| Description: The Empire (6th edition) |
Many thanks to Lord Calsius for this article.
In this overview I will go over all of the units in the empire army, talking about advantages, disadvantages and other pieces of useful information.
Elector Counts and Captains
These are the standard combat characters in the empire army. They are cheap in points and have access to a wise variety of equipment so you can equip them to suit any need. What they do lack though is a good statline, but magic items and other gear can make them slightly more respectable. The elector count’s special rule that allows one unit of state troops in the army to carry a magic standard worth up to 50pts is highly useful and should be exploited every time. Using it can mean all the difference to one of your regiments.
Wizard lords and battle wizards
These are the imperial spellcasters. These men have not got any special rules making them good like dark elves or high elves and have access to limited magic items to make them slightly better. I use them as scroll carriers really. Combat enemy magic and do a small amount of my own with little or know success. In my opinion only bother taking one battle wizard at level 2 with 2 dispel scrolls.
Templar Grand Master
These are good combat characters and are already equipped without the need of extra costs with a lance, shield, barded warhorse and full plate armour. However, they cost twice as much as an elector count and do not have the magic banner rule, though any unit of knights they lead become immune to psychology. They are also immune to psychology. They are a strong addition to a unit of knights, but do not consider using them often, they cost big points and are not going to be near the army much during the battle to grant their leadership bonus.
Engineer
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Warrior priests
These are very expensive heroes who are a must have against chaos, skaven and undead. Any unit they are in hates all these as well as the priest, meaning you can cause more casualties and potentially win battles because of it. They also provide an extra dispel dice, which is helpful if you are playing against Tzeentch chaos or necrarch vampires. Taking him then would be mandatory. It is best to give him a great weapon, so he can deal death in greater quantities to the enemy.
Halberdiers, Swordsmen, Spearmen and Handgunners
These are the core of all empire armies. They are the units most often used for the detachment rules. As a parent unit swordsmen or spearmen are the best, as they like high strength weapons and spearmen have extra attacks when they are charged. Halberdiers and/or handgunners as detachments are best. One detachment of 5 handgunners and one of 8-10 halberdiers is the best combo. The handgunners can stand and shoot if the parent unit is charged and inflict a few wounds and the halberdiers can bring their more powerful weapons to bear on the enemies’ flanks. Unfortunately they cannot cause panic tests but can still negate rank bonuses, which is their key role. Handgunners have good weapons, and with their armour piercing strength 4 rounds they can cause severe damage to well armoured opponents like ironbreakers or heavy cavalry. Their marksmen also have access to the repeater pistol, repeater handgun and hochland long rifle. The rifle and repeater handgun are the best options to take.
Free Companies, archers and crossbowmen
These militia units provide additional firepower as well as cheap combat troops with lots of attacks. The free companies, when given light armour and full command offer a good regiment just as reliable as any state regiment and can also act as detachments or parent units. They are good for detachments as they have plenty of attacks to use against the enemy. Archers are skirmishers and can be upgraded to huntsmen. Huntsmen carry better bows and can scout, which makes them useful for slowing up the enemy whilst firing at them, and meaning that the enemy has more turns of your fire to face before getting into combat, and when you play a frail army like the empire, that extra turn or turns of shooting can make all the difference. Crossbowmen are really just like handgunners but with extra range and weaker shots.
Knightly order and knights of the white wolf
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Cannons and Mortars
Cannons and mortars are the main artillery units available for your command. Both have a good range and can be potentially devastating. The ordnance blast marker from the mortar can potentially cover up to 40 20 by 20mm based models, making them lethal to skaven and goblins, who rely on massed numbers in small spaces. Cannons are useful for ripping though the ranks of very powerful regiments. Aim them down the ranks with the standard bearer in, that means that they have lost right there an attack in combat as well as the extra combat resolution. It may also affect whether or not they have outnumbering against you in combat.
Pistoliers
Pistoliers are the fast cavalry available to empire generals. They are equipped with 2 pistols making them lethal in initial rounds of combat. With their fusillsade special rule they can use both pistols in combat at once, making them even more powerful in the first round of combat. What they do lack however is the option for a musician, which is a very important purchase for fast cavalry, and especially these guys, with their low leadership. Their marksmen have access to the deadly repeater pistol, and with this they are even more powerful than their comrades and so can really help deliver a decisive blow if they hit enemy flanks.
Greatswords
Greatswords are the best infantry in the empire army. They wear full plate armour, carry great weapons and to top this they are stubborn. They are a fantastic defensive regiment, and when boosted with the griffon standard can really hold for a very long time. A captain in their ranks with a great weapon as well can also help them greatly. Even with their armour, they still only have T3, so expect to have to take a lot of armour saves.
Flagellants
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Helblaster Volley Gun
These guns have the potential to fire 30 S5; armour-piercing rounds in one go. As you can guess these things can easily wipe out pretty much anything and everything that unluckily wander within its sights and range. However, they are expensive and are the most unreliable weapons in the game. They are best used facing towards a narrow gap in some terrain. The enemy will be scared to go in there in case they are ripped to shreds and so will be limited to a smaller area to move about in which you can put all the rest of your guns around and blow your opponents army to smithereens.
