Empire: Very first army list need help

[jbaez9966]

this is my first Empire list, I just started the army and im building to a point value of 2250, let me know what you guys think.

General-152pts

full plate armour
shield
sword of strife
pistol

Captain-98pts

pistol
full plate armour
shield
Battle standard bearer (what magic banner if any should I give him?)

Wizard-100pts

level 2


10 Knights-250pts

full command


30 swordsmen-290pts

full command
detachment- 10 spearmen (fight in 2 ranks)


10 crossbowmen-110pts

marksman

2 cannons- 240pts


30 Greatswords

full command (magic banner? detachment?)


5 Pistoliers- 100pts

musician


Celestial Hurricanum- 130pts

2 Helblasters- 240pts

10 Huntsmen- 80pts


total of 2150 points. what should be changed?

[Wildeybeast]

First off, welcome to the Empire!

Seems like a petty balanced list to me. There are very few poor choices in the army book, so really it comes down to how you want to play. I would suggest a couple of things. Firstly, I'm not sure how much 10 huntsmen and crossbows will do, given their puny human BS. I would consider combining them into one big unit of one or the other. Standard of Discipline on Greatswords is always a good choice. I'm not sure there are any banners that are really worth taking on BSB's, I'd go for magic items instead. Enchanted Shield is always a good starting point for a foot BSB to get him a 2+ save, or Dragonhelm if you have a few more points to play with. Have you considered what Magic lore you are using?

Also, in a shameless self plug, [URL="http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?37320-Getting-to-grips-with-The-Empire"]this[/URL] may be worth a read if you are just starting out with Empire.

[The_Gonk]

this is my first Empire list, I just started the army and im building to a point value of 2250, let me know what you guys think.

General-152pts

full plate armour
shield
sword of strife
pistol

Captain-98pts

pistol
full plate armour
shield
Battle standard bearer (what magic banner if any should I give him?)

Wizard-100pts

level 2


10 Knights-250pts

full command


30 swordsmen-290pts

full command
detachment- 10 spearmen (fight in 2 ranks)


10 crossbowmen-110pts

marksman

2 cannons- 240pts


30 Greatswords

full command (magic banner? detachment?)


5 Pistoliers- 100pts

musician


Celestial Hurricanum- 130pts

2 Helblasters- 240pts

10 Huntsmen- 80pts


total of 2150 points. what should be changed?

As Wildeybeast said, welcome to the Empire! They were my first and most successful army!

If you're playing pickup games then this is a good and fun list - although a Witchhunter always makes things even more fun!

If you were going for a tournament then I would suggest a number of tweaks:

I wouldn't take a magic banner on the BSB. I'd give him some more defensive gear.

I have never got good value out of the General, I'd rather take an Arch Lector but if you can make him work then I'd love to hear about it.

You need a Level 4, I'd say this is a pretty much a must if you're going to a Tournament because you will meet armies that you simply can't handle otherwise, it'll also make the most of the Hurricanum. You'd also do best with a scroll

Think about taking a warrior priest or two - the difference hatred and the odd prayer can make is huge. They mitigate the risk of rubber lancing or just your big infantry block having a bad day at the office on that first combat round.


Swordsman are very cool but I prefer them for a detachment myself, rather than spearmen. It's boring but the halberdiers strength 4 wins out for a big combat block even over big spear blocks.

I haven't checked the points but are the knights Inner Circle?

I love greatswords, the models are epic and the rules are fairly epic, they're overcosted though. They live in the special slot with Demis which are arguably the best value monster cav in the game.

If you want to go dirty then there's always the Steam Tank....

I don't think the shooty units you have are a bad idea - with avoidance elves being somewhat popular some light shooting may come in handy. Thinking ahead, I'd expect the new Brets to have yeomen again which may actually be worth taking in a new book, and your shooting will cause them some issues. I'd consider taking straight archers as a detachment rather than huntsmen though - it gives somewhere your Wizard can hide and 6 dice with low risk of nuking your combat block.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!!