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Hello all,

I have been playing Empire for about 4 months, and massed a decent sized collection of state troops, knights, and warmachines. However, in the many battles that Iv played over those 4 months, Iv been having a number of problems with mostly magic (I.E. WoC, DE) and assault heavy armies (LM, Brets).

I have followed the recommended paths of taking 2 cannons, steam tank, Pegasus spell stealer capt, and swordsmen with 3x3 block of militia, and can use them somewhat effectively. However, the two units I just cant find the real use for is Flagellants and the Pope Mobile.

Flagellants while unbreakable, flails, and all that fancy stuff is good, they are 10 points a pop with no armor save. Id assume they are the empires tarpit unit ment to hold units till the knights can outflank, how long can they really hold a unit with no save? And what is the recommended unit size?

Im just now starting to warm up to warrior priests, and can see the validation for taking the pope mobile, but how do you use it? With a save of 5 and a ward of 4, it seems kind of fragile.

As a defensive player against a large amount of aggressive armies, whats the best use for these units?

I am still fairly new to Fantasy so forgive the noobish in my questions.

With an unbreakable unit your opponent will need to kill every last model before they can do anything else. So in this case a unit of 20 Flagellants will result in your opponent needing to do 20 wounds to that unit with somewhere around 6 attaches (assuming an 1A unit with a champion is fighting them) this will result in that unit sticking around long enough to pull off a flank charge with another unit.

As for the War Alter its just one hell of a beast, as it has a 4+ Ward Save and between it and the Lector you get 3 bound spells a turn (no to shabby) with the Speculum you can take on almost any nasty out there.

Steamtank, Walter, and Flaggies. 3 Unbreakable units. So many ways to use these. Try lining all 3 up in the middle of your deployment zone and march straight forward keeping your line even. Lock enemy units down and use your knights for easy flank charges. When the ArchLector gets into hth is when your magic phase really kicks in (because of Soulfire). Bound spells may be more reliable in 8th edition rules (just speculating). 2 cannons plus Stank's cannon gives you great offense against big nasties.

Try lining up 30 flaggies in one rank (30x1). Called a Fleshline. March them straight forward. Stops all sorts of things (including deathstars). Sooo many different ways to play this tactic. KF on a drag is my favored tactic with a Fleshline. Can be quite deadly and has produced many massacres.

Lastly, its very entertaining watching Flaggies get a charge in and use their End is Nigh special ability. 2 attacks rerolling hits/wounds = hilarity=)

Im grasping the flaggs a bit more.

The Alter, Id want to get it into HtH? Iv noticed alot of people taking the item that swaps the WS/S/T/I when challenging. I made a few different lists last night and now just need to figure out how to continue shooting with my ranged weapons while the others are stuck in.