Empire Tactics

Written by Reiksmarshall von Moltke

Taken with permission of Skavenblight

1. The Author
Im Reiksmarshall von Moltke, aka Matt, a longtime Empire player who has been distressed at the utter lack of Empire tactics on the web. Thus, I endevour to make an Empire Tactica from somebody who plays Empire about 90% of the time.

2. Empire Characters
Empire General-The Empire General is the most powerful HTH character that you have. However, he is also the leader of your army, blessed with LD9 and the ability to have units within 12" use his leadership, and thus must be protected. The unit he is in (usually Reiksguard) should have a Champion or Hero who can accept challenges from those overly-powerful Khorne Lords or Vampire Counts on his behalf. Even though that character will be promptly killed, its better than losing your general (and if that champ just happens to have the Black Gem of Gnar...) NEVER EVER EVER mount your General on a monster. He must be kept with a unit so as to use his Ld and protect him with a Look Out Sir! roll. In a 2000 point game, I tend to equip my General with a 30-50 point weapon, Black Amulet, and 1 more item depending on my opponent (against Wood Elves, for example, I take Ruby Chalice to combat those stupid arrows, while against Undead I will oftentimes take The Silver Seal to counter Undead magic.) I sometimes use a special character as my general: Kurt Helborg in small games and Karl Franz in large games (though I dont put him on the Griffon.)

Hero-These are decent characters who can add some punch to a unit. I dont advise mounting them on monsters except if you want to scare away enemy Warmachine crews, in which case I suggest a Manticore as it is very tough and causes Terror so that it can scare away multiple crews at once, or a Pegasus cause its cheap. The other reason to mount them on monsters is to make use of the monsters attacking ability without having to take an Enraged Bound Monster test, although as a result the monsters price will come out of your character allowance. Remember that these guys are a mere 65 points. A Vampire Count costs 200 points. Their stats work accordingly. These are unit-leaders (especially because of Ld8), not army killers.

Champion-Please please please put one of these in every unit that can afford it. If you dont, in the words of the Tactica Longsword, Flying Horrors from Hell with Demigod Riders will demolish your units. In other words, you can use their challenge ability to prevent overpowered characters from kiling your RnF, and then you can win the combat due to ranks and standards. These guys dont need to be given magic items, and if you do give them one, make it inexpensive. I rarely (okay, more like never)go for anything more than 25 points, with the possible exception of a Ruby Chalice or something like that. They are excellent Black Gem carriers.

Battle Standard Bearer-Well, sometimes you need these guys, and the ability to reroll failed Break Tests is nice, but ultimately they are expensive and very prone to dying. I suggest that you field Ludwig Schwartzhelm instead. He has 3 wounds, and although you pay for this privledge you dont want to give your enemy free VPs. Unfortunately, he cant take a Magic Standard, which is very significant because most Empire troops cant take a magic standard (come on, give me a break!! Even 4.5 point Clanrats get a magic standard!! Why can't my 22 point Pistoliers have one?) My prime use for the BSB is in the middle of a Reiksguard Foot unit with that nice heavy armor and all, carrying a Banner of Defiance. Very nice stuff.

Wizards-Well, you need Wizards. I personally detest Battle Magic. I ALWAYS take the Book of Ashur, my preferred decks are High, Dark (the most underrated deck in the game) and especially Necromancy. As a general rule, High is defensive (you can use Power cards as dispels), while all of the others are offensive, espcially Dark which can use Dispels as Power, a surprisingly useful ability. Necromancy is by far the best deck in the game. Gaze of Nagash, Curse of the Years, Wind of Death, the summoning spells....theres no match for them. Be sure to buy a box or two of plastic Skeletons so that you can use the summoning spells if you get them. It always shocks your opponent!! Other good decks include Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Skaven, Chaos Dwarf....actually, any deck besides Battle Magic is a good deck, IMO. I frequently give my wizards the Skull Staff to help with dispelling.

3. Regiments
3.1 Cavalry-The Empire is blessed with a wide variety of cavalry. They fall into 3 major categories: Heavy Cavalry, Medium Cavalry, and Light Cavalry. The Heavy Cavalry of the Empire consists of Knights of the White Wolf, Reiksguard Knights, Knights of the Blazing Sun, and Knights Panther. The Medium Cavalry are Kislev Winged Lancers and Outriders, and the Light Cavalry are Kislev Horse Archers and Pistoliers.

3.1.1 Heavy Cavalry

Knights of the White Wolf-Not my speed. They have 2-handed weapons, and the strike last penalty combined with their cost is just too much. I dont field them. They could theoretically be used against Skaven and other armies whos basic troops lack high strength to good effect, or Chaos Dwarfs who have to field that unit of Axemen, but who wants to pay the money to buy them for such limited uses?

Reiksguard Knights, Knights of the Blazing Sun, and Knights Panther-These guys are great troops. The same stats as Bretonnian Knights of the Realm without the Virtues and the Lance Formation, but at a cheaper cost. These guys are the spearhead of any offensive Empire army, and they have there place in a defensive army too. I like to put a medium sized unit loaded to the brim with characters and with a good Magic Standard (these are one of the few Empire troops that can use Magic Standards) on a flank, alongside either some other mounted troops or a War Wagon, and watch my enemy cringe as I flank them like nobody's business =). In a large game I sometimes field 2 large units, 1 on each flank, properly supported by the other Cavalry units, and steamroll my enemy from 2 sides. All 3 orders have identical stats, so when I mention Reiksguard Knights throughout the battle, you can replace them with Blazing Suns or Panthers if you please.

3.1.2 Medium Cavalry
Kislev Winged Lancers-Winged Lancers are a decent troop type, but are used incorrectly by most people. They are not just cheap Knights with less armor. They will die in droves if you charge headlong with them into strong enemy units. Their advantage is their high speed, which makes them flanking specialists. They can hit their opponent in the side while the Reiksguard Knights do the killing job in the front. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules for Fast Cavalry in the Warhammer Rulebook!! That free march move is a great thing. They are also one of the few units which may carry a magic standard (so you can fit in that Banner of Wrath or Banner of Sorcery.) The problem is that they are fairly expensive, and thus they have no place in small armies or defensive armies. For offensive players, though, the Winged Lancers do their job quite nicely.

Outriders-Outriders are a hard troop type to understand, much less to use correctly. Their weapons seem very powerful on one hand, but on the other hand they have BS3 and -1 to shoot if they move or are outside of half range, thus it seems unlikely that they will be able to do their job well. The secret of using Outriders correctly is to arm them with Repeater Hand Guns and keep them within 8" of their target but well outside of the enemy's charge arc. Thus they will be able to deny the enemy march moves, not get charged, and be within half range so as to get a fair chance of hitting. Like the Winged Lancers, these are decent troops who have no place in small or defensive armies. However, the offensive player will find that Outriders are a powerful tool if used properly, and can drive your opponent nuts. Just avoid HTH, dont try to kill that Great Unclean One, and you'll do fine. If you field lots of Outriders, it might be advisable to stick with Battle Magic. Bless is really nice on them.

3.1.3 Light Cavalry
Kislev Horse Archers-Horse Archers are usually used to draw out the Night Goblin Fanatics. However, this isnt the only thing they can do. They are great at holding off Gutter Runners, preventing March Moves, drawing charges from enemies to set up the heavier Knightly Orders, acting as fast missile screens, and other such things. The drawback is that 15 points is pretty high to do all of that for. These guys arent really throwaway troops at that cost, yet they have throwaway uses at those statistics. Nonetheless, they are the best troop that the Empire has for this job. If you are allowed to, use Bretonnian Mounted Squires, who are almost the same but cheaper.

Pistoliers-These are Horse Archers with more punch and more cost. They are better at holding off the Gutter Runners and preventing March Moves, but their higher cost makes them less useful than the Horse Archers for the other tasks. Ultimately, I prefer them over the Horse Archers for most tasks because they can go out onto the battlefield and do the damage better than Horse Archers can. Just remember their limitations, avoid HTH, and dont rely on them too much, and you'll do fine.

3.2 Infantry-Empire Infantry is just as varied as the cavalry. They are divided into 3 general sections: Melee Troops, Missile Troops, and Others

3.2.1 Melee Troops
Halberdiers-Most people use Halberdiers as their core troops. They are standard humans with +1S because of their Halberds. However, they may not use shields in HTH. I find them to be overrated, and prefer to use Flagellants or Reiksguard as my main foot troops, however the fact that Halberdiers are available in plastic means that even I usually field a large regiment of them. I do not equip them with Sheilds unless I am expecting to be up against a lot of missile fire (Against most Elves.)

Swordsmen-Humans with +1WS and the ability to use their shields in HTH. You can get them for 1 point cheaper than Halberdiers, plus they have a better save, but still they aren't as good as Halberdiers because Strength is more important than Weapon Skill. They are, however, available in plastic, so if you want them for tasks like serving as Detatchments (which they do quite well), go out and buy them! (in the Soldiers of the Empire box.)

Spearmen-Humans who can fight in 2 ranks. I must say that I never use them. The 2 ranks dont help if you cant wound anything for your life, plus you have to buy them in metal. Blech. Save your money and buy either plastic Halberdiers or metal Flagellants or Reiksguard.

Greatswords-Humans with light armor and 2-handed weapons. Argh!! Why the game designers ever thought that these would be useful troops is beyond me. Never ever ever field these guys, they just plain suck. They will die before you ever get to use them.

Flagellants-T4, S4, 2 Attacks, Immune to all Pyschology and Break Tests, Flails to give +2 Strength in the first round of combat, and only 10 points, how can you go wrong? Well, with no armor, no plastics, cant use the Detatchment rule, no Champs, Standards, or Musicians, and a max of 1 unit per army. Still, you should make that a LARGE unit, minimum 20 models, and use it to anchor your line. These guys are fantastic troops, and one of the few good HTH infantry units the Empire has. Dont leave home without them. They are especially good to hold a flank if your general is on the opposite flank with the Knights because they never break.

Reiksguard Foot-With WS4, S4, Save of 4+, I4, and all for a mere 12 points, these guys are great. Their only drawbacks are M3 (with their Heavy Armor), 1 unit per army, and the inability to use a Magic Standard, which even puny Goblins can do. These are your other line-holders, along with the Flagellants. Set them up in a place where they're guaranteed to see action (since M3 means they wont be going too far) with plenty of ranks, a Standard, Musician, and either Champion or Hero, and slice up your enemy.

3.2.2 Missile Troops-Please remember that all of your missile troops have a pathetic BS3 and are NOT Hand-to-Hand units, so dont buy them that Armor and always Stand and Shoot if you are charged!

Archers-Human Archers who can Skirmish. I must say I prefer Crossbowmen, but everybody has their own personal preference here. If youre trying for a mobile army, Archers are the better choice.

Crossbowmen-They can't move and fire, and their range is only 30", but with S4 and -1 to save, I like these guys better than Archers. These are my standard missile troops. Use them in long lines, preferrably with a hill to have multiple ranks and the Combat Res bonus if theyre forced to get into HTH.

Hand Gunners-The effective range on these guys is too short, and they can only fire every other turn. Although they have -2 to save and S4, its not worth the lost inches when compared to Crossbowmen.

3.3 Other Troops-These are the non-Humans in the Empire list.
Ogres-Big, Tough, Strong, 2 Attacks...and expensive, yet not as expensive as you might think. At 42 points with Halberds, they are only 3 points more than your mounted Lance-armed troops, yet have T5, S5 for all rounds of combat with 2 attacks, the same M, 3 Wounds, a lower WS (only 3), and large bases (enemies get +1 to hit them with missile weapons, but with T5 and 3W, thats not a big problem) and no armor save, plus cant have command models. These guys are better than your lance-armed troops for prolonged combats, but they arent as good at breaking the enemy. They are best used against very tough HTH enemies and enemies who are relying on missile fire (especially the dreaded Repeater Bolt Thrower.) If the High Elves field their maximum number of RBTs only to find Ogres lined up against them, they will be dead very quickly. This is an excellent and underused troop type in the hand of the Empire general, but remember that they are best used as supporting units. Your opponent will only be surprised the first time when you build that 16-Ogre strong unit, plus that size tends to attract spells like mad. Use them in small units to attack flanks. They are superb at this job.

Halflings-3.5 points with BS4 and a Strength of, umm, 2, so their role is obvious-Archers. You can field a BIG unit of 30+, but they still wont kill anything tougher than a Clanrat. Plus theyre only available in metal, and nobody wants to pay the money to field that kind of a unit.

Dwarfs-Standard Dwarf Clansmen, they make decent troops if given Spear and Sheild. At least they wont run away that easily with LD9. The drawback is that they are expensive points-wise. I personally dont field them, but its not a bad idea to. The best reason to field them is if theres a Dwarf player in your gaming group who has more than he wants (and how many Dwarf players actually field lots of Clansmen?) and will give them to you dirt cheap.

4. War Machines-This is the pride of the Empire list. Any defensive player's heart rises when he looks at the Empire War Machine list. Offensive players soon learn to love the War Wagon. NEVER field a warmachine-free army. 'Nuff said.

Mortar-A typical Stonethrower-type weapon. Use this against Skaven, Undead, et. al. who have large armies with a basic T of 3 or less.

Great Cannon-S10, D6 Wounds, Bounce Through, and 60" range makes a Vampire cringe. Shoot at the characters on the big monsters. Boy will they be shocked. Also use it on small, expensive units. Knights soon learn to fear it. Dont waste your shots on the big units unless theres nothing else to shoot at.

Hellblaster Volley Gun-A potential of 90 S5 hits in a single turn. This thing can only fire its 9 barrels once, though, so use it wisely. Never target beyond 12". Use these to guard your flanks. Nobody in their right mind marches right into the muzzle of a Volley Gun. If they do, then blast them to pieces. Remember that if you misfire on the first shot, then all of the barrels fire!!!

Halfling Hot Pot-This would be good, except that you have to field a Halfing unit to get it. Its not worth taking Halflings to get this, but if you do take them then be sure to take this, at least it can do some damage at a low cost.

Steam Tank-This is one very overrated weapon. Its cannon is a Great Cannon with less range, the running over can be evaded with an Initiative test, and its misfires are horrible and far too frequent. The only reason to own a Steam Tank is because its an awesome model and fun to paint. Take 2 Cannons instead.

War Wagon-This is a great weapon, everyone should own one. Its potential to do damage is enormous. Remember that the Blunderbuss uses a template and that the Hochland Long Rifle can pick out characters. Its also devastating on the charge. Try to use the Man-Catcher on the enemy general, and look at your opponents face as they read what can happen....

5. Special Characters-Empire Special Characters are all useful, but none of them are going to kill Vlad von Carstein, no matter how you equip them. Please keep that in mind when you use them.

The Emperor Karl Franz-Poor old Karl has taken a lot of heat, but hes really not a bad character at all. In his base form he costs 110 points and had Ld10, which is wonderful. Then he has to carry the Hammer of Sigmar and The Silver Seal. Hammer of Sigmar is a fine weapon for 100 points, but The Silver Seal (-1 to hit, 4+ dispel)is less useful. Now he has one more empty Magic Item slot. Give him Armor of Protection, and mount him on a Barded Warhorse, not that stupid Griffon. You have a character who is -1 to hit with WS6, 2+ save, 4+ Special Save, 4+ dispel, Auto-Wounds with no save, Ld10 and M6, at a mere 367 points. Not bad for a human!! In a large game, Karl is a great guy to have.

Ludwig Schwartzhelm-What a GREAT character. The problem with Ludwig is how to use him. Although he is a Standard Bearer, remember that he cant carry a magic standard. Instead, you should use him as a Hero-type character, because with the Sword of Justice, he does a great job at that. Go ahead and chop them up!!

Magnus the Pious-Magnus is interesting, with his variety of special rules but no options for Magic Items. He is essentially a General with Ld10, Dawnstone, Amulet of Fire, and the Mighty Blow option. Since that is not ideal equipment for a General (besides the Ld10), I only suggest that you take him against the Undead and the Lizardmen. He should be taken against Undead because of the Ld10, the Dispel, and the Mighty Blow, and against the Lizardmen because he has no magic items, thus meaning that the Blade of CocaCola is useless against him. Imagine the frustration of that Slann Mage-Priest! Otherwise, though, stick with Karl Franz or a normal General in those big games.

The Grand Theogonist Volkmar-This guy is very, very, good, but also expensive. His primary ability is that all units within 6" of him are immune to all forms of Psychology and never break. This is a great advantage, especially against Undead and Chaos. Imagine the frustration of that Undead player who relies on breaking you with fear-causing Skeletons, only to find that the War Altar is keeping you on the line!! Causing Terror when charging is also nice, the Jade Griffon that makes him nigh-invincible makes the high point cost much more reasonable, and the ability to cast High Magic at level 2 is just icing on the cake. In 3000+ point games or any game against Undead or Chaos Daemons, he is mandatory. I suggest that you leave him back a little bit, though. Mighty though he is, he can't take on the entire enemy army alone, and leaving him exposed to war machine fire can be a disaster. Remember that if the War Altar is destroyed he loses all of his powers. In other words, be careful. Also, remember his special magic rules. He is dealt D3+1 WOM cards at the start of the magic phase, seperate from your normal cards. Although the fact that he has a maximum of 4 WOM cards limits his spellcasting, it also means that you get more cards in total because he does not use the cards that are normally dealt from the WOM deck. And imagine how useful it is when you roll a 2 for WOM and a 3 for the Theogonist's cards....

The Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic-Wow. Another fantastic guy, this is a Wizard Lord armed with the mighty Staff of Volans, which lets you cast spells with Total Power but expires on a 1 or 2. Be careful with him. Give him Golden Crown, Book of Ashur, and the Skull Wand of Kaloth (so that he can fight back well if forced into combat) and start bashing your enemy with heavy-hitter spells like Gaze of Nagash, Curse of the Years, and Wind of Death (using Book of Ashur to get Necromancy.) No sense in wasting the power of the Staff on unimportant spells: use it on spells that you can do extraordinary amount of damage with. If you need to get rid of that unit of Grail Knights, he is the man. Just remember that everybody who has done a little bit of preparation knows how strong he is. Thats why you need that Golden Crown and the Skull Wand. You won't regret the decision, at least in a high points-value game.

Kurt Helborg-A fantastic looking model, Helborg is an excellent choice for General at lower point levels. However, at high levels, he is encumbered by that 30 pt Runefang. It just doesnt cut it when your opponents General has a Frostblade. Ultimately, 1 point of WS isnt worth it for having to stick with the Runefang, especially since some other 30 pt weapons are better (Flail of Skulls comes to mind.) However, you really should buy this model, he looks superb. Paint him well!

Elector Counts-Remember that they are technically Lord level characters, but they only have 1 or 2 magic items. Dont use them as your General. They are Heroes, really.

Marius Leitdorf, Elector Count of Averland-The famous Mad Elector Count, this guy is very powerful with his Frenzy rule. Unfortunately, there are no frenzied troops to follow him. With 6 attacks from his Runefang he is the bane of all Undead, but remember that he cant carry any other magic items. In other words, he shouldnt be your general. Hes one of the best Elector Counts.

Boris Todbringer, Elector Count of Middenheim-Boris is perhaps the best of the Elector Counts. His Talisman of Ulric is much like an Amber Amulet, and is very useful. He is a cheap and powerful hero, and makes a fine leader for one of your Knightly units and is a good sidekick for your general.

Elector Count of Ostland-With the Dragonbow, this Elector Count is a long- range killer. However, he has a lower save (no sheild) and no Ward to help keep him alive. Use him when you know that you dont want to get in to HTH. As always, no Elector Count should be used as a general.

Alberd Ludenhof, Elector Count of Hochland-Dont use him. That Hawk is too weak to be of any use. The model is very pretty, though.

6. Tactics-Yeah!! Here we are: the meat of this article (at long last.) This is going to tell you how to use what you have. First of all, I'd like to present a number of broad strategic concepts for the Empire.

Offense or Defense? With the Empire, you dont have a clear decision by looking at the army list. Everybody knows that Skaven are going to come out attacking, while the Dwarves are going to be digging in and shooting. One of the joys of the Empire is that your army list is so varied that you can change it to whatever you want, whenever you want. This means that Empire armies can be custom-tailored to fit their enemies' weaknessess. As an Empire army, your only weakness is your lack of outstanding points. The only thing which is particularly special about the Empire is its artillery, which is surpassed only by the Dwarves.

Defensive Strategies

I, personally, prefer defensive strategy. I used to set up a solid line, put a bunch of missile troops behind it on a hill, and put a number of big guns high on a hill to finish off. In other words, I essentially used the "Castle" formation. The Empire is one of the few armies that can pull this off correctly (along with the Dwarves and possibly the High Elves and/or Chaos Dwarves.) Recently, though, I have found the Castle to be too predictable. Instead, I use a variation which uses some of the other strenghts of the Empire-its powerful Knights. I call this the "Revolving Door." On my extreme right flank (you can set this up the opposite way if you want) I have a medium-large sized unit of Reiksguard Knights, loaded with more characters than you can shake a stick at, including my General. This unit has the Battle Banner, which is very important as it adds much-needed combat res. Directly to the left of this is my War Wagon, which helps by both doing deadly charges and long-range attacks with its cool weapons. Always try to use Man-Catcher on the enemy general, and remember that the weapon stats in the book are the real ones, so the Blunderbuss uses the giant Flame template! To the left of this is my Wizard on a Warhorse. His level depends on the number of points and on who my opponent is. I never field the normal Wizard Lord, instead I use the Supreme Patriarch because he is 3 points extra for +1 WS, and he allows me to use the excellent Staff of Volans. I frequently give him Book of Ashur so I can use Necromancy. Here comes Total-Powered Curse of the Years! (Note: do not do this if you wish to be a friend of your opponent, especially if they are Skaven.) At my center is a unit of Halberdiers with full ranks and standard plus my BSB with Banner of Defiance, because you really should have at least 1 large, cheap, unit on the field. This unit usually has 2 full-sized Crossbow detachments on both of its flanks. Finally, on my left there is a 20 plus- strong unit of Flagellants. They are far away from my general because they dont break, so they are a great flank guard. As for War Machines, I have either Cannons or Mortars on the flanks of the Halberdiers in a place where they can get a good field of fire, and in large games a few Hellblaster Volley Guns to help my cover my fairly weak center and left. In large games I also take a Hero to lead my Halberdiers so that I get a better leadership to test off if my General is out of range (as he often is.)

Anyways, to use this formation start by standing still, waiting for the enemy to charge while bombarding them with artillery, magic, and missile weapons. Once they get within range, your heavy flank can attack. Be sure that they get the charge!! Hopefully you should turn the enemy flank without too much trouble, and the unbreakable Flagellants and the essentially unbreakable Halberdiers (full ranks with Banner of Defiance is tough to match) will hold your line against all but the toughest of enemies. Besides Bloodthirsters, Gutter Runners, Repeater Bolt Throwers and the Banner of the Lady of the Lake, the only things which will really beat you is killer magic (think Forbidden Rod + Curse of the Years), killer troops (15 Chaos Knights come crashing into that Halberdiers unit), killer characters (all I have to say is Archaon!!) or some really killer War Machines (5 Earthshaker Cannons keep on blasting away at your Knights.) Thus, you need to bring something to silence potential threats. For magic, some combination of the Talisman of Obsidian, Destroy Magic scrolls, and a Hero on a Pegasus assigned to kill the enemy mage should do the trick. I think everybody knows how to handle killer shock troops (spells like Net, Cannons, and large units with big rank bonuses.) As for killer characters, think about the Black Gem of Gnar for the most powerful one, Amulet of Ravensdark to handle the ones on big flying monsters, and Van Horstmann's Speculum for the 2nd most powerful one.

Offensive Strategy

As for offensive strategy, the Empire requires a lot of careful thinking. You won't win by loading up on Knights and charging. If thats what you like to do, you should be playing Bretonnia or possibly Chaos. Offensive Empire armies should use their Knights as their strong arm, but should rely on the cheaper forms of Cavalry to win the game. The Empire has the largest variety of cavalry in the game, from the inexpensive Horse Archers to the gunpowder-armed Pistoliers to the heavy Reiksguard Knights. Use a couple of skirmishing Horse Archer units as your front line men, there to draw out Fanatics and to absorb incoming bowfire. Follow them with Pistoliers and Winged Lancers on the flanks to harrass the enemy and make flank charges. The Reiksguard should be your center, loaded with characters and good magic items. Some more Lancers should be nearby to support your Knights. As long as you avoid forward charges on elite enemies with your Light Cavalry and use your Reiksguard as your main strike force, you should drive your opponent nuts and whittle them down before your heavy-hitters come in and finish off the enemy. As for magic, you might not mind having Battle Magic, but overall I would still probably take Book of Ashur for powerful decks so that I had the chance to do some heavy destruction that my lack of Warmachines is preventing. The deck of choice would probably be Slaanesh, as it has the best entrapment spells in the game. Finally, offensive Empire armies should take the Steam Tank, as they will find its mobility to be a big convinience. The War Wagon should stay at home, however, because it is too slow to keep up even with your Reiksguard because it can't march move. A hero on a flying monster is nice if you have the extra points, but this is an extras type of issue. However, the War Altar of Sigmar is a very good thing to bring along at high points levels, as its Pyschology can help you tremendously, and the Theogonist's High Magic is just desserts.

Tactics Against:

Dark Elves-The Dark Elves are an offensive army with the usual Elven weakness: T3 and a high points cost. Shore yourself up in a defensive line and shoot, shoot, shoot!!! Take Cannons to pound their troops, arrange your War Machines into a battery and give them a hero with the Amulet of Ravensdark to combat Harpies, and do everything possible to hit the Witch Elves before they get to your lines. Have Horse Archers and Pistoliers ready to combat Dark Riders, keep your lines solid, use Magic and Cannons against the ****ing RBTs, and please please please dont let those Witch Elves charge you, and victory will be yours.

High Elves-The High Elves are generally defensive, with excellent Archers and the hell-spawned Repeater Bolt Thrower, plus good magic. The key is to avoid an archery contest, you are bound to lose. Instead, go offensive. Only the Swordmasters of Hoeth can deal with Reiksguard Knights in HTH. Avoid them or hit them with Magic. Also, try to give your large (and it should be large) Reiksguard unit the Ruby Chalice, as you need the protection against RBTs. Try to hit them with Magic or a Hero on a Pegasus. They can really ruin your day otherwise. Also, remember to screen your Knights with Horse Archers!! If you take the neccessary precautions against flying bolts, you should win the day handily.

Wood Elves-The Wood Elves rely on archery and speed to win the game for them. You wont mach them in archery, but your fast cavalry can beat a footbound Elf in speed any day! Take lots of Winged Lancers, Pistoliers, and Horse Archers. Run around causing havoc everywhere you go. Give your largest block Ruby Chalice, put your General on a flying monster (preferably a Manticore), avoid Wardancers, use magic to combat powerful units, and strike wherever the enemy is!

Dwarves-When going against your old allies, remember that they are slow and defensive. Thus, they deserve a nice, fast, army to outflank them and roll them up the side. Dont take Dwarves on in frontal HTH, and keep screens around to prevent the Organ Guns from doing too much damage. Use your Cannons to fire at enemy artillery, silencing them to make life safer for your cavalry. Take Thyrus with the Book of Ashur and Necromancy and Total Power up a Wind of Death to massacre the slow Dwarves. Also go for Curse of the Years and Gaze of Nagash. If you have the models, try to Raise the Dead in front of Warmachine crews. Thats fun stuff. Shoot at the Battle Standard Bearer if he has the Master Rune of Valaya. Silence the guns, make flank charges, and you should win.

Chaos Dwarves-Chaos Dwarves only have 1 truly long-range threat: the Earthshaker Cannon. Use a Hero on a Pegasus to take care of them. Otherwise, play defensivly. You should beat them if they have to attack you without having already weakened you with Artillery. Be careful of Bull Centaurs, they are vicious and have 2 Wounds. If you can, ignore them, but otherwise Flagellants should be fighting them. On the line of Artillery, it depends on what youre expecting. If youre looking at lots of the Chaos Dwarves and less Greenskins, go for Cannons, otherwise Mortars are good. A mix is probably your best bet, because you want at least 1 Cannon to hit the Earthshakers. Remember that I cannot overemphasize the importance of silencing Earthshakers! As for magic, Chaos Dwarf magic is pretty good. Doomroar can be a big problem for your less-than-courageous troops should it come to a large HTH battle. I suggest a Dispel scroll or two for the defense, as for offense I like to use Tzeentch against the Big Hats because its something different than the normal Necromancy (which is probably a better choice if you feel like winning.) Also, if you expect your opponent to field a large unit of those Axemen, take Knights of the White Wolf. They will win on the I test, plus they'll probably get the charge. Otherwise, stick to your Artillery, silence the Earthshakers, and the forces of Sigmar should hold the field.

Skaven-First of all, watch out for Gutter Runners!! Use Pistoliers to handle them before they hand you a loss. Then, use my defensive strategy. It was originally designed as an anti-Skaven method, and is highly effective. Dont let the Gutter Runners get to you, shoot till ya drop, and then flank them like nobody's business. Remember that Skaven lose their Ld bonus if you flank charge them!! Panic tests at Ld5!! Otherwise, theres a few things to be careful of. Plague Censer Bearers are knight-killers, and hard to hit with missiles due to skirmishing and that fog. Lobbing some Mortar shells in the area will finish them, though. Plague Monks, with Frenzy and T4, need to be stopped. Thankfully, Frenzy forces them to charge any unit within their charge range. Can you say Raise the Dead? (yet another reason to do Necromancy: raise some Zombies, let them get beaten and explode, then charge the next turn with the Knights. That should wipe out those damned Plague Monks, and remember that if the Monks flee the Censer Bearers do too.)If youre sticking with battle magic, hope that you get Net. Many spell decks have similar spells too (Slaanesh does that bondage-type stuff the best) so you could use those. Finally, beware of Skaven magic. Warp Lightining kills your Knights, Cracks Call is the bane of Ogres and even your average troops, and of course the Curse of the Horned One hurts anyone. Bring countermagic stuff (Skull Staff, Dispel Scrolls.) As long as youre careful and try to avoid HTH, you should win.

Bretonnians-The other Human army of Warhammer, the Bretonnians rely upon their Knights to win the game. I cannot emphasise the importance of tying up these terrible creatures. Flagellants do the job quite nicely, its a real pity that you can only include 1 unit. Shoot, shoot, shoot!! Watch out for the Banner of Rightous Retribution and the Banner of the Lady of the Lake. Before shooting at the biggest wedge of knights, try to hit them with something weak. However, you must keep shooting. Dont let that prayer get to you too much. If you are using Necromancy, take Gaze of Nagash. Bretonnians dread that spell more than anything. Also use the Summoning spells to draw charges. Shoot, shoot, shoot!!! Did I mention that you should shoot? Take crossbowmen instead of Archers because of the save issue. Also, take lots of Runefangs (Elector Counts, Kurt, and 1 on a hero) since Brets need their save to stay alive. If youre allowed allies, take RBTs. And keep on shooting!! I hope Ive made my point on that subject. If you shoot enough and tie up the wedges and hit them with multiple units (remember that the Lance has no flanks!!) you should win.

Lizardmen-The Lizards are a dilemna. They have that all-powerful Slann Mage- Priest, great cheap skirmishers in the form of Skinks, powerful line holders in Saurus Warriors, Heavy Cavalry in Skink Cold One Riders, and elite infantry with Temple Guard. What they lack is fast troops. Go defensive (the Castle formation works well), shut down the magic with lots of Dispel scrolls and 1 destroy scroll in case of Fiery Convocation. Then comes the key. Take every cannon you own and form them into a battery. Attatch a hero to the battery with the Amulet of Ravensdark and the Black Gem of Gnar. If something big hits the battery, use the Amulet if it flys or else Gem it. Then use those cannons to shoot at the Slann. Its too big to get a "Look Out, Sir!" roll unless its with Stegadons, and hey, if he passes the roll and you kill a Stegadon, thats no small consolation prize, plus he'll run out of Stegadons real fast. Dont give up!! Stick to your cannons, and eventually there will be some Toad puree all over. Then you have to deal with the troops, but now that you can dominate the magic phase (Lizards rarely have more than 1 mage in small games due to the price of the Slann) and youve already gotten a whole bunch of VPs from killing that bloated toad, you should be able to hold your lines (with the help of Banner of Defiance in your largest unit via the BSB) and victory will be yours.

Undead-First of all, realize that Undead characters and elite units are all that matter. You can kill a billion Skeletons, but your opponent will just keep on raising more of them. Now that Ive made this important statement, the Empire tends to have lots of problems with the Undead, because human leadership just plain stinks and we can't handle those Vampires in hand to hand. Thankfully, you have a few things at your disposal. The first is the Runefangs. These are the bane of all expensive Undead RnF (Mummies, Wraiths.) Unfortunately, Human characters arent strong enough to wound Vampires and such (think 0 wounds times 2=0 wounds!) Thus, somebody should have the Potion of Strength to complement their Runefang. THAT can take out an Undead general. However, thats only 1 turn, and those Black Amulets will keep you from killing the Undead leader in one turn (not to mention Carstein Ring on Vampires.) Thus, you need a few surefire solutions. The Black Gem of Gnar is one. I hate to say this, but this should be reserved for the general. You gotta get rid of that guy somehow, especially the toothy gits. Next comes Van Horstmann's Speculum. Give this to the champion in your big Halberdier block, challenge that Vampire, and watch him cringe. Finally theres the Amulet of Ravensdark if your opponent likes to mount that Vampire on a Manticore. Next you have to handle the killer Undead magic. Obviously you shouldn't draw Necromancy against the Undead. You should be using the High Magic for 5 reasons: Banishment, Drain Magic, Banishment, Power Cards as Dispels, and Banishment. Bring the Forbidden Rod (or Thyrus and his Staff of Volans if youre taking a Wizard Lord) and Book of Ashur, and pray for Banishment. Remember that you can discard one spell and redraw. Also, have 1 Destroy scroll and 1 Dispel scroll. Try to destroy Vanhel's Dense Macabre, without it the Undead are gonna go nowhere real fast. Also, take Aldred's Casket of Sorcery. Try to steal Curse of the Years, even if destroying Vanhels failed, because its just too cool to CoTY the Undead general.

Chaos-Chaos is, of course, the ultimate Hand to Hand army. You dont have the troops to hold off Chaos Knights, Warriors, or anything besides perhaps Ungors in close combat. Plus, Chaos characters are matched only by Undead characters, and Chaos people seem to be more likely to cheeze them up. First of all, take anti-Character stuff. You know, Black Gem, Van Horstmann's, Amulet of Ravensdark, Sky Arrow, et. al. Secondly, try to tie up those Harpies. Perhaps the Orb of Thunder would work here. Thirdly, watch out for those Bloodthirsters and such. First hit him with the Sky Arrow, if he survives pull out that Black Gem and pray. Volkmar does a nice job of protecting against Daemonic terror. Otherwise, you'll need lots of missile troops. Cannons are the Warmachines of choice: the Volley Guns take up the remaining points. Chaos doesnt field enough troops to make Mortars worthwhile, but the War Wagon can make a decent choice, so long as you hang it back. Man-Catcher those 80pt Chaos Knights!! Crossbows are the order of the day for your missile troops. As for magic, go for long-range decks. High and Necromancy are the best choices, if you can use Color magic Bright or Grey is your best bet, with Amethyst gaining honorable mention cause you might get Purple Sun of Xerus, which can kill anything, even Chaos troops, in droves. Keep away from HTH. Use screens, shoot constantly, try to use Magic to hold the Chaos hordes off, tie them up with Crown of Commanded units or Flagellants, and all other such tactics. Do all this and you have a good chance of coming out on top.

Orcs and Goblins-Da Ladz invariably come in large, disorganized mobs with lots of weird wonder troop types. Fanatics are the nightmare of every Empire knight, Doom Divers are actually accurate (Yes, there is something in the O&G;army list that isnt unpredictable!), Savage Orc Boar Boyz are incredibly brutal, especially for their price, those huge hordes of Gobbos can tie up your important units, and more and more. The Orc army list is perhaps the only list that is more varied than your own, so theres no preparing for what youre up against. However, a few things tend to pop up frequently. First of all theres the dreaded Night Goblin Fanatics. Please please please don't charge the little black-clad Goblins with Knights. Use Horse Archers to draw them out, they wont do too much damage to the skirmishers. Next in line is the Savage Orc Boar Boyz. These guys are a steamroller unit. Try to get the charge on them with your Knights, and/or pound them with Artillery. In a large game, its worth taking some Great Cannons just to go for the SOBBs, however the Mortar should be your artillery piece of choice against the Greenskins. Volley Guns also work wonders against the Orcs, who rarely have much in the line of shooters. Since Orcs are T4, you want Crossbows for the defensive work. My best advice is to use my personal defensive tactics as described under "Defensive Tactics." These work quite nicely against Greenskins. As for magic, you should be looking at some moderate anti-Magic, perhaps 1 Destroy scroll in case of Hand of Gork or some other thing. Please remember Morks War Banner, so keep your wizard back at all costs. If you see 2 standards in a unit of Wolf Riders/Spider Riders, be very, very, suspicious. As for your own magic, I like the Curse of the Years against the large Greenskin mobz. In large games the Supreme Patriarch is well worth it. For decks, Necromancy is the choice if you cant take color, if you can Amethyst takes first prize for these boyz, followed by Grey and then Bright. TP a Purple Sun and watch your enemy cringe!! Don't let your opponent evade those Animosity and 'Eadbangerz tests, use the Ring of Corin on the inevitable Crown of Command, and stick to your shooting, and you can come out on top.

Specific Magic Items
Empire-Only
The Hammer of Sigmar-100 points-Auto Wounds, only Magic Armor Saves-A worty weapon for 100 points. If you can afford this price, its fine, because the low S of Empire characters makes Auto-Wounding nice. However, a Deathsword for the same price makes you all-but Auto-Wound (2+ against most everybody) and no type of armor saves with a -7 modifier. Still, its a good choice, if youre willing to pay those kinds of points for weapons. If you do, please remember that the Empire will never win a game with cheezed-up characters.

The Silver Seal-75 points-4+ Dispel, -1 to hit-This is decent, but nothing special. I use it primarily against Undead because the Dispel is nice.

Runefangs-30 points-Double Wounds against Undead, only Magic Armor saves- Contrary to what makes sense, I rarely take these against the Undead, because you cant wound Undead characters with your pathetic Strength (0 Wounds x 2=0 Wounds!!) but they are very nice against Bretonnians and Chaos because they ignore Save. I frequently field 4 or 5 of them against Brets (Kurt, Elector Counts, and the 1 that a hero can have) to open up those stupid 2+ saves. These are excellent for their minimal points cost.

Sword of Justice-50 points-Reroll Missed Attacks, only Magic Armor Saves- Ludwig Only-This is the games best weapon value. Use Ludwig just to get this excellent sword. 'Nuff said.

7. Conclusion

Well, here I have outlined Empire units and tactics for you to the best of my ability (or at least until I got worn out by writing so much!) Ultimately, the Empire list is so varied that you should be making your own tactics at the end, I am only here to advise you in the best way that I can. Just remember to keep your opponents off balance. Throw them a different type of curveball each time you play. And remember, most importantly of all, beyond everything else....have fun!!

Erich von Moltke
Reiksmarshal of the Reikland