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I've played 40k for many years, but I'm fairly new to fantasy. I would say I've played three or four games. There is a tournament at my FLGS coming up in November, so I thought it would be a chance to build up and paint my Empire army. How does this sound:

2000 Pts - Empire Roster - Unnamed

General of the Empire

Great Weapon

Warhorse

Armor of Meteoritic Iron



Battle Wizard ( Fire )

Level 2

dispel scroll

Wizard's staff


Master Engineer

Repeater pistol, light armor


Master Engineer

Hochland, light armor




24 Spearmen
Musician, Std Bearer, Sergeant

Two 10 man free company detachments


10 Handgunners

Std Bearer, Sgt., Hochland


10 Knights

Preceptor, Std Bearer, musician, banner of the daemonslayer, Preceptor has GW


10 pistoleers, Outrider, Rep. pistol


Cannon

Cannon

Mortar

Steam Tank

Volley gun

Total Roster Cost: 1994

General doesn't need meteoric iron, simply mount him on a barded warhorse, drop the great weapon and get sword of sigismund and a ward save

With only one wizard you won't get many spells off, better to drop him to a lvl1 scroll caddy

Don't know about the engineers cause I don't field them but why repeater pistol rather than hochland? if someone gets close enough to the unit he's attached to for him to use it your in deep trouble

swordsmen are infinitely better than spearmen as your only infantry block, WS4 and a 4+sv beats spears any day, drop the free company detachments to 9 and field them 3x3

musician is better than standard for handgunners

2 groups of 5 knights are more useful that 1 of 10, your paying alot of points for +1CR that is removed with only 1 casualty

same with Pistoliers 2 groups of 5 gives you more options and they ABSOLTELY NEED a musician for bait and flee

like the cannons and mortar (my fav artillery peice), Stank is good till it takes a couple of wounds but the volley gun is just too random for me, blows up 1/3 of the time?!?!?? you'd be better off with another unit of handgunners w hochland

Just thoughts

PapaSmurf

PapaSmurf wrote:General doesn't need meteoric iron, simply mount him on a barded warhorse, drop the great weapon and get sword of sigismund and a ward save

With only one wizard you won't get many spells off, better to drop him to a lvl1 scroll caddy

Don't know about the engineers cause I don't field them but why repeater pistol rather than hochland? if someone gets close enough to the unit he's attached to for him to use it your in deep trouble

swordsmen are infinitely better than spearmen as your only infantry block, WS4 and a 4+sv beats spears any day, drop the free company detachments to 9 and field them 3x3

musician is better than standard for handgunners

2 groups of 5 knights are more useful that 1 of 10, your paying alot of points for +1CR that is removed with only 1 casualty

same with Pistoliers 2 groups of 5 gives you more options and they ABSOLTELY NEED a musician for bait and flee

like the cannons and mortar (my fav artillery peice), Stank is good till it takes a couple of wounds but the volley gun is just too random for me, blows up 1/3 of the time?!?!?? you'd be better off with another unit of handgunners w hochland

Just thoughts

PapaSmurf

Thanks, I appreciate it. I didn't like my general to start with, I don't really like expensive characters. I didn't know if a ward save was worth it.

Yah, this isn't a magic heavy army, but I figure I need something for defense. I could save a lot of points with him being lev 1.

I had your thoughts exactly about the repeater pistol. Unfortunately, that is the model I have, since I haven't painted him yet, I may buy another one.

The knights are a bigger problem. I never thought about the fact that one casualty will kill my rank bonus. Could I go with 15 knights? Or should I just drop the knights altogether in favor of more infantry?

Having thought about it, swords are definitely the way to go, over spears. I hate the idea of painting that many swordsmen though. However, may I ask what the reasoning is behind having 9 man detachments in a 3x3? Also, would I be better off having one of those detachments being a missle detachment?

The pistoleers do have a musician, that was a typo. I like the idea of having that many shots, I've thought about the idea of dropping a cannon and taking another group of pistoleers. However, I see the point of having the smaller units. Unfortunately the pistoleers take up the same slot as the artillery, so if I have two units of five I'll have to lose a cannon.

I thought the steam tank is even more of a gimick than the volley gun. The folks at my FLGS, however, seem to be intimidated by the steam tank, so that is why I included it. I like the *idea* of the volley gun, but would I be better served by a rocket battery? I could also take some flagellants.

you need more rank and file men, you should at least get another two big blocks of infantry. without them you will find your gun line dead pretty soon. also flagellants are a must, i've had 10 of them hold up entire armies letting my knights get a flank charge

Okay, sorry about the non-story review, but I'm a bit pressed for time. Anyway, here are some quick thoughts. I hope I don't echo too much.

As a quick note, Empire Engineers, in my analysis, barely qualify as a YMMV unit. Compared to other Empire-Hero-Classes, he just doesn't have enough clout to cut it.

For your general, Ward Save's are totally worth it. Empire armies need his LD 9 to stay brave... and with the fact that Empire Lord's barely compete with other army's Hero's, the Ward save gives you a good buffer. I'd suggest an Elector Count on foot, with Full Plate, sheild, Sword of Sigismund, and Holy Relic. With the improved LD of your Elector Count, I'd put him with the Spearman... improving their combat prowess, and giving them an LD 9 bubble.

You might not want a lot of magic offense, but your magic defense is very thin. I would downgrade your wizard to level one, drop the staff, and get him a second dispell scroll. Those scrolls become invaluable when in terms of shutting down enemy magic phases. You might also want to consider dropping one of your engineer's with a second wizard... the extra two dispell scrolls a second wizard can carry would give you a solid magic defense... you might not be able to cast much offensively, but you should be pretty capable on the defense.

I've never really been impressed with the Long Rifle. You need about 3 - 4 in your army for them to really start doing anything. I'd consider dropping him to get that second wizard I mentioned. For your other Engineer, I have to disagree with Papa Smurf, I'm a big fan of the Repeater Pistol. It's huge! I would save a few points and drop the light armor. 6+ save isn't going to get you much. Though... you might want to consider mounting your Engineer on a barded steed... then the light armor would be worth it, as it would give him a 4+ save. Might also want to consider the pidgeon bombs... though not really that effective, they can play a lot of psychology games with your opponent.

Downsize your detachments to 9 each. That way they can deploy as a 3x3 block. Also, with the fact you have spearmen, swordsmen might complement them better. Better AS and WS, and more consistent results than the free companies. Be advised, most players know how powerful detachments can be, and usually charge the detachment, instead of the parent unit. Also, for the spearmen, you're not taking advantage of your Elector Count's ability to give core units a magical banner. You might want to consider putting the War banner with these guys.

I would forgo the long rifle, champion, and standard for the handgunners, in favor of a musician. Also, with only one squad, they aren't going to be giving you much. You might want to consider a 2nd squad of them.

I would also advise on getting some Greatswords. They make for a solid Anvil and Hammer unit. You've got a lot of defense, but not a whole lot of offense... Greatswords make for awsome offense.

I also have to slightly disagree with Papa Smurf on the knights. I would break the knight unit you have into two smaller units; however, I would suggest a size of 6 with full command. Five doesn't take a lot to make them combat ineffective. Six, and you can soak a wound or two before becoming ineffective. I would also suggest dropping the Daemonslayer Banner... it doesn't give Fear, only Fear-light when you charge. I would suggest the War Banner (if it isn't with your spearmen), or the Steel Standard. The Steel Standard is a bit overpriced, but that extra 1 - 3 inches can suprize opponents good at eyeballing distances.

I would also do similar with the Pistoliers. Break them into two units of 6, each with a Musician, and an Outrider with Repeater Pistol.

As to your artillery, the Volley Gun, to me, has always been way to erratic to be of use for anything other than a display, or in super-high point games where it's randomness really doesn't matter. I'd drop it. I would also drop the mortar. You already have a pair of cannon. And if you get a second squad of handgunners, you'll have some 20 handgunners, and a bunch of pistolier shots... all of which echo what the mortar can do. As such, you can swap the mortar out for some of the other suggested units.

Anyway, just some quick thoughts

ok, to keep to a rough theme here, i would replace the general with balthsar gelt (sp?)
that way you have a lvl 4 wiz in the army, and should no longer get battered in the magic phase.

also, if you cut out the volley cannon or cannon you can get another unit or 2 of handgunners, that will give you a more solid fire line.

this way you can blast away with magic, gelt can kill enemy armour and weps with lore of metal and you can open fire with all shooting without having to worry too much.

shooting and magic dosen't win the game, thats the job for you spears and swords and there detactmants

shooting and magic dosen't win the game, thats the job for you spears and swords and there detactmants

depends, if its skaven then it does, ive seen half a skaven army run after being caused to panic from a cannon lol

genrally shooting and magic don't win the game, unless your fighting skaven or my empire army

i know, but in some cases it does, for example my skink southlands army, nothing can really fight, so its just move around and fire, trying to avoid combat as much as possible.

my empire army always loses to my mates wood elfs, skirmish, bows, panic and low leadership aren't a good mix

i know, the only real thing ive got going with my skinks is skirmish, poison, multiple shots, and the cold blooded rule (role 3 dice and pick the lowest for LD tests)

when it comes to combat ive got to rely on the few units that can fight, kroxigors and steggadon lol