8th Edition 2012 book Empire Tactica

[Daniel36]

just run them as outriders- there a great unit, and yes pictures in books arn't anything to go off

Nahh, I'd rather Move AND Fire, so I can strafe until my enemy screams.

[Lord Solar Plexus]

Anyways, is it me, or is the captain on the front of the book illegally equiped? He is holding what I guess is either a Repeater Handgun or Repeater Pistol, but as far as I'm aware he can't equip that... O_o

Illegal? There's nothing illegal about saving a dead Engineer's lovingly tended family heirloom from being trampled into the mud! :-)

Or perhaps it is an Engineer who's been "saving" an officer's cherished armour to get it back to his heirs at the first opportunity? He's just transporting it in an efficient manner...

[danny-d-b]

Nahh, I'd rather Move AND Fire, so I can strafe until my enemy screams.

so watch as the shots go flying high and wide- pistolires havn't been worth the price since they took their combat ablitly away (using pistols in combat)

just use vanguard to skert to a nice flank position and fire away, if the enermy goes after them, less shots on your artillery and state troops

[Gradek]

Is there any (non-fluff) reason to ever take an empire general over the arch lector. I like the idea (for fluff) of an empire general, but for 5 points more the Arch Lector just seems too superior to pass up.

[Eyrenthaal]

Is there any (non-fluff) reason to ever take an empire general over the arch lector. I like the idea (for fluff) of an empire general, but for 5 points more the Arch Lector just seems too superior to pass up.

Well, there is the "hold the line!" special rule which is pretty awesome..

[Daniel36]

so watch as the shots go flying high and wide- pistolires havn't been worth the price since they took their combat ablitly away (using pistols in combat)

Ahhh... but as ever, you are merely looking at the probabilities... Warhammer never plays averagely!
And you underestimate my dumb luck in times when I don't really need it.

[Tuttivillus]

Is there any (non-fluff) reason to ever take an empire general over the arch lector. I like the idea (for fluff) of an empire general, but for 5 points more the Arch Lector just seems too superior to pass up.

Warrior priest might be the second reason.

[Daniel36]

Okay, so today was the first time I noticed there was an extra Lord choice in the form of the Grand Master, imagine that. I don't hear about him often on forums either, so...
Anyways, in the fluff description it states that a Grand Master can join a Demigryph unit, but... he... can't... ride... one... himself? Why would a Grand Master, who even has a cool title, want to ride on a measly Warhorse when he can get down and dirty on a Demigryph. Do you think that will get errata'd?

[danny-d-b]

yer one of the big misses for me in the current book

[Jezbot]

so watch as the shots go flying high and wide- pistolires havn't been worth the price since they took their combat ablitly away (using pistols in combat)

just use vanguard to skert to a nice flank position and fire away, if the enermy goes after them, less shots on your artillery and state troops

Pistoliers work fine, you just can't make the mistake of thinking they're there just for their ability to shoot, or just for their ability to delay the enemy. They do both jobs, by moving up to close range and firing, plinking a few kills, and then forcing the enemy to charge them, from which they should get away. Next turn they should rally, and then run in again to repeat the treatment.

There's a few shoulds in there, and it's probably a little too likely for them to either get caught or fail to rally for them to be counted as a great unit, but most of the time you should be able to delay a key enemy infantry block for a couple of turns, allowing the bulk of your army to gang up on his other units.

[Morax]

There's a few shoulds in there, and it's probably a little too likely for them to either get caught or fail to rally for them to be counted as a great unit, but most of the time you should be able to delay a key enemy infantry block for a couple of turns, allowing the bulk of your army to gang up on his other units.

Those shoulds are exactly why they are over pointed by 2-3 points per model. While that doesn't sound like much for what is usually a 5 man unit (15 points is hardly the end of the world in a 3k game), for me it makes them close to unusable. I'd much rather keep the points cost and get what I'm paying for by giving them leadership 8 then have the points cost reduced. That one change would make an otherwise flavorful unit that looks great on the table and would be fun to move around, actually able to do what it is designed to do. Without it they are just too frustrating to field regularly.

[Lord Solar Plexus]

so watch as the shots go flying high and wide- pistolires havn't been worth the price since they took their combat ablitly away (using pistols in combat)

Hmm. I've held that opinion for a while but I may have been tainted by fighting against one too many Stormbanners. Last game, my unit of 4 including the champ with a repeater pistol (out of 6) killed an Elven BSB on an Eagle. That was well worth the investment.

Is there any (non-fluff) reason to ever take an empire general over the arch lector. I like the idea (for fluff) of an empire general, but for 5 points more the Arch Lector just seems too superior to pass up.

Not that I can see. The Lector just brings more to the table with his prayers and hatred. All of his abilities are geared to help you win a fight or to conserve points/keep attacks, while the General is of a much more defensive nature and a little narrow in his application.

Warrior priest might be the second reason.

Huh? How so?

Okay, so today was the first time I noticed there was an extra Lord choice in the form of the Grand Master, imagine that. I don't hear about him often on forums either, so...

He's all the rage on Warhammer-Empire, with a Runefang + OTS. I used to use a simple lance + shield TGM in the old book all the time but it became a bit boring.

[Tuttivillus]

Huh? How so?

He is cheaper than archlector

[Empire - Ulric]

Okay, so today was the first time I noticed there was an extra Lord choice in the form of the Grand Master, imagine that. I don't hear about him often on forums either, so...
Anyways, in the fluff description it states that a Grand Master can join a Demigryph unit, but... he... can't... ride... one... himself? Why would a Grand Master, who even has a cool title, want to ride on a measly Warhorse when he can get down and dirty on a Demigryph. Do you think that will get errata'd?

Some more rules fail I noticed the other day. Ludwig Schwartzhelm, the BSB of ALL Empire BSB's...............does not have the Hold the Line! Special Rule...........wtf?

[Yowzo]

He's supposed to be next to Karl Franz or some other Empire high brass after all.

But yeah, sure he was meant to have it and someone screwed on the final proofreading.

[yabbadabba]

I am not sure why Schwarzehelm would get HTL - I don't think he is or was trained to lead troops in the field. He is the Emperor's champion and standard bearer and would only not be at the Emperor's side under his specific instruction. I think LS not having HTL reflects the background better.

However saying that is a memory playing Empire for 18 years and not having my book to hand.

[Tuttivillus]

I am not sure why Schwarzehelm would get HTL - I don't think he is or was trained to lead troops in the field. He is the Emperor's champion and standard bearer and would only not be at the Emperor's side under his specific instruction. I think LS not having HTL reflects the background better.

This. He is more of a muscle than a leader.

[Nubl0]

Right people! I'm thinking of starting an empire army, so far I only own armies people would consider "evil" and was looking for "good" army as it were. Dwarfs and elves didn't really appeal to me, but I loved the empire slightly crazy theme. I'm picking up the book tomorrow and will probably make some other purchases too. Now the people I play with can be rather cut throat when it comes to list building so I thought I would just quickly ask what the majority consider decent units and what are bad ones. I'll then compare it to the models I like and see if I can make a workable list out of that.

So first off, I love the gryphon model, sadly I hear it's pretty weak. I might pick one up anyway though, I dont mind the state troopers and would be looking to make the the core of my army. Warmachine wise I only really like the cannons and the wacky wizard wagons, not a fan of the knight models and quite like the greatswords... not a fan of the price though. Finally I love the stank and dont mind the hand gunners, I also adore the demiryph models!

[Eyrenthaal]

Right people! I'm thinking of starting an empire army, so far I only own armies people would consider "evil" and was looking for "good" army as it were. Dwarfs and elves didn't really appeal to me, but I loved the empire slightly crazy theme. I'm picking up the book tomorrow and will probably make some other purchases too. Now the people I play with can be rather cut throat when it comes to list building so I thought I would just quickly ask what the majority consider decent units and what are bad ones. I'll then compare it to the models I like and see if I can make a workable list out of that.

So first off, I love the gryphon model, sadly I hear it's pretty weak. I might pick one up anyway though, I dont mind the state troopers and would be looking to make the the core of my army. Warmachine wise I only really like the cannons and the wacky wizard wagons, not a fan of the knight models and quite like the greatswords... not a fan of the price though. Finally I love the stank and dont mind the hand gunners, I also adore the demiryph models!

In order of business..

The gryphon can be week at times, though it is the toughest gryphon out there I believe. The bloodroar upgrade is a must.. An inverted lizardmen ld test is awesome on your enemies..

A lot of people like the halberdiers as state troops, they do the trick.. Swordsman are equally good in my book though, but for different reasons. Not fun to paint but fun to field..

Cannons are very good..

The wagons changes gameplay and can tip the balance, but its also a lot of points..

The knight models are but ugly.. But I'd still go with at least 5 because they're that good..

Greatswords, my god the money.. Why? Because they're good enough for people to pay the price...

The stank has been made better in the sense that it's easier to use even when damaged. Solid choice..

Handgunners. Well, not the best unit but not as useless as you sometimes can hear.. If for nothing else, you put a champ with a hochland long rifle in the unit for character assassination..

The demis are a must. Don't go and buy more than one pack to begin with though. The optimal unit size is 3-4.

So that's that.. Now, how about..

Outriders? Great little unit.. They're everything you want your handgunners to be.. Vanguard gives them the possibility to shoot the first turn..

Hellblaster? With an engineer by its side it's the most reliable wm in the book. I think mathammer has is at just 1-2% misfires.. Its crazy reliable, could be wrong about the numbers though.

Regards
Rob

[Tuttivillus]

Demigryphon Knights, STanak, Great Cannon, Hellblaster with engineer, Outriders, Halberds, Greatswords, Warrior priest. Don't forget BSB . Thats for starters. As for the rest, get the book and fill it to Your liking.