Editing The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy) (section)

===Other Odds and Ends===
So, that's most of the Empire's army, who have we not covered yet that does not use magic? [[Flagellant]]s? Oh, this will be fun. Jolly smashing, old bean old sandwich old pringle old teapot old sport old cracker old boy old fishcake old mushroom etc etc what what! (Britishness intensifies)

Flagellants are, like the unit, people who beat themselves almost dead in penitence for their sins and the sins of the world. The Empire's unit originates from the Dark Ages during the height of the Bubonic Plague, just when it would seemed that <strike>God's</strike> Sigmar's judgment really was coming down upon the world. Flagellants were more than just nuts desperate for some sense in the world, they were people mad at the church. They were declared heretical (yay) because they said they had a way to cleanse themselves of sin (that being self-torture) which was something the Church said only they could do. A few miracles were also attributed to the Flagellants like those of a child being brought back from the dead and [[What|a talking cow]].

The real-world Flagellants were not really able to fight all that well, since they were, you know, peasants (and poorly armed, beaten peasants at that), and for the most part the Empire's flagellants are just as inept at combat with their staying factor only being attributed to them being so frothing mad that they didn't care who else died alongside them. They're not really a military unit though, they're sort of military hangers-on whom the Empire 'tolerates' rather than burn, like the real-world [[Inquisition]] did.

There's also the Free Companies. These fill in the role of "irregular" infantry, whom were, for a lack of better words, soldiers that weren't soldiers. Free Companies are basically militias, a collection of mercenaries, peasants pressed into service, and local citizens that follow the army and fight like everyone else. These have a multitude of real life comparisons, from the Minutemen of the American Revolution, the Spanish Guerillas of the Peninsular War, the Resistances of WWII, peasant mobs of the Medieval period, the barbari of the Roman Army, and many more. Historically, irregulars were local men who quickly armed themselves with whatever could be used as a weapon, typically either in defense of their homes or, in the Medieval period, were quickly being levied to act as fodder while the militias and knights did most of the actual slugging it out. In later periods, militias would become the irregulars, with men often coming to the aide of the army armed with outdated muskets and antique swords.

Unlike flagellants, irregulars have an actual noted fighting record, but as the definition is so loose this record is mixed. Some, such as the Francs-tireurs and the Minutemen have records for their fantastic use of less conventional tactics and ability to disrupt the enemy. Others, like the Confederate Bushwhackers and Union Jayhawkers of the American Civil War were little more than armed gangs who spent most of their time fighting other militias and terrorizing civilians. Some, like the colonial militias of the Indian Wars (and even earlier, in the Carribbean) had a record for throwing down their weapons and retreating the moment combat actually started. The Cossacks and Pindaris both have well-known records as fantastic horsemen in their respective armies, but don't really have an comparison available in Warhammer (at least, not in the Empire).

So in conclusion the Empire has surprisingly thick roots for all the units you can field on the table top excepting those that use magic since we don't have magic ourselves (apart from the only thing holding Tomb Kings models together). It's also clear that the fact the Empire manages to survive the onslaught of hundreds of threats despite their allies being douchebags, shows that their military is nothing to sneeze at. Thus showing that the common Warrior-Priest is not only likely miles tougher than the all-too-feared [[Inquisitor Lord]], he is also perhaps leading a group of men almost as well organized and as disciplined, while having balls not seen on anyone who is not from the [[Imperial Guard]]. The Empire also shows that you don't have to be a superhuman to be tough as hell, they prove that at the end of the day, Humanity can overcome a threat by working together and standing firm even when by all rights you should run. Oh, and liberal application of black powder. <s>Except not really, because imaginary games with dice and little plastic fellers doesn't prove squat.</s> if a [[Noh|Fictional]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ico character] can inspire true pathos, then a tabletop game can show you the meaning of courage when one of your units passes a leadership test in the face of the odds and that lets you win the game.