I'm certainly in favor of some non-gunpowder rare units for Empire, but I'm just not sure what. Maybe slightly beefed up IC knights (since we are so hard pressed for special slots as it is), or perhaps full-plate infantry (an interesting idea someone brought up in that thread).
I am not in favor of Death Star units, at all. To me, it's basically a form of Herohammer: tool up your lord and death star unit, then buy cheap filler for the rest of your meaningless army. Whoever hits the other person the hardest with their hammer, wins. It destroys any sense of strategy or tactics, because each side pretty much has one unit that can fight, and the rest exist purely because they HAVE to in order for the list to be legal (I am certain if you removed minimum core units, you'd see VC lists with just a blood knight unit and nothing more).
There's nothing wrong with wanting an elite knightly order for us, but let's be reasonable: Empire is not the army known for its powerhouse cavalry, Brettonia is. Empire is known for its versatility, gunpowder, and stout infantry. If anything, IC knights should be moved to rare and we should be given better infantry for a special choice.