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Thread: Empire Tactics and Army composition

  1. #1

    Default Empire Tactics and Army composition

    So I'm at a total loss of how to play as this faction.

    Playing on VH I utilize

    1 Lord
    1 Hero
    5 Greatswords
    2 Halbrediers
    2 Spearmen
    6 outriders
    1x hellstorm rocket
    1 tank
    1 cannon

    My most common foe are the Chaos warriors but fighting against them I just don't seem to be doing a good job and my army suffers heavy casualties and there are times when I wonder...how they hell did I win?

    With this army composition I use the greatswords to charge melee and engage the enemy. The spearmen and Halbrediers support the outriders who keep the chaos cavalry away, in my campaign the Chaos love mounted axemen in large quantities it's not even funny.

    The rocket and cannon focus fire on priority targets but they don't really seem to do much in some cases. The tank is good for holding units down.

    I decided to try another composition

    1 hero
    1 lord
    6halbrediers
    2 gunners
    2 great swordsmen
    2 volley rockets
    2 tank
    4 reiksguard

    I used it against a random Ork army and they totaled it it wasn't even funny. The Halbrediers couldn't hold the line at all and give my swordsmen a chance to flank and the Reiksguard couldn't get up with the fast Ork Cavalry. They would chase it away but they just come back.

    I dunno I'm just not used to these units and the spellcasters I use do some damage but not enough.

    How do you guys fight your battles?

  2. #2

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    You need more artillery, and griffins

  3. #3

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Quote Originally Posted by Steeb_ View Post
    You need more artillery, and griffins
    Can you be more specific like the actual composition and tactics if possible? Like which artillery guns? How many Griffins and what core infantry should I use?

    Is the Empire suppose to be cheap infantry (swordsmen and spearmen) with a heavy emphasis on cavalry and artillery?

  4. #4

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Early game, focus on Swordsmen and Crossbows. Empire Spearmen are garbage, and the Spearmen with shields are simply inferior to Swordsmen due to their lower melee attack; realistically, the Empire doesn't have the kind of infantry meant to hold a defensive position in the field, which makes sense when you consider they're simply men fighting off savage hordes of giant green brutes who love to fight, endless tides of the undead, and legions of fanatical cultists whose only desire is to bring about the end of the world. Try not to bum rush Greatswords and Halberds, as both lack shields and will be wasted in fights on early enemies equipped with lots of missile cavalry that you don't have the ability to in down early on, not to mention you're extremely unlikely to fight monstrous or high tiered units very early on in the campaign.

    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.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Quote Originally Posted by Starki113r View Post
    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.
    Hmmm...yeah I'm starting to get that feeling.

    The issue though is upkeep costs

    Technically speaking the Outriders are AP and ranged AND have high mobility which was my intention as they could swing around and flank and fire into the enemy. The issue with the Chaos warriors was their damn dogs and mobile axemen.

    Would a core group of say 5-6 Swordsmen suffice as a meat shield then? I was thinking about what you guys are saying.

    1 Lord
    1 Hero
    2 Tanks
    5 Swordsmen

    6 outriders
    4 Cavalry (Knights or Demis)
    1 Cannon

    I'm not liking the results with the rockets they look great but they don't do a lot of damage. the Cannon does even MORE damage than the rockets themselves by the time the lines crash. The Tanks serve as great artillery and can hold their own in a fight. I was thinking maybe instead have the swordsmen with the tanks helping them hold the line. The outriders can also hit the demon cannons too as they mark the line outside.

    Then while that is going on have the outriders and knights swing around and smash and hit. I think that should suffice for the upkeep if I use swordsmen and the Knights or at least some of them are already anti-infantry.

    What do you think? May try this later and just accept that the swordsmen are meat shields but with the Tanks in support that might increase their survivability. The issue again is upkeep but having swordsmen and ignoring the elite infantry may compensate for that.

    Or I could go
    1 Lord
    1 hero
    2 Tanks
    6 outriders
    1 Cannon
    4 Knights
    5 Great Swordsmen

    So switch out spearmen and halbrediers for the knights assuming my upkeep can handle it......the knights could take on the dogs and sweep them up before crashing into the chaos warriors.

    As Empire I'm pretty much making it a habit NOT to fight Dwarves and I see that once you're fighting Greenskins, Chaos, and Vampires every human and Dwarf faction loves you anyways so it's a waste of time fighting them.

    However I just saw a Lord of Change pop up and he's got like 60% cavalry so I may have to adjust an army with spearmen or just do siege battles and whittle him down....
    Last edited by nameless; May 27, 2016 at 01:15 PM.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Here's a typical army set-up for me.

    Lord.
    Optional Hero.
    2 Artillery.
    4 Cavalry.
    5-6 Ranged Infantry.
    6-7 Melee Infantry.

    Units to ignore: Spearmen (both kinds), Steam Tanks (ridiculously expensive and nowhere near powerful enough to justify the cost), Pistoliers (360 degree firing arc does not make up for absolutely terrible damage).

    The units I fill into my armies, as I said, depend on what I'm fighting. Heavy armor like Dwarves and Chaos require Great Cannons, Handgunners and Halberds. Low armor factions like the Greenskins, Vampires, and other Humans require Mortars and Crossbowmen. Factions with Monstrous Units like Greenskins, Vampires, and Chaos require Halberds and ranged superiority. Vampires - and occasionally Chaos and other Humans - have flying units, so Demigryphs.

    I think the biggest problem you have is you're playing the Empire like you would play Chaos. Think of the Empire as a worse Dwarf faction when it comes to infantry, but capable of fielding cavalry and being far more adaptable with artillery. You need to whittle down the enemy before they reach your painfully soft front-line, and Outriders aren't going to do the job effectively enough to justify their far higher cost compared to standard missile units.

    Here's a set-up I use against Chaos:

    Lord
    Hero Unit
    Empire Knights x2
    Demigryph Knights (Halberds) x2
    Greatswords x4
    Halberdiers x2
    Handgunners x6
    Great Cannons x2

    This deals with their monstrous units (the Halberds, Demigryphs, and Great Cannons), high armor (the former three, plus the Handgunners) and exploits their near total lack of ranged capability outside of Marauder Cavalry (garbage units that can be torn apart by Crossbowmen), Hellcannons (easy prey for your cavalry) or magic (which you should be prioritizing).

    Against Vampires, replace one Cannon with Mortars, replace the gunpowder with crossbow bolts, and replace the Empire Knights with Outriders to pick off their leader units. Undead don't have morale, but their Lords do, and killing or shattering them will win you every battle.

    Greenskins are honestly the most irritating of your natural enemies, as they have a decently balanced roster, and while their units are pretty stat wise they more than make up for it in sheer numbers. Few of their units are armored, so Crossbowmen instead of rifles, Empire Knights for shock charges, one Mortar for infantry and one Cannon for high priority targets, maybe Demigryphs if they have seriously high tier monstrous units or well supported artillery (seriously, do not underestimate the Doom Diver Catapults), and four Halberdiers supported by two Greatswords for your front line. If you can, draw them into sieges; they are absolutely terrible in siege battles, and like Dwarfs you can absolutely murder them while taking few if any losses due to ranged superiority.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Quote Originally Posted by Starki113r View Post
    Here's a typical army set-up for me.

    Lord.
    Optional Hero.
    2 Artillery.
    4 Cavalry.
    5-6 Ranged Infantry.
    6-7 Melee Infantry.

    Units to ignore: Spearmen (both kinds), Steam Tanks (ridiculously expensive and nowhere near powerful enough to justify the cost), Pistoliers (360 degree firing arc does not make up for absolutely terrible damage).

    The units I fill into my armies, as I said, depend on what I'm fighting. Heavy armor like Dwarves and Chaos require Great Cannons, Handgunners and Halberds. Low armor factions like the Greenskins, Vampires, and other Humans require Mortars and Crossbowmen. Factions with Monstrous Units like Greenskins, Vampires, and Chaos require Halberds and ranged superiority. Vampires - and occasionally Chaos and other Humans - have flying units, so Demigryphs.

    I think the biggest problem you have is you're playing the Empire like you would play Chaos. Think of the Empire as a worse Dwarf faction when it comes to infantry, but capable of fielding cavalry and being far more adaptable with artillery. You need to whittle down the enemy before they reach your painfully soft front-line, and Outriders aren't going to do the job effectively enough to justify their far higher cost compared to standard missile units.

    Here's a set-up I use against Chaos:

    Lord
    Hero Unit
    Empire Knights x2
    Demigryph Knights (Halberds) x2
    Greatswords x4
    Halberdiers x2
    Handgunners x6
    Great Cannons x2

    This deals with their monstrous units (the Halberds, Demigryphs, and Great Cannons), high armor (the former three, plus the Handgunners) and exploits their near total lack of ranged capability outside of Marauder Cavalry (garbage units that can be torn apart by Crossbowmen), Hellcannons (easy prey for your cavalry) or magic (which you should be prioritizing).
    Interesting. Yah I totally agree screw the spearmen though the Halbrediers I'm not impressed with their performance and would rather use the gunners to take the monsters down.

    I defeated a lord of change army with the Aldtorf garrison recently actually supporting a small Bretonnian army.

    6 Swordsmen
    6 Handgunners
    3 Knights
    2 Demis
    1 cannon
    1 tank.

    I literally charged the tank into the Chaos lines with the GReatswords backing him up and I was amazed at all much longer they survived in a front up fight.

    The Handgunners flanked and poured fire into the CHaos lines while the cannon took out the large units.

    The knights and Demis smashed the chaos cavalry away.

    I got away with reasonable casualties and killed the Lord of Change.


    I altered the current composition to
    1 Hero
    4 Knights (moving onto Reiksguard in my campaign now as I was ignoring them)
    5 Greatswords
    6 Outriders
    2 tanks
    1 cannon

    So far it's working pretty well. The cannon targets the large units and brings them down pretty well.

    The tanks form my actual battleline so by the time the line crashes my tanks would have already killed a number of people. I use it like modern tank warfare. The infantry form lines while the Tank literally rams into the enemy. The Tanks are so armored that very few units can take them on or at least it can hold it's own very well. With the steam gun it mows people down and the ramming kills. While the enemy is focused on the tanks the GReatswords charge from behind and now they only leave with maybe 10-30% casualties compared to almost 80%.

    THe outriders I use a small team to kill the doom cannons.

    The rest of the outriders I pour fire into the enemy and whittle the enemy cavalry down. The Knights do the same and protect them and then finish the job by charging into the chaos flanks that are busy fighting my tanks and greatswords.

    And now I leave the battle with 10-20% casualties compared to 70-80%.

    I think I'm dealing with the third chaos invasion now but the Greenskins have initiated a Warrggh and wiped out the dwarves so it's imperative I deal with CHaos now and then move my armies down south to fight the greenskins. I did try a similar composition and it worked really well. The Outriders perform admirable as they are AP.

    I'm currently working to get demis now.

    I want to finish this campaign but next one I'll definitely focus more on cavalry.
    Last edited by nameless; May 28, 2016 at 12:06 PM.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Get as many demigryph knights as possible. Charge them into literally anything short of huge monsters or enemy heroes. They beat infantry, cavalry, even spearmen or trolls. Demigryphs are OP as heck and you need to use them to max potential. Often I charge headlong demi's into a unit of black knights (also charging me) and I kill them all while taking hardly any health damage. Same goes for chaos knights, spearmen, and pretty much anything else.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Quote Originally Posted by emcdunna View Post
    Get as many demigryph knights as possible. Charge them into literally anything short of huge monsters or enemy heroes. They beat infantry, cavalry, even spearmen or trolls. Demigryphs are OP as heck and you need to use them to max potential. Often I charge headlong demi's into a unit of black knights (also charging me) and I kill them all while taking hardly any health damage. Same goes for chaos knights, spearmen, and pretty much anything else.
    I'd loved to but issue is upkeep as they cost an arm and a leg.

    Even with 3 provinces maxed out I could only field at best 2 armies.

    1 Lord
    1 Hero
    2 Demi knights
    2 Reiksguard
    1 cannon
    2 tanks
    6 outriders
    5 Greatswords

    I found this composition pretty ideal as it handled both Orks and Chaos. Not sure about Dwarves but I make it imperative NOT to fight Dwarves.

    In a heavy battle against the Lord of Change it was difficult and I suffered 90% casualties for the first time in my VH campaign but it was my tanks, lord, hero, and Demi Knights that pulled through it was insane. Tanks have amazing staying power on the field.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    You need more than 3 provinces.

    Also, demi's are worth the cost in most instances. The only downside I know of is that they take a lot of damage when you autoresolve battles.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Oh don't get me wrong I had 1 Bretonnian province, Reiksland, half a Bretonnian province, and Wissenburg. By the time I started expanding more I ended up defeating chaos so yeah.......now the Vampires are building up and it's going to be an epic confrontation as I'm also capturing the remaining provinces emptied by Chaos.

    I am pulling lots of money and fielding 3-4 armies so if I can do it I may switch to Halbredier Demis for obvious reasons against the Vampires.

  12. #12
    Incontinenta Buttox's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    I'm into mid game right now (turn 60). I have been basing my armies around...

    4-6 units of hand-gunners/crossbows. I prefer hand-gunners personally.
    2 units of outriders. I love these units. I use them to single out and whittle down the most dangerous enemy units before they reach my battle-line.
    A lord, and a hero if available.
    2-4 units of shock cavalry (Knights or Reiksgard)
    8-10 units of infantry, usually mostly swordsmen, but with some greatswords/halberds defending on availability.

    These armies have been working very well for me so far, although still to be tested against non-human opponents.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    I'm currently running, in my core two armies (led by Legendary Lords):

    1 Lord
    2 Heroes (Empire Captain & Witch Hunter)
    5 Greatswords
    6 Demigryph Knights (Halberds)
    4 Outriders
    2 Steam Tanks

    Pretty simple--the Lord/Heroes kill other Lord/Heroes. Greatswords are the main line, and deal with infantry well. The Demigryph Knights (Halberds) kill other cavalry, monsters, and anything else they can run down. The Outriders pick off targets from the flanks and generally just make a nuisance of themselves. The steam tanks support the lines and blow holes in stuff. Oh, I run Empire Captains because they are solid heroes and give free XP to the army. I use the Witch Hunters because they detach, Block (70% snare) the enemy army, then next turn they rejoin the force and I attack. So sick of this Benny Hill .

    Note that I spend most of my time in diplomacy, so my primary opponents are Vampire Counts & Chaos Warriors. I don't think I've fought Britonnia or Dwarves once, even in my 100+ turn campaigns. I've fought Greenskins a couple times only--it's almost all Vampire Counts & Chaos Warriors for me--that might be what shaped my army composition.

    I don't think spearmen are *worthless* but I also don't think they are great, either. In my "bargain" armies, I use:

    1 Lord
    5 Swordsmen
    4 Spearmen (Shields)
    4 Empire Knights
    4 Outriders
    2 Great Cannons

    I usually only have one bargain army at any given time--I load the Lord up with Public Order/Anti-Corruption traits, and his primary job is to ride to whatever settlement is FREAKING OUT, murder the rebels, and hang out till things get back to normal.

    The rest of my lords just sit in office, and shuttle replacement units to the front lines as needed.

  14. #14

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    I see you all play a lot of hand-gunners in your armies. How do you play them ?

    I don't really know how to position them since they can't shoot above my melee units and they can't really stay in open ground alone without being engaged.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    I think ive found the ideal composition for me.

    General
    Wizard
    Reiksguard
    Demigryphs with halberds
    8 Halberdiers
    2 Greatswords
    4 Handguns
    2 Mortars

    Lore friendly and effective.

    Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


  16. #16

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Quote Originally Posted by Longueval View Post
    I see you all play a lot of hand-gunners in your armies. How do you play them ?

    I don't really know how to position them since they can't shoot above my melee units and they can't really stay in open ground alone without being engaged.
    Replace Handgunners with Outriders. More maneuverable, they can fire over your troops' heads if they need to be re-positioned behind your lines, and they can function as (admittedly poor) melee cavalry if forced to. Handgunners are better for dealing with Large units (armored cavalry, monstrous units) than they are for infantry, unless you're willing to micro them to flank the enemy and risk getting them charged by enemy cav.

  17. #17
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    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    I'm at turn 300 in an Empire vh campaign. I have 3 better armies and 3 second line armies. My better armies are like this:
    - Lord
    - Wizard
    - 4 Halberdiers
    - 2 Greatsword
    - 2 Reiksguard
    - 3 Demigryphs
    - 3 Steamtanks
    - 2 Great Cannons
    - 2 Mortars

    (I currently changed the laser carriage of Hysh to a much more powerful one, it's extremely expensive and with a campaign cap of one. It is in one army instead of a Steamtank.)

    Steamtanks are essential, they are in front of the line and break the assault, to give time for my artillery and the wizard to work. They are very expensive, that's a problem. The cavalry is there to chase ranged and attack strong units. Demigryphs are marvellous, I for long objected their use because they are expensive and few, but definitely worth the money. I usually don't use handgunners or crossbowmen any longer.

    My weaker armies are:
    - Lord
    - Wizard or Captain
    - 4 Halberdiers
    - 3 Greatsword
    - 2 Reiksguard or knights
    - 1 Pistoleer
    - 4 Crossbowmen, Handgunners or Archers (I made Peasant Bowmen of Bretonnia recruitable for optical reasons as militia)
    - 2 Great cannons
    - 2 Mortars

    Numbers can sometimes vary a bit. I find the rockets and the hellblaster rotating cannon not worth the money btw.

    If the economy were not as restricting, my perfect army were:
    - Lord
    - Wizard
    - Witchhunter
    - 3 Halberdiers
    - 2 Greatswords
    - 3 Demigryphs
    - 5 Steamtanks
    - 2 Great Cannons
    - 2 Mortars

    The infantry would protect the cannons and the Steamtanks, Demigryphs, wizard and witchhunter would do the dirty work together with the artillery. However I also have a campaign unit cap for Steamtanks of 8, so putting 5 in one army would be a bad idea.

    BTW by far the best way to prevail in the campaign was as simple as this: concentrate more armies of yours against weaker enemy armies; use garrisons to add to your power; avoid battles till you have these operational advantages.

    Despite the fact that I spent any point to reduce costs, own a lot of provinces and have a lot of treaties I cannot afford enough armies. I currenty fight, after annihilating the Vampires, against the Greenskins and I need all of my armies to battle their mighty stacks. If there were an attack anywhere else in my vast but poor empire, I were in dire straits. The bigger your empire, the worse it is with money-troop balance, I have the feeling.
    Last edited by geala; June 07, 2016 at 06:29 AM.

  18. #18

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    I've boiled down my army to this general build now:

    Lord
    2x Hero
    5x Infantry
    4x Cavalry
    4x Missile
    4x Artillery

    My legendary lords train up character skills primarily, while other lords train campaign since they mostly babysit unhappy provinces. I typically run a Captain (Training) & Hunter (Blocking) in my 2 legendary lord armies. In other forces I replace them with Spearmen (Shields). I use Greatswords for infantry in the core forces, and Swordsmen in secondary. Demigryph Knights (Halberd) make up my cavalry, as they usually fight monsters or other cavalry, I run Empire Knights in my secondary forces as they are cheapest, though Reiksguard aren't much more upkeep with Franz around. I use Outriders for missiles, as they are handgunners with mobility. For secondary forces I tend to use Pistoleers instead, mainly because they are great at harrassing enemy missiles/artillery. Finally for my artillery I run Steam Tanks in my core two armies because they are crazy awesome, but expensive. The rest of my forces use mortars usually, because they are equally useful on the open field and sieges. If I have to siege something with my core army one of my secondaries rolls up the mortars to help.

  19. #19
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    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Yesterday I tried several army compositions against mainly the Greenskins, the strongest faction in game. The giants and spiders are tough enemies. I regularly lost without Steamtanks and regularly won, albeit at a small margin, with Steamtanks.

    My new top tier army composition is as follows:

    - Lord
    - Wizard
    - 2 Halberdiers
    - 3 Greatswords
    - 3 Riders with rifles
    - 4 Demigryphs (2 x lance, 2 x halberd)
    - 3 Steamtanks
    - 1 Luminark of Hysh
    - 2 Great Cannons (I like how they throw giants down)

    It would be better to use a captain instead of the third Greatsword unit but I don't like hero units so much.

  20. #20

    Default Re: Empire Tactics and Army composition

    Hi,

    What do you think of this:

    4 Outriders (2 on each flank) deployed forward in order to reach enemy rear as soon as possible
    - Counter enemy artillery
    - Harrass non missile infantry
    - Chase routing enemies
    4 Demigryph halberds (2 on each flank) start running forward as soon as the battle begins.
    - Support the outriders in harassment and provide an anvil (stop the target by charging them and allow the outriders to circle and fire from behind or flank) in the hammer/anvil setup for dangerous targets
    - Charge missile units or enemies backs/flanks
    - Chase routing enemies
    2 Hellstorm missile batteries
    - Kill from great range the enemy missile units that may threaten the outriders
    - Shred the advancing enemy infantry
    4 Steam tanks
    - Snipe hard targets: monsters, lords or castle structures: towers, walls, gates
    - Provide some melee presence in case the enemy reaches the artillery core
    4 Mortars
    - Artillery duels and break enemy clusters
    - Kill everyone behind castle walls
    1 lord and 1 wizard
    - Guard the artillery core

    Observations:
    The mounted units have to be constantly maneuvered to reach the enemy exposed flanks while the artillery can fire at will after destroying the targets of interest. Each step the enemy units make away from your core means more time for the artillery to massacre them.

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