The lads and I have been delving into 9th edition Warhammer Fantasy, also known as Warhammer Armies Project. It’s a living ruleset that incorporates the best parts of Warhammer Fantasy through the ages and even brings in some of the newer Age of Sigmar line that is backwards compatible with the Fantasy setting. Coming from 8th edition I was skeptical at first but let me tell you that it is the most balanced, tightly written ruleset for Warhammer Fantasy that I have ever played – and it’s spreading like wild fire right now through the meta… So we here at RR thought that we’d put a few things down to help folks out there get as much fun out of it as we are!
Quick PSA: This Post is going to be complimentary to a new Podcast that Jason, Pat and I are doing focused on the Old Worlde! The first one should be out or close to out by the time you read this!
So you fancy yourself an Engineer? You think you have what it takes to run an artillery line and run effective counter battery fire? You have a regiment of Empire handgunners that march to your will? Well friend, let’s sit down and chat…
2000 Points of Black Powder
You need a General, so the General of the Empire for 170 pts seems right. Nothing fancy here, he comes standard with a hand weapon and medium armour. I’ve given him the Armour of Destiny which gives him Heavy armour and a 4+ Ward save. So he has a little resilience in a Challenge – you’re going to be sticking him in a brick so he doesn’t need to be too crazy. I’ve also given mine the Relic Sword which let’s him always wound on a 3+ – nice against high toughness models. They still get to take Armor saves and he’s only hitting at base strength 4 so if he’s going up against something solid he’s going to need some buffs. – More on that when we get to Magic.
OK, before we go ANY further you need to understand something. In 9th edition Magic is AMAZE… it’s vastly more reliable, you can pick your spells, and you don’t have to declare big boom or little boom if the spell your casting has a higher version of itself. So – ALWAYS, I repeat ALWAYS take a magic user. Maybe 2?
My Wizard Lord clocks in at 269 pts. I’ve given him the Talisman of Preservation for another 4+ Ward and I have him mounted… maybe not the smartest thing in the world but I have a cool model so there! I’ve given the Warhorse Barding so the Wizard has a hilarious 6+ Armour save.
He’s a level 4 and the Lore of Life has some amazing Buffs. Remember I told you about being able to pick your spells now? Well you can and you should! I’ve given him:
Flesh to Stone, Throne of Vines, Shield of Thorns, and Regrowth
For the rest of our daring characters, the Captain of the Empire is my BSB – you need one, you just do! I’ve given mine “The Battle Banner” for 70 points it’s one of the most expensive magic standards but it gives you +D6 to your combat resolution EACH combat phase… so it works in your turn and your opponents turn, I can’t tell you have good that is, and how important static combat resolution is, Warhammer Fantasy is a game that is won and lost of static combat res more often than on changes.
Rank and File dudes, the hard working and under appreciated backbone of the Empire Artillery school are the Handgunners
I like run them in small units to better cover the battlefield. Because handgunners are Move OR Shoot if you have a big brick of 20 and you are out of position that’s a whole turn your reforming of wheeling and not shooting.
4 Units of 10, I gave mine Light Armour, but you don’t have to.
My big brick is the Swordsmen at 182 pts, I’ve given them full command, and upgraded the Banner to the Banner of Valour, which gives them immunity to panic. The purpose of building a brick like this is to make sure it stays where you need it to. I’m putting a good chunk of my resources in it so I don’t need it running off the table if it gets hit was wayward chunks of masonry… 22 Swordsman with Light Armour, and Shields
OK… NOW the Parts that Go BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!
The Empire is one of the only factions that still has access to the Great Cannon. At 100 pts and a Special choice you are going to be taking a couple of these in a gun line.
My Artillery School Of Nuln list has 2 Great Cannons and 2 Mortars. Mortars are amazing at Counter Battery Fire. So using a large pie plate to drop a hole over an enemy Warmachine is not the most intuitive use of a what seems at first to be an anti-personnel weapon. But if you are going against high toughness troops with good armour that strength 3 is not going to get you there… well it might but consider this. If you can hit a Warmachine with the mortar you are wounding on a 4+ or a 3+ (most Warmachine’s have a toughness of 7) and then doing D3 wounds. If you roll a 5 or 6, good night spearchuckka, trebuchet, cannon, etc…
Finally my hunters… something you need to go hunting, or intercept a unit that is hell bent on breaking through and rolling up your flank… that’s why Demigryph Knights were invented, well probably not why they were invented but they are hands down the best Monstrous Cavalry that the Empire has access to, take them, always. I take 3 at 230 pts, full command and give them the Steel Standard.
Last but not least, The ‘Marienburg’ Class Land Battle Ship. At 250 pts it truly is the “Wonder of the Age”. It’s got a host of rules that make it amazing. Let’s start with Unbreakable. At 10 wounds, T6 and Unbreakable this thing will stop bricks… it will even stop charges from Bretonnian Lances and rampaging Kidaii Destroyers… for a turn at least. It can fire it’s Culverin in Combat… it does go off during the shooting phase so it’s not going to effect the combat res but it’s real nasty. Essentially it fires grapeshot point blank… it’s also just recently got “Grind” back… it essentially gets Impact Hits in the Combat Phase, outside of the turn that it charges, which helps because the six crew members that are fighting from the deck are very cool and a fun distraction but don’t do any real work.
OK that’s it! For now, check us out on the new Portents and Perils Podcast where we talk more in depth about this list, Warhammer Armies Project and the lore (Iron Company by Chris Wraight is first up!) We’re going to be revisiting the Old World every month so come join us as we journey into the Frozen Wastes and the teeming cities!
