Red For Reformado – Historicon 1st Place

In case you missed it, Historicon was last weekend. DMC has an article covering it, that you can read. That will get you caught up with the what & why and is hopefully why you’re here – you read that one first and clicked on the nested link. There’s not a lot of intro to this one; this is an overview of my Portuguese Cavalry list – wham, bam, and thank-you ma’am.

If you want to download the list and follow along, you can grab a copy here:

Portuguese Tercios & Militia

This is really where the list started, and this isn’t my first rodeo with the Portuguese in tournament play. I ran a Bandeirantes list for an HMGS land tournament in 2019.

The rule allowing Milicianos Indios is good, but not actually the reason I was playing this list – pretty far from it, actually. That rule is also available to the Bandierantes, and they can get a lot of great advantages from it, there. Likewise, I wasn’t after the Jewish Militia, as I think Dutch lists can do it better.

Universal Drilled is what I wanted. In my opinion, it makes Portuguese the best for a Cavalry list, because it gives them access to the Reformado. They also have one of the most effective cavalry units in the game; the Caballeria Lancero, who can make use of that Reformado.

Aged Like A Fine Cachaça

I tried the list shortly after No Peace released, using two units of Cavalry with the Reformado and a 0pt commander to lead them, with an 8pt Officer as the real commander. That list still wasn’t great, but it was close.
Two recent updates have changed that:

Firstly, Revised No Peace Beyond the Line (what a mouthful) dropped the price of cavalry 1 point across the board.

Secondly, I think that Firelock realized how unfair it was for the Portuguese to make better use of Spanish Cavalry than the Spanish lists could, so they threw both Nations a bone, by publishing the Hidalgo in Raise the Black. For the Portuguese, that’s just a second Reformado.

On Cavalry

If you haven’t read Jason’s article for using Cavalry over at Pigment, you should. It repeats a lot of the same lessons that have been shared on Facebook and Discord, and a few more besides. It’s good to have them all recorded in one place.

One way to play any points-based game is to think of combat in terms of attrition. Remove enemy points from the table faster than they are removing yours. My cavalry units were as cheap as possible – only 21 and 22 points. I could charge into a unit of Regulars, kill 4, and technically be “ahead.” That’s why I didn’t want an expensive unit of Veteran Cab.Lancero and didn’t care about how much Fatigue my units gained from the Fighting Men.

The Fighting Men

The Portuguese ability to grab both the Reformado and Hostigador lends itself to this attrition-missile strategy. The combination of Spade + Push + Character Command Point means that I can get the same 20″ charges normally reserved for Veteran units twice their cost.

It also means that I am not depending on Skirmisher for double-fights in my activation. I can Charge on the card, and then declare a Fight with the Command Point (you still gain the point of Fatigue for fighting twice).

Strategically, if you think you can Shake or Destroy the enemy on the Charge, then it’s better to order that with the Fighting Man and leave a card action in the tank. If there’s any doubt though, charge on the card and leave the Fighting Man for that second fight action.

The same consideration also applies when shooting your Brace of Pistols – remember that using Pistols in melee counts as a Shoot as well as a Fight, and any Shoot after the first causes you to gain Fatigue. Don’t shoot on the way in – it’s almost never worth it; your cavalry hit on 8+ with their pistols (this is why I actually give my Lanceros Carbines, rather than pistols). If the enemy isn’t already at 2+ Fatigue, then 6 guys shooting on an 8+ is a hail mary to actually get them there. Fail, and they’ll still shoot you, and you might not be able to gain the Fatigue to use your pistols in melee where you want them. That doesn’t mean never Shoot, it just means don’t shoot to prep a Charge.

Tournament Advisors

Another option which plays nicely in the univeral Drilled of the Tercios, is the Drummer Boy Hostage/Advisor.

I used a Hostage/Advisor in my Adepticon Sea List, and it put in a lot of work during that event. The way that Hostage/Advisors apply a Strike Point at the end of Turn 6 is something which makes them very appealing.

In standard games, this is a “win/lose more” mechanic – Strikes don’t matter after you’ve determined who won or lost. In a tournament though, where Strikes are frequently used as a tie-breaker to rank players with the same record, gaining an extra Strike can make or break you. If you’re losing, it doesn’t matter if you “lose more” – you’re off podium. But if you’re winning, the “win more” strike when a game goes long can be what puts you ahead of another 3-0 player.

The Drummer Boy stands out in particular, because he is a Musician for all intents and purposes, with the additional restriction he must join a Drilled unit. However, he is 1pt cheaper than the upgrade for a Musician, meaning he’s usually around half the points cost. It seems odd to me that Firelock would increase the cost of the Musician because it was an “auto-take” and then leave the Drummer Boy so cheap when he’s arguably the better choice.

The Rest of the List

I padded-out the rest of the list with a unit of Jewish Militia because yes, they are a solid unit to take. The -1 cost adjustment that came alongside the Cavalry discount makes them genuinely viable in the 4pt slot.

The other unit was a block of Milicianos. Admittedly, these guys were only there to pad numbers. I was running 37 models, which meant that I gained Strikes at 9 casualties. I could lose both of the Cavalry units and still be at 1 Strike – I would have to lose almost another full unit to hit that second strike. It plays into my theory of using the Cavalry as expendable missiles.

Results & Spreading the Love

If you read my Historicon Recap, then you know how my list fared in each round. I finished 3-0, against a trio of 18th century lists: French Army (RtB), Dutch Caribbean Militia, and Church’s Raiders.

Prize support was first pick at a pile of Firelock plastic kits. I already have hundreds of the plastic minis waiting to be built, so I decided to grab a box of Cavalry and spread the love.

If you want a chance to win the box and try out some cavalry in your own games:
Give the blog a Follow using the sidebar, and link me a Forcebuilder list that includes at least 1 mounted unit in the comments of this article. I’ll pull a random winner at the end of August, and send them a box of Firelock Cavalry.