Hi guys a quick question just to gauge opinion.
I know there are a few cav players on here. What would you prefer?
Gondor knights with the lance bonus
Or
Mounted citadel guard with their str3 bows and ability to support on horses?

Need to make my mind up for Stockport next weekend

You could try a mix of both perhaps. Take some knights with lances, and then some CG with spears who can support when there's no space for them to get in.

I like the look of Citadel Guards and it would be great to see really well converted mounted ones! As for the question the Knights advantages over the Guard are the higher defence (and thats only with Shields which is the same points as a naked Citadel Guard with a horse) and the Lances which give them the+1 to wound. The Guard have a higher fight value though, have access to strength 3 Elven Bows and the Bodyguard Rule which puts their poor courage out the window (so long as they have a solid leader that is!)

In short I would go for the Citadel Guards but the choice is fairly equal.

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Mix and Match I would say. Play test them till you find the right chemistry of numbers for each.

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For myself if I could only pick 1 I'd do the knights. Those lances are absolutely devastating to opposing infantry on the charge. 2 strikes doubled with +1 to wound means you're probably killing whatever you charge (providing of course that you win). This killing punch cannot be replicated by any Gondor foot soldier, and while the Citadel Guard do give you very mobile and strong archers you can at least replicate the archery aspect with foot archers

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probs go 50/50 or something

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Mounted citadel guard, just for the models.

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Hey Steve

Its definitely a 50/50 in my opinion. I wanted to take something like this to Longbottom but just didn't get round to the conversions.

The Citadel guard with spears are perfect for supporting gondor knights. The knights provide hard hitting lances and relatively cheap shield wall effect for the guards. The Guards lend their fight 4 to the knights and make them an Unholy 3 attacks on the charge, let's not forget you can stick a guard behind Boromir as well
Their longbows also add some real ranged threat to the army and their bodyguard is one of the most useful abilities in the game.

Only drawback is a mounted citadel guard with spear and longbow is expensive but if it makes you feel better the royal guards I'll be taking are only a point cheaper lol

Looking forward to seeing them bud

An other idea is to field Citadel guards without horses, to support your knights. Don't forget with a heroic march the movement of the guards is increased up to 9" and they are allowed to support after marching (they are just forbidden to attack).

The issue with infantry guards to back cavalry is that it has the potential to burn might very quickly, not a problem if you include Aragorn perhaps but I'd prefer to stick with cavalry (then again I always do lol)

If your looking at making the guards horse archers with longbows then they need the horses to keep up and have decent LOS

Looks wise...citadel guard (they look mint!)

Better unit.....knights IMO

We've played when youve used both and the Knights to me were a much bigger threat

Lances - if you are going to take something to do the job, they mightaswell do it well. Citadel guard are nice, and bows are handy, but it really changes how your force is played. Are the slow moving elements to your force going to benefit from these guys having bows or will they just keep marching into the fight.
I tend not to mix tactics unless there is a large benefit to be seen, which I don't see in ranged weapons when the foot soldiers are not also skirmishing.

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Surely the purpose of equipping Citadel Guards with spears on horseback is to proivde the spear support for charging Knights. The two together seem to be a great combo. That first turn the cavalry hits combat will have 3 attacks with FV 4 with 4 lance attacks to wound.

After that turn the cavalry make a choice between charging with the CG to bring their extra attacks into the fight or to stay as a supporting line. This decision will be situational but by then the Gondorians should have made some kind of dent in what they're up against.

My opinion is that a mix of the two will be far supeiror to one or the other.

In regard to equipping the guards with longbows, they're a great weapon and add some decent ranged ability to the army. How the horse archers are used will vary, some armies they'll be great for scoring some early wounds against others it would be more advisable to forget the bows and engage quickly.
If you've got both ready Steve why not try and practice with them on Fri (assuming your free) and make the decision that night