‘Warhammer The Old World’- Why Pegasus Knights Are The Best Unit In The Game & How To Fix Them
Bretonnian Pegasus Knights are super good in Warhammer: The Old World; most likely too good.
If you’ve been paying any attention to the current state of the game you’ve no doubt heard about Pegasus Knights. They’ve really become the current boogeyman of the Old World scene. In the recent London GT Bretonnian lists with Pegasus Knights took all three of the top spots. At NOVA, I took Best Overall with a Pegasus-heavy list, and Best General was also running them. They’ve become one of the most dominant units in the game and ar,e in my eyes, the best non-character unit around. So today I thought it would be useful to take a good look at Pegasus Knights, what really makes them and what if anything should be done to tone them down.
Basics of Pegasus Knights
Pegasus Knights are one of the signature units of the Kingdom of Bretonnia. They are a unit of flying, skirmishing monstrous cavalry. Now based purely on their stats they really aren’t all that much to write home about. In particular, compared to other monstrous cavalry, they are lacking. WS 4, S & T 4, 2 Wounds and a single I3 attack really aren’t that much to write home about. They’re in fact, outclassed by some regular heavy cavalry in this regard. The Pegasus does add in an extra two s4 attacks, but it’s still not amazing. Most units in this class are rocking with 3-4 attacks and 3 wounds at a base of S5. While Pegasus Knights do get a lance, it only buffs their attacks, and not the horses.
On the upside for them they do have a few other basic things going for them. A 3+ save is pretty decent. They also have a smaller base size than most comparable units, letting them get more models in base-to-base contact. This is actually an under-appreciated buff for them. However on the whole, it’s not these core stats that make the unit good.
Pegasus Knights Have The Rules You Want
The thing that makes Pegasus Knights actually good, is not their stats, it’s their special rules. The most important pair of these is that the unit has Fly and Skirmish (they also have a rule giving them 2 inch coherency rather than 1). This makes them one of the most mobile units in the game. They can move 20 inches in any direction at any time. They can ignore stuff in the way. And they can charge in a 360 degree arc out to 19 inches (with a 22 inch max move). In most cases, they can pick their target at will. They can avoid anything they don’t want to fight and it’s very hard to avoid them. They will almost always get the charge.
Charging brings us to the next set of rules. Furious Charge gives the riders +1 attack on the charge, taking them up to 2 lance attacks and 2 Peg attacks. This puts their damage output a lot more on par with other units in their class. Helping out with making sure they can charge, they also have Counter-charge. In the rare instance your knights might get charged you should be able to get off a Counter-charge yourself. Thanks to Skirmish, this also means you can Counter-charge 360 degrees. This makes the unit very forgiving as even with a slight misplay, you can still charge.
On top of this, you’ve got the Blessing of the Lady, giving them a ward save and making the unit extra survivable. First Charge, Swiftstride, the Lance Formation and the Knights Vow round out their stacked rules. Swiftstride is clutch for the unit, but also expected, giving them an amazing charge range. The other three rules are much more niche, but do help at times. It’s thanks to these rules that Pegasus Knights can stand up to other Monstrous Cav and are a good unit. But it’s not quite what makes them the best unit.
Characters Push Them Over The Top
To me what really pushes Pegasus Knights over the top into the best unit in the game is the ability to be joined by some truly stacked characters. On their own they have amazing mobility. However, their punch is lighter than a lot of units and they can’t bounce off a target. Characters by and large fix this issue, adding in the extra punch needed. Now you can take a lvl 4 and stick her on a Pegasus and join the unit. This does the unit some buffs, magic attacks and MR 2 are nothing to scoff at. That’s before you even get to her magic. However, most of the time, you are going to see one or more of the three combat characters in the unit.
This really does set them apart. There just aren’t any units this flexible that can be joined by all the best characters in their army. On a Royal Pegasus each character is adding between 8 and 13 attacks to the unit. These tend to be higher strength and more accurate attacks than the unit itself has. Two of these characters in a unit, (as realistically you won’t get more into combat), will up your unit to getting over 20 attacks on the charge. They also give you something to deal with enemy characters and really heavy units. In fact, a lot of the time, the Pegasus Knight unit becomes fairly irreverent in these situations. They are a delivery system for the characters, protecting them from stay attacks and helping them get into combat.
Want Some Pegasus Knight Combos For Overkill?
Like any unit in the game Pegasus Knights are better with combos. So let’s talk about a few. The most basic combo is using a wizard to throw The Lady’s Gift on the unit. This gives them a regen save. In ideal circumstances this can give the knights a 3+/5++/5+++ save, making them very durable. This is a pretty common combo to see.
If you field your army as Exiles, as I did, you also get some nice options. You lose the Lady’s Blessing to start with, but gain some buffs. The unit gains Stubborn and Veteran. Combined with Countercharge, this makes them very, very forgiving. They can mostly ignore LD, don’t have to worry too much about getting charged, and even losing combat isn’t a huge risk. They also have access to The Banner of the Zealous Knight, giving them Vanguard. That in effect, gives them a 29 inch threat range on turn one (and as Exiles they can go first) allowing for fairly easy first-turn charges. Exiles also get access to a larger range of spells, and let me tell you, Frenzy and Hatred on Pegasus Knight is not something to overlook. All that also makes it pretty easy to kill a unit and gain the blessing.
There are other combos out there. Errantry Crusade can actually buff the charge range more. However these, with some characters in the unit, are the main ones you will see.
Can And Should Pegasus Knights Be Nerfed?
So Pegasus Knights are good, really good. But does that mean they should be taken down a peg? Well… yes. I think it does. The fact is they are likely too good and too points effective. Every serious Bretonnian list is running at least 1 unit and often 2. They are a dominant force on the tabletop. Dealing with them, like a dragon, is what games become about. In addition, they simply push out most other non-character/non-core options in the army. It’s hard to justify spending a lot of points on other units when you can just get more Pegasus Knights.
And look I say this as someone who has famously, or infamously, run Pegasus Knights all tricked out with all the combos. I want them to be worse. Both for the good of the game and to make different types of Bretonnian armies more viable. So how do we do that?
How To Nerf Them
Well, a lot of people say you should take Skirmish away from them or change it somehow. Changing Skirmish is something that may need to happen for the rule as a whole, but its beyond fixing one unit. And I’m not a huge fan myself of taking Skirmish away from them. It’s not only part of what makes them a unique unit, but they simply aren’t a unit you can rank up! So I’m more in favor of small changes at first. So what would I do? I’d give the unit Loner. Simply put, this would make it so characters can’t join the unit.
Doing this keeps them a fast and flexible unit, but aslo makes them far less deadly. Their chances of bouncing off a hard target go up a ton, and they will seriously struggle with enemy characters and monsters. It also limits a ton of the combos, or at least limits their effectiveness. And yes, you can run characters next to them and try for multi-combats but that’s a lot risker, with more units needing to make charges and tests etc.. It also allows the enemy to charge the Pegasus Knights without drawing the characters in, or vice-versa.
I think this move, maybe combined with a slight points increase, would really put Pegasus Knights in a better place. Losing the crazy combos and hitting power puts them in more of a flanker/Skirmisher role. They won’t have quite the ability to just punch out any unit they wish. However it still keeps them feeling unique and as a good unit. It also opens up the army building space. Now if you want to run a bunch of characters in a unit you’ve got to look at one of the normal knight units. You might even see a Bretonnian Combat character on a normal horse! Of course, it would need some testing, maybe more is needed, but I think this is where I would start. It’s also a super simple change that doesn’t affect a ton else.
Let us know what you think about Pegasus Knights and how you would fix them, down in the comments!
