Editing Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Empire (section)

===Lords & Heroes===
====Named Characters====
'''Note:''' Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

*'''[[Valten]]:''' New rules for Valten from the new Nagash Book; at a modest point cost compared to the new Mortarchs and other biggies he's facing, Valten is an excellent option. Though he starts off with no armour save, Valten has a 4+ ward save and the Chosen of Sigmar rule (like Luthor Huss: he can pass a Ld test to ignore the first unsaved wound that would remove him from play). Valten can also increase his WS, S, T and A characteristics by D3 (roll once for all four stats) once per game in a close combat phase. This is good but with only two hand weapons and no armour save it isn't as awesome an ability as it really could be; unless you purchase the upgraded set of equipment for Valten, providing him with the cavalry unit type, Movement 7, a +2 armour save and Ghal Maraz. (Ghal Maraz with the once-per-game ability to "power up" and Valten will annihilate almost any enemy. A powered-up Valten is one of only a handful of characters that can stand up to Nagash in a challenge provided he has some luck go his way with the D3 roll, while even the fabled "Blender" Vampire Lord will likely be butchered in record time). A very nice choice in a unit of Knights.
*'''The Emperor [[Karl Franz]]:''' His Imperial Majesty is definitely one of the better named characters in the book. All of his hits automatically wound for D3 wounds (unless you're a complete moron and drop Ghal Maraz in favour of his Runefang), he comes with a 4+ ward save, Magic Resistance (2), is Immune to Psychology, and has Inspiring Presence with a better range than any other general you can field (18" instead of 12"). He is best fielded on foot or on horseback; Deathclaw and the Imperial Dragon aren't really worth the points unless you're getting them free from Storm of Magic. However, if you take either then the inspiring presence reaches a game-breaking 24''.
** '''Karl Franz Ascendant:''' in keeping with the trend towards huge, expensive monster characters in the End Times, the Empire now can field a roided-up version of the Emperor, imbued with the power of Sigmar (and steroids).  He is treated as a single model with Deathclaw, so they can't be targeted separately.  He has all the same gear and special rules as the standard Karl Franz + Deathclaw, except he is also Stubborn and carries an upgraded Ghal Maraz clone that does even more wounds.  His stats (notably ten attacks at WS7, I7, not to mention S6 thunderstomp) combined with the Ghal Maraz clone make him a killing machine, able to easily nosh just about anything, even Nagash, the Glottkin, or entire units of monstrous infantry.  He has both a solid armor save and ward save, as well as almost double the wounds of a non-GUO greater daemon.  And for some reason, he was given the ability to cast an innate bound spell that functions like a short ranged Urannon's Thunderbolt which can possibly continue hitting the target, up to three times.  If KFA has a downside, it's possibly his somewhat low T5 ("somewhat low" being relative, considering most of his other stats are 7+), and a points cost a little over 800 points.  Like any other such monster, expect cannons to target him exclusively.
*'''Kurt Helborg:''' The Grand Marshal of the Reiksguard wields a Runefang and carries Laurels of Victory, which doubles the value of the wounds he causes for the purposes of combat resolution. He also makes a unit of Reiksguard Immune to Psychology; this and +1 WS essentially costs you 25 points. Iffy, but he does come with 155 points worth of wargear, which is higher than the 100-point limit for generic Lords. Mustache.
*'''Marius Leitdorf:''' Elector Count of Averland. He's from older editions, he's back, and he's here to go insane and charge that Hellcannon because he's convinced it's looking at him funny (to be fair, being a possessed cannon, it probably was looking at him funny). He's got a special rule, forcing him to take a leadership test on three dice, dropping the lowest, at the start of each of his turns. If he fails he goes nuts and does something random. Maybe all your units get a free instant reform, and then get to charge or shoot as they please! Maybe he pisses off Gork and Mork and gives Orcs & Goblins Hatred against him for the rest of the game! He's got a Runefang and an additional hand weapon that he gets to use even though he's mounted and got a Runefang. You're effectively paying 4 points for +1A, +1WS and his insanity. He is also dead, killed by an Orc warlord so apparently if you use him you are playing in a time machine (kinda the same for most all named Orc warlords, though.)
*'''Ludwig Schwarzhelm:''' If his name is ''Schwarz'' (black) helm, how come his helmet's painted gold on the box? Anyway, Ludwig is a Battle Standard Bearer with a 20-point magic weapon and Killing Blow, making him another very solid named character choice. His Hold Your Ground has a radius of 18" and he can take wounds for the Emperor if they're both in the same unit, unless the Emperor is in a challenge.
**If you mount Karl Franz in a Warhorse and place Ludwig in the same unit; you get the bodyguard benefit and the combination radius of Inspiring Presence, Hold Your Ground!, Hold the Line!, unit wide Magic Resistance (2) and +1 Combat Resolution (+2 if you include another Standard Bearer in the unit). Not game breaking, but very helpful and synergistic.
*'''Markus Wulfhart:''' The Empire has a character archer now? Yeah, and he's kitted for hunting monsters, because apparently we didn't have enough men with giant brass balls. His Monster Hunter rule means he can reroll hits against monsters, always shoot monster mounts out from under characters, and taking him lets you buy a unit of Huntsmen in who get the same rule. He's also got his own magic longbow that always wounds monsters on a 4+ and does D3 wounds to them. Would be totally worth it if cannons didn't exist.
*'''Grand Theogonist Volkmar:''' Fluff-wise, this guy makes [[Kaldor Draigo]] look like a whimp. Crunch-wise, not so much. A comparison between Volkmar and an Arch Lector means that you're spending 90 points for +1 WS, a +5 Regeneration save, a +1 to casting his prayers, and +2 Strength to attacks, but only so long as you take him on the War Altar and it hasn't been destroyed.
*'''Luthor Huss:''' I see what you did there. Luthor is now the only Warrior Priest with the prayer "Unbending Righteousness", which makes his unit Stubborn for two rounds of combat. He also has a one use power which makes him even more of a beast in close combat. His points cost went down, but so did a basic Warrior Priest, and by the same amount. Still causes Fear, still has +1 WS over other Priests. In short, he's actually worth taking now, especially if you're in need of a mounted Warrior Priest that can handle a challenge.
*'''[[Balthazar Gelt]]:''' Dude cheats people by giving them fake gold as payments and accidentally turned his own face to gold. A Wizard Lord of the Gold Order who knows every Metal spell, has a 3+ ward save against shooting, magic resistance 1 (which increases one point for every enemy wizard beyond the first, up to magic resistance 3), a staff that gives a +2 bonus, and is mounted on a Pegasus. +6(!) to cast on any Metal spell is a very nice boost which helps you conserve power dice. Good, but would be a lot better with a different Lore (say, Life). Also quite expensive at 360 pts.
**'''Balthazar Gelt, Incarnate of Metal:''' This guy is metal, both literally and figuratively. New version merged with his pegasus for End Times Archaon.  For 115 more points, Gelt can now be a LEVEL 5 METAL LOREMASTER (The only one at that.) with an Innate Bound Augment spell (Casting 10+) that can teleport himself and/or d3 friendly units within 18" off the table for a turn.  On Gelt's next turn, they all deep strike anywhere so long as the units are in formation and not within 1" of any units or impassible terrain.  The guests now suffer d6-1 unsavable wounds and are now pointing where you need them to, which makes this spell a risky, RISKY proposition.  Defensively, he only has 6+ armor, but has a snazzy 3+ Ward against shots (Upped to 2+ against flaming attacks), Magic Resistance (3) all the time, and jeeps his +2 to casting.  Issue is that he's still in a very situational lore, and his new spell can easily mess up a fighting force you were teleporting alongside Gelt.  Also, he's still insanely expensive.
*'''Elspeth von Draken (Forgeworld):''' A Ld 9 Wizard Lord who knows every Death spell, mounted on a [[Carmine Dragon]].

====Generic Characters====
''Note:'' While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army.
*'''General of the Empire:''' Has very good attack capabilities and gives his unit the ability to roll 3D6 and choose the two lowest for Break tests with "Hold the Line!". He has a nice variety of mounts, armour and weapons, but don't expect him to go toe-to-toe with any dedicated combat Lord. Instead, use him as a beatstick to pile Wounds onto combat resolution.
*'''Grand Master:''' Pretty much a General with a barded warhorse and a better statline. He doesn't have the Hold the Line! rule that the General has, but he has Immune to Psychology, which he can share with with a unit of Knightly Orders or Demigryph Knights that he's joined, which is why he's generally not worth the additional 27 points he costs over the identically-equipped General unless you've got Knights in your army.  
*'''Arch Lector of Sigmar:''' A souped-up version of the Warrior Priest. Not as good as he used to be, but still worth taking.
:: '''War Altar of Sigmar:''' The War Altar now bestows a 6" bubble of Hatred and any active prayers from the Arch Lector, and can cast Banishment once a turn. Not as awesome as it was in 7th Edition, but a very good force multiplier if deployed correctly.
*'''Wizard Lord:''' Gives you all the [[Dwarf Fortress|fun]] you can expect from magic-users. At the very least, upgrade him to level 4. A Wizard Lord using the Lore of Beasts can take a griffon as a mount.
*'''Captain of the Empire:''' This guy is your Battle Standard Bearer and is therefore absolutely mandatory to take unless you're grabbing Ludwig instead. Like the General, he also gives Hold the Line! to his unit, which coupled with ranks for Steadfast and re-rolls from a BSB make for a unit that is very difficult to break.
*'''Warrior Priest of Sigmar:''' All sorts of goodness wrapped up into a zealoty bundle. Channels power dice like wizards, gives any unit he joins Hatred, and can cast prayers that can give the unit he's in rerolls to wound, a 5+ ward save, or flaming weapons. Taking one for every major melee unit would be ideal, unless you're taking an Arch Lector on the War Altar.
*'''Battle Wizard:''' While being lower level and therefore less useful than a Wizard Lord, you can also take nearly three of him for the same price. Again, upgrade him to level 2 and use him as a scroll caddy.
*'''Witch Hunter:''' This guy buys you Magic Resistance 2 and a small boost against Terror for a unit, and a character assassin who works just as well with his pistol as up close. And he's cheap, too. Ridiculously cheap. Take these guys, and send them after whoever your opponent's most important character is. Be warned, the only model you can buy him in is Failcast, and his model is both incredibly prone to bubbles (Oh Boy) and includes a sword which is always bent beyond usability in the casting process. (Double oh Boy) - Consider converting one instead.
*'''Master Engineer:''' You want him for his ability to reroll artillery dice once per turn; the errata states that you don't have to have him join the crew to gain this ability, and you can use it on all artillery on top of that, which wasn't allowed in 7th Edition. Leave his toys at home. Try putting him on a hellblaster and watch as this one gun deletes an entire unit.

====Mounts====
All the mounts available to the generic Heroes and Lords above.
*'''Griffon:''' A Flying, Large target that causes Terror. Can be upgraded to have Bloodroar (the enemy rolls 3D6 dice when taking a Fear/Terror test, discarding the lowest result. Inverse Cold Blooded/Hold the Line! if you will), and Two Heads (make a separate chomp attack that gains +1 to hit when resolved against Large Targets). Generally quite handy, but isn't as good as other race's equivalents.
*'''The Imperial Dragon:''' It's a dragon. What do you expect? Has a S4 Breath Weapon alongside WS/S/T/W6. Karl Franz' alternate option for a mount. Keep away from Dwarf-poleon like the plague. Will also jack up Karl Franz' price so that you have to declare end times to use it, and if you're playing End Times...take Karl Franz Ascendant, damn you!
*'''Imperial Pegasus:''' <s>My Little Pony, My Little Pony, My-ah-ah</s> Shut the fuck up. Can be upgraded to either re-roll failed wounds when Stomping, and/or re-roll 1s when determining your charge distances.
*'''Mechanical Steed:''' Causes D3 Impact hits at S4, and is Movement 7 base. Problem is, it's stricken with the Unreliable rule. At the start of the movement phase, roll a D6. On a roll of a 1, you subtract D3" from its movement characteristic for the rest of the game, all the way down to 1. And yes, you can repeatedly roll 1s and shut down the mechanism further. Only available to Master Engineers which means that you're either running him on his own for some strange reason, want the glorious charge as the unit coming to attack instantly tears you to shreds, or have found a war machine that can wiz around long distances while shooting because you've decided rules are just too dull.
*'''Warhorse:''' Standard mount. Useful for joining Reiksguard, Pistoleers, and the like. Hilariously, the mount options say it's M3, while everywhere else in the rules it's M8. Definitely a misprint, and don't be fooled if your opponent says otherwise (you need a new opponent in that case).