‘Warhammer: The Old World’ How To Play The Empire of Man
Today take a look at the basics of how to play Warhammer: The Old World’s Empire of Man, the good old humans!
The Empire of Man is one of the core armies in Warhammer the Old World. They are, along with Chaos, really the core army of the Old World and old Warhammer Fantasy. A gothic fantasy reflection of the Holy Roman Empire, they are, as much as anyone is, the protagonists and central nation state of the setting. This is a realm of humans, run of the mill and mostly average, struggling against the worst horrors of the world and Chaos. This is the Warhammer Fantasy version of the 40K Imperium, but in many ways nicer and a more clear good guy. An army that relies on guts, faith, guns and steel to hold back the magical chaotic tide that threatens them.
So below we will offer some tips on how to play The Empire of Man and get started with the army.
What Is the Empire of Man?
The Empire of Man is one of the more unified and united factions in The Old World (despite the fact that they are currently in a civil war!). They are the central nation state of the Old World landmass and when unified likely the most powerful. Founded by the great Sigmar before his ascension to godhood, The Empire worships and are protected by a host of “good” gods. While the other “good” races such as elves and dwarves are in decline and Brettonian is mostly stagnate, the Empire is on the rise.
The Empire as a list is one mostly built around the little guys. It’s an army of professional soldiers and knights back up by artillery and mechanical creations. Monsters and large crazy *things* are pretty rare among the Empire. It’s an army that knows how to pull together lots of things in the face of adversity. You might find rogue wizards, witch hunters and priests of various gods all fighting together, despite a mutual hatred for each other. Much like the warring provinces of the Empire will pull together to face an outside threat.
Why Play The Empire of Man
Do you like playing the underdog? The normal human forced to fight the worst horrors the world can throw at you… and win (some of the time)? Do you like knights in armor and cannons and steam powered tanks? What about neatly drilled blocks of infantry moving like its the Napoleonic Wars? Or maybe you just like the classic “Warhammer” look of the Empire with its Gothic fantasy looks. If any of these are true the Empire might be your army!
Empire of Man Strengths
- Guns, Guns and More Guns. Big guns (cannons), small guns (handguns) and even wacky crazy guns!
- Solid Knight units with a lot of verity of customization options.
- Ability to take lots of wizards.
- Lots of access to Drilled.
Empire of Man Weaknesses
- Model for model they tend to be weaker then most enemies.
- Some of the worst infantry in the game.
- Lack of army wide rules or unique upgrade options.
- Not as cheap as you’d think.
- No big monsters or really smash-y units.
Signature Empire of Man Rules
- None – The Empire’s thing is that is the run of the mill most average faction and doesn’t rely on crazy army wide rules. Empire players just have to be better.
Empire of Man Armies of Infamy
- Knightly Orders – An army that focuses on armored mounted Knights and other cavalry. It’s almost all mounted and fast.
- City-State of Nuln – An army that focuses on shooting and gunline play, with more and better cannons and warmachines.
Key Empire of Man Units
Here are some of the most important Empire of Man Units for you to know about:
Master of the Knightly Orders
Grand Masters and Chapter Masters, these are the best fighting characters you can get in the army. If you want someone to wield a big sword and stab things these are your best best. They’ve got good armor and good access to items, but not a lot special going for them. They can also get a Knightly Order upgrade to improve them. They also aren’t really going to be going around by themselves as they can’t ride any really big monsters. These guys are good, but will mostly be found leading a unit of knights of some sort.
Empire Wizards
Wizard Lords and Master Mages, these are your casters in an Empire army. Like a lot of the army they don’t have a ton special going on. Their big draw is that they are cheap and you can take as many as you want. Want to run like 5 lvl 4 wizards? Well Empire is one of the few armies that can do that! They, unlike the Masters of the Knightly Orders, do get access to the Empire’s one big monster, the Imperial Griffon and can tool around on it.
State Troops
State Troops are the core Infantry of the Empire. They come in a few flavors, normal, Veteran, and ranged and can have a verity of load outs. These should be what any Empire is built around. Sadly they are pretty universally horrible. In particular the combat units are some of the worst in the game and a waste of your points, you should know about them to avoid taking them, unless you are doing it just for fun. The ranged troops are a bit better, but you’ll want relatively small numbers of those, if any.
Empire Knights / Inner Circle Knights
Empire Knights are the actual core of most Empire armies, at least competitive ones. They are a core unit and relatively cheap and durable. You can upgrade them with drilled and stubborn and even the Knightly Order rules. All of this makes them a very viable unit. While not the best in the game, they can at least fight their way out of a wet paper bag. The upgraded version of the unit, the Inner Circle Knights are a genuinely good unit but tend to compete and get overshadowed by the next entry.
Demigryph Knights
Basically Inner Circle Knights on small flightless gryphons. These are the Empire’s only native monstrous unit and strong models you can take in an actual unit. This is one of the few genuinely powerful units in the Empire army and can outfight a lot of things. While they, like the Empire in general, don’t have any real unique rules, they have just good stats, with a 2+ save and hard hitting mounts. Most armies will want a unit of this to do the heavy punching.
Great Cannons
The Great Cannon is the most classic of all Empire artillery. It’s also the best cannon in the game and you are unlikely to see an Empire army without one. They are a very reliable damage dealer, especially with an Engineer to back them up. While big monsters with stacked saves can confound them, those without are at a real risk from them, and massed cannon fire is a hallmark of Empire tactics.
The Steam Tank
The Steam Tank is the big center piece unit of the Empire and their most powerful and best model. A heavy chariot with a ton of wounds and good army and toughness and also a cannon. It’s deadly enough that you can’t just ignore it. It’s also tough enough that its almost impossible to kill (I’ve never seen it done myself) even with some real kill-y characters. This is a model you really want to consider taking as it’s pretty much the best thing you have.
Sample Empire of Man Army
Characters
Wizard Lord
– Level 4 Wizard
– General
– Twin-Tailed Wand
– Wizard’s Staff
– Ruby Ring of Ruin
– Dark Magic
Captain of the Empire
– Shield
– Battle Standard Bearer [War Banner]
– Twice-Blessed Armour
– Dragon Bow
Master Mage
– Level 2 Wizard
– Wizard’s Staff
– Battle Magic
Core Units
15 State Missile Troops
– Handguns
– Light armour
– Drilled
– Sergeant (champion) [Hochland long rifle]
– Standard bearer [The Blazing Banner]
– Musician
14 State Missile Troops
– Crossbows
– Light armour
– Drilled
– Sergeant (champion) [Hochland long rifle]
– Standard bearer [The Gleaming Pennant]
– Musician
29 Veteran State Troops
– Thrusting spears
– Light armour
– Shields
– Drilled
– Veteran Sergeant (champion)
– Standard bearer [Griffon Standard]
– Musician
Rare Units
Steam Tank
Tips For Playing Empire of Man
The Empire of Man may seem straight forward to play at first, but this is deceptive. On the front end they are fairly easy to learn and simple. They don’t have a ton of special rules or fiddly bits to keep track of. However this is also a weakness the Empire rarely has the straight on power to just plow through the enemy. Instead, they really rely on having solid tactics and combining units and unit types from across your army to focus down on the enemy. While Empire can be a very rewarding and fun army to play, they routinely place as the worst of the core armies, though this may change over time. It’s not an easy army to get into and win with.
In order to win you’ve got to play to your strengths. This means relying on the things that do well. Steam Tanks, Knights and Warmachines are really going to form the core of your good armies. You’ll likely want to back this up with magic and some other support characters. You can build good combat characters, but they will always be out classed by any of the top fighters in the game. The classic Empire strategy really revolves around weakening the enemy with ranged attacks and magic and then counter punching with knights. If you can pull that off you can win.
~And remember, Glory to Sigmar!
