Of all the armies that are available to the Warhammer player the Empire is one of the most underused. Even though it was the first army book to be released (and it was released in a very similar form in White Dwarf a year before the book came out) and has one of the best backgrounds of them all (based heavilly on the stuff created for WFRP) very few people use them. Why?, well its probably due to the fact that they have such a troop choice. No other army has the ability to field so many diverse troops without resorting to allies and as they are only humans they are quite cheap, meaing that you get plenty of troops for your points.
The other thing about the Empire is that you can play them in so many different ways. They are the perfect tactical army, due to the vast choice that I mentioned above. One player that I know of takes an army that consists of Dwarfs, Ogres and Halflings. Perfect legal but not really in the flavour of the army. I mean where are all those Knights!!!
Below I detail a 2000 point army that will prove a capable force for the newbie to use and will also not cause them to empty their piggybanks every week. Like the other armies in this series of pages this may not be the most powerful army that its possible to design but it will provide you with plenty of fun and makes a good core for expansion. If you use this army do write to me and let me know your experiences with it.
Like the Bretonnian's the Empire has a plethora of Cavalry at
it's disposal. My favourites are the Reiksguard Knights as I
always picture them dressed in very shiny platemail charging
towards the enemy on giant white chargers. A bit like parts of
"Excalibur" really. Unlike the Bretonnians Empire
cavalry can't use the Lance formation so they just have to rely
of good old fashioned killing to win combats for them.
Fortuneately they are very good at this. Like Nigel Stillman I am
a firm believer in large blocks of troops rather than small
piecemeal units. This does have the unfortuneate side effect of
making the unit expensive both in terms of points and hard cash
but it does make them a force to be reckoned with on the
battlefield.
I have placed the General with this unit and also "Mad" Marius. The General is there to make sure that the unit hangs around after it takes all the nasty missile fire that is certain to come its way, whilst Marius gives it some extra kicking power in the hand to hand combat phase. I have also given the unit the Standard of Shielding as this makes the unit immune to strength 3 attacks thus rendering them immune to most bowfire.
So the unit consists of
This makes the points total of the unit 849 and it will cost you £36.00
It is unusual for an Elector Count to take to the field of
battle without some of his state troops to back him up and this
army is no exception. Supporting there lord and master is a large
block of Halberdiers. These are led by a hero to give them a bit
of extra kickng power. Perhaps it is Marius's son. This block of
walking death is supported by two detachments of Archers. These
are positioned so that they take advantage of the Empires special
Detachment rule, enabling them to test of the hero's
leadership.
So the unit consists of
This makes the points total of the unit 573 and it will cost you £27.50
Any army that includes a block of heavy cavalry sould also
include some light cavalry as well. This is purely so that when
your heavy cavalry break enemy troops the light cavalry can do
the persuing and you powerful block can go and kill more enemy.
The empire has two types of light cavalry and most people go for
Kislev Horse Archers. However I prefer the figures of the
pistoliers so thats what I've included here
So the unit consists of
So far the army is lacking in magical power so we'll remedy
that now. The Empire has a profusion of Battle Wizards who have
studied in the great colleges of magic in Altdorf. With the new
magic set, colour magic has been made an option and the new
battle deck has been brought in. However most players will be
quite willing to let you continue to use the colour spells so
make sure that you paint your wizard up in the colours of you
favourite college. Mines gold but it really is up to you
The other option that Empire Armies are famous for is its
artillery. Every army should include a Hellblaster Volley gun
just for the fear value and the cannon is included just to worry
those nasty elf armies that tend to have heros and generals
mounted on large scary dragons
This makes the points total of the unit 200 and it will cost you £14.00
The total cost of the army is 1979 points and you'll have to lay out £95.50 pounts to buy it. Hope you enjoy the army.