Outriders

are an missile cavalry unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer.
== Recruitment ==
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** Unlocked with: Firearms Academy
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** Unlocked with: Firearms Academy (requires unlocking the Livery with the Emperor's Mandate mechanic)
==Description==
Outriders are grim men who are both the commanders and drill instructors of the Pistolkorps. Outriders are rarely noblemen, but rather they are veterans elevated from the ranks of the state regiments, sergeants and officers who have shown an affinity for horsemanship and a talent for training new recruits. Outriders typically wear ornate armour, for noblemen pay well for their sons to learn the art of war. They also tend to sport eccentrically waxed mustaches to differentiate themselves from their younger charges. Outriders also form into separate regiments, sometimes to show their charges exactly how it's done, but also to display their own martial discipline to any noblemen in the army that might be looking for an experienced instructor to tutor their own sons. As the Pistolkorps is funded in part by the Imperial Engineers School, Outriders are equipped with deadly repeater handguns, weapons capable of unleashing devastating storms of lead at long range. The leader of the Outriders, inevitably the keenest shot in the regiment, will often be armed with an even more outlandish weapon as befits his status, gifted to him by a patron engineer.
==Attributes==
==Strategy==
Outriders (All instances being discussed are the standard repeater rifle variety) are in fact one of the best units in the game, particularly during the campaign. Outriders are essentially mounted handgunners, being statistically very similar to them. Outriders have much higher base ranged weapon damage than handgunners, but slightly less armor-piercing ability and a little less total ammunition; most significantly, outriders also have far fewer entities in a single unit than handgunners. However, the trade-off of these factors for mounted speed is well worth the only 25 more gold per turn. Outriders basically turn a unit of handgunners into a mobile, quick-strike task force which, when used to even a quarter of their full effectiveness, can turn any battle into a much easier endeavor for the Empire and its troops. The slight increase in cost is reflective of Outriders' speed, firefighting capability, and armor-piercing missile harassment.
It is important to point out that their AI pathing will not put the entire regiment within range of the enemy for some reason. This means it is often necessary to use manual move orders to place all entities in the unit inside their normal 135 range in order to maximize firing damage.
Obviously, Outriders are not as effective as handgunners in stand-and-fire tactics, which means handgunners are NOT obsolete even when Outriders become available. As a general theory in this game, comparing units head-to-head is not a good idea. Effective players should compare units to the situations in which they are most effective. Therefore, in a general campaign, it is often optimal to replace between 1 and 3 infantry ranged units with Outriders. They should not replace all ranged units, but having a few of them around is incredibly beneficial.
The basic tactics to maximize effectiveness from these wonderful troops are:
Harassment: You can pitch them out before the battle to get off a few shots at some high-end troops the enemy has, and outrun just about everything to get back to your lines before the fight. Consider it precision artillery during the opening phase of the battle. Taking 2 units of outriders with 2 units of pistoliers is a perfect way to dismantle enemy cavalry, especially if you use banners to boost your outrider speed. The pistoliers can constantly harry the enemy until they have to respond or be shot to pieces. Keep your outriders at a fair distance away to lay shots into the responding cavalry. If they turn to go after your outriders, keep distance with the unit they are chasing and fire with the unit(s) they are not chasing. The pistoliers in particular can continue to fire into them even as they are being chased. Outriders can also effectively be used to charge down enemy missile troops or artillery pieces while the outriders mow down the heavily armored cavalry responding.
Firefighting: Outriders' mobility combines with their awesome armor piercing firepower to create a force that will be able to go around and crush an enemy push that would otherwise have won the battle. Just get a unit of foot troops locked against the enemy's best, heavily armored damage dealer. Circle around back with the outriders, open fire, and a few seconds later the battle is now in your favor and their unit is either dead or running broken from the effects of being flanked and raked by missiles. Firing from the back reduces enemy armor, gives them no chance to block, and is a huge leadership reduction. Because of the mobility of outriders combined with the deadliness of the same weapon as handgunners, they can perform this task to incredible effectiveness.
Anti-Large: Outriders combine very effectively with halberdiers to kill single entity monstrosities (like arachnarok spiders, giants, steam tanks, etc.) because they can fire their deadly armor piercing rounds freely over the heads of the troops pinning the monster down. While this can be done by handgunners as well, the mobility of outriders allows them to get into position in time to save significantly more damage for the unit tanking the enemy.
Chargers: Unlike pistoliers, if you give a unit of Outriders an open back or side of a unit and a charge command, they will inflict a good bit of damage on the enemy without dying foolishly. You should use this to make units waver, pull pressure off certain foot soldiers, or to buy time for the heavier chargers to arrive. Simply pull them back after the charge and begin shooting again and you're making excellent use of your elite light cavalry.
Capturing enemies: They are faster than your standard heavy cav, giving them excellent chances to capture enemies that break after the battle. This means more gold, replenishment or leadership in the end. They doubly suited to this task because their missile attacks reduce leadership, meaning routing units trying to rally will take off again.
Outriders perform excellently versus each faction:
====Empire====
Easily can turn the tide of a battle by letting enemies fall into a firing line trap. Let the knights charge, circle around and shoot them. Bog down expensive units like armored knights and greatswords with your cheap tier one alternatives, circle around them and shoot them in the back. Even the dreaded steam tank is easily smashed by a few volleys. It is easy to take out units of reiksguard and demigryphs with two units of Outriders: one shoots and feigns retreat while the other follows behind shooting them until they turn around.
====Vampire Counts====
Terrorgheists, Varghulfs, Vampire lords, Crypt Horrors are all favorite prey of the outriders.
====Dwarfs====
The only thing outriders become a liability about here is that they eventually run out of ammo, because they are terrifically effective against the heavily armored halfpints. They also tend to leave their artillery in places where the Outriders can easily disable it.
====Chaos====
Super slow, heavily armored guys. Do the math on your own.
In the end, any army without at least one unit of outriders is likely performing at a significantly lower level than its potential.
TL;DR- PEW PEW AT HEAVY ARMOR AND BIG THINGS WITH HORSE GUNNERS AND A WINNER IS YOU
P.S. Authors' note: I wrote this during the first game and while a bit outdated in some aspects (steam tanks are no longer dreaded,) the core of it holds remarkably true. Getting AP shots from exactly where you want them is and will remain invaluable. I should also mention how they fire on the move just in a forwards arc, as that is also a very nice attribute for running down enemy cav. 
Category:Total War: Warhammer units
Category:The Empire units
Category:The Empire missile cavalry units