Views on the Empire. Fluff & Game:

[Arguleon Veq]

I was just wondering what your general views are on the empire both fluff and game wise.

In game terms i think they are a brilliant force.

The detachments rules make mediocre infantry very,very effective.

They have a unit for every role and this variety does create some interesting armies.

I like the fact that you can make firepower heavy, combat heavy, cavalry heavy etc etc armies. There are so many different types.

Their warmachines are great, the great cannon is a devestating weapon.

The Runefang is one of the best weapons in the game.

Fluff wise they are also pretty cool.

I see them as bieng highly influenced in terms of military and social organisation by 17thC+ England. With Counties, Navel dominance, Dress etc.

The names are obviously German influenced but this was no doubt to make them seem more fantastical to players of whom most speek english (thus these german souding names are very different to the norm).

They are a powerful force, the most powerful in the oldworld and ive no doubt they have the military might to take the oldworld if they so wished.

At this point in the fluff they are at the hieght of thier power (or were just before the storm of chaos).

I also like the fact that they are expanding, the enclave of suddenburg for example.

[Wargamer]

I like a lot of their fluff too. Mostly, I like how they are the "elite" of humanity. Other civilisations (like the Norse) may be better at sheer combat fury, but the Empire troops are drilled to fight as a cohesive whole, and thus if one unit falters, the rest know how to react and cope.

[godofsmallthingys]

Ah but fluff wise the best navy of the old world is the HE. Empire are powerful but they rely more on number of men with slightly advanced weapons than quality of fighters. In game terms it relies on balance of average troops rather than anything special. Magic weapon wise Mace of hellstrum all the way

[Arguleon Veq]

Game and Fluff wise i'd say the empire have the most powerful fleets.

Elves probably have the swiftest fleet.

But there is no denying that bolt throwers would do minimal damage to a ship where as cannons rip them apart, and cannons are what the empire do best , they also have a massive fleet (comprable to the elves).

Magic could influence this but not enough IMO to swing it in the High Elf favour.

Boarding actions still wouldnt swing it inelven favour mainly because high elves work best in ordered ranks witha a battle plan, humans on the other hand are quite good at just 'gettin stuck in' also they have a vriety of weapons such as pistols which are perfectly suited for this style of combat.

The most recent navy rules for the fantasy game (generals compedium) are also in the empires favour IMO, mainly due to weaponry.

The dwarfs if they were so inclined could have the most powerful but many dont like the water. Never the less the few ships they do have are like floating tanks.

[elflord9d]

im not too fond of them, but i dont dislike them. the coolest empiresman though has got to be felix from felix and gotrek. if you havent read those then read them NOW!!!!! if you cant tell there my fav book series.

[Ogreking]

I am personnal a fan of the empire myself. As well as the empire fluff, alot of other races derive fluff from them (such as Chaos). And Veq is rite, HE fleets are swifter but not as tough. I believe the Empire have ironclads and if this is the case no bolt thrower is going to punch that armour in a hurry lol.

[Wargamer]

Only Dwarfs have Ironclads. Empire use Galleons, which are essentially 30+ cannons that float.

[Ogreking]

Sorry my bad but still you get what I mean their fleets are alot better than that of the elven fleets.

[Arguleon Veq]

There are some really interesting rules in the generals compedium, so for all of you interested in Fantasy scale(as there was a game on a smaller scale called manowar based on this i think) navel fantasy battles check it out.

I'd love to see what chaos dwarfs would come up with in terms of ships, shame most of their strongholds are situated quite far in-land.

[crazedmongoose]

Wait what? 17th century England?


Every single faction of the Empire can be like traced from The Holy Roman Empire. Political division, the knightly orders, their look and feel, the whole thing with Marienburg. The "we're the largest, most cosmpolitan and most powerful nation in the old world" thing.

[Arguleon Veq]

Yeah, old thread. Empire are clearly HRE.

[magicjuggler]

Last I recall from the old game Man'o'War, the situation between army and navy is actually reversed in regards to the Empire and Bretonnia. While Bretonnia has frigates and ships-of-the-line, the Empire ships are a mix of old-fashioned carracks and galleons with really big yet impractical artillery weapons.

That said, Empire is starting to lag behind. The increase of units without flanks, or raw killing power capable of overcoming an Empire infantry unit, means the detachment system is slowly starting to falter. Our artillery is getting outclassed, and Hellblasters pale in comparison to what Flamers of Tzeentch or Razordons are capable of, especially when you consider that each turn a hellblaster has a 43% chance of misfiring.

We still have some of the best light cavalry in the game, and our heavy cavalry is still durable against most shooting.

[Arguleon Veq]

Yeah it does seem odd that the Brets have the better more advanced fleets, they do have a biger coastline to defend though I guess.

Ver old thread this, I was way off in what I was thinking with a lot of those original points haha

In game terms I think Empire can still compete with certain power builds such as War Alter/Steam Tanks/Franz on Dragon. A balanced Empire army now finds it hard to keep up with the new armies though I totally agree.