Imperial Armour and New Death Korps

[Expendable_Aquanaut]

Hey everyone. I'm not sure if this is allowed or not but I have a couple of questions about some of the data sheets in the imperial armour compendium and was wondering if a friendly Krieger who has the book in hand could help out.

 

Im on the fence about making the purchase. I have been running a cavalry detachment of death riders in my army list and I heard there are some substantial changes to the death rider statline in this book. Is it enough of a change to warrant buying the whole thing?

 

Also, has anyone played with the new rules yet? How are the death korps (and especially my favorite murder horses) doing?

[The Pounder]

I own the book. Haven’t got to the stage of games with the Krieg yet as I’m still gathering my forces.

 

I’d say hold fire on buying it if you’re only interested in the Deathriders.

 

I’m in the firm belief there should be an FAQ soon as a couple of stats don’t make sense (WS4 but BS3)

 

The Deathriders don’t have many attacks anymore (1 each plus 2 for the mount) they do get a Str5 ap-3 dmg2 on the charge though.

 

From a positive angle, they got more survivable with a 5+ FNP!

 

I’m sure someone else could help you more with some practical game play advice.

 

I intend on running them anyway, especially the Command Squads (2 attacks each)

 

Hope that helps.

[Expendable_Aquanaut]

Thanks Jud! That's really helpful. It seems like an odd choice to take them down to one attack each but maybe the better lance profile and the survivability bump will be enough for it all to even out.

 

I'll definitely still be taking these guys but the command squads seem like much better options now. In my opinion it's still worth running them either way - cavalry charges are too awesome to turn down. And if they don't end up performing well I guess you can always just chalk it up to bringing horses to a sci-fi gunfight.

 

Thanks again for the info. It is much appreciated!

[sairence]

So just from looking at the stats, the Death Riders fill a pretty nice niche now.

 

They lose a bit of punch, but with the extra mount attacks you still get to 3 attacks per model, which is nothing to sniff at. Against light targets they should do work.

 

More importantly, they are now 3w each and their 5+++ is always on. That make them significantly more tanky. Also they all have outflank built in now, no need to take a command squad just for that.

 

I see them as a fast cc-roadblock/countercharger, which is something Guard really lacked. Bullgryns hit harder and can tank better, but are pretty slow. The new Death Riders can take less of a beating but are perfectly fine to deal with your opponents scouts that pushed out quickly in the early game and contest some board control.

 

If you take a full unit of 10 that's 30 wounds with a 4+/5+++. On the charge you get 11 attacks at S5 AP-3 D2 plus 20 S4 attacks. That should easily delete an MSU-Primaris marine unit.

 

Really nothing to scoff at for 150p.

Edited November 16, 2020 by sairence

[The Pounder]

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head sairence!

 

I think the Deathriders will be a useful addition to any Astra Militarum force!

 

I’m planning on running a Command Squad and a couple of large squads.

 

With the outflank rule becoming a universal rule for all Deathriders squads they’ll be a nuisance for your opponent.

 

Just a thought but with the Sappers rule for Combat Engineers and Outflanking Deathriders you could really pull some shenanigans!

[Expendable_Aquanaut]

Thanks for the insight!

 

I do really like the idea of engineers popping up somewhere and causing havoc along with the death riders. It gives you a nice way to keep your opponent on their toes. I might throw in an assassin or something too for even more mayhem...

 

Also the 3 wounds on the death riders seems pretty helpful. Definitely ups their survivability against the kinds of things that they're most likely to be fighting.

 

Keep me updated on how things go if either of you are able to test out your kriegers in the field.

 

Best of luck out there.