Editing The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy) (section)

==Oldhammer==
The seeds of the Empire were first planted in the very first edition of Warhammer Fantasy, although back then they were simply "The Men of the West" in the nameless and little-described world, with no real lore to cement them as "The Empire" yet. That was amended in 2nd edition, which is where the bulk of Warhammer Fantasy's lore first took form, although they wouldn't receive a distinct army list (being more of a generic human force) until 4th edition, which is when the first Army Books (Fantasy's answer to 40K's "Codexes") were created.

The 4e version of the Empire is quite interesting, because it really plays into the Empire's status as the big alliance hub of the Old World-dwelling races, allowing players to field as many regiments as they liked of Kislev Horse Archers, Kislev Winged Lancers, [[Dwarf (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]], [[Halflings (Warhammer)|Halflings]] and [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogre]] [[Dogs of War|mercenaries]] (oh, and also 0-1 Halfling Hot Pots as warmachines). One of the special characters was even [[Tzarina Katarin]] of Kislev.

Most of the Empire's special characters actually debuted in 4th edition as well; asides from the aforementioned Ice Queen of Kislev, this edition saw players being able to Emperors [[Karl Franz]] and [[Magnus the Pious]], [[Ludwig Schwarzhelm]], Grand Theogonist [[Volkmar the Grim]], Supreme Patriarch [[Thyrus Gormann]], Reiksmarshall Captain [[Kurt Helborg]], and the Elector Counts [[Boris Todbringer]] of [[Middenland]], [[Alderbrand Ludenhof]] of [[Hochland]], [[Valmir von Raukov]] of [[Ostland]], and [[Marius Leitdorf]] of [[Averland]].

This book was arguably the very first appearance of [[Gotrek & Felix]], who appear in fiction at the end of the units & characters mechanics portion of the book.

Funnily enough, there wasn't a distinct Empire army book in 5e; the next "Warhammer Armies: The Empire" [[splatbook]] released during the age of 6e, even though the [[Vampire Counts]] got their first army book in this edition after having debuted previously as part of the "Warhammer Armies: Undead" army book.