Imperial Outriders

Hey, I'm thinking of starting an Imperial Outriders warband and wanted to know how balanced they are. Now, I must say, that my group doesn't use the optional mounted combat rules (blazing saddles) but does use mounts. So, using two weapons on horse back is allowed, no Whoa Boy! Table, horses can't be individually targeted, or anything of the sort. I'm pretty sure I can convince my group to allow the special Riding skills to be used. In addition, another member of my group is playing Brettonians (again, without the optional additional mounted rules) and I can only assume his warband would be subject to any mounted rules changes that would occur (i.e. the addition of Riding Skills would likely give his Brettonians the "Ride Horse" skill even though the warband list does not originally). He will most likely argue that Brettonian Heroes should start with the "Ride Horse" skill for free. With all of this said, would playing the Imperial Outriders be unbalancing, overpowered or underpowered? Also, would giving the Brettonian heroes the "Ride Horse" skill unbalance them in regards to the Outriders? I appreciate any comments or suggestions.

P.S. I'm getting a little annoyed because after I said that I wanted to try out the Gunnery School of Nuln this player decided that he was playing Brettonians. I thought that was pretty cheesy. That was many games ago and my Nuln warband is rocking regardless. I'd just really like to try something different. Anyway, babbling over.

I would say that riding horses (and the like) is not generally beneficial in the Mordheim rules system. This would mean that taking away a few of drawbacks would up them a bit. Still, horses are expensive. My conclusion would be that you would not be in an adnvantageous position playing the outriders. They're cool though.

Welcome sarcazmo7!

As folketsfiende said, riding generally goes bad in Mordheim. Saying that though, I believe that the Imperial Outrider warband is reasonably balanced even with the standard mounted rules. I doubt that you would upset things by not playing with the normal mounted rules (especially if the other warband also uses horses a lot).

I think that it is a good idea to give the Brettonian heroes the "Ride Horse" skill also. The warband was probably created before the "Ride Horse" skill was published.

It will be interesting to hear how the two warbands go up against each other.

Horse riding is not that great, but it will give you more movement. I would suggest it for a character or 2 and use them to collect things, but I would not suggest an entire warband on horse back.

Hey, thanks for the replies and welcome. I'm aware of the draw backs of being mounted and their expense. I'm really just going for the "cool factor" of this warband and the challenge the Outriders present. My past games have been highly formulaic. This is my standard strategy: don't put Heroes in combat, get Rabbit's feet, hire Elven ranger, hire Kislev Ranger, buy Tarot Cards, hope for Lad's Got Talent, wait for the money to roll in. Using the Imperial Outriders forces me to only use mounted hired swords, which I like but is underpowered. I really just need to force myself to change and Imperial Outriders seem very cool. Also, I think it would be really cool to run Imperial Outriders versus Bretonians. I appreciate the replies and would greatly welcome any suggestions on strategy or past experiences with the Outriders.

-Sarcazmo7