# The Empire



## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

I have a friend that started warhammer recently he is playing the empire and i play the wok after he i beat him/ Looked at my guys stat line he got a little discouraged from the game saying that the empire sucks and its a bad army the only thing good is the Hellblaster volley gun is the only good thing and it is a rare unit. 
Getting to the point none of this is true but i cant prove it to him because where in a campaign and where on opposite teams and i cant tell him with out getting all my teammates pissed of at me so i was hopping to recommend this thread to him.
Please list all of the *GOOD* things about the empire here and tell a little about how to use them.


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## Hudson (Jun 3, 2008)

Detachment: a great special rule if used properly, allows handy counter charges and gives units liek swordsmen then ability to have counter charge with say a 3x3 unit of militia and stand and shoot with a unit of say xbows. this is a nasty little rule plus people hate it so go for your detachments first allowing your bulk to make some serious damage unchecked.

cavelry: in small battles dont both with the general he's not worth the bother get a templar grand master and these bad boys are immune to pshyc. now tell me that a unit of knights hitting with lances immune to psyc are a bad thing.. these guys can tackle most heavyweights.

greatswords: these arent the best in the world but coupled with the detachment rule and a nice shiny griffon standard your well away to a huge combat ress. a unit of 20 of these charging in with a BSB with griffon standard has +8 to combat res without even hitting anything!!! thats huge.

normal cannons: better than dwarf cannons they do D6 wounds and can take down most monsters not bad for the points.

Outrider: miniguns on horse 10 of these is the equivelent of a hellblaster that works at full tilt EVERY TURN!!!

pistoliers: nice little march blockers that are a pain in the arse.

steam tank: yea i know its a rare choice but come on just look at it!!! 10 wounds a cannon causes terror you cant damage the damned thing

in essence empire is a cracking army if used correctly. it has its weaknesses but so do all the other armies.

empire is a balanced army and doesnt rely on one uber unit of doom for success the key to winning with empire is having a cover all bases list and using all your army as....welll....an army and not a collection of heroes all running around trying to kill stuff.


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## stevenhassell (Aug 5, 2009)

the empier is all about the right combination agienst the army you are fighting. if you are up agienst WOC you want a Gun Line with crossbows and hand gunners to punch through their aromor. cannons and hellplasters to rake down there lines and fst cav. to march block to give you more time to shoot. maxing your magic will help out two


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## Othiem (Apr 20, 2008)

Empire can be a bit hard to wrap your head around if you are new to the game, since the army is almost 100% dependent on static combat resolution. Have him take a look at the point cost of one of those Chaos Warriors before he gets too jealous.

First thing, he needs fully functioning blocks of state troops. That means blocks of 25 with 2 detachments. Any smaller, and they're not worth the trouble. 

Second, tell him to remember the goal of shooting is not to blow units off the table, it is to strip rank bonus away from enemy units. Fire on one, remove a row, then move on to the next target. 

Make sure he has a BSB, Empire will need those rerolls.

Battlemages and Warriors Priests work well together for a decent magic phase against any but the more cheesy VC/DoC builds. Have him compare cost of a Chaos Wizard vs Battlemage to see the grass isn't always greener.

Pistoliers are another great unit, especially against WoC. Combine the power of black powder with the annoyance of marchblocking and you've got a winner. 

Really, he just needs to learn the empire does not win by killing more guys than you do, they win by bringing the right unit to the right fight and beating you down with static combat res.


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## matty570 (Jun 14, 2007)

In my opinion you get more satisfaction out of wining with empire as you have to play them well to win for the reasons mentioned above. Also bear in mind that they do have the pope mobile as well, which can really buff the empire army up a bit but not game breaking in its own right (though for an extra 100 pts its a steal!!) 

For me empire is the most balanced army in so far as it can be built cavalry heavy, infantry heavy, shooty heavy or a mixture of the above. I love them but they do take practice to get right.

One reflection I would like to point out, that unlike other armies if the rolls go against you its hard to recover, which I've found to be less of a problem with the likes of VC, Lizardmen or WoC. Though not as bad as OnG!!


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## Hudson (Jun 3, 2008)

poor old O+G...nope i'm not moving....yep we're ALL running away...

totally agree with the above you can build an empire cheese list but still have to play it well to win. much better than the yep i'm a demon and i do need 35 power dice :angry:


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## Commander_Culln (Jul 6, 2009)

Er... the fact each soldier is dirt cheap and yet still seems to work extremly well


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