Originally Posted by
Starki113r
Prioritize unlocking cavalry and artillery as quickly as possible, as that's where the Empire shines. They have the best cavalry out of the all the playable factions currently (Bretonnia obviously will have them beat later on), and the most varied options for artillery as well. They also have the widest variations of magic users, but they aren't as important as building up your repertoire of shock cavalry and long-range ballistics.
Because of the more specialized nature of your units, you have to build your army composition to match what you're fighting.
If you're up against the Greenskins, use Swordsmen to soak arrow fire, a couple Halberds to deal with any monsters or melee cavalry that get in range, and a couple Greatswords to match their elite infantry, while you use Crossbowmen to whittle down their unarmored forces with superior range and Empire Knights or Reiksguard to drive off their large but fairly weak bands of archers and those infuriating Doom Diver Catapults.
If you're forced to fight Dwarves (which you should try to avoid, as they're natural trading partners and one of your strongest allies against the Orkish and Chaos hordes), you need to replace your Crossbows with Handgunners because nearly every single one of their units has a crapton of armor, you'll need Halberds and Greatswords to fight their heavy infantry, and for gods-sake bring the best artillery and mages you've got to deal with their back line of armored ranged units, while you use your cavalry to lock down their artillery more than you will for shock charges, as the Dwarves have outstanding morale.
The Vampire Counts are a mixed bag; their low tier units are pretty terrible cannon fodder, but their monstrous units and Lords inspire terror in your weaker willed units and their mages not only can, but WILL one-shot your Lord with their magic if you don't prioritize them over all else. They have absolutely no ranged capability outside of magic, however, so against them is the only faction I would seriously recommend using Pistoliers and Outriders against, to try and whittle down their monstrous units and higher tiered units while your Crossbows and Artillery break them apart as they rush at you. Few of their units have armor, so you don't need Handgunners as badly, but you absolutely need Halberds for their cavalry and monsters, and you would not be amiss bringing in Demigryphs to clear the airspace of Bats, Terrorgheists, and Vargheists. When fighting Vampires, try to rush their Lords and Heroes as fast as possible; their units will quickly start to literally fall apart the moment they go down.
As for Chaos... Chaos is a mixed bag, to be honest. The have very limited ranged options, but outside of their Marauders most of their mid- and upper-tier units either match or outclass nearly everything you can bring to bear. A lot of their units are armored, so you'll need Handgunners, they have a huge variety of monstrous units and their Chaos Knights are not to be trifled with, so Halberds are a for sure pick up, their Chosen are phenomenal units and the only unit you have that can even hope to fight them with is Greatswords, more specialized Cannons and even the Luminark might be a decent choice to try and cut down their Shaggoths, Trolls and Ogres before they can close in, and you'll want cavalry to deal with their Hellcannons and to try and break them with shock charges. Against Chaos, you'll be screwing yourself over if you try to use garbage units like Swordsmen or Spearmen; they simply cannot get the job done.
I think the biggest problem with your army was you have far too little ranged infantry. Don't bother chasing Ork, or to fair any, missile cavalry, as that's the reason they (and all missile cavalry) exist: to annoy you enough to pull your shock units away from the real fighting. Deal with them with archers if you have to or, if you can afford to, just ignore them. As for artillery, use Mortars and Helstorm Rocket Batteries for basic infantry, Great Cannons and the Luminark for monstrous units, and the Helblaster Volley Gun for armored infantry.