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

===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.