Warhammer 101: The Armies (Fantasy Edition)

Since I've been slowed in my blogging I figure I should begin my run down of Warhammer Fantasy Armies.

Today I'll start with:

Ta Dah!!!!

The Empire

The army is loosely based on the 15th Century Holy Roman Empire (that's where modern Germany is now by the way!)

Anyway... I won't bore you with geography... but you really need to learn it.  Seriously! 

Ahem

The Empire is one of the "flagship," armies for Warhammer Fantasy.  The army is human, so that should be familiar... to most of you... and has plenty of fantasy archetypes such as knights in shiny armor, flamboyant heroes with fancy hats (or helmets, most kits have options).  They have wizards aplenty.  The Empire army is also has guys with guns (black powder muskets not M16's), guys with crossbows, and guys with bows and arrows.  Want cannons?  The Empire's got them.  How about a mortar?  The Empire has that also.  Perhaps a Gatling cannon with nine barrels is more your thing?  Well the Empire has that to. 

The range is 100% available right now and is almost all plastic.  Plastic kits mean more options, and cheaper prices.  The range is fairly new and so it won't be replaced anytime soon.

This variety has a price though.  You have access to all this cool stuff, but your army is reliant on the humble old soldier whose stats are near the weakest in the game.  This shouldn't be taken to mean the army can't win.  It can.  It's just that you aren't going to get a cool stat line like a Chaos Warrior, but then again a Chaos Warrior can't carry a hand gun...

Empire soldiers are cheap and if used properly are quite effective.

Empire soldiers are also colorful and look good on the tabletop.

Empire armies utilize the colorful Renaissance style with slashed duel color doublets, feathers, and steel armor. 

First time players will find that this army is a good starting point as the list can be tailored for your style of play. 

If you want to play aggressive then the army offers Knights, Griffon mounted leaders, and other hard hitting units.

Prefer to be a static army then the list offers big blocks of infantry and plenty of guns and artillery.

The army also can use units that are good for tricky, hit and run tactics. 

Most armies (in both Fantasy and 40K) tend to have just one strength but the Empire is a good all round list.