Hi seers,
Im a total newbie to WFB however I like the idea of going an empire gunline, the problem is I have no idea how the units work or how big units size I should taking
any help with this would be helpful
also I plan to take 1 - 2 wizards, what lore would you seers suggest for me?
I say pick another army style, possibly a different army completely.
Most people don't like playing people with gunlines.
They either don't make it across the table due to being shot to bits, or they do make it across the table and you lose...usually this makes for an incredibly dull game.
Plan B kill it with fire
Meat is Murder tasty, tasty murder
Originally Posted by RanaldLoec
what about taking a unit or 2 of spears with handgunners to thin the enemy?
Gunlines are an extreme form of army. As in they overload the shooting phase. The game becomes one dimensional. It's either you win through shooting or if your enemy gets into combat with you you lose. Very boring. So you will have people that aren't going to be too excited about having to face that all of the time.
Having handgunners in your army to thin the enemy is what they are there for though.Just not an entire army of handgunners and cannons.
NOTE: my use of the word "powergamer" is not meant as a derrogatory or inflammatory word used in a negative context. It is used to describe a type of player that uses power builds
So long as the actual focus of the army isn't on gunning the other guy down at range then the army is fine and you can get away with taking whatever the hell you want.
As a basic list I would sugguest aim for 2 main blocks of core troops.
Deploy them either in squares of say 7x7 or columns 5 wide and as many deep as you want (8 or so is often good).
With regards to the detachments, they can be small and always deployed 2 deep.
Using handgunners is fine, although crossbows provide better range.
Try to keep the list interesting with some variety.
A Steam tank for example draws the focus a lot and makes for a good centrepoint for the army to be based around
As do things like the Luminark or Hurricanum
Small units of knights also help, as they provide something mobile and fairly cheap (but well armoured) and are good for dealing with lighter enemy units that will fail miserably to do anything about a 1+ armour save.
Plan B kill it with fire
Meat is Murder tasty, tasty murder
I have been looking at the book and was thinking of maybe 3 units of 20 spearmen with 4 units of 10 handgunners in support then have maybe 3 cannons in support and a wizard lord with ??? lore
That's not bad. I would try mixing it up. Try two units of 30 spear or two units of 40 spear and see how those do.
NOTE: my use of the word "powergamer" is not meant as a derrogatory or inflammatory word used in a negative context. It is used to describe a type of player that uses power builds
what about having a unit of 40 halberds then a detachment of gunners 1 side to thin out the enemy and a unit of 20 spears on the other side, this means the gunners can thin the units and once they charge i can charge the side with spears
Now you're getting somewhere, sounds like a proper empire list
Although if you like your guns how has no-one suggested the Helblaster volley gun and engineer combo, it is brutally effective and will make the enemy vary wary of closing with you if you stick it in the centre of your line to better protect it giving you more time to thin the enemy out, a small unit or detachment of archers to screen it from scouts / fliers etc. and you're away. maybe a second unit of crossbows to complement your handgunners and a cannon for any big nasties and your state troops should be able to mop up the rest.
To paraphrase Harry: 8th edition and Storm of Magic - BRING IT ON!
so 2 cannons and a volygun... with 2 units of crossbows with the vollygun, then 3 units of halberds with 10 gunners and 30 spears each and a lord wizard with (any suggestions) lore
Every lore has plusses and minuses. They are all cool. Take what you find to fit your approach.
NOTE: my use of the word "powergamer" is not meant as a derrogatory or inflammatory word used in a negative context. It is used to describe a type of player that uses power builds
How big an army are you talking about btw?
If you want to start out at 1k pts or lower, you've basically got three types of units to focus on, in no particular order:
*Combat blocks. Ranged firepower is great for thinning out numbers and picking apart your opponents battleplan, but they do not win battles on their own. For small armies, I'd recommend starting out with 2 20-strong spear, sword or halberd units, possibly backed by a fairly stripped-down Warrior-priest if you want a little extra hitting power.
*Templates. Mortars are niiiice.... when they hit. A single hit can devastate most basic blocks, making it easy for your own combat blocks to pick apart the survivors. A Fire Wizard can do about the same thing(if they roll up the right spells), or if you're feeling fancy, the rare artillery pieces.
*Ranged lines. Ranged firepower is always nice to have. Handguns or crossbows is your choice. Use them in units of 10-20, in two ranks(so everyone gets to shoot), and learn to target low-defense, high-value targets first. Only shoot at low-value blocks during emergencies, or when no other targets are available.
If you've got points over, consider experimenting with cavalry. Anti-monster(such as cannons) only really come into their own in larger games(this can vary with local meta, though).
What to take in larger games, you ask? Well... better ask someone else, as I don't really play a whole lot in games bigger than 1000pts... and I'd honestly advice you to start out down here with me as well, for painting purposes if naught else
Another tip I'd like to give is to try a lot of different stuff - don't just build a single list and stick with it, switch units in and out and get a feel for your whole army, rather than just a little corner of it.
Last edited by theJ; 15-06-2012 at 20:01.
I'd disagree about the mortar in the new book, S2 just doesn't cut it especially not at the points they're asking for it it only really does well against very high points cost low model count T3 targets like elves anything t3 and cheaper it won't put enough of a dent in and T4 the damage is negligible.
To paraphrase Harry: 8th edition and Storm of Magic - BRING IT ON!
Agree with Valaraukar, mortars aren't very good. If you're hellbent on using them, take a Shadow mage and hope to get the toughness hex, and get it off on your mortar target.
Most Empire missile units are very pricey, not good at either combat or shooting and extremely static. Of course handgunners fight like Spearmen but don't get your hopes up that they will kill much. Archers are the most useful of the bunch but not because they can kill stuff but because they're good at dieing with a purpose, ie. diverting enemy units away from more juicy targets.
The question WAS NOT asking on your opinions on gun lines. It was asking for help for that specific army type. Provide that help or don't post.
I can read better than you. He said he doesn't know how those units work. I provided my assessment. What's your problem exactly?
I agree, posts that don't offer any help to the OP should be removed
Also....TresidentEvil, why are you posting?
You haven't posted earlier in this thread...so far you have offered the least amount of useful information to the OP.
The edit button at the bottom of your own post is a good way to change a post after posting.
So, if you want to offer some useful input to the OP then please use this function.
If not, could you please delete your own post please?
Note I will be removing this post if you choose to do either a useful edit or a removal.
Last edited by theunwantedbeing; 16-06-2012 at 14:45.
Plan B kill it with fire
Meat is Murder tasty, tasty murder
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