A.T.T.A.C.K.! Assaulting Thoughtfully:
Tactical Advice for Charging with Knights.
These articles are an attempt to give beginners and intermediate players some tools with which they can improve their playing skills, in the form of basic principles and maneuvers you can use with your cavalry.There is a ton of advice on the net about how to write army lists, and on which units to use against which opponents, but very little of it shows you how to do that, so I decided to make some diagrams.
Some of it is more for competitive games, some of it is more general. If there are longer bits of theory, I will put the conclusions in big text so you can just skim over the text and still get the basic point.
Step 2a: Maneuvers against cavalry.
These are a few things you can do to get the upper hand against enemy units which are roughly as fast as your knights.
They can also be used against you, in which case knowing them helps countering them!
This article will be about one on one setups, the next will deal with using a support unit.
One enemy unit versus one of your own.
The Basic Situation
I have a lance which is opposite an Empire knight unit. There are no other units around. How can I defeat it? 
The first thing to do is figure out the relative strengths of the units.
There is no way to get in his flank without support, so the combat will be frontal. In this case, you have one more rank. Average charge damage is 1 for Empire, yours is 1.3. Unit strength is pretty close, if Empire charges they are pretty sure to get it, if you charge you might get it but it's less predictable. Your biggest advantage is of course the 2" extra charge range.
Conclusion: If you can get the charge, your chances are better than his, but it's still risky.
I'm going to risk it. Should I just move forward to around 15"?
The Cavalry shuffle
That will only cause what I call the "cavalry shuffle": he will move 2" back so he is out of your charge range, you move 2" forward, he moves back again, etc, etc. If he only has 10" of free room to move back in, he can keep this up all game. This is a favorite ploy for defensive armies with lots of shooting, where the cavalry holds you at bay while you are shot to bits. Even if you are not shot at, the whole affair is still boring and useless. And it's not just Empire, most heavy cav move 14" so the shuffle is quite common.
Is there any way out of this standoff?
Yes, if we look closely at the units movement and LOS we can find openings.
Here is a picture of the Empire unit and its charge range, the area it can charge on its following turn.
So this is like a no-go area?
Exactly! When you move your units, you move these areas along with them. We can see these as control zones, since enemy units cannot enter them without the risk of getting charged.
Knowing exactly which areas you control is vital for good maneuvering.
Breaking the deadlock
So I want to get him in my charge range without getting into his?
You need a bit more than that:
The key to cavalry combat is to get him so deep in your charge range he can't move out in the next turn, while staying safe yourself.
The Empire knights can shuffle back 3,5". That means I need to get to 12"! Pretty tricky...
The first thing you'll notice about the control zone is that it's longer straight in front of the unit than to the sides. This is because wheeling loses you range: the side that is going to make contact with the enemy stands still while the other end uses up inches to wheel. The wider the unit, the bigger this difference, since wheeling costs them more for no extra gain.
And that Empire unit is nice and wide...
The angled approach
Well spotted! Against a unit 5" wide, if you can get in a place where he'd have to wheel more than 35 degrees to charge you, you can win more than 3". With the 2" basic movement advantage you have to begin with, that should be enough to pull it off. A bit of practice estimating distances would be useful, but that goes for Warhammer as a whole.
Is there no safer way to come close? I'm still not very good with distances, I don't want to get countered if I screw up.
There are ways, but all of them are circumstantial, they depend on the setup and the opponent leaving vulnerabilities. The most common of these is when he is not aimed straight at you, for instance when he tries to cover more area than he can, and leaves some unguarded:
Hey, that is a lot of unguarded table!
If you can get past his LOS, you can approach without danger of a counter:
Slipping past his guard
Ha, now I can get as close as I want!
Don’t get too close though, he can still move 7” when marchblocked so make sure he cannot get out of your LOS with that.
Using the tools available to you
There are a few specific things which can also give you an advantage. Take this piece of impassable terrain for example:
What good could that little thing be?
Remember the charge rules? A unit is only allowed one wheel during a charge. And the Empire unit is pointed directly at the terrain...
So if he needs to wheel to get past the terrain, he can’t wheel after that!
Terrain shadow
Exactly! Since he needs to use up his wheel to get past the terrain piece, this leaves a large "charge shadow" where you can safely advance. Care is needed to prevent him from turning the tables and getting out of your charge arc as well, but it can definitely work.
Are there any tools which I can force on the opponent as well, instead of waiting for him to make a mistake?
Actually, we DO have a shiny toy in our book that does exactly that....
Oh, the Virtue of the Impetuous Knight! I always thought it pricy and unreliable.
It is only unreliable if your expectations are too high, it will disappoint if you use it for 20" charges but an 18" one is quite reliable.
That's enough to break the cavalry shuffle head-on! Or even better, make the angled approach much safer!
The angled approach with Virtue of the Impetuous Knight
And don't forget that he doesn't know you have it....makes it far easier to catch him on the wrong foot!
Remember that if he flees, his average roll is 10-11", while your failed charge will be 8". If he didn't run off the table, this will give him time to rally again and begin the whole shuffle thing all over. But if he thinks you're out of range, he'll hold. Getting him in combat is riskier than having him flee, but the rewards are much higher if you break him.
That's just the way I like it...
The next few tricks are a step further, and it would be good to look at the principles of the ones we discussed. What do they do from the perspective of using the control zones?
Well, the "Angled approach" and "Slipping past his guard" are about using the shape of his control zone to avoid it.
The “Terrain shadow” and the Virtue of the Impetuous Knight are about changing the shape of the control zone, reducing his or expanding your own.(light green area) 
Very good!
The next two will be about making the control zones SEEM different from what they are.
Misleading the opponent
Very often the opposing units will not be as well-matched as in the previous examples. Say that on one flank there is a unit of 5 Inner Circle Knights with Full command and a Warrior Priest. Opposite you have only a support unit of 6 
KE with musician.
I can never win that!
Breaking them on the charge is very tricky, and in subsequent turns hopeless. However, the fact that there is over 280 points opposite your 127 gives the rest of your army an advantage, though preferably without losing the KE of course!
So should I pull a “Slipping past his guard” and move to his flank?
No. That would mean forcing the issue, since he would then turn and you can’t get out of his charge range anymore
Oops! That would force me into a losing charge...
Exactly. But you do have one advantage: 6 KE in lance formation LOOKS like a real combat unit, even if this one is not suited for that. If you give the impression that they ARE a real combat unit, there’s a good chance that he’ll respond accordingly. Just move aggressively, for instance with an angled approach but just giving him enough room to move out...
Pretending to be strong
...and he probably WILL move out!
This will keep him occupied until you can bring in support and finish him off. So what you are trying to do is lure him into regular cavalry tactics, staying out of each others’ control zones. Because this is such a common way of thinking he doesn’t realize that you don’t HAVE a control zone, because your charge cannot harm him much.
What if he sees through the bluff and moves in?
Keep your distance, keep room to flee, if you do lose your unit make it as disadvantageous for him as possible. These are standard delaying tactics we will discuss in one of the coming articles about support units.
Okay lemme guess, the next one is called: “Pretending to be strong”?
Wow, aren’t you a genius...
Just as some knight units are weaker than they look, others are stronger. Say that in the original setup you give the unit the Warbanner, as well as replace 1 KotR with a BSB with the Gromril Helm and the Sword of Might.
This unit can actually hold the charge and break them through static CR on subsequent turns (or the first if you’re lucky).
So I should just move in, like to 2” or so?
If your opponent is not good at delaying tactics then that would be the best thing to do. If he is, he’ll try to flee through terrain or back up and put a sacrifical unit in your path. Also, you give away your intent and he will draw off more units to deal with the threat.It is far easier if you make him come to you!
Pretending to be weak 
Like with pretending to be strong, you move as if the units are evenly matched. The trick here is to “accidentally” come too close! He’ll think you’ve screwed up (the best thing is to put up a show, spend a bit of effort into positioning, moving a bit backward and forward). Make sure your frontage is aimed exactly at where you want to pursue, and the BSB is in the right place.
And he bites... 
When in combat, use the BSB with Helm to the fullest. Best thing is to get him out on a corner and in Base-To-Base with the champ. Challenge with him. If he accepts, one knight on the outside corner cannot fight. If he refuses, you’ve removed the champ, and the outside model can only attack the tough BSB.
Can these things backfire?
All bluffs can backfire, but these 2 are fairly safe. They will only delay him less, or cause some delay for you if he doesn’t fall for them.
Okay, that’s it for now. Next time: Using a support unit!
Credits:
Guillaume le Courageux
Uther di Asturien
For helping me post the articles and improve the layout.
Harolde Bartholomew de Raconter
For editing the text and providing input and feedback
Deadshot on Warhammer Empire
For writing the great battle report program
Artinam
Sir Siegfried VII
The Avenger of Quenelles
Scurrdi
Athelstan
Equinox
Baron Reynard Morriette of Chorrol
Cosar
For giving input and feedback on the forum.
Thanks to all!