is the star of two factions! Dragon Ogres are a solid and powerful monstrous cavalry unit. While a lot of the other units on this list get stuck with S5 attacks, Dragon Ogres can get up to S7 with Great Weapons, but also have access to some other good choices. Yeah they only have 3 attacks, but two stomps really helps even out their damage with good output. a 3+ save and solid rules and support makes them just a strong overall unit.
However what really puts them up at the #2 spot is a bit of a tricky thing. See Dragon Ogres can be taken in units of 1. This 1 model can be a champion and gets access to magic items and mutations. Running a bunch of lone champions is a pretty viable and strong strategy and some event-winning lists are built around this. However events that use the rule of three kind of kill this plan. In that case I think I’d likely move them down a spot.
1. Pegasus Knights (Bretonnia)
I don’t think there is any surprise here. Pegasus Knights aren’t just the best monstrous cavalry unit in the game, they are the best unit period in Warhammer: The Old World. This is a super fast and flexible unit. It’s not the hardest hitting, but it does hit pretty hard, especially when comb’ed with characters. Flying, skirmish and Counter-charge mean it pretty goes where it wants and charges all the time. While there are a few other flying skirmishing monstrous cavalry units out there none of their hit as hard or are as tough as Pegasus Knights. Thanks to Bretonnian rules they are a lot harder to kill then they might seem and have some crazy combos. I doubt I really need to say more at this point we all know how good they are.
Let us know what you think about the list, down in the comments!
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Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.
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