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There are no problems that cannot be solved with cannons.
- Imperial scientist Boris Kraus
The Empire
The Empire is a human faction loosely associated with a traditional late Renaissance army of our world. Founded by the almost legendary Sigmar Heldenhammer by unifying the semi-barbarian tribes that inhabited the lands equivalent to today's Empire, thanks to the tenacity of the men who live there and who govern it, the Empire has survived for centuries invasions, plagues, famines, civil wars and supernatural threats, establishing itself today as one of the most powerful nations in the Old World.
Set on discrete infantry lines, good shooters, both heavy and light cavalry, and several artillery options, the Empire is incredibly versatile, and depending on the composition of the army it can be folded to virtually any use.
Strategy in the campaign
Army Mode:
- Marcia
- Ambush
- Assault
- Camp
- Channeling
Recruitment Mode:
- Local
- Global (when in a Settlement or Camp Mode)
- Regiments of Renown (DLC)
Settlement conquest mode:
- Occupies (Regions habitable by continental humans and Vampire Counts only)
- Occupy and Plunder (Regions habitable by Continental Humans and Vampire Counts only)
- Raid
- Raze to the ground
Home
At the start of the campaign, the Empire has other imperial factions to the east and north, Bretonnia to the west, Tilea to the south, and the Dwarves in the mountain range running to the southwest. It is convenient to seek peace with Tilea and Bretonnia, and make your way through the various imperial provinces by allying with some and then conquering their rivals. You can take out Marienburg quickly, if you have the military strength, as it will most likely remain a thorn in your side throughout the game.
Do not fight the Dwarves, if ever possible: there is no reason, you have nothing to gain in the long term, and on the contrary you will put yourself in a difficult diplomatic situation with all their numerous allies (including the much larger and more powerful factions of Nani to the east, in the Mountains of the World's Edge).
After you have taken the first steps if you want you can confederate with some of the other Elector Accounts, but there is no particular rush, and it is better to wait until the situation has settled at least locally. It pays to be allied, but not conquered or confederate, with the northern strip of provinces, as they will suffer constant onslaught by the Norsmanni. If you get to Sylvania quickly you can try to face the Vampire Counts, but in any case, avoid going too far north.
Your priority, rather than territorial expansion, is to have a solid economy. The Empire has great low-tier units, so there's no particular rush to recruit too many elite troops and burden your income. Instead, fortify as many Settlements as possible and have them produce Public Order and wealth, and level up at least 2 or 3 Lords.
Storm of Chaos
The ideal would be to get to face the descent of Archaon with a stably unified Empire, between direct control and solid alliances, and without the risk of a second front opening in the southwest.
The Chaos Hordes will primarily hit your northeastern borders, so prepare accordingly and if possible keep some buffer states that absorb the bulk of the impact for you. The eastern provinces of the Empire, Kislev and sometimes Sylvania will suffer the biggest blow, and if everything is quiet enough in your part it is not a bad idea to try to intervene militarily directly on the front, to prevent too many hostile forces from entering your territory. .
Age of Peace
Now you will find yourself with several destroyed territories to the east just waiting to be occupied. If they haven't already been destroyed by you or the Coas, you'll find yourself fighting a lot with the Vampire Counts in this phase of the game, and it's possible that some of the other human factions will declare war on you from the west or the south.
If you have managed to manage the Chaos with little damage, this phase of the campaign will not be too demanding, and you can easily impose yourself by force as the superpower of the western sector of the map against all the other human factions that will not want to ally with you.
Battle tactics
Strengths:
- Very versatile
- Good infantry and cavalry
- Great shot
- Many Knowledge of Magic available
Weaknesses:
- Very few monstrous options
- Very few flying options
Use the Empire
The Empire has the most varied and effective shot in the game, and it's something an Empire army should always aim for. Crossbowmen are generally preferable to Arquebusiers, since they can fire in addition to another friendly unit (albeit with penalties, and failing to penetrate the armor as much), while the various artillery pieces cover very different roles.
Assuming that shooting, in one way or another, is something that should be exploited, the cheap but solid infantry of the Empire act as a decent stopper, and if helped in some way with magic or Skills they will at least be able to hold the position long enough even against superior opponents, in order to allow the shooting to thin them out or the heavy cavalry to counter-charge them. Ultimately, the Empire is an army that should focus more on compactness than on mobility, building a relatively cheap but hard-to-break formation that gives elite shooting or impact regiments time to complete the job.
Another of the greatest advantages of the Empire is to have access to as many as 8 different Lore of Magic (also counting Balthasar Gelt), including the very powerful Lore of Light and Beasts. Access to such varied knowledge allows the easy creation of synergies with the various units; for example, a Light Mage can make friendly units temporarily Unbreakable or lock faster or more dangerous enemies in place to target them with shooting.
Facing the Empire
A well-composed and used imperial army can be difficult to destroy with scattered tactics, and the best solution is generally to aim to break the front by leveraging the questionable Discipline of the cheaper units. It pays to aim to overwhelm the Imperials in close combat or with number or quality, so as not to give time to mages, marksmen and counter-charge units to do their job.
The absence in the Empire of flying units other than characters makes it to some extent vulnerable to incursions by large numbers of fliers, who can eliminate or at least distract shooters and artillery long enough to allow a very strong enemy in the hand-to-hand combat to encircle, disrupt or disrupt the main line of imperial infantry.
To top it off, the bulk of the Empire's characters are more than decent, but they can't take on a more melee-focused army fighter character in a 1-on-1. Eliminating Imperial characters quickly will take away a significant level of support from the army, even in terms of Leadership, putting it at a tactical disadvantage.
Better units
- Crossbowmen
They have an excellent price / performance ratio, are devastating on lightly armored units and if well positioned they can also fire on engaged opponents. A boon in economic armies, and a choice not to be underestimated even in an advanced army.
- Lancers
Spearmen are a solid and inexpensive solution to hold a front long enough to give the player time to react to enemy impact, especially if aided with Discipline from spells or characters. On their own the Lancers will win few battles, but they can easily become an effective buffer against anything but elite anti-infantry choices.
- Grandispade
Greatswords are an elite and expensive choice, but they are also one of the most effective specialized infantry in the game. Their only drawback is a suboptimal resistance against concentrated shooting, but once they get into close combat they are able to tear apart practically anything for the same cost.
- Knights on Semigyphon
Extraordinary impact cavalry; Relatively fast, enormously armored and discreet against armor, Semigyphons will tear to shreds any type of cavalry and light beast in an instant, and depending on their equipment they can calmly throw themselves into enemy infantry (Lance) or hunt for monsters ( Halberds). Finally, their causing Fear further accentuates the effects of a charge aimed at making an enemy already locked in combat flee.
- Mortar
As a long-range artillery piece, the Mortar is decent, but it has a totally unique advantage: it can fire fairly easily and safely (at least by artillery standards!) On large enemy units engaged in combat, with risk. relatively small to cause friendly fire. Due to its particular trajectory, the Mortar is also the best piece of artillery in the game to carry in a Siege, whether attacking or defending.
- Steam wagon
A steam chariot is basically a cannon installed on a stiff monster with 160 armor. As expensive as it is and dangerously exposed to penetrating damage, the Steam Chariot causes casualties and headaches from the first to the last second, over any distance, and sets up something unique in the army and against which the opponent seriously risks not be adequately prepared.
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