Topic: New Empire player: advice/tips?

[Aristocrap]

Greetings!

I'm pretty new to WHFB in general, being mainly a 40k player, but lately I've been itching to delve into the fantasy realm. I've decided I wanted to start with an Empire army, though what would be my best starting point?  I'm planning to get the army book, then perhaps the battalion set. Also, in terms of gameplay, what kind of army is the Empire/how do they operate?

Thanks in advance!

[Eighty]

hey bud!

nothing ever comes simply and learning about the best army (imo) in fantasy is no different! you have already done the best part and found a very active forum with plenty of voices (some that are abit louder than others ) my first advice would be too look at the threads regarding state troops and detatchments, these are the very core (literally) of our army. the size,formation and equipment have all been covered in a few very decent threads.

my advice for infantry is more is better units of 20 just dont work.

next you might want to read some of the grand strategy threads or the tactics thread (there is a good one in the first 2 pages of this forum). The gist of the thread outlines that you never put something in your army without a specific plan for said unit. so you might have a 'hammer' unit for your anvil of state troops, perhaps some artillery to soften up the enemy before he strikes or even some BS shooting troops to help protect a flank

my advice is take artillery but dont go crazy, if your gun heavy and your opponent has lots of scouts/ambush/flying whatever artillery hunters, they simply wont be as effective. (my example here would be i take 1 mortar @ 500-750, 1 m 1 c @ 1000, etc etc)

honestly just read over this board and search for any units you have questions for, i can guarentee most of the units in the book have multiple threads devoted to their use and benefits.

finally good luck! empire arent the cakewalk some armies are, indeed there are many pitfalls in collecting a jack of all trades type army but that is what makes it so much fun

[Eighty]

this was written at work hiding from my supervisor, so forgive any mistakes, grammar or otherwise

[Baron Martens]

Welcome to the Empire.  As Eighty said, around here we tend write and re-write tactics threads to death, so look around the forum a bit, there's a lot of good stuff.

But, to answer some of your questions specifically, the Big Rule Book and the Empire Army book are a good place to start; all the forum posts won't really help until you have at least a general feel for the main rules and the army. 

As far as gameplay, i see the empire as very balanced, many go for the combined arms approach.  But you can go a lot of different ways with it.  The area where we really shine is in the shooting phase, especially with artillery, but we've got some unique stuff that makes us strong in other areas as well.  We put up a good fight in the magic phase with our relatively cheap spellcasters and the much beloved warrior priests. Our core infantry are fairly cheap, but with the detachment system we have a lot of tactical flexibility to come out on top in close combat.

The battalion box is a good place to start for models.  After that, its pretty much as many state troops and empire artillery boxes as you can get a hold of    People tend to disagree more about what units to take beyond that, so take a look around the forum to get a feel for where you want to go from there.

[GambitGriffin]

If you want greatswords in your army (I like them a lot) 2 battalion boxes is a great start. It gives you enough of knights and 40 state troopers which is a good start and a decent number of crossbows/handgunners.
Of course it is a bit pricey cash wise but you would probably need everything in the battalion boxes anyway:)

[Gantrithor]

If you want greatswords in your army (I like them a lot) 2 battalion boxes is a great start. It gives you enough of knights and 40 state troopers which is a good start and a decent number of crossbows/handgunners.
Of course it is a bit pricey cash wise but you would probably need everything in the battalion boxes anyway:)

The Brigade box is an awesome way to go and I recommend it with all my heart. Its a huge hurting on your wallet but EVERYTHING  in that thing you will use and love them while you do it. you also say a buttload of money in the longrun.

[GambitGriffin]

Is the brigade box still around? I thought they dropped all the big battalion boxes   Would love if I'm wrong on this...

[Aristocrap]

I haven't seen it on the website, so I assume it's not officially around. However, there could be some left in retail stores and the like. Unfortunately there are none in stock around my neck of the woods.

But thank you all for the suggestions! I'll see to getting my hands on a battalion set or two and coming up with a list as soon as I get the army book.

[Northern Storm]

Welcome to the glorious Empire. I've been playing Empire for 10 years now and the combined arms approach has yet to fail me. Empire can go all knights or super-heavy on the artillery, or have seemingly endless cheap infantry, but a balanced army is (in my opinion) absolutely key.

[Johann Q Peasant]

EBAY EBAY EBAY...

Buy bitz. There are a few stores that will set particular parts of models.  You can save money, but it will cost you in time.

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF BUYING OLD MODELS.

The strength of the Empire is its diversity.  A 6th Edition Talabheim Halberd Regiment alongside a 7th Edition Nuln Swordsmen Regiment, with a 5th Edition Middenheim Spear Regiment in Reserve looks like an Empire army to me.  It opens up cool oppurtunities for fluff (thats the 44th Middenheim, they have been understrength, underpaid, and assigned to this backwater ever since we thumped Archaon...) 

The same goes with Character models.  Looks cool. (to me others, maybe not). Besides, It will give you good practice improving models.

However buying whole kits leaves you with alot of good empire bits, which helps out with the old models....

I recommend getting the wizard kit... Make 1 wizard a fire wizard (always a useful lore) and one whichever sounds cool to you.  Wizards rock.... But only in support of the rest of the army. Combined arms baby.  Infantry is going to be your friend.

[Sos]

since youre coming from the 40k world, we have the world's latest technology in the likes of helstorm and steam tank at our disposal.   

[Aristocrap]

Thanks for the welcomes! 
Luckily, I attended the Gamesday in NY this year and won a box of the old, metal Greatswords, so I think they'll be the first Empire minis I'll work on. I'll be sure to browse around and seek out strategies, unit compositions and the like.
Though I'm having some trouble deciding on a city-State/province to work on. I know the best advice would probably be to simply go with the color scheme(s) I like best. At the moment, I've taken a liking to an Altdorf army supported by Reiksguard, or a Talabheim army with the Knights Panther.

[Peasant Count]

LD 9 + BSB + Keeping Your Infantry Together = The First Step to a Successful Battle Plan.   

[Eighty]

for better or for worse i didnt really buy into the specific army color schemes when i started, so i have a nice white and blue army with a hint of red flair. do these colors match any of the major cities?  i am terrible with this lore stuff hehe.

[Aristocrap]

for better or for worse i didnt really buy into the specific army color schemes when i started, so i have a nice white and blue army with a hint of red flair. do these colors match any of the major cities?  i am terrible with this lore stuff hehe.

The colors of Middenheim are blue and white; maybe that matches with your army:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=400015&pIndex=2&aId=14200005&multiPageMode=true&start=3