[arishnakoger]

Hi, Arishnakoger from the Wood elf forum. After playing with the amorphous, elite wood elves, I've wanted to try something rigid, with big blocks of infantry and heavy cavalry that can actually take more than 2 hits. So, I've been looking into the empire.

For this army, I want it to be "standard". Center held by a block of troops, a few units to whittle down the enemy, some cavalry, and a smidge of heavy artillery. However, I've come across a few problems:

1) How do you manage to paint those pajamas and make them look good? I like the formations from a distance, but those tight, multicolored pants kill it up close.

2) What's a good unit size for block troops? I'm thinking 25 to maintain full ranks after casualties.

3) What should i buy to start off.

As always, comments are much appreciated.

 

[semersonp]

empire fun

Wood Elves eh? They're always a fun mind bender to play against and really put my composition to the test of whether or not it can truly take on all comers...

Anyway...

1. Painting: basic colors... brown pants + white shirts, etc... don't go for the bipartite thing you see slung all about - only courtiers and similarly wealthy individuals were in possession of multi-colored garments... your state troops are commoners dress them as such... personally I give them a quasi-dirty/dark look to represent the rigors of living in a tent and fighting battle after battle... so just paint the basic and feel free to do as I do and clip off any absurd bits of flutter/chain/skull/etc that gw has for some reason pasted on to the hips of your spearmen... they'll look great all lined up...

2. Unit Size: I'm an orc + gobbo player through and through so don't take my word as gospel here but... 36 if you can manage... 30 if not ... I just like having the surety of a solid block of troops reaching the lines of even the heaviest magic/shooty army...

3. Buying: Start small... buy some state troopers and see how you handle them and what color scheme you like best... then maybe move on to a war machine (they go quickly) and then some knights... and do me a favor - clip off those absurd plumes they have on their noggins they sadden me so (nah, if you like them rock them out... I just think they look silly)... small and steady and you'll have an empire force in no time...

So yeah, there's my 2 cents or whatever... have tons of fun... Empire are like the swiss army knife of Warhammer... you can mix and match them to nigh infinity - all foot soldiers, all mounted, all shooty or my personal favorite combo of having just enough of each to get by...


Have fun!

 

[Sliver]

Welcome to the Empire.

Onto your questions now ive done something resembling a greeting.

1. I have no idea. I looked at the concept of painting over 150 infantry (i run over 70 state troops in an average 1500 point game and it just goes up from there) so i made a deal with a mate to get him to paint them all...

2. Depends what for. I tend to run my CC state troops as blocks of 25 with full command (175 points for Swordsmen, or 170 for Spear Men with Shields). Then with a detachment of something, you don't need big detachments, but you want them to be more then 5 if there a CC unit, but 5 if there shooting. 9 is a good number, 3 ranks of 3 for the countercharge is small enough to get there.

For shooting units, i wouldn't recommend more then 10. Its just a waste, they die from anything and everything.

For your special units, Flag's and Great Swords... Well.. That all depends. They are quite expensive by Empire infantry standards but both can take/deal alot of damage. I find 20 is a good number for them, but i do tend to run my Great Swords in a unit of 25, with Full Command.

3. I would start off proxying your Elves as Empire, if you can that is. Nothing worse then buying an army to find you don't mesh with its play style. But if your fixed on the idea, then the big boxes. The Army Box and Reinforcement Battalion are both good starts for an army, 40 state troops, 20 Shooters, and a mingle of everything else.

For assembly, i would HIGHLY recommend state troops as Swordsmen. They are the best we have, and have been (at times) called some of the best in the game (point for point with detachments involved).

Hope your games go well.

 

[ArchonFarseerGuy]

Woodies to Empire, eh? Welcome to the kinda-winning side!

1) Mix up the way you paint your colours. I'm not sure I can describe it here, but I divided my State Troops into 4 bits- left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg. My two colours were dark (ish) red and grey. For some I painted the left leg and right leg grey, with the arms grey, while for others I painted the right arm and left leg red, with the left arm and right leg grey. I hope that explained it well enough. What that style does is gives them a regimental look, with an element of uniqueness as well. For the banner, I had half red, half grey, with a Push Play removable tattoo on the banner. It looks original, shall we say, and it's picked up a few laughs as well.

To pick your colours, decide on some fluff, do you want tough Northerners or high-tech Southerners? Decide if you want to theme your army around a pre-existing scheme that you like and copy it or use 2 colours that you like.

2) 20-25 is best. You can have Detachments to complement the big unit, so the need for numbers isn't that great. I find that I beat units by denying them CR, as well as a few easy bonuses. Detachments do that well. My 17 Spearmen with a full command are capable of taking on bigger Orc and Night Gobbo units and come out better off, now that I have my beloved Militia (Free Company). 20 should do fine, but if you want a buffer that doesn't die easily, then 25 will serve you well.

3) Depends on how much money you have. I got the Battle of Blackfire Pass (6th Ed), with a Cannon, 16 Handgunners, 16 Spearmen, and a Captain. That's enough to start a decent force, and play a few games.

If you only have a little bit (like my situation all too often), get a regiment boxed set or two, and a character. I'd get the State Troops (Spearmen, Swordsmen or Halberdiers) or Militia (X-Bows, Bows or Free Company), and the ranged State Troops set, or any two of the above. In addition to that, I'd get the extra col Empire general that I only don't have because no stores around the place have him, and the store owners have no idea who I'm talking about so they can't order him grumblegrumblegrumble. Don't necessarily get them all at once.

Actually, if you get the Militia set, you can make 10 X-bowmen and 10 Free Company. Bam, you now have 2 Core choices. Adding the Empire general will get you 2 characters, all for $90NZD. Excellent.

If you have loads of money, get the battalion Set, or Reinforcement Set. They often come with a fully legal force, and you'll save quite a lot of money.

Once you have a few units, play some games, then decide what you need. My first games saw me get hammered by his O&G Magic, and his units were too big. Thus, I decided I needed some heavy hitters (which eventually led me to get Knights- eventually :C), and a couple of Wizards. Now my Empire force is close to 3K points, and has gone from losign almost every game to being very hard to beat.

Cheers to you if you read that, hope it helps.

-AFG