Empire for OFCC

[Andrewgeddon]

So I've been feeling the need to take a little break from my Ogres. I love the big guys, but I've been yearning to push around some basic infantry for a while now. Coincidentally, I'm picking up a good sized Empire lot this weekend, and have been toying around with the idea of speed painting some Empire for OFCC this year. With 9th ed supposedly around the corner, I know I'm supposed to just "sit tight" and see what direction the game goes, but I can't seem to help myself.

 

Here is the list I've been looking at running, keeping in mind that I am somewhat limited by models.

 

Battle Wizard Lord

-Level 4 (life)

-Dispel Scroll

-4++

270

 

Captain of the Empire

-BSB

-Full Plate

-Enchanted Shiled

-5++

126

 

Captain of the Empire

-Full Plate

-Shield

-Barded Warhorse

-Sword of Might

-Dawnstone

129

 

Warrior Priest

-Heavy Armor, GW

-Barded Warhorse

88

 

Warrior Priest

-Heavy Armor, GW

72

 

Master Engineer

-Hochland Longrifle

85

 

38 Spearmen

-Full command

-(Detachment) 10 Handgunners

-(Detachment) 10 Handgunners

400

 

8 Inner Circle Knights

-Full command

230

 

3 Demigryph Knights

-Standard and Musician

-Gleaming Pennant

-Halberds

199

 

40 Flagellants

480

 

5 Pistoliers

90

 

Great Cannon

100

 

Mortar

120

 

Mortar

120

 

Clocks in at a 15.6 for Swedish. Would love feedback, as I've never played the army before. Flagellants could just as easily be Greatswords, but I already have a few Flagellants already and I love the rules / models. Would probably swap out a Mortar for a Helblaster if I had one.

 

Core is pretty flexible. I like Spearmen in general (model wise), but I know I could just as easily go with Halberds to give them a little more punch in combat.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Andrewgeddon

[MexicanNinja]

The list is very interesting.  The horde of spears will most likely fail you in every game you play.  They have no "punch".  You already struggle with crap WS that when you do get hits through, you need them to count.  Halberds go a long way with +1S bonus.  A horde of Halberds will keep most blocks from charging in "willy-nilly".

 

Why two mortars?  Again, they have minimal effect against things with armour and a decent T vaule (4 or higher).  I would suggest taking a helblaster and stick your engineer next to it for maximum effect.  You don't have a steamtank so I wouldn't worry about having a helblaster in your list.  Handguns and mortars just won't get it done, in the end.  The handgunners will need 5's to hit most things throughout the game and they are limited with having a 24" move or shoot weapon.

 

Which now brings me to the engineer.  I believe the hochland is wasted points for him.  You really need him for his war machine ability and if you are using that you aren't using the hochland and that equates to wasted points.  Keep him cheap.  I'd suggest giving him a ruby ring so you can get a fireball in your list for better chaff clearing. You don't want your knights or demi's baited around by 90 point or less units.

 

The standard on the demi's is a bit risky.  If they don't win combat on the turn they charge and you lose, that's a free kill for your opponent and now that unit is managable.  I would consider the pro's and con's of having the standard in that unit.

 

What are the plans for the lore of life wizard?  If you have the option, I would take a unit of 10 archers for his bunker and keep him behind your lines.

 

Again, I like the main aspects of the list and the above thoughts are only suggestions.

[rudra34]

If you want the mortars to really shine, then consider switching to lore of shadow on you mage.  Life can be nice, but I find it to be a bit lack-luster for the Empire. 

 

Still on Mortars, they are 100 points, not 120.  The cannon is the one that's 120.  Also, with the current all elves all the time meta they still have a place in the army.  Try them out a few times before dropping them completely.  A big pie plate on a horde of witch elves will ruin somebody's day. 

 

I agree on the engineer.  Giving rerolls should be his priority, the rifle will just end up being wasted points. 

 

And spears are indeed the weaker of core troops.  In a bus swordsmen outshine them, and as a horde halberds outshine them.  The lore of life may go far to protect them, but they will not cause any significant damage.

[Andrewgeddon]

I appreciate your feedback! I agree with you on the Spearmen, I get the feeling like they don't have "what it takes" without something like Beasts or Shadow to back them up.

 

Longrifle on the Engineer is just for fun, although I really like the Ruby Ring idea. Handgunners were a concession to the models I'm getting (would probably go Crossbows otherwise), as are the two Mortars, although I might swap out a unit for an Archer detachment for a Wizard bunker if I can scrounge up the models. Helblaster would be my preference, but I don't have the model ATM.

[Andrewgeddon]

If you want the mortars to really shine, then consider switching to lore of shadow on you mage.  Life can be nice, but I find it to be a bit lack-luster for the Empire. 

 

Still on Mortars, they are 100 points, not 120.  The cannon is the one that's 120.  Also, with the current all elves all the time meta they still have a place in the army.  Try them out a few times before dropping them completely.  A big pie plate on a horde of witch elves will ruin somebody's day. 

 

I agree on the engineer.  Giving rerolls should be his priority, the rifle will just end up being wasted points. 

 

And spears are indeed the weaker of core troops.  In a bus swordsmen outshine them, and as a horde halberds outshine them.  The lore of life may go far to protect them, but they will not cause any significant damage.

Thank you for the input. Still messing around with the lore on the Wizard. I was originally going to run Metal, but Life seemed the best way to keep the Flagellants alive and kicking. I can definitely see the benefits Shadows brings to the mix though.

[Don't Panic]

MN makes a lot of good points that i also agree with.  i actually think the hellblaster is also a waste of points.  24 inch range just isnt good.  there's just too many things in the game that out-range it(it's a poor mans organ gun).  ditch the mortars and take a stank.  they are a lot of fun. halbs all the way.  im a proponent of greatswords but im in the minority and you need a lore to work with them.  flags are super crazy and fun, but they are also a bit expensive for what they give you.  i dont know if life works with your list as much as it works with the standard 1+ empire lists.  id consider metal actually for the buffs.  works well with combat empire yet surprisingly i dont see many lists that use it. MN's point about standards on demis is correct.  take muso and champ.  andrew i know a ton about empire(i have the army just havent played it in many moons) so im more than happy to help you if you want some advice(seeing as you're on my team!).  

[valourunbound]

Wait, you're supposed to help people on your team?

 

[big bad swear word].

 

 

On topic: 

1. Please run Halberdiers if you can.
2. I actually think the flagellants can be fun. Life should be able to give them some good staying power for you to get in your heavy hitters. Then again, if they are too hard to kill you won't get any martyrs... hmm. With that in mind, you might want to aim more at debuffs than buffs (shadow, death, even heavens and metal to an extent).
3. As for the heavy hitters... you have 2. Demigryphs and... Halberdiers if you choose them. The Inner Circle Knights suffer from not having enough attacks. The hatred from the Priest will help with that.
4. Get off the internet and go play with your pretend plastic soldiers! (Seriously. Our opinions only count for so much)

[Andrewgeddon]

Get off the internet and go play with your pretend plastic soldiers! (Seriously. Our opinions only count for so much)

 

For sure! Definitely a top priority. Picking those guys up at Saturday, then going to get them in practice game shape ASAP!

[Andrewgeddon]

MN makes a lot of good points that i also agree with.  i actually think the hellblaster is also a waste of points.  24 inch range just isnt good.  there's just too many things in the game that out-range it(it's a poor mans organ gun).  ditch the mortars and take a stank.  they are a lot of fun. halbs all the way.  im a proponent of greatswords but im in the minority and you need a lore to work with them.  flags are super crazy and fun, but they are also a bit expensive for what they give you.  i dont know if life works with your list as much as it works with the standard 1+ empire lists.  id consider metal actually for the buffs.  works well with combat empire yet surprisingly i dont see many lists that use it. MN's point about standards on demis is correct.  take muso and champ.  andrew i know a ton about empire(i have the army just havent played it in many moons) so im more than happy to help you if you want some advice(seeing as you're on my team!).  

Definitely appreciate the input sir. I will probably be hitting you up for some Empire advice soon!

[splinx]

Andrew feel free to give me a time and come and use my empire against me and try them out buddy. :) 

[Swan-of-War]

_{Given that this is the OFCC, I'd say ignore what everyone's saying.  Were you to take them to a normal tournament, then definitely heed their advice.  It's not power-gamey, but you're being steered towards a standard Empire netlist.}

[MexicanNinja]

_{Given that this is the OFCC, I'd say ignore what everyone's saying. Were you to take them to a normal tournament, then definitely heed their advice. It's not power-gamey, but you're being steered towards a standard Empire netlist.}

Other than suggesting halberds to him, how did i steer him towards a net list? as for the OFCC portion, isn't the intent fun? If his list isn't putting up any kind of challenge, and it gets walked over in every game, how is that fun?

[MexicanNinja]

I appreciate your feedback! I agree with you on the Spearmen, I get the feeling like they don't have "what it takes" without something like Beasts or Shadow to back them up.

Longrifle on the Engineer is just for fun, although I really like the Ruby Ring idea. Handgunners were a concession to the models I'm getting (would probably go Crossbows otherwise), as are the two Mortars, although I might swap out a unit for an Archer detachment for a Wizard bunker if I can scrounge up the models. Helblaster would be my preference, but I don't have the model ATM.

I'm not suggesting you drop the handgunners. my statement was just that they don't really do much through the course of the game because of their limited range, move or shoot, and crap bs. I played Empire for 7 years from 6th to 8th edition and through 3 army books. Handunners never preformed how I envisoined them. The same can be said for spearmen. i played 3 games with them then stuk them in my army transport. They are just crap. Unlike any form of elf spear unit, they lack getting enough hits to counter their mass S3 wound rolling. The mortar took a huge hit and went up in points. i'm not suggesting to drop both but only one. You don't have lore of metal and a single hellblaster can greatly help with enemy units packin 3+ armour saves. This would give you a large blast for low T low armour hordes, a war machine for taking on units with armour (the number of shots are random and to-hit-rolls still must be made), and a war machine to deal with monsters.

 

Here's what i do love about the list:

 

The horde of Flagallents. I ran these and I belive they are great against the right opponent. with your plan on backing them with lore of life, they could have huge impacts in your game. The only thing I don't like about them is how GW changed the ruling on the sacrificing part. Other than that i find them solid with what they can do on the charge. I just think it's awseome that you are using a hue block of these guys and taking a magic lore to augment them.

 

Be sure to post up how some practice games go.

[WarlordGhrom]

_{Given that this is the OFCC, I'd say ignore what everyone's saying.  Were you to take them to a normal tournament, then definitely heed their advice.  It's not power-gamey, but you're being steered towards a standard Empire netlist.}

 

Got to agree with Swan.  If this is OFCC, you're goal is not to make a power army.  If you follow a lot of the advice above your comp score is going to drop.  Play what you have and have fun doing it.

[rudra34]

_{Given that this is the OFCC, I'd say ignore what everyone's saying.  Were you to take them to a normal tournament, then definitely heed their advice.  It's not power-gamey, but you're being steered towards a standard Empire netlist.}

I told him to keep his mortars!  You insult my honor, good sir!