Editing Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Empire (section)

==Unit Analysis==
===Lords & Heroes===
====Named Characters====
'''Note:''' Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

*'''[[Valten]]:''' New rules for Valten from the new Nagash Book; at a modest point cost compared to the new Mortarchs and other biggies he's facing, Valten is an excellent option. Though he starts off with no armour save, Valten has a 4+ ward save and the Chosen of Sigmar rule (like Luthor Huss: he can pass a Ld test to ignore the first unsaved wound that would remove him from play). Valten can also increase his WS, S, T and A characteristics by D3 (roll once for all four stats) once per game in a close combat phase. This is good but with only two hand weapons and no armour save it isn't as awesome an ability as it really could be; unless you purchase the upgraded set of equipment for Valten, providing him with the cavalry unit type, Movement 7, a +2 armour save and Ghal Maraz. (Ghal Maraz with the once-per-game ability to "power up" and Valten will annihilate almost any enemy. A powered-up Valten is one of only a handful of characters that can stand up to Nagash in a challenge provided he has some luck go his way with the D3 roll, while even the fabled "Blender" Vampire Lord will likely be butchered in record time). A very nice choice in a unit of Knights.
*'''The Emperor [[Karl Franz]]:''' His Imperial Majesty is definitely one of the better named characters in the book. All of his hits automatically wound for D3 wounds (unless you're a complete moron and drop Ghal Maraz in favour of his Runefang), he comes with a 4+ ward save, Magic Resistance (2), is Immune to Psychology, and has Inspiring Presence with a better range than any other general you can field (18" instead of 12"). He is best fielded on foot or on horseback; Deathclaw and the Imperial Dragon aren't really worth the points unless you're getting them free from Storm of Magic. However, if you take either then the inspiring presence reaches a game-breaking 24''.
** '''Karl Franz Ascendant:''' in keeping with the trend towards huge, expensive monster characters in the End Times, the Empire now can field a roided-up version of the Emperor, imbued with the power of Sigmar (and steroids).  He is treated as a single model with Deathclaw, so they can't be targeted separately.  He has all the same gear and special rules as the standard Karl Franz + Deathclaw, except he is also Stubborn and carries an upgraded Ghal Maraz clone that does even more wounds.  His stats (notably ten attacks at WS7, I7, not to mention S6 thunderstomp) combined with the Ghal Maraz clone make him a killing machine, able to easily nosh just about anything, even Nagash, the Glottkin, or entire units of monstrous infantry.  He has both a solid armor save and ward save, as well as almost double the wounds of a non-GUO greater daemon.  And for some reason, he was given the ability to cast an innate bound spell that functions like a short ranged Urannon's Thunderbolt which can possibly continue hitting the target, up to three times.  If KFA has a downside, it's possibly his somewhat low T5 ("somewhat low" being relative, considering most of his other stats are 7+), and a points cost a little over 800 points.  Like any other such monster, expect cannons to target him exclusively.
*'''Kurt Helborg:''' The Grand Marshal of the Reiksguard wields a Runefang and carries Laurels of Victory, which doubles the value of the wounds he causes for the purposes of combat resolution. He also makes a unit of Reiksguard Immune to Psychology; this and +1 WS essentially costs you 25 points. Iffy, but he does come with 155 points worth of wargear, which is higher than the 100-point limit for generic Lords. Mustache.
*'''Marius Leitdorf:''' Elector Count of Averland. He's from older editions, he's back, and he's here to go insane and charge that Hellcannon because he's convinced it's looking at him funny (to be fair, being a possessed cannon, it probably was looking at him funny). He's got a special rule, forcing him to take a leadership test on three dice, dropping the lowest, at the start of each of his turns. If he fails he goes nuts and does something random. Maybe all your units get a free instant reform, and then get to charge or shoot as they please! Maybe he pisses off Gork and Mork and gives Orcs & Goblins Hatred against him for the rest of the game! He's got a Runefang and an additional hand weapon that he gets to use even though he's mounted and got a Runefang. You're effectively paying 4 points for +1A, +1WS and his insanity. He is also dead, killed by an Orc warlord so apparently if you use him you are playing in a time machine (kinda the same for most all named Orc warlords, though.)
*'''Ludwig Schwarzhelm:''' If his name is ''Schwarz'' (black) helm, how come his helmet's painted gold on the box? Anyway, Ludwig is a Battle Standard Bearer with a 20-point magic weapon and Killing Blow, making him another very solid named character choice. His Hold Your Ground has a radius of 18" and he can take wounds for the Emperor if they're both in the same unit, unless the Emperor is in a challenge.
**If you mount Karl Franz in a Warhorse and place Ludwig in the same unit; you get the bodyguard benefit and the combination radius of Inspiring Presence, Hold Your Ground!, Hold the Line!, unit wide Magic Resistance (2) and +1 Combat Resolution (+2 if you include another Standard Bearer in the unit). Not game breaking, but very helpful and synergistic.
*'''Markus Wulfhart:''' The Empire has a character archer now? Yeah, and he's kitted for hunting monsters, because apparently we didn't have enough men with giant brass balls. His Monster Hunter rule means he can reroll hits against monsters, always shoot monster mounts out from under characters, and taking him lets you buy a unit of Huntsmen in who get the same rule. He's also got his own magic longbow that always wounds monsters on a 4+ and does D3 wounds to them. Would be totally worth it if cannons didn't exist.
*'''Grand Theogonist Volkmar:''' Fluff-wise, this guy makes [[Kaldor Draigo]] look like a whimp. Crunch-wise, not so much. A comparison between Volkmar and an Arch Lector means that you're spending 90 points for +1 WS, a +5 Regeneration save, a +1 to casting his prayers, and +2 Strength to attacks, but only so long as you take him on the War Altar and it hasn't been destroyed.
*'''Luthor Huss:''' I see what you did there. Luthor is now the only Warrior Priest with the prayer "Unbending Righteousness", which makes his unit Stubborn for two rounds of combat. He also has a one use power which makes him even more of a beast in close combat. His points cost went down, but so did a basic Warrior Priest, and by the same amount. Still causes Fear, still has +1 WS over other Priests. In short, he's actually worth taking now, especially if you're in need of a mounted Warrior Priest that can handle a challenge.
*'''[[Balthazar Gelt]]:''' Dude cheats people by giving them fake gold as payments and accidentally turned his own face to gold. A Wizard Lord of the Gold Order who knows every Metal spell, has a 3+ ward save against shooting, magic resistance 1 (which increases one point for every enemy wizard beyond the first, up to magic resistance 3), a staff that gives a +2 bonus, and is mounted on a Pegasus. +6(!) to cast on any Metal spell is a very nice boost which helps you conserve power dice. Good, but would be a lot better with a different Lore (say, Life). Also quite expensive at 360 pts.
**'''Balthazar Gelt, Incarnate of Metal:''' This guy is metal, both literally and figuratively. New version merged with his pegasus for End Times Archaon.  For 115 more points, Gelt can now be a LEVEL 5 METAL LOREMASTER (The only one at that.) with an Innate Bound Augment spell (Casting 10+) that can teleport himself and/or d3 friendly units within 18" off the table for a turn.  On Gelt's next turn, they all deep strike anywhere so long as the units are in formation and not within 1" of any units or impassible terrain.  The guests now suffer d6-1 unsavable wounds and are now pointing where you need them to, which makes this spell a risky, RISKY proposition.  Defensively, he only has 6+ armor, but has a snazzy 3+ Ward against shots (Upped to 2+ against flaming attacks), Magic Resistance (3) all the time, and jeeps his +2 to casting.  Issue is that he's still in a very situational lore, and his new spell can easily mess up a fighting force you were teleporting alongside Gelt.  Also, he's still insanely expensive.
*'''Elspeth von Draken (Forgeworld):''' A Ld 9 Wizard Lord who knows every Death spell, mounted on a [[Carmine Dragon]].

====Generic Characters====
''Note:'' While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army.
*'''General of the Empire:''' Has very good attack capabilities and gives his unit the ability to roll 3D6 and choose the two lowest for Break tests with "Hold the Line!". He has a nice variety of mounts, armour and weapons, but don't expect him to go toe-to-toe with any dedicated combat Lord. Instead, use him as a beatstick to pile Wounds onto combat resolution.
*'''Grand Master:''' Pretty much a General with a barded warhorse and a better statline. He doesn't have the Hold the Line! rule that the General has, but he has Immune to Psychology, which he can share with with a unit of Knightly Orders or Demigryph Knights that he's joined, which is why he's generally not worth the additional 27 points he costs over the identically-equipped General unless you've got Knights in your army.  
*'''Arch Lector of Sigmar:''' A souped-up version of the Warrior Priest. Not as good as he used to be, but still worth taking.
:: '''War Altar of Sigmar:''' The War Altar now bestows a 6" bubble of Hatred and any active prayers from the Arch Lector, and can cast Banishment once a turn. Not as awesome as it was in 7th Edition, but a very good force multiplier if deployed correctly.
*'''Wizard Lord:''' Gives you all the [[Dwarf Fortress|fun]] you can expect from magic-users. At the very least, upgrade him to level 4. A Wizard Lord using the Lore of Beasts can take a griffon as a mount.
*'''Captain of the Empire:''' This guy is your Battle Standard Bearer and is therefore absolutely mandatory to take unless you're grabbing Ludwig instead. Like the General, he also gives Hold the Line! to his unit, which coupled with ranks for Steadfast and re-rolls from a BSB make for a unit that is very difficult to break.
*'''Warrior Priest of Sigmar:''' All sorts of goodness wrapped up into a zealoty bundle. Channels power dice like wizards, gives any unit he joins Hatred, and can cast prayers that can give the unit he's in rerolls to wound, a 5+ ward save, or flaming weapons. Taking one for every major melee unit would be ideal, unless you're taking an Arch Lector on the War Altar.
*'''Battle Wizard:''' While being lower level and therefore less useful than a Wizard Lord, you can also take nearly three of him for the same price. Again, upgrade him to level 2 and use him as a scroll caddy.
*'''Witch Hunter:''' This guy buys you Magic Resistance 2 and a small boost against Terror for a unit, and a character assassin who works just as well with his pistol as up close. And he's cheap, too. Ridiculously cheap. Take these guys, and send them after whoever your opponent's most important character is. Be warned, the only model you can buy him in is Failcast, and his model is both incredibly prone to bubbles (Oh Boy) and includes a sword which is always bent beyond usability in the casting process. (Double oh Boy) - Consider converting one instead.
*'''Master Engineer:''' You want him for his ability to reroll artillery dice once per turn; the errata states that you don't have to have him join the crew to gain this ability, and you can use it on all artillery on top of that, which wasn't allowed in 7th Edition. Leave his toys at home. Try putting him on a hellblaster and watch as this one gun deletes an entire unit.

====Mounts====
All the mounts available to the generic Heroes and Lords above.
*'''Griffon:''' A Flying, Large target that causes Terror. Can be upgraded to have Bloodroar (the enemy rolls 3D6 dice when taking a Fear/Terror test, discarding the lowest result. Inverse Cold Blooded/Hold the Line! if you will), and Two Heads (make a separate chomp attack that gains +1 to hit when resolved against Large Targets). Generally quite handy, but isn't as good as other race's equivalents.
*'''The Imperial Dragon:''' It's a dragon. What do you expect? Has a S4 Breath Weapon alongside WS/S/T/W6. Karl Franz' alternate option for a mount. Keep away from Dwarf-poleon like the plague. Will also jack up Karl Franz' price so that you have to declare end times to use it, and if you're playing End Times...take Karl Franz Ascendant, damn you!
*'''Imperial Pegasus:''' <s>My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My-ah-ah</s> Shut the fuck up. Can be upgraded to either re-roll failed wounds when Stomping, and/or re-roll 1s when determining your charge distances.
*'''Mechanical Steed:''' Causes D3 Impact hits at S4, and is Movement 7 base. Problem is, it's stricken with the Unreliable rule. At the start of the movement phase, roll a D6. On a roll of a 1, you subtract D3" from its movement characteristic for the rest of the game, all the way down to 1. And yes, you can repeatedly roll 1s and shut down the mechanism further. Only available to Master Engineers which means that you're either running him on his own for some strange reason, want the glorious charge as the unit coming to attack instantly tears you to shreds, or have found a war machine that can wiz around long distances while shooting because you've decided rules are just too dull.
*'''Warhorse:''' Standard mount. Useful for joining Reiksguard, Pistoleers, and the like. Hilariously, the mount options say it's M3, while everywhere else in the rules it's M8. Definitely a misprint, and don't be fooled if your opponent says otherwise (you need a new opponent in that case).

===Core Units===
*'''State Troops:''' These guys will likely be the backbone of your army, and are fully integrated into the Detachments system, so it is good to learn what makes them tick. They come in six flavors:
**'''Halberdiers:''' Halberdiers give you +1 Strength to your attacks, which makes them ideal for detachments so they can get into your opponent's juicy flanks. Taking shields isn't worth it; halberds are two-handed, so the shields can't be used in the Combat phase. These and spearmen are your typical 50-man horde unit.
**'''Spearmen:''' Spearmen let you fight with an extra rank, so these make natural parent units. Shields are generally worth it for a 5+ save, giving them some survivability at the cost of a parry save.
**'''Swordsmen:''' Swordsmen give you +1 WS and a shield, which increases their hardiness. They can be used either as the parent unit or a detachment, generally geared towards the former.
**'''Handgunners:''' Handgunners give you Armor Piercing and a unit leader with access to a Hochland Long Rifle, which lets him aim separately and snipe your opponent's characters; a repeater handgun, which adds two more shots to the gunline's massed fire; or a brace of pistols with too short a range on a melee-averse unit (pfft). They're Move or Shoot, so take care where you deploy them, since they shouldn't be moving around much. Can be used either as a parent unit or a detachment, and should be kept small and in two ranks where possible so everyone can shoot.
**'''Crossbowmen:''' Trades Armor Piercing for an extra 6" range. The loss of the specialty guns means you're probably better off with Handgunners unless you're taking a whole boatload of them and try to blast as much of your opponents army on the first turn. They are still Strength 4 though, good for punching elves off their dainty little feet.
**'''Archers:''' Instead of Armor Piercing or extra reach, Archers have Volley Fire, so the guys in the back rows will be more useful than ablative armor. Still not all that useful here, because why would you be deploying your ranged units in more than two ranks to begin with?  More usefully, they can move and fire during the same turn, which makes them more responsive to enemy developments, and they're considerably cheaper than Handgunners or Crossbowmen. Can be used either as a parent unit or a detachment.
*'''Free Company Militia:''' Wielding two weapons and without armor, these guys will live fast and die young. If you take them, remember that. You can field militia units as detachments, but they cannot be parent units. In theory they're good at piling a lot of attacks onto an enemy horde, but remember that supporting attacks are limited to 1 per model.
*'''Knightly Orders:''' Cavalry ain't what it used to be, so if you take them, take a dozen or more in a unit. Can be upgraded to Knights of the Inner Circle for +3 points each, which gives them Strength 4, but you can only take one unit of them in your army. There are dozens of "Order of the Thing" and "Knights of the Adjective Noun" out there, and at various times GW has introduced rules to make fluffy units of them, allowing the use of various different weapons and adding buffs and debuffs to make each order unique. These are all outdated, but with a few tweaks they'll work in 8th edition. These days, tournaments are largely a thing of the past, but if your opponent hates fun or RAW are being enforced for some other reason, they only come in two flavors, represented by the orders that get parts in the kit alongside the Reiksguard:
**'''Knights Panther/Knights of the Blazing Sun:''' Come with a shield and lance, which bumps their armor save up to 1+, and they get a +2 Strength bonus on the charge.
**'''Knights of the White Wolf:''' Fluffwise: AWW HELL TO THE YES! They are Vikings with greathammers from the deep forests of Middenland, what's not to love?. They are the closest you'll get to [[vikings]] in an Empire army. To become a Knight of the White Wolf you have have to kill a wolf with your bare hands and skin it. They wear no helmets, 'cause they are just that [[awesome]]. They wear the fur of the skinned wolf on their armor, so they look pretty badass. Crunchwise: No thank you. They come without shields, so they lose that 1+ armor save, and because they're wielding great weapons, they hit last. Sometimes that doesn't make much difference but sometimes it really will. Especially for a hard hitting and fairly expensive unit it just sucks to occasionally get hacked apart before they even get to strike. If you're taking them for fluff in your Middenland army, you maybe should consider Knights Panther. They fill the fluff equally good. But let's not be all negative; they might hit last, but keep the Strength bonus throughout the combat (and the combat will almost certainly take more than one turn) and if you're up against something that's going to hit before you anyway you may as well hit '''''hard'''''. But I'd still say that you should go with Knights Panther/Knights of the Blazing Sun.
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===Special Units===
*'''Greatswords:''' Come equipped with greatswords (duh), full plate armor, and are Stubborn. Make a great tarpit or anchor for your army. They can also take detachments, and can now take a magic banner. Take thirty or more. And take detachments; Stubborn transfers to them too now, but remember that the detachments' points will count against your Special Units allowance even though their unit type is Core. If you aren't taking a horde, consider placing them in ranks of six wide, since against most units all of them will be able to hit after you maximise. A unit of Greatswords with plenty of ranks joined by a character with Hold the Line! will be very difficult to shift while piling on the hurt.
*'''Reiksguard Knights:''' They are their own unit now! They're basically statted out like Inner Circle knights with lances and shields, but now they're Stubborn naturally. That's right, Stubborn knights with 1+ armor. Bretonnians are weeping with envy right now. Stubborn only costs them pennies more per man than regular Inner Circle knights, so they're totally worth it. ''Alternate View'' - They're more expensive than inner circle, and use special -which is limited- rather than core -which you want- for stubborn, for most, this isn't bad, but bear in mind that they are lance cavalry, this means they are strong in only really one round, and these guys can't take great weapons, so is it really even benefitting you that much? Yes, they do. Take them in 5 man units and they make a great tarpit, which can also kill something.
*'''Pistoliers:''' Young sons of noble houses, full of piss and vinegar. To prove that they're worthy of joining a knightly order and gain some combat experience, they ride around dual-wielding pistols and harassing enemy infantry. They can be a massive thorn in your opponent's flank, especially because they're Quick to fire and are Fast Cavalry. A pretty reliable fire-magnet that can dance around and harass the enemy.
*'''Outriders:''' Outriders are <s>crusty old farts</s> experienced cavalrymen who can handle much heavier weapons than the Pistoliers they train. These can unleash the same amount of firepower as a regular gunline, and trade safety in numbers for mobility (like Pistoliers, they're Fast Cavalry). The Outrider Champion gives you the option of taking the Grenade Launching Blunderbuss... Since they lost the option of the Hochland Long Rifle, the old Super Sniper strategy is gone. Try to get behind your opponent's army and shoot him up the strap.
*'''Huntsmen:''' Dirt cheap archers with Scout. Not part of the detachment system at all. If Markus Wulfhart is in your army, you can buy a unit of these guys who are also Monster Hunters.
*'''Demigryph Knights:''' The Empire finally got its invitation to the Monstrous Cavalry party. A phenomenally good value hammer unit. They have excellent survivability and will chew through rank and file infantry. Buffing them with Light magic makes for a virtually unstoppable unit. Three wounds, three WS4 S5 Armor Piercing attacks from the mount (the rider is a regular Inner Circle knight), Fear, Stomp, all that goodness. Can take either a lance and shield or halberds. Always pick lances, the knights aren't there to kill, the demigryphs are, just keep the armour.
*'''Flagellant Warband:''' Pretty expensive for infantry but man, can these crazy bastards dish out the hate. They're Unbreakable, they have Frenzy, and you can martyr some of the models to regain charge bonuses. A big block of these will create a tarpit like no other but are expensive and very much a glass cannon. Also they have some rather appealing or appalling (your choice) facial hair for the most part. 
*'''Great Cannon:''' Hell yes. If you're good with your aiming, you can snipe monstrous creatures and characters with it. Goes 'splodey (you're playing Empire; get used to it). An amazing deal for 120 points and really no Empire army should go without at least 1 cannon.
*'''Mortar:''' Unreliable and low Strength, but they do cover a large area. You might be better off with the Helstorm now.  ''Alternate view'' - the previous version of these was kind of broken, so their points were increased and their S was lowered.  They are now stone throwers with the large blast, S2 (S6, D3 wounds for whatever is directly under the hole). These won't do much against an MSU Chaos Warrior army, but against hordes of gobbos or skavens, or even the High Elf "World Dragon" death star (unless it's White Lions, or has Alarielle casting High Magic, or both- in which case, your opponent is an asshole), it'll thin them out.  And if you happen to have Lore of Shadow and Wither the target's T, all the better. Certainly not as flashy as the Helblaster or Great Cannon, but shouldn't be totally dismissed either.

===Rare Units===
*'''Helblaster Volley Gun:''' Oh man. The Helblaster does three artillery dice worth of Strength 5 shots with Armor Piercing. If you roll a misfire, you lose half your shots. If you roll two misfires, you roll on the Black Powder misfire chart. If you roll three misfires, it goes out in a blaze of glory, giving you 30 shots before being taken off the table. Often when taking helblasters it is a no brainer to take an engineer to sit beside it. Makes for a low chance of error and high chance for lots of shots, plus a welcome BS boost.
**''Extra Note'' It can be used as a defensive threat because it is rare a player will go within its 24" range, so it is good for protecting a flank, I would like to point out that in my opinion unless you've filled your rare with steam tanks then you should always take this.
*'''Helstorm Rocket Battery:''' The gun is named "Helstorm" not for its attack, but from the outburst of profanity from the Elector Count of Middenheim at the engineer that almost accidentally killed him; that should tell you something about its accuracy. The Helstorm fires d3 small blast templates and then scatters them like a stone thrower, always firing indirectly. It could be hilarious against hordes. 
*'''Steam Tank:''' The Steam Tank is awesome. A 1+ armor save with T6, 10W, and up to 3 D6 random movement makes this guy look very scary to your opponent. The more wounds you take the more likely you are to hurt yourself, but if done right it can still be effective with 1 wound. Though at that point I'd rather just blow myself and everyone around me to smithereens. At only 250 pts. this guy can hold up double its worth. Oh, did I mention the extra cannon? Just don't hurt yourself too much, or you'll be inching across the table. Steam tank is better overall and safer to use in 8th Ed. 
**''Note'': When in melee combat, do not forget the attacks from the engineer. Is it a reliable source of damage? Heck no! But driving closer to those Chaos Warriors to hit them with your scepter will earn respect knuckles from your opponent. Plus, that one time you bash in their skull will be hilarious. Take THAT, meathead!
**''Extra note'': This player has noticed that a Life wizard close to the steam tank multiplies it's strength. The lore rule of life can heal wounds to any miniature at 12´´ including the steam tank, and the Resurrection spell also recovers wounds to it. Having empire you're going to take a Life wizard anyway; so if the steam tank has cracks, just move close (12´´, not THAT close anyway)the medic to him and start [[Ork|roll over and crush them]] once again.
***''Extra extra note'': ''Regrowth''  "recovers D3+1 Wounds' '''worth of models slain earlier in the battle'''"  ( this has been changed to wounds in the BRB FAQ)
****''Counter-Point'' When it talks about models with multiple wounds, first you heal the wounded model, then it involves the stuff about that many wounds worth of models.
*'''Luminark of Hysh:''' Gives a 6+ ward save in a 6" bubble, adds a dispel die, and fires a Strength 8 multiple-wound magic missile that goes through units like a bolt thrower. Can be used as a mount by a Wizard Lord using the Lore of Light.
*'''Celestial Hurricanum:''' Gives a +1 bonus to hit in close combat in a 6" bubble, adds a power die, and dumps a random storm on an enemy using the small blast template. Can be used as a mount by a Wizard Lord using the Lore of Heavens. Random storm isn't that great and is a low level bound spell so often easily dispelled, bought more for its +1 to hit bubble and free power dice.  For an expensive but potentially fun combo, try fielding one alongside a War Altar, and stick them right around your main battle units to benefit from Hatred and +1 to hit (plus the arch lector's spells).