By Nathan Lovell

Marching into sight is a new range of Empire miniatures and accompanying the tramp of their slippered feet, comes the shiny new 7th edition army-book.

A work of art to behold and a joy to read, its pages are filled with the ever dark images of the Warhammer world that we have come to expect of both new and old design. Weighing in at 96 pages, a whole 16 pages longer than the last edition, this guide is essential to both veterans and beginners alike, detailing both the rich background and solid gaming rules of the Empire.

Following the style of the recently released ‘Orc and Goblin’ army book the Empire differs greatly in its layout to the previous incarnation.

This great tome is divided into 4 sections. The first; Sigmar’s realm, details the background, the lands of the empire, the Colleges of Magic, and the achievements of mankind’s greatest politician and warrior ‘The Emperor Karl-Franz’. This is a wonderful section of the book, with several detailed maps that were sadly lacking last time around, showing both political states and various cities and towns. The background is extensive and even for the veteran background maniacs there was a lot of new stuff which kept this Grosby wearing soldier very happy.

The second is more the meat and potatoes (Or pork sausage and sauerkraut for die hard Empire players!) that decides just how popular the book will become, this is the bestiary.

The forces of the empire provides the rules and regiment details that are essential for the gaming aspect of the hobby. Spanning across 30 pages, it gives the stat-line from the simple pig farming militia, to the ‘pure-of-heart’ Templar Grand Masters of the various knightly orders.
Making welcome reappearances are the outriders, veterans wielding the mighty repeater handguns of their engineer patrons, not to mention special characters galore. Mighty Karl-Franz takes to the field once more, possibly accompanied by his champion Ludwig Schwarzhelm, Kurt Helborg returns to lead his Reiksguard into the fray, Volkmar the Grim ‘newly’ reinstated Grand Theogonist on his War-Alter, The fire breathing warrior priest Luthor Huss, and Supreme Patriarch Balthasar Gelt. Sadly Valten made no appearance in this new edition.
And of course, returning to its home amongst the pages of the true army book, my personal favourite, the Steam Tank Conqueror. No more will there be cries of cheese… The grease-ball on wheels has also come with a whole new set of rules that I will discuss later.
Also there are some new entries to the Armoury, the Helstorm Rocket Battery, a dangerously inaccurate piece of weaponry but one on target shot from this bad boy will see off all but the most hard boiled of opponents. This of course comes at the cost of a rare choice, but I can feel the warmed smile of gun-line players already.
Various other new items from the Engineers guild, Herstel-Wenckler bring us their ingenious pigeon bombs, Meikle (first female engineer) brings us her mechanical lightning wielding steed, and also the grenade launcher makes it presence felt. Not from the Engineers guild, rather surprisingly, a new addition from the imperial zoo of Altdorf, The Imperial Dragon. The personal mount of Karl-Franz, for no-one else dare match their will against the might of the fiery steed.
A new character selection is added with the Arch Lector also being included in the core army book as opposed to his old white dwarf entry, with a few tweaks to his basic rules he is by far a match for any Elector count (or Empire General, as they are now known).

The heirlooms of the empire: this is the section that had caused the most debate in recent rumour threads across the net, the prices of various items, their new abilities and other such questions were being bantered backwards and forwards faster than one could almost read. This was a very interesting read, the cost of many items dropping and their abilities rising, however the mainstay of nearly every 6th edition empire army may soon be disappearing, the Griffon Standard rising in points cost takes it out of the price range of a regiment of state-troops in an army led by the now named Empire-general, this is an unfortunate but necessary change for the new edition. Contrary to rumours the Runefang is still in, costing its usual point value. But perhaps two of the biggest changes I have noted with glee are the lowering of the Armour of Meteoric iron by five points, an item I would never leave home without, and the increase by five points to the deadly Van Horstmann speculum, the rising giving the wielder the ability to also swap his WS as well as I, S,T, and A with those of his opponent when engaged in a challenge. Nasty Bloodthirsters and other combat monsters should beware the lone wizard…
Also my favourite item from last edition simply because it was a hammer has got better, The Hammer of Judgement now auto wounds on the failing of toughness tests as opposed to leadership tests.
A new item is the Daemon Banner, allowing a unit of knights to cause fear on the charge, possibly a devastating item to have in a hammer style unit.
Overall, subtle changes, but incredibly handy ones…

The Empire Army List. This is the third section, and most important, containing all the points costs and regiments classes.

Strangely to some, yet making sense to others the inclusion of special characters is now in the actual Army list no different to any other part of the army, therefore needing no permission to from your opponent to use.
Also no longer taking up more than one character slot is a new relief to those who enjoys using special characters as I do.

Karl-Franz is as he should be. A brilliant leader, and tactically flexible, as he is able to be mounted on several different types of steeds, from warhorse to dragon and everything in between, he also has the option of wielding the Runefang of Reikland, or Ghal Maraz (the hammer of Sigmar). This allows one to field the emperor as cheaply as possible, with Runefang and warhorse, or as costly as possible with both dragon and Ghal Maraz.

Volkmar the Grim, my favourite of the new characters, standing astride his War Alter he is a character to be feared and respected. He generates an aura of hatred that benefits the troops of the Empire, is subject to both hatred and frenzy himself, He also causes terror on the charge and regenerates thanks to the healing power of the War Alter.

Kurt Helborg, armed with the ‘once’ lost Runefang of Solland, steps in as the special character equivalent of a grandmaster, he is highly combat orientated and best pointed at the hardest point of an enemy line. His stat-line is the highest I’ve seen in a while in regards to an empire character, and his model is quite spectacular.

Balthasar Gelt, the supreme patriarch of the colleges of magic, dealing out a strong magical barrage, with the help of many item of both magical and alchemical design, He simply dominates the magic phase.

General of the Empire, this selection replaces last editions Elector count entry, it is essentially unchanged except for name, good leadership low combat effectiveness, but balanced and fair.

Arch Lector, finally a lord choice for warrior priests. His special abilities far outweigh his combat effectiveness, adding two dispel dice to the pool, he generates hate to any unit he is stationed with, and his prayers are fantastic. He too can also be placed upon a War Alter of his own for extra protection and hitting power.

Wizard Lord, the spell caster of the lordly bunch, with the new flexibility of the magic lores, he makes a tempting choice for general when contemplating a magically offensive, or defensive army.

Templar Grandmaster, combat effective, well armoured and nice stat line. Still benefits from being immune to psychology, and passes that effect onto any unit of knights from his order when he joins them.

Ludwig Schwarzhelm, the Emperor’s grimfaced champion and battle standard bearer. The emperors right hand is renowned for never having once smiled in his life, nor ever being defeated in single combat. He is the bearer of Karl-Franz’ personal banner and is a fantastic model backed with some nice and simple ruling.

Luthor Huss, the prophet of Sigmar. Now Luthor has under gone radical changes, his points dropping to almost half of before, and his Stat line decreasing with it. Still causing fear and benefiting from all the new warrior priest changes he makes a wonderful leader in smaller games, or indeed a welcome addition in larger battles.

Captains, these stalwart officers have not changed at all, points remaining the same as do their stat lines and ability to become battle standard bearers.

Warrior priests, down in points cost and up in value, these stalwart holy men are fantastic. As being almost identical to the Arch Lector’s they are brilliant line commanders for merely a hero choice. Warrior priests also add dice to the dispel pool to counter the spells that would dare threaten the sons of Sigmar whenever they march to battle.

Battle wizards, have risen slightly in points, but they remain unchanged. I believe this is due to the newly constructed magic lores, seeing as the have become more effective. Still the most use an empire general can find for these noble sons is to ferry scrolls around the battle, which indeed is a task most worthy of their stature.

Engineers, also have risen in points, their item options have increased and their ability to kill from afar cannot be questioned. Last edition few engineers were being used, now I feel that we may see a few more lurking on hills, unleashing their deadly flocks of pigeons at enemy war machines.

The Empire has undergone some massive changes to its core section, not just in selection but in point values. All units, aside from archers, have changed in some fashion, the command groups are cheaper, or with the basic man on the field dropping one or two points. This is great for rank and file players, I discovered my 2250 point tournament force has dropped to a wonderful 2023 pts, this allows greater flexibility and lets you use all the more models in a game.
Also changing are the knightly orders, the knights of the white wolf entry has disappeared, and instead the ability to swap lance and shield for a great weapon comes in to effect. This opens up many avenues for later conversion work. The Inner circle upgrade is no longer 0-1 but the upgrade shifts the unit to a special slot instead of core.
The detachment rules have also been tweaked, now a detachment can take armour options, either a shield or light armour if it is available to them at the relevant point costs. This is a good thing to hear as detachments are quite the fire magnets in my usual games.
Special:
Point drops to be found here also, Greatswords are down and no longer 0-1 choice, also with a minimum unit size of 5+. Pistoliers down also, now finally allowed a musician this makes them the ideal ride-by experts. Cannons and mortars are completely unchanged.
The new selection available as mentioned before are the outriders, these fast riding cavaliers pack a punch and a half from afar. Each model wields a deadly repeater handgun and the champion upgrades to some of the deadly engineer options. I can’t wait to make use of the blunderbuss when the new models are released, which are beautiful.

Although there are only four entries in this section, they have undergone massive changes. Sadly however the dogs of war entry has slipped by the way side and is no longer included in the core army book.
The new entry, the Helstorm rocket battery is a weapon of great destructive capability, combining the rules of both a cannon and a mortar in the most potentially deadly (if inaccurate…) piece of artillery released.
Flagellants have changed for the better, now if an army contains a warrior priest a flagellant unit (and one only no matter how many warrior priests are present at the battle) becomes a core choice. Now flagellants sacrifice themselves in many and various gruesome fashions to add combat bonus’s to their unit, and the more that die, the better they get.
Helblaster volley gun, this item sees a decrease in point value, and a decrease in effectiveness, losing its auto hit capability. It still randomly determines how many shots are available, only now it also rolls to hit on the crew BS, (similar to ogre Leadbelchers) before rolling any wounds. Its effectiveness is increased if you are willing to include an engineer from your choices, which I would recommend if you plan on taking one of these temperamental beasts. Also worth noting… the misfire table has been toned down and the blaster only self-destructs on a roll of a one, as opposed to 1-2 last edition.
Steam Tank, this was the item I was most curious about, as no doubt many on you are also. The Tank now only comes in one form, which is the conqueror pattern, meaning it is equipped only with steam-gun and cannon. It is blessed with high strength and toughness and a 1+ save and 10 wounds. This is a great difference from last releases, no more are there confusing hull points to worry about. Steam points are still required to drive the machine, the process is slightly more risky, rolling against wounds left instead of hull points. The tank can no longer reverse from combat, but it’s allowed more than one grind action per turn. I have found it to be slightly more fragile, at times forcing one to sit back and use the hull mounted cannon, instead of charging in unsupported like I was previously used to. Its potential for wreaking damage upon enemy units is still great, but watch out for the nasty characters hiding in them.

The Empire Army, this is the fourth and final section of the book it is a comprehensive guide to the miniatures of the army. It shows both classic and new release ranges along side one another. More guides as to how to paint the miniatures would have been useful for beginner players, but for veterans it’s a bit like a trip down memory lane with the new range glittering on the horizon. The Colours of the Empire was a useful 2 page spread, detailing various state troop colours and mental and physical traits of the various regions of the Empire. I found that last edition’s army book contained a very useful one page guide that emblazoned far more colour schemes than those in Colours of the Empire. That aside the models were very well painted, and sculpted, as was to be expected. Yet I would have liked to see several conversions and maybe some models not painted by the heavy metal team, just for a more unprofessional and personal painters approach to the models both old and new.
Conclusion: Overall I really enjoyed this army book. Its rules are brilliant and a step in the right direction for the Empire. I thank one of the best authors Graham McNiell for his wonderful work
As far as gaming goes the ability to field one of four definite themed armies was a good thing to see, so players who like to approach their armies in the Knightly Crusade, Gunline, Religious-Nutter, or State Army styles will have powerful forces to play with, and a balanced combination of these styles will work equally effectively.
From the background perspective it was very nice to see additional material, and a comprehensive look at the empire in the actual army book was great. Unlike last time around which I found was more, “this is the empire… go and play a game!” So I was pleased with the change in that aspect.
I also found the army list to be a bit cramped, but it wouldn’t be something that will take long to get used to…
I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I have, good luck and best wishes on the battle front!