Editing Total War: WARHAMMER (section)

====[[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Empire]]====
[[File:Empirewallpaper.jpg|800px|center|thumb|'''SUMMON THE ELECTOR COUNTS!''']]
The good ol' Empire: the pike, shot, and griffins faction we all know and love, the faction that works most like the old factions of other [[Total War]] games, being puny 'umies an' all. Led by Karl Franz as the faction leader, with [[Balthasar Gelt]], and Volkmar the Grim as additional playable legendary Lords. [[Markus Wulfhart]] was added in TWW2 "Hunter and the Beast" DLC, making the Empire the first faction to gain a lord and new units in another game of the series they were introduced in.

The Empire <s> is about as vanilla as you can get, with their only unique mechanic being their ability to appoint lords to offices (which isn't even unique anymore since the Wood Elves have something similar, and arguably does it better). Other than that, the Empire tech tree is locked behind buildings, with military and military support buildings like barracks, stables and blacksmiths unlocking technologies as well as the ability to recruit more powerful units. It - like the rest of the campaign is fairly lackluster, and some of the arguably better research abilities come in far too late to be useful</s> has received a sizeable rework that's changed how their campaign works significantly (if you play them in Mortal Empires; game 1 still has the old system): the old office system has been replaced by a new Elector Count system, which allows you to appoint your generals as the elector count of a province for several bonuses, the province's Runefang, and a unique elector count unit (that range from mortars that don't damage your own troops to unbreakable greatswords to the Knights of Morr). Likewise, there is a new fealty mechanic that allows you to automatically confederate with another province when high enough (or result in their secession if their fealty is too low), with ways to raise it ranging from simply building up good relations with them to sending reinforcements for mini-battles against Skaven, Beastmen, and Orc aggressors. This is kept in check by your faction's imperial authority, which increases via spending prestige (a new resource similar to the High Elves influence) during political events or reinstating elector counts and is lost when confederating, letting fellow elector counts get defeated, or declaring war on other Empire factions (so you can't go bash everyone's heads in unless you want to take some huge penalties and eventually end up in a civil war vs every other elector count). As before though, the main focus of an Empire campaign is still to get all of the fragmented provinces under one banner, be it through alliances, confederation, or conquest, the new mechanics adding further depth to these play-styles (though it can lead to some interesting moments such as [[what| the Empire seceding from the Empire]]). While it lacks the diverse flavor of later races, the Empire campaign is arguably best for the traditional Total War "sandbox" sort of experience. While you are encouraged to ally with the Dwarfs or Bretonnia, it is really up to you how you want your campaign to go. Later in game one's life cycle the Empire got a few additional touches, in the form of new skill trees for Karl Franz and Gelt, along with additional army bonuses. All in all, it's a good introductory campaign to get used to the basics of the game or for [[Skub|"Fun"]] gameplay.

It is also worth noting that as more content was added to the game, most notably with the [[Beastmen]] DLC, the Empire AI became noticeably liable to [[Fail|get fucking punked early on in campaigns]]. Players will probably notice this difference even while playing as them with Orc or Beastmen hordes coming by soon after securing Altdorf (or even during) to fuck with their shit. The Foundation Update tried to amend this by giving the AI controlled Empire a full province from the get go. Which means it can actually survive for a while without getting absolutely stomped by all the enemies that knock on its door at the beginning.

In battle, the Empire is a little weaker than most armies off the bat, just like in the tabletop, but has access to a lot of different shit to compensate and their soldiers aren't exactly expensive. Artillery is still powerful, as are wizards, and there's elite stuff like the Luminark of Hysh and the Demigryph Knights to tear up the really big stuff the enemy can throw at you. Much like everything else about the Empire in this game, it's rather straightforward but effective nonetheless.

If you happen to beat the Beastmen mini-campaign, then you gain access to a playable Boris Todbringer in multiplayer, and in campaign should you confederate Middenland.

As of the Beast and the Hunter DLC for TTW2, they now get forts. Helmgart is an example of this change, and in its place comes Ubersreik (which can [[Vermintide|have a unique building, the Red Moon Inn]] that can be built there). Furthermore, Gelt now leads his own faction called the Golden Order based in Solland, giving the Empire much more starting position variation than before.

Their base game Legendary Lords are Karl Franz and Balthasar Gelt. Later joined by Volkmar the Grim (Grim & the Grave DLC) and Markus Wulfheart (Hunter & the Beast DLC).

:: Emperor [[Karl Franz]] leads the primary Empire subfaction of '''Reikland''', starting in good old Altdorf. Big dick Franz' faction effect gives an upkeep reduction to Reiksguard and Greatswords, a bonus to relations with other Empire factions, a boost to Lord recruit ranks, and a bonus to campaign movement range for all characters. His sole Lord effect is a bonus to leadership to all units in his army. It's a surprisingly slow start, since after you beat up the secessionists you will spend much of your time reunifying The Empire through confederation. In the meantime you can take back Marienburg, invade the Vampire Counts or just fuck with the Bretonnians or Dwarfs if you want to give the lore a middle finger. With his magic items giving him more AP, Bonus vs Large, and giving him more attack and leadership, his main job in battle is to beat the shit out of whatever you point him at! He shines in the late game where his buffs to elite Empire troops allows him to rofl stomp all of Chaos. Slow start, but well worth the wait. Quest items include Ghal Maraz, The Silver Seal, and The Drakwald Runefang Beast Slayer. He also rides his trusty Griffon Deathclaw as his unique mount.

:: [[Balthasar Gelt]] leads the subfaction '''The Golden Order''' after the Empire Undivided update, starting in the once ruined province of Solland. Unique faction effects include a whopping +10 boost to armor for all units, a boost to hero capacity and a reduction to upkeep for Battle Wizards. Lord effect wise he has a 20% reduction to Lore of Metal Spell costs, grants a boost to missile damage to all artillery units in his army, and boost hero recruit rank for Battle Wizards. All these bonuses means he has a much easier start than Franz, since his bonus to armor, cheap spells and starting mortars can carry you through a lot of early game fights. Gelt also has natural terrain in the mountains, making it easier to fuck with the Dwarfs and get grudgins under your belt. He is the primary spell caster of The Empire, and their only access to the Lore of Metal so far. Along with his new start in Solland, he has access to the Solland Runefang Grudgesettler, and owns a Fort right off the bat. His Quest items include the Cloak of Molten Metal, Amulet of Sea Gold, and the Staff of Volans. He also has access to a unique Pegasus named Quicksilver.

:: [[Volkmar the Grim]] is chilling alongside Franz in '''Reikland''' if you bought The Grim and the Grave, while Immortal Empires lets him assume proper leadership over the '''Cult of Sigmar'''. His unique faction effects include an increased Magic item drop chance, a boost to recruit rank for Warrior Priests, and lastly bonus weapon strength and upkeep reduction to Flagellants. Lord effect wise he gets a big boost to casualty replenishment rate, melee defense, and physical resistance to all Flagellants in his army. Since the lords in G&G didn't get unique start positions, they play very similarly to the main leaders of said faction campaign wise. In this case, you play Volkmar more or less like you play Karl, only you use the lulzy unbreakable Flagellants as your main line infantry early on instead of Swordsmen. CA fortunately saw how this could be boring and gave future DLC lords unique start areas, though Volkmar and his buddy Ghorst sadly have a harder time standing out compared to their big bosses. In battle he's primarily a support lord who buffs up the front line troops while still doing decent damage, with his regen and being able to become unbreakable making him damn hard to get rid of. His Quest items include the Jade Griffon and the Staff of Command. He also has access to the War Altar of Sigmar as a unique mount, making him unbreakable on his popemobile.

:: In the hot jungles of Lustria is [[Markus Wulfhart]] and his '''Huntsmarshal's Expedition''' in his home base of the occupied Temple of Tenclan. Evidently Franz told him to take a break from slaughtering Beastmen and other horrid creatures in The Drakwald to slaughter Lizardmen and other horrible creatures in Lustria to help Imperial colonists. His unique faction mechanic is The Emperor's Mandate, instead of unlocking units normally you get reinforcements from back home the more you advance the Emperor's cause in Lustria. The more you pillage the land in the Empire's name, the better quality units are sent your way. He also gets a recruit rank buff to Huntsman Generals in his faction. Lord effect wise he has a bonus to his army's ambush defence chance, an increase to his own chance at ambushing, and a hefty upkeep reduction for Archers and Huntsmen in his army. Lastly he gets a malus to diplomatic relations with all Lizardmen. In your adventure to bring civilization to these Jungle filled lands and totally not plunder them for all their worth, you will focus on ranged combat and skirmishing, as his buffs to the half upkeep Archers and Huntsmen makes them better at killing things than Handgunners! His natural snare ability, long ranges focused shot and ADDITIONAL long ranged Anti Large focus shot after getting his quest item means large units won't be on the field for long. Campaign wise, you are locked out of most of the higher tier Empire troops early on, instead needing to rely on The Emperor's Mandate to get good stuff early on. If you make the homeland happy they will give you a selection of new, higher tier units to recruit to help you out, meaning you actually get the good, elite stuff faster than most other Empire factions. You also get access to unique heroes who totally aren't the Vermintide gang. The thing is though, YOU FUCKING NEED IT, as you are in the Royal Rumble that is Lustria and everything there that isn't Teclis wants to kill you and turn your face into underwear! The Hostility bar also makes it so the Lizardmen send armies to sodomize your hopes of expansion if you fill it too high. This is one of the most difficult, but at the same time most fun campaigns, and really gives you a good challenge. His sole unique Quest item is the Amber Bow.

Their Army Roster can be found [[http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/The_Empire_Army_Roster here]], and their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epK0ouN0l7U&list=PL7l8yJHLU_BGRyo1NkkhRWG69pfgSnmVS&index=19&t=0s trailer]].

[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Empire| More specific tactics here]]

<gallery mode="nolines">
File:Reikland.png|Reikland
File:Golden_Order.png|The Golden Order
File:Huntsmarshals_Expedition.png|The Huntsmarshal's Expedition
File:The Cult of Sigmar.PNG|The Cult of Sigmar
</gallery>