‘Warhammer: The Old World’- The Six Best Heavy Cavalry Units

Warhammer: The Old World wouldn’t be a fantasy game without some great knights, and these are the best heavy cavalry units you can take!

Not long after the game came out I went through and ranked a ton of the units in it. I think its a useful process to try and see what’s worth taking, and what you should fear facing. However the game has changed a lot since then. We’ve got new armies, and a major FAQ/Errata. The meta has shifted. So I though now was a good time to go back and revisit what is best in the game. We’ve already looked at some heavy and basic infantry units. So today lets turn our eyes to a category that’s arguably gotten nerfed lately, Heavy Cavalry.

These are some of the heaviest units in the game that still get to rank up. Brave knights and chaotic champions that dominate the battlefield. When you need to break an enemy line, it’s often heavy cavalry that you call on. Not every army gets heavy cav, but despite nerfs its still very important in many forces. So today lets take a look at six of the best examples of this class.

6. Orc Boar Boyz – Orcs and Goblins

Boar Boyz are the cheapest entry on this list and just looking at them base, they aren’t super exiting. They barely count as heavy cavalry. There armor is mid and they are the only unit on this list to not get lances, which seriously hampers their damage output. And yet. Boar Boyz have a loooot of options on them and it’s really once you start stacking all their many buffs together that they start to take off. Furious Charge for instance is really solid, often meaning they get 2 attacks.  T4 is also great. The Tusker Charge means the Boar hits pretty hard. The optional upgrade to Big ‘Uns combined with Choppas gives at least one unit in your army a lot of hitting power. They can also get Frenzy with ease, letting the unit put out a ton of attacks. Adding all of that up you get a unit that can become suddenly very deadly and is still very cost effective.

5. Dragon Princes – High Elfs

Next up we have the High Elf Dragon Princes of Caledor. Now, I will admit that Dragon Princes are a bit of a mixed bag. They are stuck at S 3 and T 3, meaning they are only S5 on the charge – a major downside.  On the upside, they are fast, have 2+ save and 2 attacks. Without the 2 attacks they really wouldn’t be worth writing home about, but with it, they can be pretty scary. On top of that counter charge, combined with their I5 and +1 I in the first round of combat, means that Dragon Princes of Caledor are almost always going to be hitting first, even if the enemy manages a charge vs them. The recent change to Impetuous also took away one of their bigger drawbacks.

I’d be a bit remiss if I didn’t throw out a quick shoutout to Silver Helms here. While Dragon Princes aren’t a must take, there is a solid argument that Silver Helms are. They are a very solid fast core choice for High Elfs and a pretty cheap heavy cav unit.

4. Inner Circle Knights – Empire

Previously clocking in at #5, Empire Inner Circle Knights have moved up a notch to #4. On the straight stats there are some other units that aren’t on the list that do beat them out. They have big downsides with T3 and WS 4. However, they do form a good baseline for the “good” heavy cav and have a few nice things going for them. S4 and lances gives them the all important S6 on the charge, Counter Charge is a must have, and Veteran is great. They also get a 2+ save, not super common, and re-roll 1s to hit. They also lack any negative rules like Stupidity or Impetuous (Cold One Knights lose out making this list due to lacking Counter Charge and having Stupidity).

The addition of Knightly Orders in the Arcane Journal also made this a very flexibly unit. You can give it a ton of various upgrades to tailor it how you want, and pretty much all of them are good. That flexibly bumps them up the list a bit and puts them in a solid spot.

3. Grail Knights – Bretonnia

Bretonnia is of course the knight faction, so it would be odd if one of their units didn’t make the list. As everyone knows, at the top of the list of Bretonnian Knights are the Grail Knights, paragons of virtue and combat. Now, these guys, and gals, hit like a ton of bricks. Two attacks and WS 6, with S4 and lances (and the lance formation) can do a ton of damage. They’ve got a decent set of special rules and are Immune to Psychology, and can take a lot of magic items/banners. It’s a pretty solid unit and if they charge you, its not great. However, they do have a few downsides.

While the blessing does give them a Ward save, clutch, they are stuck with just a 3+ normal save and only T4. This makes them a bit vulnerable for their price.  An even bigger downside is their place in the army. As they aren’t Core, you will end up finding them competing with the generally much better Pegasus Knights for points. Meanwhile, the cheaper core knight units are going to see a lot of play. So, despite them being a powerful unit, you may not see Grail Knights a ton. I can’t really keep them off the list because they have awesome stats and will kick your butt. But if this was a list purely based on playablity/army role, they’d be a few slots lower down.

2. Chosen Chaos Knights – Warriors of  Chaos

Next to last we come to what is likely an unsurprising choice, Chosen Chaos Knights (in fact the difference between these guys and #1 is pretty dang slim). These mean guys get all the things we are looking for in a really good heavy cav unit. They have 2 attacks, can get a 2+ save, have a ward save are S and T 4 and have Counter Charge. They can also get Drilled and come base with Stubborn giving them good sticking power. Ensorcelled Weapons helps them on turns they aren’t charging. Plus, of course taking them over the edge, they can get Marks. All of the Marks have some nice buffs, with Khorne making them able to put out 3 attacks, though of course, Frenzy has its downsides.

On top of that Chaos also has some of the best characters to put into a unit of Chosen Knights, with a ton of crazy combos allowed there. Both Diabolic Splendor and Enchanting Aura can rally buff this unit. This does however often lead to a supported unit being half or more of your army. The faction also has access to some really great buffing magic, and can even get the unit up to 4 attacks… which – ouch! Overall, even without buffs, Chosen Chaos Knights are a flexible, maneuverable, hard-hitting, and tough unit without any real downsides (other than being limited to 1 per army) with great potential to do even more.

1. Blood Knights – Vampire Counts

Whats better than Grail Knights? How about EVIL Grail Knights! That’s basically what Blood Knights are – corrupted paragons of knighthood. The two units are very similar with both rocking S4 and T4 and two attacks. Stat-wise Grail Knights are actually better, with high WS, I and M. On top of that they have a ward save vs the Blood Knight’s regen. However all of that still leaves Blood Knights in a strong place with 2 S6 attacks on the charge and a regen save.

Blood Knights can (and will) also upgrade to a 2+ save and can get drilled. Of course, the main advantage Blood Knights have is being undead, this gives them Fear, makes them Unbreakable and also lets the unit be healed. It’s much less scary to spend 40ish points on a 1 wound model if you can bring them back! They are a unit that hits super hard, is great to stick people in, and is super durable as well. The recent buffs to Regen help these guys out, and mean even losing combat might not be the end of them. They can even buff their Regen, which yes, might be better down to Grave Guard, but it still pretty scary on Blood Knights. Their durability really pushes them over the edge here, making them just great in game and also very hard to score points off of.

Let us know what your Heavy Cavalry list would be, down in the comments! 

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 Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.

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