A simple description of the Empire core troops and how I would play them
Have you watched movies like Troy, Return of the King (LOTR), Two Towers (LOTR again), Kingdom of Heaven, Braveheart, King Arthur and Gladiator? These are just some movie names that inspired one to play the Empire. Thousands of men on foot marching covering hills with their numbers towards their doom. Knights supporting flanks taking out enemies at the sides causing much disruption in the opponent's enemy lines. Knights performing deeds of great honour, killing devastating monsters and saving the day. Wizards casting spells that burns their foes charging at them. Wizards causing catastrophic magic that cripples the enemy army. Inspirational leaders leading the men towards the inevitable doom. Leaders jumping up to face the seemed invincible enemy and slaying them against all odds.
The army of men. In the game of warhammer fantasy battles, Empire men do not have strong “stats” that could face the blunt of battle blindly. The entire army needs the support of each other and with the combined strength, the army could do well. I would not suggest it to a new player who would just want an army that would just move straight and kill what they could charge. Playing the Empire would require you to have some strategy involved when you start deploying them in the tabletop.
When fielding an army, you would require at least 25 percent of the total points to be from the Core choices. Meaning that you would not be able to field an army without any of the core choices. But which of the troops to choose? Here's a little description based on my own opinion that would probably help you to decide.
- Swordmen – During 7th edition, these were my favourite blocks. Now at 8th edition, they're still not so bad. With the “parry” rule, it means that they would always have a 6+ ward save on top of their 5+ armour saves. They are an option as detachments for their better defense. I would field about 15 of them in a 5 x 3 formation and use them to counter-charge or bait opponent units.
- Halberdiers – These now form my usual blocks of men. With halberds, they deliver a Strength 4 hit which would help a great deal when we need to cause wounds. Add a warrior priest to lead them to battle and they would have Hatred rule which greatly increase the strength of the unit. I would usually field them in a unit of 40 strong and form them up in a horde formation. Make sure I could maximize my number of hits and get a good chance of wounding.
- Spearmen – Another unit which I would field as detachments. They are cheap and could fight up to three ranks if they were charged or in subsequent combat rounds. I don't usually give them shields as detachments should be as cheap as they can be.
- Free Company – Cheap two attack per model units which would die easily. They're my other choice for detachments. Free companies would work well for those lightly or not armoured opponents.
- Handgunners – The cracking sound of muskets and bullets piercing through armour. What better units to protect your warmachines. They're not very accurate but at Strength 4 armour piercing, opponent knights don't really like these guys.
- Crossbowmen – Shooting from 30 inches away, Strength 4 to wound. Field them at the back and torture your opponent's units. Similarly with the Handgunners, they are not accurate but the strength of each hit makes up for it. These are good for softening your target before hitting them with your close combat units.
- Archers – The only skirmishers in the whole army. These guys are also one of the options that I would use as detachments. Mainly to be used as screens against shooting. A little bit expensive screen but with Skirmish rule, they would have to hit these guys at a further -1 “To Hit” penalty. Upgrade them to Huntsmen and they will have the “Scout” ability. They won't be able to do much damage to your opponent with only Strength 3 shooting or close combat. I use them mainly to harass my opponent if I know they would probably be fielding warmachines that are lightly defended.
- Knightly Orders – One of my favourite core choices. Reliable men that are tough to kill. Of course that's because of their 1+ armour saves. These knights are mostly used as bunkers for my mounted army Battle Standard Bearer or mounted Battle Wizard. As they are heavily armoured, you don't have to worry about these guys getting shot or magic shot at unless against high strength or those ignore armour damage. They have good defence with their high armour saves but when it comes to their offensive abilities, I have come to learn of the term, “Knights of the Rubber Lance”. They have Weapon Skill of 4 but somehow, they just could not deliver the punch needed when they are required to do so.
Depending on your army list and play style, you should pick the units that complement your other units. So far in the 8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, in my opinion, if you would want to hold an opponent unit until you could flank it with a “hammer” unit, field a huge block Swordmen and have many ranks in them to ensure you would have Steadfast rule if you lose the combat. That would help you to sustain the combat until your own turn to flank or rear charge the opponent that had charged you. If you would want your core troops to be able to hit your opponent, bring in Halberdiers in a horde formation. Field a Warrior Priest with it and it would be able to deliver quite a number of wounds and win combat.
In the 8th edition, the units now move faster and have a longer potential charge range. This would mean that shooting units would have lesser turns to fire and cause massive damage to opponents. This is unless of course if you bring huge numbers of shooting for example a gunline army. I would think that shooting are not useless at all but you have to pick the right targets. Causing two or three wounds to a unit that consists of 40 models would not have any impact but it would mean a panic test to a flanker unit that consists of only five or six models.
In conclusion, the Empire core troops won't be able to kill all in their path like Chaos Warriors but they might just be able to do enough timed correctly and with the right targets. They are weak defensively but cheap enough to be able to suffer the losses in order to achieve a greater purpose. They are like pawns in a chess game waiting for the right time for you to make the Checkmate!
