Warhammer: Mounted Yeomen

If you play Brettonians in Warhammer, the two fast cavalry options you have available to you are the Pegasus Knights and the Mounted Yeomen. I am just beginning to become familiar with how to use the Mounted Yeomen effectively. One tactic that I discovered accidentally worked very well for me in a game against Orcs and Goblins (battlereport athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanstactictalk/sets/72157623345098041/) The strategy involved bringing the Mounted Yeomen within charge range of the Orc General. At the time, the General was not in line of sight to a nearby lance. When the mounted yeomen maneuvered in front of the Orc on the Dragon because he had frenzy he had to charge. The Orc destroyed most of the unit and the last survivor fled but he HAD to pursue (because of frenzy), moving into line of sight and setting me up for a charge with the aforementioned lance. The General was summarily destroyed and this had a great psychological impact on my opponent as well as ridding the battle of some fierce magic. This was a particular case and in general, Mounted Yeomen are great at baiting and running so that other units can flank charge or just get into charge range.

What is baiting? To bait an opponent is to entice the enemy unit to charge a unit [the Mounted Yeomen]. This is why they are called the bait. If the enemy does charge there are two options:

Pic 1

1) You can flee the Yeomen, hoping the enemy pursues and drawing the enemy into charge range of another unit (Pic 1) or

Pic 2

Pic 3

2) You can get the Yeomen to stay and fight but you positioned the unit in such a way that the charging unit has to turn their unit as well and thus exposing the flanks or rear to a secondary charge. (Pic 2 & 3)

The neat thing about Mounted Yeomen is that they are peasants, so if you are implementing option 1, you can actually have the Yeomen flee THROUGH lances of knights and the Knights do not have to roll for a panic test. After all, they are just peasants, so who cares if they are scared? This tactic is particularly good one if a lance of knights is just out of charge range of an enemy. If the enemy takes the bait they will move forward and engage the Mounted Yeomen. Whether or not the Yeomen flee successfully or unsuccessfully (which means they are dead) doesn’t matter. You have successfully enticed the enemy within charge range of your lance. Next turn, charge!