by Richard "Lord Brrrp" Kottmeyer
Taken with permission of Skavenblight
Karl Franz returned in haste to
Altdorf. Barely had he removed the reins off Deathclaw
before he was screaming at his guards to gather the Council and
to bring him Volkmer in particular.
Volkmer was first to arrive at the zoo.
"Are the rumors true. I pray to Sigmar that they
are not"
Franz sullenly replied, "They are true. . .Morglum is
prepared to strike Nuln and our Counts bicker amongst
themselves. I fear for the Empire for it has been years
since we have fought such a large incursion."
"Is there no end to Chaos and the Green Tide?"
"You speak like a flagellent. The Empire must be
saved one battle at a time. Call the Counts we have little
time to remind them how to fight".
"Some of us have known for years that another great
battle would be fought. It's time you have this artifact from the
time of Sigmar. . ."
With that Karl Franz opened the book of Sigmarian Strategy and
began to read.
First off, as an Empire general
know what you are and what you are not. You are by far one
of the weakest INDIVIDUAL hand to hand fighters. Your
troops
are average, your characters are average and your leadership is
just plain average. Yet, you are cheap and possess a mighty
amout of troop variety as well as character armament, monster
selection and wierd and fabulous war machines.
The goal of the Empire Player is to coordinate several mediocre elements of an army into greatness.
1) The Trap. . . .being filled with detachments and large units of troops, the Empire player presents a wide number of targets to an opponent. The opponent can only charge but a portion of all these targets. The trick is to force him into a no win situation. For instance, if I charge the hand gunners they will stand and shoot. . .yet if I charge the halbardiers, the handgunners and swordsmen will deliver critical rear and flank charges the next turn. Or. . . .I see 2 hellblasters. which unfortunately are set up right in front of my main deployment. If I move forward, my units could get torn up by these machines. . . .If I move latterally, I will be forced to engage the Imperial calvery while the infantry advances. What do I do?
2) Counterpunch. . . .The Empire fields large blocks of cheap infantry and unlike conventional wisdom would hold BACK the calvery until the enemy was forced to commit to charges. The calvery would sweep left and right and be prepared for a great counter-punch should the enemy advance on the imperial infantry, rushing down flank after flank of enemy troops <hard hitting charges denying rank bonuses>. . . .
3) Block and Charge. . . .The Empire possesses some of the best screening troops in the game. Force the enemy to commit to charges and then run the fast calvery, calvery and other troops around the screen, allowing you to get behind enemy lines. Kislev Archers are cheap, fantastic troops for getting behind enemy lines. Just leave enough space between your infantry blocks to allow these guys room to rush through the combat., then charge the rear.
4) Screen and Flee. . . . .The Empire possesses plenty of 3d6 fleeing troops. Send the Kislev archers forward. Shoot. . .Shoot. . . .Shoot. . . .when the enemy advances for a charge. . . .FLEEE. . . . .of coure flee and hide behind the hellblasters, war wagons <or you name it>. Most enemies won't leave enough room on a charge to pursue and capture. Give em the 8 cannonball salute! Against infantry blocks charging. . . .use halflings in large units. . . .shoot shoot shoot until they decide to charge then FLEE behind, calvery. . . .artillery etc. POUND the enemy for failing the charge. This is the trick of the Empire, with so many troops force the enemy to choose one of two bad options <charge and get lured into a trap or advance slowly allowing additional rounds of shooting>.
5) Slow Advance. . . .One of
my favorite strategies. . . .Use hafling archers to move and
shoot . . . . .bring the huge units of infantry <including the
detachments> slowly forward. Send the Calvery
sweepting to either side prepared to crash the flanks of any
enemy units that engage. Shoot Shoot Shoot those war
machines. Squeeze like a vice in from the side. If the
enemy charges, have the haflings flee behind the flagellants and
crown of command big unit. Now they are stuck <if they
even got into combat>. Advance and use the
detachments and calvery to break rank bonuses and provide
additional combat resolution. Litterally, you can have +4
combat resolution from the parent units rank and standard and an
easy +3 from the detachments rank and standard. Trust me
the infantry awaiting the
calvery to crash through the furthest enemy units has every
chance to survive starting with such a bonus! Stick them into
combat they can not win or which you can afford to lose then
close in!!!!!!!
These are but a few strategies the Empire can use. In fact when it comes to making a battle plan, the Empire is absolutely spoiled. Don't forget, you can always have a hero on a flying 5W monster for relatively cheap and in larger battles the hero <with just a little protection> on a chimera serves as a mighty charger <with lance and pistols> or can breathe fire down any enemy unit's neck.
Imperial Calvery with Lances <Panther, Reiksguard Knights, Blazing Sun>: They only move 6" and to place a standard with them costs no less than 78 pts before the cost of the standard. Imperial Calvery was not designed to rush down the middle and crash through enemy lines like the Brettonians in lance formation. They are a support unit, sweeping out to the sides and awaiting to charge only AFTER the infantry troops are stuck in. Otherwise, use the calvery as a reserve. With movement 6" they can be a second line unit <unconventional but highly effective>. . .if the archers, handgunners etc. . .choose to flee, the calvery is often the best way to bridge a hole and deliver a strike. . .that is hard enough to win the combat and allow the infantry reserve to jog in and hack the unit that broke through from the flank or rear. A good place to put the Imperial Battle Banner I might add. I'll talk about what magic items to use later.
Knights of the White Wolf. . . . .Outstanding flankers against large units of calvery. Sure they strike last but who cares? Their armor will protect them from the futile attacks of the rank and file and their hammers will ensure victory. Just don't get charged.
Pistoleers. . . .another one of those ever incredible fast calvery troops. Fast Calvery is extremely useful to the Empire. Str 4 hit and a Str 3 in hth is seriously damaging to most units. Use them as support for the mighty infantry. Charge through space you leave between infantry blocks to attack the enemies rear. Break the unit and it is destroyed or use them as the ultimate advance flankers in a deep defense situation. 1) Place far to both flanks 2) advance the first turn <fire of course> 3) Turn to face the advancing armies flanks 4) Now you can either shoot or charge. . . .if the enemy continues towards your infantry and war machines simply let him and move in behind him for devastating rear charges. Armor Save of 5 means you better pick your uses depending on the enemy you face. These guys are easy pickins for shooters. Chaos and Skaven advance forward with otherwise, I would use them to attack after the poor bloody infantry is engaged. The are the heart and soul of the Stick and Charge strategy.
Outriders. . . .The trouble with Outriders is that they can only fire until they miss. On horseback with BS3 they tend to miss all too often and they can not hide behid infantry and make the fantastic strikes that fast calvery can. Still, they have their use and if only you get bless. . . .well enough said. The really valuable outrider is the champion! If only heroes attached to outrider units could have repeater hand guns. They are not fast calvery.
Kislev Winged Archers. For only 50pts I can get a magic standard. Much more affordable. Str 5 is usually more than adequate to defeat an enemy. They travel with a movement of 8 just like the Brettonians and, therefore, pursue and flee on 3d6. This is my basic calvery unit with pistoleers..
Kislev Horse Archers. . . . .here is your screen and your scirmishers to flush out the enemy and take advantage of terrain features etc. If you are using them as a mobile screen that will flee and draw the enemy into a failed charge. . . .remember the enemy can REDIRECT FAILED CHARGES. . . .Use one unit rather than 2 or 3 as a screen. Cheaper than pistoleers. . .and they scirmish. A nice screen to pull the enemy into a fialed charge.
Halbardiers. . . .Generally armor is ineffective with this unit, at 7pts it is easy to field a large unit. Sure they can not have a magic standard but a champion for 30pts is about as good. Halbardiers make a fine detachment that can have several ranks to help with combat resolution when you slam the enemy from the side.
Reiksguard. . . .strength 4 armor save 4+. . . . Nice unit that I always take for its flexibility. They can survive missle fire <esp pesky bowfire> especially when protected by spells and champions with magic items.
Spearmen. . . .You will take charges sometimes and often your parent unit will get slaughtered in hth combat. You must rely on mass ranks, standards and the ranks of your detachments hitting the enemy's flanks. Spearmen give you the ability to at least strike back in hth. Against Wood Elves meet your basic parent unit. They get mowed down by missle fire.
Greatswords. . . .Again no armor, double handed weapons are problematic if yo have strength 3 and no armor. Of course, against armies that historically have lots of double handed troops, they are worth taking. Humans initiative is greater than dwarves!!!!!
Swordsman. . . . .Not as powerful as the Reiksguard but completely adequate as a detachment.
Flagellents. . . . .What is there not to love about these guys <save no armor> Their first turn they attack at St 6 with 2 attacks a piece. In other words, if they were to charge they could inflict every bit the damage as a massive unit of knights. Now how do you get them to charge. I like to put the Kislev Horse Archers in front of the Flaggelents and then when they are charged they flee right through the unit leaving the flagellents to charge the next turn. Shooting can hurt them, especially dwarven x-bows and hand guns.
Dwarves: Toughness 4 spearmen with crossbows is hard to pass up. Shoot then reform and take the charge.
Haflings. . . .Simply the best archers in the game because they are dirt cheap. While the horse archers screen the flagellents. . .the Haflings are often put in front of such nasty things as Hellblasters, Ogre units or even calvery. Just advance and shoot with these guys. A great way of moving your infantry up the field.
Ogres. . .An incredible Imperial Strength. First let us not forget Movement 6 and a hero on a horse will get his look out sir roll!!!! What makes these guys so powerful is that you can pick between the extra hand weapon for those weedy woodies, the halberd vs most armies or the double handed weapon. They hit almost as hard as your calvery and have 2 attacks. With toughness 5 most missles won't effect them and they have 3 wounds to boot. I tend to have this unit strike with war wagons or with calvery. . .or I put them in the middle of my infantry blocks. Place Ogres between parent units and detachments. Now what does the enemy choose to charge?
Some other notes on Regiments
WAR MACHINES:
Mortars. . .100 pts for a very random result. I use one only when I am faced with a skaven horde or similar mass horde army. The trick to the mortar is to shoot in the middle of the enemy's deployment regardless of what the unit is to better your odds that you will hit something.
Great Cannon. . . .Cannons are nice if you play defensively or if you are using the slow advance. Make sure your opponent will have ranks though <Chaos and Wood Elves are bad ideas for cannons>.
Steam Tank. . . . .a cannon with
far less likelyhood to misfire. . .Toughness 10 and the ability
to trample opponents. Great against low initiative
troops. I love to place my steam tank in the middle of my
deployment and just chug ahead. I assure you Lizardmen HATE
this. It really messes up their battlelines when their best
troops are getting the
steam tank rollover and play dead! Remember Steam tanks
down the middle!!!! Great with the slow advance!
War Wagons. . . . .One of my
all-time favorite war machines. These things have fragile
leadership so they should remain close to your general. I
tend to use them just behind my slow advance shooters, right
there in the middle
with the steam tanks. Shooting becomes your only problem. .
.but hey in a slow advance who is going to care if you move
8"? Remember only 1-6 shots will even hit the horses
and that is missle fire NOT chewing up your infantry blocks and
detachments. IF you get to charge great. . .nice high
strength charriot, but even if you do not look at the weapons you
have.
Against knights. . . .the Ball and Chain and the Man
Catcher. Good Lord. . . .I'd love to take the general out
with a Man Catcher! Bret's hate this. The Ball and Chain
ignores armor! Hochland Long Rifle is the scourge of low
toughness wizards and blunderbluss is wonderful to use as the war
wagon approaches enemy infantry blocks.
The War Wagons mediocre leadership and its ability to take wounds
once in hth makes it NOT a charging/hth flanking machine but a
machine best used in the thick of things with your general right
behind it.
Hellblasters. . . . .Amazing truly.
. . .they are the great infantry eaters. Against calvery they
still do quite nicely and usually will take out more than their
cost. Often the trouble with hellblasters is their limited
range. Can war machines be moved? If so. . . .I like
to take the hellblasters in the front of my formations and move
them towards the enemy right in front of the infantry. If
not they are wonderful for holding up the middle while the real
power <calvery.ogres, steam tank and war wagon> outflank
the enemy who is scurrying to get away from the
hellblasters. As often the enemy puts his best troops in
the middle of his deployment, I can really tie things up and make
life easier on my flanking troops. Furthermore, place units of
haflings to either side of the hellblasters and see if anyone
dares try to charge the haflings <if they get close enough
shoot em>. Of course, you must fear fast moving cheap
skirmishers or throw-away goblins. Kislev Winged Archers
can take care of these annoyances so your hellblasters can shoot
at whatever is a real threat. Remember. . . .because of
their range it is better to place them at the front of your
deployment zone! If the enemy can have infiltrators, I
often like to dedicate a 8 barrel salute to them. The
Empire HATES having troops get behind its lines.
The General. . . . .He must survive and must remain out of combat. His magic items should ensure his safety.
Battle Standard Bearer. . . .Keep
him alive! I would take a ward vs a magical standard
personally.
Remember part of your detachment plan is to flee.
Champions. . . . .Almost a necessity. . . and cheap too.
Heroes. . . .Take your heroes
without magic items and place one or two on monsters. You
will fare far better using your heroes to break ranks, take out
war machines, shooters and enemy flyers. My favorite
monsters for them
are chimeras. Most of the real points of my characters go
to Heroes on monsters because they can do sooooo much to help my
infantry. Terror serves to protect your battery. . . .you
can meet any flying challenges. You breathe fire on any
line of shooters or soften up the infantry and ,of course,
your hell in hth when your infantry bears the initial blow
<and the characters blows>.
Wizards. . . .The way the Empire plays. . . .I honestly prefer using several level one mages. Add dispel scrolls with no magic items and place them with your infantry. Sure some will die and when the fighting starts many will die. But as you advance, you have dispels, you have lots of stored power cards and you have a wide variety of spells. Human Wizards are fragile and again the Empire is not going to win with tooled up characters. Cheap level 1 wizards with a dispel scroll suit me fine. I really prefer heroes on monsters for the Empire.
Special Characters:
Karl Franz: Truly an Empire Character. . .Atop his griffin he has magic which prevents him from getting hurt. He causes terror and his weapon allows him to attack even the hardest troops after the infantry has engaged as he will do many wounds. His last magic item should generally be a defensive item.
Magnus. . . .Underrated and actually one of my favorite leaders. I like him because he doesn't waste a lot of points on the general yet, gets 2 armor saves nice with 2+ saves he can avoid even gunpowder. Secondly, anytime I can get a natural dispel in the Empire you have to take it. Worst problem, he has a frigging sword.
Grand Theoginist. . . . .Nice Chariot. Terror when you charge! Jade Griffon makes shooting at him terribly difficult and Staff of Command ensures he will hit like a knight! Best feature is the NO BREAKING RULE. I love to use him with the war wagons when they go a flanking!!!! A level 2 mage and all for 3vps. WOW! Plus, he gets his own WOM cards so his spells don't suck up your ability to dispel next round!
Supreme Patriarch. . . .All I can say is TOTAL POWER and it is an item most people won't call cheezy like the forbidden rod from hell. He still takes 3 more magic items. I would take him if my opponent allowed special characters. Now do you take bright or battle magic. Actually, I'd prefer battle magic and pray for such things as protection <parent groups> or bless <outriders> or shield!
Counts and Helborg: First of all the runefangs that you can have so many multiples of are WONDERFUL against armies like Chaos knights and especially Bretonnians. Cuts right through all that silly armor now doesn't it?
Raukov has the mighty dragon bow. 3 strength 5 hits is just too mighty for words and he has the range of a wood elf!
Tzarina can use Ice Magic. Personally, I don't much care for her.
Remember as the Empire General let your infantry get into the thick of it then attack with all the support troops, calvery and monsters you can muster.
Magic Items: Anything that
keeps you from running. Crown of Command on one unit and
flaggelents right by give you a virtually unbreakable center.
Crown of command has interesting consequences with
detachments. The
detachment uses the parent unit's leadership and benefits from
the heroes placed in the unit. If the crown of command
changes the parent units leadership to an unmodifiable L10, it
does so too for the detachments. Now
you have a core of 4 "units" of unbreakable troops.
Book of Ashur with High Magic
negates many of the problems you could face using cheap wizards.
Potion of Knowledge lets you get by with casting something for
free and who cares if 1VP goes insane?
Staff of Lighting in an infantry unit should give the calvery
second thoughts about advancng for a charge, same with staff of
osiris.
Skull Staff and Ring of Corin are essential. . . .destroy any
magic items that could quickly mince your infantry.
Pipes of Doom let the Imperial Infantry keep calvery at bay and
let the Knights Panther challenge faster moving less heavily
armored wolf riders and boar boyz.
Banner of Defiance with the Crown of Command turns the imperial
infantry into a great enemy unit breaker. The enemy is
likely not to have enough attacks even to compensate for the rank
bonus!
Heart of Woe the hero for the inevitable death he will suffer. .
. .of course you could just use him to harrass with the firey
breath of the chimera.
I often ward both the general and the battle standard bearer and
DO NOT make the battle standard magical.
If I take a major wizard I use the cloak of mist and
shadows. As the Empire, you present so many targets and
should have a hero to cover the mage should a solitary hero go
after him. It is likely that a cloaked mage will not be
attacked.
Unit specific magic dispels are often ineffective as you have so
many units for the enemy to choose to cast on. Bring dispel
scrolls, you dispel and save your WOM cards for your turn.
Sword of Swift Slaying and potion of strength pose an interesting
question. Charge to what will be a painful attack by a hero or
wait and be peppered with shots?
Book of Ashur and Cloak of Mist and Shadows. . . .Your dispelling
machine!
Now for spells. At this time let's soley focus on BATTLE MAGIC.
Shield. . . .is the great protector
of the Empire's screens and fast calvery charges..
Hold fast. . . .ensures the enemy will be peppered then
attacked. Best used on troops as they advance closely to
your battle lines.
Fear. . . .usually there is a unit that has strayed too
far. Make them flee so that they won't attack with the rest
of the units.
Blast. . . .two options st5 or st10 and no armor saves.
What a true bargain! Take out champions, heroes or anything
giving leadership bonuses to the enemy's units.
Curse. . . .Again, protect your units vs massed archery, x-bows
and hand guns.
Net. . . . . .Just before the infantry charges you. . . .make
them stick around for a turn!
Move Unit. . . .enough said. . . . .keep your wizards near units,
you never know what spells you will get. I forget do you
draw spells then deploy?
Bless. . . .Natural for outriders.
Heal. . . .keep that general alive, otherwise what can you spend
it on <battle standard and cheap wizards are one wound
only> Still, if you buy your leadership makers a turn it often
is all the difference in the game.
Protect. . . .Protect units that will take the charges so that
rank bonus/standards etc are SURE to cause them to flee.
Destruction. . . .the scourge of knights.
Fireball. . . .good range no armor save attacks. Sure I use
only Lvl 1 wizards.but think about it. If I kill 2 knights
I've made up my point value, not to mention most heroes and
champions with heavy armor have T3 or T4.
Two important points to
summarize. The most important phase of the game to the
Empire is Deployment. Use it wisely and know that you will
generally have troops you can deploy once your enemy is
finished. Never let the enemy
stay behind your lines or flank you. Hit from the front or
take the charge on an steady unit that will not break and then
slam their flanks with another large unit filled with rank bonus,
standards etc. Remember, leadership is the key. . .make
sure your units will rally and are unlikely to flee when they see
their comrades head for safer ground.