I have recently finished Part 1 of the tactica now onto part 2 where I'll dig into the Rare meat and the Heroic fellows. FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!
Rare: our rare has alot more to offer than it used to with new buff wagons and a different Steam Tank its a toss up so lets get into it.
HelBlaster Volley Gun: A devilishly ridiculous lazy mans gunline, dishing out 20 shots on average at S5 and armor piercing makes this a very reliable shooting phase, the misfires are much more forgiving, and an Engineer makes it a death machine, but without one it isn't spectacular, take it with an Engineer and make 24 inches away from it no mans land.
What are they
Great at? Shooting things, being insanely killy with an Engineer, hitting with alot of shots, scaring people, being instant death for cavalry and most monsters.
What are they
Ok at? Surviving a bad misfire, being cheap, stopping warmachine hunters.
What are they
Bad at? Being worth it without an Engineer, hitting without an Engineer, Surviving a misfire without an Engineer.
HelStorm Rocket Battery: It used to be a great stone thrower, now its 1-3 sub-par stone throwers put together, it has the potential to hit up to 60 models and S3 is still able to wound, the sheer number of hits will often make up for its reduced strength, just get used to how random it is.
What are they
Great at? Hitting alot of guys, killing off big blocks, random potential.
What are they
Ok at? Causing wounds, not misfiring.
What are they
Bad at? Scratching Elite Infantry, being consistent, being cheap for what you get.
Steam Tank: What can I say its a Tank!!!! It's easier to wound but its cannon is better, it can take wounds and still function, it has a forgiving misfire table, and its still an insane chariot that can't break!!!! Every army can use it. though watch out for Lore of Metal, war machines, GW's, extended rounds of combat, and anything that Ignores armor.
What are they
Great at? Being a more expensive, but stronger and tougher Iron Blaster, Impact hits, being a Tank.
What are they
Ok at? Passing Initiative tests, Not misfiring, functioning after taking wounds.
What are they
Bad at? Being Consistent, surviving Lore of Metal, being a cheap Iron Blaster.
Celestial Hurricanum: The first new buff wagon giving +1 to hit for any of our guys within 6 inches and gives a free PD. That alone makes it awesome as its pretty tough to kill being T5 with 5 wounds, and while alot of people don't give the bound spell much credit I find it pretty useful, especially if you don't field Mortars or Rocket Batteries. Lighting and meteor strike are the same strength as normal stone throwers and with less scatter, so what if rolling a 1 sucks, the debuff + turning units and stone thrower damage makes it pretty worth it on its own, however watch it like a hawk if anything is able to shoot it, it will get shot.
What are they
Great at? Being cheap for what you get, making our troops amazing, giving free PD.
What are they
Ok at? Having a good bound spell, emergency Impact hits.
What are they
Bad at? Not getting targeted by spells and shooting, making armor saves.
Luminark of Hysh: A laser cannon that's a S8 bolt thrower that rerolls against undead and daemons, also it gives a 6+ ward, and a free DD. That makes it well worth its low point cost, however it is just as weak to ranged as the Hurricanum, and a 6+ ward doesn't always work out (though it stacks great with MR).
What are they
Great at? Being an auto hit bolt thrower, killing daemons and undead, giving free DD, stacking with MR.
What are they
Ok at? See Hurricanum.
What are they
Bad at? See Hurricanum.
Finished with the
Rare and now the
Special Characters starting with........
The Emperor Karl Franz: Yes that's right the big man himself. Coming with every tool for any job and still cheap enough to field a Wizard lord in big enough games. Want a guy with great survivability? Go here, want a guy who can destroy characters and monsters that cost more than he does (however not taking Ghal Maraz will seriously hinder his ability in this area)? Go here, want a guy that can take great mounts to slaughter any infantry? Go here, he brings it all and buffs your army with his 18 inch LD 10 presence, bad news is if you take him on a monster he will get hit by alot of ranged, wanna stop that? Put him on a horse in a Knight unit, bad news here is while he has a great stat-line he is still vulnerable to certain characteristic tests, over all he is insanely awesome for his point cost, take him!
What is he
Great at? Being awesome, giving units his LD, destroying things that cost twice as much as he does, taking epic mounts, laughing off spells.
What is he
Ok at? Passing characteristic tests, fighting without Ghal Maraz, being cheap.
What is he
Bad at? Not headbutting cannonballs when on a monster mount, being cheap with a monster mount.
Kurt Helborg: The Emperors General and our best Knight by far. Coming in slightly cheaper than the Emperor and already mounted makes him slightly questionable in actual worth, However his ability to make Reiksguard insanely unmovable, and the fact that he stacks up combat res faster than dragons, ( 4 WS 7, Runefang attacks that give 2 points of CR for every wound) and his Insane mustache make him a break machine without peer, his one fault?! No ward save.....Not even a simple 5+ so any death spell or KB that comes his way is meeting just about no resistance, knowing that be careful, still take him for a knight army but be careful.
What is he
Great at? Breaking units, generating combat res, auto wounding, giving ITP.
What is he
Ok at? Making armor saves, killing other combat Lords.
What is he
Bad at? being cheap, having a Ward save.
Balthasar Gelt: Our mega caster, Lvl 4 Lore master metal with +2 to casting makes him a very potent force in the magic phase, he can toss great buffs and hexes around, (and is the bane of armored foes) mounted on a peg to be sure he is always in range and a 3+ ward against shooting so that Ironblaster doesn't get any ideas, and he even gets Scaling MR (1 for each enemy wizard up to 3) and his price tag isn't too nasty to boot.....If only he used Life.
What is he
Great at? Casting spells, making armored troops wish they were never deployed, flying around, not getting shot at, resisting multiple casters, Staying out of close combat.
What is he
Ok at? Being cheap.
What is he
Bad at? Close combat, having Lore of Life, having a ward save that isn't specific, Not getting destroyed by solitary insane casters (Slann).
Volkmar The Grim: An Arch Lector with +1 to cast, +2 S on the alter, and a 5+ regen, bad news is he is way to expensive for what you get, he is geared for combat (not very well however) when Arch lectors should never be in combat, he has nice toys, just isn't too practical.
What is he
Great at? Being unique, casting easy prayers, using a War alter.
What is he
Ok at? Close combat.
What is he
Bad at? being cheap, being better than a normal Arch Lector.
Marius Leitdorf: A crazy GoTE with +1 WS and a Runefang pair, brings a special crazy table that is just a total toss up, the price for his fairly low point cost. However he does great as a combat character and a support character, though that crazy table is very frustrating, and he still struggles against other combat Lords, also no Ward save....Be careful.
What is he
Great at? Being cheap, giving random great boons, breaking units, killing off lesser characters and Elite troops.
What is he
Ok at? Passing armor saves, not having to roll on his crazy table, fighting combat Lords.
What is he
Bad at? Having a Ward save, being consistent, not screwing over your battle plan on a bad crazy table roll.
Ludwig Schwarzhelm: An awesome captain character with +1 WS, he is also your BSB and gives the reroll bonus to every unit within 18 inches, that alone makes him insanely great especially for armies with alot of Knight units. also he gains KB, and wound rerolls, and a 2+ AS, all in all he is great, however no Ward Save on a BSB is risky take that into account when you field him.
What is he
Great at? Being better than a normal captain, being cheap, being worth it, helping your units reroll LD tests, KBing people, having Lord level WS.
What is he
Ok at? Fighting combat Lords, passing armor saves.
What is he
Bad at? Having a ward save.
Luther Huss: Easily one of the best special characters in the book by far, a Warrior Priest with +1 WS, a stubborn prayer, and a built in 4+ Ward, all of that makes him worth his crazy low point cost, but no Empire had to make him even more awesome, Power of Sigmar d3 WS, S, T, and attacks even for just one round is easily amazing, having a Tyrant-Star Dragon stat-line is nothing short of amazing take him.
What is he
Great at? Not dying, being cheap, being worth 3 times what he costs, making units really hard to break, killing characters, scaring people.
What is he
Ok at? Making armor saves.
What is he
Bad at? Going first, surviving if the power of Sigmar doesn't go the way you need it to, being able to field more than one of him.
Markus Wulfhart: A hardcore archer that pops monsters and makes Huntsmen ITP, he also scouts and has a magic bow that hurts monsters pretty well.......Would be totally worth it if cannons didn't exist, however if you don't field cannons, (how crazy are you) or you need cannons to shoot other targets (Ironblasters, Doom Divers, Casket of souls) while still having monsters to deal with he gets very useful, he also is pretty cheap but dies to a wet fart, take him if you totally need him.
What is he
Great at? Killing monsters, being an emergency cannon, being cheap, passing fear and terror tests.
What is he
Ok at? Making Huntsmen a bit better, being annoying.
What is he
Bad at? Killing anything besides monsters, surviving past turn 2, being better than cannons.
Thats the end of my tactica!! I won't post info about generic characters as there are too many good ways to field them, and most of the things you need to know about them are very common knowledge. Plus I won't take the fun of learning how to make an unstoppable Combat Lord from you.
Thank you for reading. FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!!!
