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I'm considering taking up WHFB with The Empire. I've done a bit of reading today and like the sound of a combination of the 'hammer and anvil' tactic and the 'detatchments couter change.'

Is that kind of strategy as good as it sounds? If so, how should I kit out my State Troops and their detatchments? With that strategy in mind, should I also take some handgunners?

I also like Knights of the White Wolf with their Cavalry Hammers (or something like that). Are the hammers simply Great Weapons and are they actually any good?

How you kit out your state troops depends on , who are you playing against. I would recomend allways taking a unit of hand gunners, those armour ignoring shots are usefull in taking down large targets and heavy armed units. However if you are playing against beastme, think twice before creating a gun line army. Try to include great swords with a small detachment of 10 swordsmen for the counter charge so you don't get stuck on zombies.

I for some reason don't like cavalery but it's just me.

If your going to take knights give them lances not great weapons, you only get +1 bonus to strength if you use them whilst mounted. Thats why lances are much better, the extra point of strength can make all the difference. For state troops use swordsman as parents units in numbers of 20-25 and use milita as detactments, taking no more than nine in 3 ranks of 3. And yes, it will be a good idea to take a couple of units of handgunners, best to take them in units of 10.

Swordsmen? I would have thought halberdiers. I though Knights of the White Wolf were good.

I read somewhere that militia get 2 attacks each, but on their profile it says one. Is it to do with their special rule?

Halberdiers are actually the worst possible Parent unit (ignore the fluff about Halberdiers). A pity but true.

Empire infantry usually does not win combat by actually killing enemy models, it does so by Static Combat Resolution. That's Ranks, Outnumber, Banner and maybe a Flank Bonus for having a detachment in an opponents flank. Similarly you try to minimize the opponents CR (By flank charging for instance which makes him lose his Rank bonus).
Another great way to minimize the CR of your opponent is by having your men not dying so much. This is what makes Swordsmen great. They have a 5+ save which increases to 4+ in CC (handweapon + shield rule) and they have WS4 instead of the common WS3, which means they don't get hit as much in the first place! By not dying they give Static CR for longer enabling you to win the fight.

BTW, Spearmen are only marginally inferior to Swordsmen as Parent units, though they suffer from losing that 1 rank of attacks in the round they charge. So if your agressive with your blocks they might not be the best choice. Spearmen are better at killing weak enemies though. If you fight a lot of Skeletons (bad WS) or Goblins and such they become the better choice.

Halberds on the other hand are pityfull. They only have a 6+ save in CC (can't use a shield at the same time as the Halberd) which means they die like flies.

They're even not that great as Detachments because a single S4 attacks usually produces less kills than the 2 S3 attacks of the Free Company. There are rare exceptions like vs T3, 2+ save models they become statistically better but its marginal.

And Free Company get two attacks because they fight with an extra Handweapon.

Hope this helped!

As others have said, swords are the way to go. They last longer and with a free company detachment taking out the rank bonus of the enemy, you have a better chance of making the enemy run. Their main weakness however, besides getting shot at, is magic. Keep a wizard with scrolls handy to keep your men alive.

combatmedic wrote:As others have said, swords are the way to go. They last longer and with a free company detachment taking out the rank bonus of the enemy, you have a better chance of making the enemy run. Their main weakness however, besides getting shot at, is magic. Keep a wizard with scrolls handy to keep your men alive.

As tried and true as a scroll caddy is for simple magic defense. I'm always quick to suggest that an empire general consider the uses of a Rod Steward. A level 1 or 2 wizard with the Rod of power. While the scrolls may be better for straight up shutting down a dangerous spell, the Rod allows quite a bit of flexibility. Up against an opponent with strong magic, dump more power dice into the rod and hold on. Got a magic light enemy? Start converting dispel to power and put a bit of extra pressure on him.