Cavalry

All Mage Knight rules apply to mounts, riders, and cavalry units, except as noted in these rules.

## Mounts

Some warriors, called mounts, have elongated bases. Each of these bases has a base slot that can accommodate another warrior’s base, and a saddle that can physically accommodate a rider. Each mount is of a certain mount type and has a mount symbol (printed next to its speed value) associated with it. Mounts cannot make free spins.

List of known mounts added in the Dark Riders expansion:

* Battle Horse
* Cloud Griffon
* Desert Warbird
* Horned Stag
* Pegasus
* Salamander
* Sky Dragon
* Technocat

## Riders

Some warriors have an attack bonus printed within a square (for example, 3). Only these warriors, which have one or more mount symbols printed on their bases, can become riders. These mount symbols indicate which mount type or types that warrior can ride. A warrior on a mount becomes a rider. A warrior that can become a rider can use its attack bonus only when it is on a mount; this bonus applies to all attacks that this warrior makes, regardless of what the warrior’s attack type is.

## Cavalry Units

Together, a mount and rider are called a cavalry unit. To form a cavalry unit, follow these steps:

1. Remove the warrior from its base. This will reveal a plastic peg that you can insert into a hole on the mount’s saddle. This secures the rider to its mount. Warriors eligible to become riders are the only warriors that can be removed from their bases in this way.
2. Place the rider’s base into its mount’s base slot.

All mounts must be deployed as cavalry units; that is, they cannot be deployed without riders. Both the mount’s and the rider’s point values count toward the build total. Cavalry units cannot:

* make free spins,
* capture or be captured,
* use the surge proficiency,
* be affected by the Strong Flyer or Magic Levitation special abilities, or
* use subfaction abilities.

A mount and its rider are in base contact with each other and form a single figure, or unit. A figure in base contact with a cavalry unit is in base contact with both the mount and the rider. When a cavalry unit occupies a terrain feature, both the mount and the rider occupy that terrain feature. Special abilities of a rider or items that a rider wields that refer to the rider’s front arc, such as Venom or Sweep, use the mount’s front arc while the rider is part of a cavalry unit.

### Giving Actions to a Cavalry Unit

You can give a cavalry unit only one action per turn. If you give an action to a cavalry unit that causes it to be given a second action token, it is not dealt 1 pushing damage after the action resolves. When a cavalry unit is given a move action, only the mount’s speed value, special abilities, and proficiencies can be used to resolve the action.

When a cavalry unit is given a close or ranged combat action or a special action, you must choose to use either the rider’s combat dial or the mount’s combat dial to resolve the action. When using the mount’s combat dial, only the mount’s special abilities can be used. When using the rider’s combat dial, only the rider’s special abilities and items the rider is wielding can be used. A rider that can wield items can drop and pick up items while part of a cavalry unit. When dropping or picking up items as part of a cavalry unit, the item token must be in base contact with the mount. A cavalry unit given a close or ranged combat action uses the mount’s front arc and center dot.

### Attacking and Damaging a Cavalry Unit

When targeting a cavalry unit, the attacker chooses the dial against which to resolve the attack. Use the mount’s center dot to determine line of fire and any area of effect, such as with the Bombardment special ability. If a cavalry unit is affected by the Bombardment special ability or other area-of-effect attack, apply damage to both the mount’s and the rider’s combat dial, as applicable. Use the mount’s rear arc to determine if any rear arc modifiers apply to the attack. If a cavalry unit is dealt pushing damage, you must choose to apply the damage to either the mount’s or rider’s combat dial.

### Cavalry Units and Formations

Cavalry units can create formations only with other cavalry units. All riders in a formation of cavalry units must have the same faction symbol; ignore mount factions for formation purposes.

#### Eliminating a Cavalry Unit

If a mount is eliminated before its rider, return the rider to its base. Place it on the battlefield in base contact with the mount and eliminate the mount from the game. If the rider cannot be placed in base contact with the mount, eliminate both the mount and the rider. When a mount or rider is eliminated, remove any action tokens that were on the cavalry unit.

If a mount is without a rider, the mount’s intelligence level determines how the mount reacts. Each mount’s mount type is printed inside one of three shapes: a circle, a pentagon, or a square. This shape indicates the mount’s intelligence level.

#### Intelligence Level

**Skittish (Circle):** If this mount does not have a rider at the beginning of any player’s end phase, remove it from the game.

**Independent (Pentagon):** If this mount does not have a rider, it can be given actions as normal.

**Mean-Spirited (Square):** If this mount does not have a rider at the beginning of any player’s command phase, it is a friendly warrior to the player whose turn it is, and an opposing warrior to all other players for that turn.

### Dismounted Riders

A rider can dismount during the game; this warrior is both a dismounted rider and a warrior until it gains another mount, and all rules that apply to dismounted riders and warriors apply to this warrior, as appropriate. To dismount a rider, give the cavalry unit a special action. Do not give the mount or rider an action token, and remove any action tokens from the cavalry unit. Remove the rider from its mount, return it to its base, and place it on the battlefield in base contact with the mount. Both the rider and its mount can be given actions on the same turn the rider dismounts. If there is no room on the battlefield for the rider to be placed in base contact with its mount, the rider cannot dismount.

A dismounted rider can gain another mount during a game. To do so, the dismounted rider must be in base contact with a friendly mount without a rider, and the mount’s and dismounted rider’s mount symbols must match. Give the dismounted rider a special action, remove it from its base, and place it in the mount’s saddle. Then place the rider’s base in the mount’s base slot. Give the newly formed cavalry unit an action token. The cavalry unit can be given an action on the same turn it was formed.

### Proficiencies

Some proficiencies allow a cavalry unit to both move and attack using only one action. In these cases, the mount and the rider can use any special abilities they possess that require the kind of action given when they resolve the action, unless specifically stated otherwise. Cavalry unit proficiencies are listed below:

* Horsemanship
* Impale
* Mounted Bound
* Mounted Charge
* Overwhelm
* Trample

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-Cavalry-Rules-2004.pdf