Well what are they and how do they differ from other warbands? Well they aren’t really that different I’m afraid. Your Reiklander strategy needs to be built around your strengths, we know that these are 12" leadership range, marksmen with BS4 and swordsmen with WS4 and the expert sword skill. Your weaknesses are primarily average strength, average movement, a lack of fear causing models and no magic. One other key point, learn the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents, both their warbands and gaming style, know your enemy, otherwise your in for a nasty surprise.
The above means that shooting should play a significant part of your strategy, you are allowed a maximum of 7 marksmen and you should aim towards five, more if you prefer shooting to hth. Placement of those marksmen is crucial, you need either open vistas (is your opponent senile?) or elevated positions. To get them into position think about where you need to place them in relation to the terrain and the speediest route to that position. Don’t place them on the left-hand edge if their final position is over to the right. Conversely if they can move and climb quicker by a slightly more circuitous route that doesn’t involve initiative tests then use that route instead, failing an initiative test to climb up to your desired position could be costly. Keep in mind the all alone rule, so that if you split them up to cover more ground try to keep them within 6" of each other so that any model in hth doesn't have to take this test. The sooner you can upgrade their BS to 5 the better. They will be hitting on 3+ at long range and 2+ at short range, this is a good time to give them something with strength 4 such as a crossbow or handgun to give them a better chance of wounding as well. Even if they don’t kill anyone they will seriously disrupt your opponents plans and allow your hth specialists to gang up on your opponent more easily. Using your leader with a BS5 and duelling pistols will guarantee you a hit at short range and a reasonable chance of wounding.
Once you have them in position think about which target you are going to shoot at. Which present the best chance of hitting and wounding and which present the most threat. Does the scenario dictate your choices (in defend the find for example you want to keep the attacker at bay) or is that long distance direwolf as easy to hit as that nearby dreg in cover? I’d go for the direwolf as the bigger threat to my warband if the dreg couldn’t charge me this turn. Conversely if I’m elevated that direwolf can’t charge me no matter how close he is, so the dreg may be a better target if the direwolf isn’t a threat to anyone else.
Your swordsmen and champions are your heavy hitters and your other main strength, group them together to mob up against the enemy. Putting a champion or Youngblood in with them helps to ensure you do some damage (the numbers game). I tend to have a swordsman, champion and Youngblood in a group, experiment to find what suits you. Keep in mind the all alone test and keep your models fairly close together so that they get mutual support from each other. When you are attacking your opponent go for his weaker troops such as Youngbloods or their equivalents. You will be hitting them on a 3+ and wounding on a 4+ in most cases. The aim is to cause a rout test as soon as possible. In return his heavy hitters will be hitting your swordsmen on a 4+ and wounding on a 4+ unless they have strength enhancing weapons. If you got the charge in remember to re-roll any missed hits from the sword for the first turn. Giving your swordsmen helmets and eventually armour should help them stay around to do the job.
Your leadership bonus will really come into effect when playing Undead and other fear causing models. Should you elect to take battle tongue (but I think there are better ones for your Reiklander leader) as an advancement then your leader will cover a large part of the board when placed centrally.
As regards causing fear this can be obtained as an advancement or by hiring an Ogre. This is expensive though, so do it when you’ve pretty much equipped your warband how you want it or you are coming up against something nasty which is causing you major problems. He isn’t as good as a rat ogre but he is cheaper. By the time your opponent can afford a rat ogre you can afford quite a few hired hands or even a Hochland long rifle to help pick him off at a distance. Against Undead and possessed he won’t have to worry about testing. In a mob he can help your models survive a charge by fear causing creatures since he will hit normally irrespective of what your warriors are doing. Keep in mind that fear doesn’t affect your shooting, so let fly with everything you can, but go for worthwhile targets. Shooting at the Vampire is best done with Strength 4 weapons otherwise you are wounding on a 5+. Unfortunately your opponent is unlikely to oblige by presenting the best targets for you, so just shoot what you can if all else fails.
Overcoming your average strength can be done either by taking strength enhancing weapons (but they all have their downsides) or by getting a strength advancement. Giving your warband a mix of weapons will help with this problem but Middenheimers will have a natural advantage with their +1 strength for their Leader and Champion as will other naturally strong races. The same applies to movement. In both cases bear your weakness in mind when playing an opponent who has these as their strength. Your marksmen can just as easily shoot them as the slower or weaker counterparts (although you'll have less turns in which to do so for fast moving ones) so use them well, they are your main strength, don’t waste it. In these circumstances make them come to you, don't narrow the gap by moving forward any more than you need to.
You can overcome your magic deficit by simply hiring a warlock or acquiring the appropriate skill and tome of magic. Of course getting the best spells isn’t guaranteed but you can generate more as an advancement or simply rehire the warlock after a battle to randomly generate two new ones. Depends on how flush with money you are and how good or bad the two spells you get are. I particularly like the prospect of warrior wizard and sorcery with Sword of Rezhebel and luck of Shemtek.
By Sam Sedghi
Sumbitted by Kelly Costanza
