A person I've known for a little while now has had some empire models hanging around and after seeing my hobby heaven basement has been inspired to take up the game for real. However, as I was talking it seems he is a power build player that is in it for the win, and began throwing out pegasus combos and steam tanks and whatever. I don't want to be hammered in our first game so I was wondering what advice do you have against empire? What to look out for and the works, it's an army I do not have the book to unfortunately. Thanks a ton (Btw he said he could fit in 2 steam tanks at 2000 points, is the thing really only worth 250? Just think that's pretty cheap for what I hear it does.)
The 'Stank' is pretty inexpensive, yeah - that's the correct cost. 'Inexpensive' seems to be Empire's theme, though... watch out for the Luminarks & Hurricanums. Ugh. If he's a power builder (but a friend) and you don't enjoy WAAC play, then the best thing that you can do is to give it a go and if you find that you're not enjoying the games, then be honest with the fellow. Myself and the others could come up with cheesy lists to counter cheesy lists, but the most important part of the game is having fun. If he's inspired by the thematic elements of the game, then maybe create a narrative/full-on campaign? Some kind of escalation? It's been my experience that getting 4-6 wounds on a Stank is enough to keep it under control. It'll often decommission itself. You can do this with a HM Slann that drops a spell for Searing Doom & Vassals it through a flying priest. Taking two Beasts priests and trying to roll up either the Amber Spear or Savage Beast of Horros (great for an offensive Oldblood w/ Piranha Blade atop a Cold One) - you'll likely get one or the other, especially if you don't drop a spell for Wyssan's Wildform with the first set of rolls. A double or the two choice spells should result, doing that. In theory, Carnobloods can drop them but.. eh.. cannons are absurd. Anyway, Temple Guard will crush their core with or without de/buffs. I field two small squads of Cohorts w/ a musician to redirect Knights. Solar Engine Bastiladons are useful all-round, whether you're pointing it at chaff or a lone piece of artillery (nice for picking off wounds... 50% chance to cause 2d6 hits). Demigryph counterss depend on your list setup, but expect them to show up. The Slann's Magic can put a hurt on them. Last, but not least: watch out for the Runefang. As a side note, do you guys roll missions & also roll terrain? D6+4 pieces of terrain (two options being able to generate even further terrain) is extremely helpful, and objective-based matches help looooads against the Stank. Obstacles are great for a quick cannonball shield, too. I'm in school right now, so I can't dig too deep. I'll post a bit later unless someone beats me to it. Take care.
I've had some experience against both strong, and weak empire lists. For sure, the steam tank is hard to deal with but even 1 or 3 wounds put on it will eventually cause a misfire. with 1 wound put onto it, it will misfire 1/3 times. 3 wounds brings it down to a 50% chance of misfire. I usually give myself a few turns by deploying far away from it and make it deal with chaff when the need becomes dire. Kill it with fire (metal/arcane unforging) magic! The cool thing the empire have is artillery. And the cool thing we have are monsters, whose natural enemy is artillery. If you're expecting lots of infantry, sallies are nice, and stegadons are nice. if you're expecting lots of knights, stegadons are nice, and redirectors are nice. If he drops handguns down, make sure you make him have to reconfigure his line and move to get those shots off. Maybe even move units ahead of others for that hard cover. It's even worth taking tetto ekko for the certainty of comet
I can give you guys a run down of what I typically run, if there is something in there you wouldn't recommend let me know Slann with harmonic, soul, focus, channeling staff Tetto Saurus BSB in unit w/ Fencer's blades and 3+ armor Skink Priest lv. 1 w/ scroll Skink Chief on terra don with egg 30+ saurus warriors FC 2x 10 skink skirmishers javs 2x 10 skink cohorts (for characters) 5 chameleons 3 terradons 3 rippers bastiladon solar engine ancient stegadon with horns salamander Anything you recommend I dump or something else I should bring?
I have a love/hate relationship with saurus warriors. I love them, but they suck the proverbial genitalia. What's your plan for the slann? (hehehe that rhymes) If there's no comp, turn those cohorts into squeamishers. I like the rippers as they put some scare into the knights, which empire have in abundance. I find that if i'm taking monster/handlers, that just having one means an easy target for them to take alot of potency out of our lists. I'd find a way to take 2 single sallies with snacks if you're going to take them at all. I find having lots of tasty pieces isn't as good as having a couple of really delicious meals. In warhammer, anyway