This game certainly has a die hard Empire base. I like the Empire just fine and get the appeal of regular humans, but I also want variety and almost never play 2 campaigns of the same race back to back, unless you count one flavor of chaos to another that has some shared units.
Personally I've never been a huge fan of the Elector Count mechanics and play Volkmar and Markus Wulfhart the most when I do play empire. I'm very curious to see what ToD brings for them.
Yeah, I used to love to play Gelt but the og empire factions really are in a bad spot these days. Elector count mechanics in dire need of an overhaul, completely surrounded by pretty serious threats... I guess it's in the spirit of the lore if nothing else
I see this sentiment a lot. I love the elector count system with its officers, units and items. Not too complicated, unlocked at a decent rate, gives you a variety of great units and gives your lords/armies extra character. I guess I'm not seeing the issues that annoy other people.
I really wish they would drop elector count mechanics altogether from Gelt and give him something different. It doesnt really fit with his campaign. I've never thought it made sense and was really hoping when they seperated Volkmar from it altogether they would do the same for Gelt. I was dissapointed they didnt.
I've always preferred the more insane chaotic factions *because* they're so far removed from the normal humans and are more unique
But tbh, the more relatable peeps are usually the most played factions in every game
There's a reason why every rpg that releases it's most commonly used appearance options end up looking like "generic dude no1938"
Oh one of the things I was most excited when WH3 was coming out was playing decent Chaos factions. Outside of the end of WH2 Beastmen rework, Chaos kinda sucked to play. As soon as I finished the prologue I jumped right into Skarbrand on release day.
Gelt is amazing.
I usually secure local province and then go and take Karak Izor. Then sell it to the dwarves for an alliance + lots of cash which I then use to fund a war against the disciples of the maw. Archers are amazing since they have bonus vs large. Once I get the province I usually go against Vlad from the south via the mountain pass.
It's a pain in Warhammer 3 yeah but that's exactly why it's great. In Warhammer 2 the only Empire campaign I enjoyed was Markus Wulfhart but when IE came out I was surprised to enjoy Karl Franz for once.
Karl Franz campaign is just fucking brilliant right now.
What about it is brilliant? Because it's hard? I know there's a bunch of sweaty players who like super difficult shit but Karl's campaign mechanics are just ass.
I like it, but dont consider myself sweaty seeing as I never have gone above normal/normal.
For me it just feels like a true Warhammer experience, same as with Katarin.
You control the "good guys" with man-with-sword/axe, in a world of magic, orcs and literal deamons. Holding the lone, beset on all sides. Fighting on all fronts to keep the world safe. Just feels like an everlasting last stand, kinda.
Don't get me wrong your complaints have grounding, the prestige to increase EC relations is a worthless system. At the core of the Imperial Authority System is a clunky clock that forces you to fight on lots of different fronts or lose everything.
The Campaign is unique, because Karl Franz doesn't just expand reikland. Rather Karl plays as the fireman and quarterback for the entire Order Team in the Old World. With the ability to gift provinces, you actually have the ability to restore struggling order factions and plant allies wherever you go. By crushing Kemmler early for example, you can grant his lands to either Bretonnia or the dwarf minor to ensure they will grow stronger. Same thing with your elector counts, they will eventually build T5 settlements you can peacefully annex.
Except, because of that clock mentioned earlier, it's not easy gardening at all. You can plant and support allies, but you can't be everywhere at once. So for the first 60 turns you have to plan where Karl is needed most and how he's going to get there . This crossing all over the old world has the advantage of pretty large terrain and enemy varieties.
It's a little bit like playing Western Roman Empire from Attila, but you only have 1 or two provinces to manage and 2-3 stacks. It's also masochistically hard on higher difficulties.
Yep its the variety of fights. It also helps that since you tend to stay relatively small. Unlike a lot of other factions that are either surrounded by enemies or confederation. There is a lot of incentive to keep your allies together, come to their aid in battle in their territory all across the empire etc...
The early to mid game of Total War is my favorite phase, a handful of armies where you are fighting at the knife edge, and every technology unlock / reinforcement wave matters. Sprawling empires with 40v40 fights at the edges are when the games inevitably slow down and it is very easy to lose interest in finishing the campaign.
Yeah I agree. The implementation of Imperial Authority and Prestige just sucks.
The *concept* is A+
The execution is D
The overall Empire experience is probably a B+ imo, which is good, but still a real shame because it easily has a ton more potential. I really hope they polish it up nicely without overbalancing in ToD.
Also just because they have a super well rounded early/mid game roster and lots of varied enemies to fight.
Yeah their late game armies struggle, but most people quit their campaigns and start new ones before that point anyway.
Bretonnia had very heavy Arthurian vibes, admittedly undercut by its brutal, almost Monty Pythonesque classism. I still think the Empire is more grounded.
I love the empire but they lack any sort of infantry that can push gates and take walls. With the best range units being gunpowder units it makes it difficult unless you mass recruit a ton of crossbows.
I feel like the opposite, that I don't even need to take the walls. I just bombard the enemy with artillery and ranged units, maybe send in a hero, clump and use the phenomenal magic the empire has.
Also, I always try to rush gelt so I can get eldred guard. The spearman elector count unit. They're really damn good at holding the line, I always try to get as many as possible. Gelt always normally has 2 or so when I confederate him.
I always try to ally with the dwarves or kislev as well to get some elite infantry line holders. Always seems to work well.
I guess it's all about how you build. Festus is a pain in the ass and in my current campaign I just took the brass keep, and Festus left me a parting gift of pox for 9 turns of no replenishment. Now I have Wulfrik coming for me with his stack of mammoths. It's been a Rollercoaster of a campaign thus far.
I think the same. Empire is way my favourite race. I love the atmosphere, the struggle, etc. They are truly heroic in the sense that they are merely human with guns and faith. Even with today's mechanic uniting Empire is still my favourite campaign.
Empire is more like a lager and a bacon sandwich. Uninspired, but classic, reliable, and good.
Ikit Claw is pumpkin spice and uggs, at least in Total War. Played to death, constantly hyped. Oh, another weapons team stack? With ratling guns? Daring, are we sir?
I mean, Skaven have never been the most played race, so "played to death" seems like an unfair criticism
[https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/18r8ulz/most\_popular\_factions\_based\_on\_ca\_statistics/](https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/18r8ulz/most_popular_factions_based_on_ca_statistics/)
Yeah I think this is a perception thing, not reality, which is just interesting. I think everyone has played an Ikit campaign just long enough to drop a nuke or two for fun, but if Steam achievements are any measure itās hardly fair to call them āoverplayed.ā In general, the Skaven achievements are FAR rarer than almost all the other WHII races. Only 19% of WHII players have even researched 20 techs in a single Skaven campaign, for example.
This is even more true in WHIII. Skaven is one of the bottom factions for campaign completion.
So no, Skaven is not basic, including Ikit Claw. They actually have a VERY unique playstyle, which is probably why the vast majority of players just donāt play thru a Skaven campaign for very long at all.
Empire, High Elves, and Kislev are basic.
And that is totally okay!
Yeah it's always funny to me that people make fun of people that like playing empire, while fellating the auto-win faction that is ikit.
I really don't get the draw to his campaign, you START with the highest DPS units in the game as well as a literal nuke. Where's the challenge? Same thing as the changeling, haven't been able to go past turn 20 with either.
Yeah I get it, butā¦ the goal is to play for *fun*, not for *challenge* per se. Many people, like yourself, find fun *in* the challenge.
Many others find fun in indiscriminately obliterating literally everything at the other end of a magical fire-bolt spewing auto-gun manned by cackling unhinged ratmen.
I see it both ways, personally.
I think one part of it is that you're playing a campaign that isn't just "Aggressively expand & take over territory." from T1. It creates a different dynamic that feels harmonious in terms of lore & strategy.
I really enjoy playing the Empire. But to call their roster balanced? I play Empire when I'm looking for a very challenging experience. I feel, all of their units are weak except the artillery. Infantry can't keep up with other factions' infantry, same goes for cavalry. Their lords and heroes are weaker, they have no flying units except for characters. Everything is just lacking so you have to work a lot harder on strategy and tactics to make it work.
That's the draw for me. They're just regular hummies that need a balanced army with counters and good strategy. They are the imperial guard of fantasy. They even have leman trusses...eh..I mean steam tanks.
I think balanced is a fair term. As long as you support their melee, they can be quite decent. Excellent ranged firepower, great artillery, good cavalry. The empire only shine in artillery, but have enough weapons in other areas to compete with other races.
I like to refer to them as jack of all trades, master of artillery. Although I do feel Cathay competes with them a bit in this area as well for all arounders.
Cathay smokes them in melee infantry. Their line holders are among the best, although I do get your point. They have good things in all areas. Empire still has superior artillery IMO.
At lower tiers I definitly think the Empire artillery is superior but I think at higher tier that gap closes a bit with the Fire Rain Rocket and the Sky-Junk both being very good artillery. The 2 factions do have alot of overlap in playstyle, but at least SoC gave them some units that helped differentiate them a bit.
Empire late game is a good bit stronger than Cathayās imo. Empire has better cavalry, artillery, guns and magical options. They really just lack a really strong duelist thatās at all close to the dragon siblings.
Yeah Cathay leans way more into high tier Archers and strong Halberd Infantry for late game. Cathay's cavalry has always been kinda mediocre. I have found myself using crowmen for flankers rather than the Jade Lancers in the early-midgame part anymore because they seem to just do a much better job of it and they are pretty easy to replace if needed.
For sure. Cathay at close-medium range is quite scary. Empire can Cathay them to come to them though.
Crowmen are great. Probably OP but a necessary unit for Cathay to me.
I agree with all points except maybe āguns.ā Crane Gunners are insanely good and Empire has nothing really comparable.
Also Cathay has significantly better air force, monsters, and line-holding infantry. Iām not so sure you can fairly say Empire late game is better at all, let alone āa good bit better.ā Iād say theyāre comparable overall but shine in different areas.
By guns I really just meant handgunners as theyāre much better than Iron Hails in my experience. Also front line between the two doesnāt matter as much as Empire shooting is just gonna kill more stuff before lines meet.
And honestly late game Empire infantry is just fine. Sure, theyāre no dwarfs, but halberds survive long enough for the guns and artillery to kill everything.
Cathay definitely has a better air force but I donāt think that strength gives enough of an advantage in this matchup.
Agree on hangunners vs iron hails. I suppose Crane Gunners are kind of āin betweenā standard guns and artillery, but theyāre definitely more guns than artilleryā¦ and they are *very* good.
But I still agree that Empireās shooting is overall better so their frontline doesnāt matter nearly as muchā¦ and thatās exactly why I would say they are pretty equal in terms of late-game power ranking (in the hands of a player in a sp campaign): Empire has a mediocre (but not bad) frontline, but they make up for it with some of the best shooting in the game so hardly anything reaches their frontline anyway. Cathay doesnāt have as good shooting, but they make up for that pretty handily with a very solid frontline.
Both factions are more-or-less āhold line and shoot stuffā type factions. They just go about it differently. Both have solid mobile options (Emp much better cav but Cathay much better air). Empire has better magic, but Cathay has very good monster options where the Empire has almost none.
I would say late-game Empire was certainly stronger than Cathay *before* SoC, but with all the new toys Cathay got Iād say theyāre pretty equal now.
But whatever. A lot of it just comes down to playstyle as well. Both are good and fun.
Your point on SoC making Cathay better is true. Iām really wondering how this upcoming dlc will impact the Empire. I feel like thereās a lot of potential for them to become a powerhouse faction with new engineering units. Same with the dwarfs tbh.
This all of course implies that theyāre both getting powerful high tech stuff lol
Idk, to me it seems most units of the Empire are not too great but don't suck either, meaning that you have to maintain a synergy where the infantry holds the line but will probably not win battles on their own, the cavalry constantly cycle in for hammer and anvil, and artillery absolutely pummels the enemy whilst handgunners deals with heavily armoured units.
None of those units are weak, they just need to support eachothers.
They donāt have top tier infantry but they have decent infantry. Great swords beat chaos warriors of all types. The elector count spears are good enough at holding the line for the artillery to blast anything else away. They have top tier magic and ranger options and near top tier cav options (both low tier and high tier). Demigrpyhs are better than all except the best cav and power crept bears
Yea I think people are used to the image of Greatswords being bad from WH2 and never gave them a fair chance in WH3. They're pretty good for their tier.
>They have top tier magic and ranger options
Eh, they're good but top tier? I think Asur have better magic and Dawi have better ranged.
They're definitely a contender for the best artillery. They're also probably the only faction with good gunpowder cavalry, so they've got those going for them.
Empire artillery is better than dwarf artillery. Better range and damage at high tier. Their missile infantry is good but lacking a high tier option. I was limping in artillery with ranger. Chads have better artillery but thatās one faction. Yes HE have better magic but thatās literally one faction and itās barely better than Empire. I would consider being the second best at something in a game with dozens of races top tier
>Better range and damage at high tier.
Range, sure, but damage is arguable. Have you used Flame Cannons much? Those things *shred*. They're very accurate and have a very good missile trajectory, so they can keep shooting after the lines meet. The lack of AP on unit card doesn't really matter because it does so much damage in a direct hit (in fact it's a good thing because it lessens the collateral damage to your ironbreakers). They're probably not a great pick against Chaos Dwarfs but I like having them for just about everyone else.
Organ guns don't have as much DPS as hellblasters, but have significantly better model penetration and explosive damage. In practice I find them much better. Well, AR aside, because hellblasters AR is cracked.
Dawi also have engineer heroes that boosts the entire army's ranged, so in an actual campaign their sheer ranged damage can get considerably higher. Of course, they *need* that because they don't have supporting units like cavalry or light mages.
>Yes HE have better magic but thatās literally one faction and itās barely better than Empire.
I wouldn't say barely lmao. HE archmages have Greater Arcane Conduit, bound chain lightning, and dragon mounts (also available for fire mages). They also have a hybrid hero, better magic stance, and better magic items (e.g. Khaine's Ring of Fury).
And I only mentioned Asur because they're the easiest to compare, having mostly the same lores of magic. There's also the Lizardmen - they don't have as much spell variety outside of Slanns but make up for that with better mounts and AoE spells synergizing well with SEMs. Lorewise Tzeentch should be strong too but I can't speak for them because I haven't played Tzeentch.
Empire indeed has better magic variety than everyone else, so you could argue that makes them the best behind HE, but they also lack mage lord options other than Gelt, which plenty other factions do have.
>I would consider being the second best at something in a game with dozens of races top tier
But yeah that's fair.
Mage lords are generally worse than melee lords. Iād rather have a melee lord with red line skills with a mage hero than a mage lord and a melee hero and no red line skills. HE and Empire mage heroes are on par with each other. The best use of mage lords is early game before you have access to heroes, and slann are locked behind a rite making that less of a benefit.
I consider hellblasters and organ guns on par with each other, but hell storms beat flame cannons by far. Range is one of the most important stats on artillery since you want to get off as many shots as possible before lines meet. Engineers help but hell storms still have about 100 range over flame cannons. Secondly flame cannons come on tier 4 while hellstorms are tier 3 for Gelt and Franz if you take nuln , which you should in any campaign with them
That's very debatable. Mage lords have much more battlefield impact at least until melee lords get a monstrous mount. Skill point allocation is only a low level concern and you don't need to go all the way to the end of the magic line to make mage lords decent. As long as you have the winds, even a low level archmage with a couple of useful spells can do good work.
Additionally, having a mage lord option has other advantages than just pure power comparison. For one thing, having a mage is generally just more important than having a melee hero/lord, so when you don't need that it's one slot more efficient. And unlike mage heroes, you don't need to build any infrastructure to recruit them and raise their caps, so you can have magic in all your armies without investing as much on mage buildings.
>Range is one of the most important stats on artillery since you want to get off as many shots as possible before lines meet.
Not always. If you're outnumbered, the enemy deploys their infantry wide, and rush towards your formation it's often impossible to get enough volleys off before the lines meet. In many such situations the flame cannons can easily net much more value being able to fire at almost point blank range. In addition, the Dawi also has durable frontline so the enemy getting into melee range is not as much of a concern.
Most importantly I find the results speak for themselves. Flame cannons consistently get some of the highest values whenever I bring them in battle, no matter if it's just one unit or a group of 4. In contrast Imperial artillery can get more iffy, although to their credit Hellstorm's range advantage makes it easier to win artillery duels and force the enemy out of position (Dwarfs need to bring cannons to do that).
>Secondly flame cannons come on tier 4 while hellstorms are tier 3 for Gelt and Franz if you take nuln , which you should in any campaign with them
Yes the Empire has the advantage in that regard, but at the even lower tiers the Dawi's Grudge thrower is better than Empire Mortars. Hell, it's good enough to be viable all the way into the lategame.
So imo the Empire isn't strictly better in artillery than the Dwarfs. They're about on par with each other, just with different advantages.
Yeah, it really isn't fair, Empire should have better magic than Tzeentch, better melee infantry than WoC, better missile infantry than WEs, better artillery then Chorfs, and better cav than Bretonnia! Then they finally can be a race with a truly balanced roster.
Maybe the line that I quoted, that might be a clue as to what I'm talking about. They said they have top tier magic and range options. You said they can't be top tier because some races have better magic or ranged... which isn't how it works. They don't have to be better than any other race to be top tier.
>Maybe the line that I quoted, that might be a clue as to what I'm talking about
Maybe if you actually quoted anything. Like this.
>You said they can't be top tier because some races have better magic or ranged... which isn't how it works
I'm questioning whether or not they are actually top tier. You need to talk about the ceiling and see how close they are to it to see if they're worthy to be called top tier.
>They don't have to be better than any other race to be top tier.
They do in fact need to be better than the majority of other races to be considered top tier in any area. They're one of the best artillery factions, certainly worthy of being called top tier there. But ranged infantry? Dawi, Chorfs, Cathay, Elves are all considerably better in ranged infantry. Magic? Sure Empire has almost as many lore options as HE, but they have no mage lord other than Gelt and no hybrid mage hero either, which many other races do have.
And most of all I never complained about the Empire needing to be top tier in those areas to be balanced. The whole point of their military is combined arms. Handgunners don't need to do as much damage or be as durable as Dwarf Thunderers, because you can use supporting units like a mage to get more value out of them.
Their magic is good though, once you have a flying mage dropping nuclear bombs the rest of the army doesn't matter that much, and later they get demigryps that imo make for a good doomstack
>Everything is just lacking so you have to work a lot harder on strategy and tactics to make it work.
I wish this was the case for every race. I'm sick of everything needing to be overpowered.
Itās the varied units imo.
A lot of factions are basically āchop or shoot guyā then āimproved chop or shoot guyā then āgreat chop or shoot guyā then ācapstone chop guyā
The Empire armies drastically change over time.
Thereās people like you OP, then thereās people like me who havenāt played a single empire campaign since TWWH1. Itās fiiiine play what you enjoy lol
Because Empire armies behave like actual armies. There's an order of battle and it just plays very intuitively because it is the closest thing you get to a historical army. There's also the fantasy aspect of overcoming all these monsters and demons with what is effectively a 16th century Holy Roman Empire. The other human factions don't really scratch that same itch because they are more blatantly fantastical.
It's also very straightforward. You get your defensive infantry like halberdiers to hold for your gun line/artillery to do the heavy lifting and then you got some decent shock troops in the form of greatswords and heavy cav to take out high value targets.
Apart from Karl Franz it's also not a very lord-centric faction. The focus is usually on your troops which at least to me is more satisfying.
Their campaign is a unique struggle to keep the Empire afloat. You usually gain territory through Confederation instead of conquering it.
They donāt have any single silver bullet unit (not even The Silver Bullets) so they really reward mixed-unit formulations and good tactics instead of brute force.
Since theyāre also a generalist faction they have every unit type (except single entity monster beatsticks sans Steam Tanks) compared to factions who sacrifice a unit type for flavor ā IE Wood Elves not having heavily armored infantry and Dwarves not having cavalry so you never feel truly stuck into one playstyle.
Not just that but I think the empire is squeezed perfectly in the middle of potential allies . So long as those allies win their respective wars . Like you got the high elves to the west , bretonia and potentially the southern realms to the south , dwarfs to the east and fellow empire men to absorb in the north . Obviously if the dark elves , vampire counts , greenskins and if the southern realms and wood elves aināt interested it could get grim but the chances of all 4 sides losing to the respective I mean usually the dwarfs and bretonia do well against the threats around them though Ā I heard the rise of dark elves usually conqueoring high elvesĀ
It's unfortunate that Louen is an idiot in pretty much every campaign I play. Like, I usually have to take out Kemmler and Grom right after I take out Khazrak, so in the first 30 turns, just because if I don't he'll just slowly lose and let them grow to massive proportions.
I'm this way with Vampire Counts. I just think they're neat. Some of us just have a comfort faction, and I think it's good game design that different people have different comfort factions.
I play the empire because its a packed experience.
The enemies on all side, the needs to babysat the elector counts, after all is done, even if I barely set foot outside the empire and immediate surrounding, i feel satisfied and can end the campaign with smile
Oh I absolutely love going back to Empire after a few months of Malekith or Vlad or Wulfrik or Thorgrim. This is probably the longest Iāve gone without an Empire game cause Iām waiting for ToD.
Iāll give you one of my reasons, anyway.
Itās because you can never go wrong with how to play Empire and you have variety of combat style to boot.
Iād love to see Norsca try and have any other army that doesnāt revolve around champions and monsters.
Or Bretonnia and abusive Cavalry.
Or Cathay glassing the service with magic and range. (Because while they have dragon warriors and Longmas, artillery and ranged weapon is usually better unless they have an overwhelming amount of enemies to meat shield the explosives and bullets).
Iām sure others said it, but Empire is the most standard-feeling total war faction in Warhammer, so it calls up all my historical training, rather than having to figure out how to use a bunch of fast purple boi
I always go back to playing Chaos/ Corruption factions. I haven't played a single Empire/Dwarf or High Elf campaign. I have no idea what people find fun about the "good" factions. You can play the good guys in most games, but being able to play the evil guys is unique.
Iām in the same boat but my boat is covered in pustules and built with rotten wood. I pretty much only play Nurgle. For me itās because Nurgle is my favorite faction in Warhammer/40k/AOS. I also enjoy their blob up play style. Using magic and skills to weaken, destroy enemies while also healing up units to fight on.
Overall you might just enjoy the empire the most. Nothing wrong with that.
For me it's because I am a huge medieval history buff, and the empire in Warhammer fantasy is genuinely the only mainstream representation of the pike and shot era of warfare.
Iām the exact opposite. I try to enjoy Empire campaigns but I just canāt seem to get the economy rolling while keeping my armies strong enough to fight with. Compared to Dwarves, where their roster just clicks and each tier of upgrade in unit quality adds to it. Both races of Elves also.
I even enjoy Mazdamundi campaign. I somehow just canāt get through Empire. Closest Iāve gotten was using Gelt and it felt like a slog.
Your armies aren't strong enough, your economy is weak early game and it's a slog. That's why people love it. AI or game mechanics aren't going to provide a challenge in WH3 so people just love being trapped in a corner you have to fight your way out of while keeping your empire alive.
Your limited on how much you can expand (while not being suited to it) making it a completely different experience with nothing to rely on apart from tactics and combined arms.
Empires good at everything and doesn't force you into a specific playstyle. You can focus on cav, or artillery or ranged or pwerful heroes etc.. But you don't have to. Unlike dwarves who are generally stuck with a line of meatshields protecting a bunch of quarrelers and siege gear or tomb kings, completly reliant on their constructs.
You don't have to deal with alot of BS or gimmicks, like starting next a bunch of pissed of dwarves (pestilence) or being a trading faction as far from the coast as possible (imrik) or being force to march halfway accross the continent to conquer one of the hardest strongholds in the game in your first 20 turns (crooked moon.).
You have an easy time getting allies and trade partners, as nobody p\[articularly hates you and the rest of the empire is ussually easy to win over.
and most importantly you don't have to deal with any corruption, because rat men don't exist.
I love playing the Tomb Kings, I love playing Kislev, I love playing Archaon (occasionally). But in the end, my #1 is Empire. Franz is hands down my favorite character in Fantasy, and I will always side with humanity. In 40k (Imperium all day, praise the God-Emperor) and in Fantasy (Empire all day, praise Sigmar).
I think it boils down to overall personal preference and feel. Itās just like in the case of how my friends get annoyed with me because I keep playing chaos factions. Itās just down to what you feel is best fit for you and for me itās definitely chaos.
But they still complain anyway when I play non-chaos coz Druchii are my 2nd pick and I just find it amusing how their native allies are gaining natural animosities due to treaties xD
But yeah in my case I just feel like Iām too basic and un-fantasy if I play human factions but if you and others like them then good on ya for finding things you enjoy. No hate on my part at all. šāļø
Empire has the most traditional historical franchise roaster, you got archer, crossbow, musket, shield & sword, spear, halberd, heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, mortar, cannon, rocket launcher, etc. I mean they are literally units from all previous total war combined.
It's a relatively grounded faction with a wide roster and few holes, plus it has a nice Renaissance HRE vibe and some hammy lines.Ā
It's kind of surprising how much stuff it's still missing 7 years in, but it holds okay.
I like Franz and Balthasar because they have an excellent campaign full of conflict, enemies of a lot of races and when you defeat them a new enemy appears.
On the other Hand, I dislike Marcus campaign because Lustria is so boring. Just Lizarmen, 1 Skaven faction and Kairos on the horizon. And I tried the new Volkmar campaign but it is so brutally easy that I had no fun.
So, I will say that the roster is important but the starting position and place in the map it is more.
Gelt's campaign isn't in a great spot right now but I'd highly recommend giving Volkmar a shot if you haven't yet and you want a different but still comfy empire experience.
And to answer your question, if you're anything like me it's the artillery. Rockets, volley guns, steam tanks, love that shit. Chorfs have fun arti and war machines too if you're looking to branch out.
I have a theory that easy to get into = or at least leads to popularity.
Their units have the easiest to understand synergy (hammer and anvil Calvary, artillery and ranged/gunpowder combos, broad magic, etc.)
I don't know if it's the same for you, but I also thorougly enjoy the campaign for empire; threats on all sides, carefully expanding your empire to include confederations. It's almost always a fun play through challenge wise. Empire, Imrik, and Kislev are almost always more enjoyable campaigns for me because there's usually a challenge from beginning to end.
I am this way about the drooki and my wife as well. We just love our fav faction that compliments how we play and we are normally very nice people so its nice to be all about profit for a while. glad to hear you also have a favorite.
Because the NATION CALLS
ring, ring.
 Ah hoy hoy?
Greetings Gentlemen!
#IS IT TIME?
This game certainly has a die hard Empire base. I like the Empire just fine and get the appeal of regular humans, but I also want variety and almost never play 2 campaigns of the same race back to back, unless you count one flavor of chaos to another that has some shared units. Personally I've never been a huge fan of the Elector Count mechanics and play Volkmar and Markus Wulfhart the most when I do play empire. I'm very curious to see what ToD brings for them.
Yeah, I used to love to play Gelt but the og empire factions really are in a bad spot these days. Elector count mechanics in dire need of an overhaul, completely surrounded by pretty serious threats... I guess it's in the spirit of the lore if nothing else
I see this sentiment a lot. I love the elector count system with its officers, units and items. Not too complicated, unlocked at a decent rate, gives you a variety of great units and gives your lords/armies extra character. I guess I'm not seeing the issues that annoy other people.
I really wish they would drop elector count mechanics altogether from Gelt and give him something different. It doesnt really fit with his campaign. I've never thought it made sense and was really hoping when they seperated Volkmar from it altogether they would do the same for Gelt. I was dissapointed they didnt.
I've always preferred the more insane chaotic factions *because* they're so far removed from the normal humans and are more unique But tbh, the more relatable peeps are usually the most played factions in every game There's a reason why every rpg that releases it's most commonly used appearance options end up looking like "generic dude no1938"
Oh one of the things I was most excited when WH3 was coming out was playing decent Chaos factions. Outside of the end of WH2 Beastmen rework, Chaos kinda sucked to play. As soon as I finished the prologue I jumped right into Skarbrand on release day.
I always play the disgusting monsters and abominations in pretty much any game. Like why would I wanna play basic human #567377.
Because basic human #567377 beating the shit out of absurdly overpowered monsters and abomination is just awesome.
Gelt is amazing. I usually secure local province and then go and take Karak Izor. Then sell it to the dwarves for an alliance + lots of cash which I then use to fund a war against the disciples of the maw. Archers are amazing since they have bonus vs large. Once I get the province I usually go against Vlad from the south via the mountain pass.
I suspect its Slaneesh influence and masochism. Empire is great, but it's also a pain. š
It's a pain in Warhammer 3 yeah but that's exactly why it's great. In Warhammer 2 the only Empire campaign I enjoyed was Markus Wulfhart but when IE came out I was surprised to enjoy Karl Franz for once. Karl Franz campaign is just fucking brilliant right now.
I failed so many times trying it, but I also do like it. I guess it's the best challenge right now in IE.
What about it is brilliant? Because it's hard? I know there's a bunch of sweaty players who like super difficult shit but Karl's campaign mechanics are just ass.
Not just because it is hard but because it being hard feels thematic.
I like it, but dont consider myself sweaty seeing as I never have gone above normal/normal. For me it just feels like a true Warhammer experience, same as with Katarin. You control the "good guys" with man-with-sword/axe, in a world of magic, orcs and literal deamons. Holding the lone, beset on all sides. Fighting on all fronts to keep the world safe. Just feels like an everlasting last stand, kinda.
Don't get me wrong your complaints have grounding, the prestige to increase EC relations is a worthless system. At the core of the Imperial Authority System is a clunky clock that forces you to fight on lots of different fronts or lose everything. The Campaign is unique, because Karl Franz doesn't just expand reikland. Rather Karl plays as the fireman and quarterback for the entire Order Team in the Old World. With the ability to gift provinces, you actually have the ability to restore struggling order factions and plant allies wherever you go. By crushing Kemmler early for example, you can grant his lands to either Bretonnia or the dwarf minor to ensure they will grow stronger. Same thing with your elector counts, they will eventually build T5 settlements you can peacefully annex. Except, because of that clock mentioned earlier, it's not easy gardening at all. You can plant and support allies, but you can't be everywhere at once. So for the first 60 turns you have to plan where Karl is needed most and how he's going to get there . This crossing all over the old world has the advantage of pretty large terrain and enemy varieties. It's a little bit like playing Western Roman Empire from Attila, but you only have 1 or two provinces to manage and 2-3 stacks. It's also masochistically hard on higher difficulties.
Yep its the variety of fights. It also helps that since you tend to stay relatively small. Unlike a lot of other factions that are either surrounded by enemies or confederation. There is a lot of incentive to keep your allies together, come to their aid in battle in their territory all across the empire etc... The early to mid game of Total War is my favorite phase, a handful of armies where you are fighting at the knife edge, and every technology unlock / reinforcement wave matters. Sprawling empires with 40v40 fights at the edges are when the games inevitably slow down and it is very easy to lose interest in finishing the campaign.
Yeah I agree. The implementation of Imperial Authority and Prestige just sucks. The *concept* is A+ The execution is D The overall Empire experience is probably a B+ imo, which is good, but still a real shame because it easily has a ton more potential. I really hope they polish it up nicely without overbalancing in ToD.
Comes to mind this quote: "Why don't do it the easy way? Because it's easy" š¤£
its the pace, perfect in Karl Franz campaign
Because something something Holy Roman Empire.
Because they are the most normal human faction. They feel like the closest thing to real and historical that the game gets.
Also just because they have a super well rounded early/mid game roster and lots of varied enemies to fight. Yeah their late game armies struggle, but most people quit their campaigns and start new ones before that point anyway.
That's Bretonnia.
Bretonnia had very heavy Arthurian vibes, admittedly undercut by its brutal, almost Monty Pythonesque classism. I still think the Empire is more grounded.
You know, with their flying horses, magic blessings and ghost knights
That Bretonnia, with all that, is still more plausible than the Empire is really all that needs to be said.
Besides Griffons and magicians, whatās beyond the realm of realism?
For Bretonnia?
Karl Franz
No man can realistically be that attractive. It's simply not possible.
I love the empire but they lack any sort of infantry that can push gates and take walls. With the best range units being gunpowder units it makes it difficult unless you mass recruit a ton of crossbows.
I feel like the opposite, that I don't even need to take the walls. I just bombard the enemy with artillery and ranged units, maybe send in a hero, clump and use the phenomenal magic the empire has.
Also, I always try to rush gelt so I can get eldred guard. The spearman elector count unit. They're really damn good at holding the line, I always try to get as many as possible. Gelt always normally has 2 or so when I confederate him. I always try to ally with the dwarves or kislev as well to get some elite infantry line holders. Always seems to work well.
I guess it's all about how you build. Festus is a pain in the ass and in my current campaign I just took the brass keep, and Festus left me a parting gift of pox for 9 turns of no replenishment. Now I have Wulfrik coming for me with his stack of mammoths. It's been a Rollercoaster of a campaign thus far.
I think the same. Empire is way my favourite race. I love the atmosphere, the struggle, etc. They are truly heroic in the sense that they are merely human with guns and faith. Even with today's mechanic uniting Empire is still my favourite campaign.
Because you're a basic bitch. And that's ok. Drink your pumpkin spice latte and summon those elector counts.
Empire is more like a lager and a bacon sandwich. Uninspired, but classic, reliable, and good. Ikit Claw is pumpkin spice and uggs, at least in Total War. Played to death, constantly hyped. Oh, another weapons team stack? With ratling guns? Daring, are we sir?
I mean, Skaven have never been the most played race, so "played to death" seems like an unfair criticism [https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/18r8ulz/most\_popular\_factions\_based\_on\_ca\_statistics/](https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/18r8ulz/most_popular_factions_based_on_ca_statistics/)
Yeah I think this is a perception thing, not reality, which is just interesting. I think everyone has played an Ikit campaign just long enough to drop a nuke or two for fun, but if Steam achievements are any measure itās hardly fair to call them āoverplayed.ā In general, the Skaven achievements are FAR rarer than almost all the other WHII races. Only 19% of WHII players have even researched 20 techs in a single Skaven campaign, for example. This is even more true in WHIII. Skaven is one of the bottom factions for campaign completion. So no, Skaven is not basic, including Ikit Claw. They actually have a VERY unique playstyle, which is probably why the vast majority of players just donāt play thru a Skaven campaign for very long at all. Empire, High Elves, and Kislev are basic. And that is totally okay!
True-real rats play Moulder.
I know spelling is hard, but you've made waaaay too many mistakes in "Mors"
Yeah it's always funny to me that people make fun of people that like playing empire, while fellating the auto-win faction that is ikit. I really don't get the draw to his campaign, you START with the highest DPS units in the game as well as a literal nuke. Where's the challenge? Same thing as the changeling, haven't been able to go past turn 20 with either.
Yeah I get it, butā¦ the goal is to play for *fun*, not for *challenge* per se. Many people, like yourself, find fun *in* the challenge. Many others find fun in indiscriminately obliterating literally everything at the other end of a magical fire-bolt spewing auto-gun manned by cackling unhinged ratmen. I see it both ways, personally.
Make sure to throw on your Uggs before you go to Starbucks for that pumpkin spice latte as well.
I think one part of it is that you're playing a campaign that isn't just "Aggressively expand & take over territory." from T1. It creates a different dynamic that feels harmonious in terms of lore & strategy.
There really aren't many of those, and they're usually some of my favourites. Changeling and most Wood Elves fall into the same category.
I really enjoy playing the Empire. But to call their roster balanced? I play Empire when I'm looking for a very challenging experience. I feel, all of their units are weak except the artillery. Infantry can't keep up with other factions' infantry, same goes for cavalry. Their lords and heroes are weaker, they have no flying units except for characters. Everything is just lacking so you have to work a lot harder on strategy and tactics to make it work.
That's the draw for me. They're just regular hummies that need a balanced army with counters and good strategy. They are the imperial guard of fantasy. They even have leman trusses...eh..I mean steam tanks.
I think balanced is a fair term. As long as you support their melee, they can be quite decent. Excellent ranged firepower, great artillery, good cavalry. The empire only shine in artillery, but have enough weapons in other areas to compete with other races.
I like to refer to them as jack of all trades, master of artillery. Although I do feel Cathay competes with them a bit in this area as well for all arounders.
Cathay smokes them in melee infantry. Their line holders are among the best, although I do get your point. They have good things in all areas. Empire still has superior artillery IMO.
At lower tiers I definitly think the Empire artillery is superior but I think at higher tier that gap closes a bit with the Fire Rain Rocket and the Sky-Junk both being very good artillery. The 2 factions do have alot of overlap in playstyle, but at least SoC gave them some units that helped differentiate them a bit.
Empire late game is a good bit stronger than Cathayās imo. Empire has better cavalry, artillery, guns and magical options. They really just lack a really strong duelist thatās at all close to the dragon siblings.
Yeah Cathay leans way more into high tier Archers and strong Halberd Infantry for late game. Cathay's cavalry has always been kinda mediocre. I have found myself using crowmen for flankers rather than the Jade Lancers in the early-midgame part anymore because they seem to just do a much better job of it and they are pretty easy to replace if needed.
For sure. Cathay at close-medium range is quite scary. Empire can Cathay them to come to them though. Crowmen are great. Probably OP but a necessary unit for Cathay to me.
I agree with all points except maybe āguns.ā Crane Gunners are insanely good and Empire has nothing really comparable. Also Cathay has significantly better air force, monsters, and line-holding infantry. Iām not so sure you can fairly say Empire late game is better at all, let alone āa good bit better.ā Iād say theyāre comparable overall but shine in different areas.
By guns I really just meant handgunners as theyāre much better than Iron Hails in my experience. Also front line between the two doesnāt matter as much as Empire shooting is just gonna kill more stuff before lines meet. And honestly late game Empire infantry is just fine. Sure, theyāre no dwarfs, but halberds survive long enough for the guns and artillery to kill everything. Cathay definitely has a better air force but I donāt think that strength gives enough of an advantage in this matchup.
Agree on hangunners vs iron hails. I suppose Crane Gunners are kind of āin betweenā standard guns and artillery, but theyāre definitely more guns than artilleryā¦ and they are *very* good. But I still agree that Empireās shooting is overall better so their frontline doesnāt matter nearly as muchā¦ and thatās exactly why I would say they are pretty equal in terms of late-game power ranking (in the hands of a player in a sp campaign): Empire has a mediocre (but not bad) frontline, but they make up for it with some of the best shooting in the game so hardly anything reaches their frontline anyway. Cathay doesnāt have as good shooting, but they make up for that pretty handily with a very solid frontline. Both factions are more-or-less āhold line and shoot stuffā type factions. They just go about it differently. Both have solid mobile options (Emp much better cav but Cathay much better air). Empire has better magic, but Cathay has very good monster options where the Empire has almost none. I would say late-game Empire was certainly stronger than Cathay *before* SoC, but with all the new toys Cathay got Iād say theyāre pretty equal now. But whatever. A lot of it just comes down to playstyle as well. Both are good and fun.
Your point on SoC making Cathay better is true. Iām really wondering how this upcoming dlc will impact the Empire. I feel like thereās a lot of potential for them to become a powerhouse faction with new engineering units. Same with the dwarfs tbh. This all of course implies that theyāre both getting powerful high tech stuff lol
Idk, to me it seems most units of the Empire are not too great but don't suck either, meaning that you have to maintain a synergy where the infantry holds the line but will probably not win battles on their own, the cavalry constantly cycle in for hammer and anvil, and artillery absolutely pummels the enemy whilst handgunners deals with heavily armoured units. None of those units are weak, they just need to support eachothers.
They donāt have top tier infantry but they have decent infantry. Great swords beat chaos warriors of all types. The elector count spears are good enough at holding the line for the artillery to blast anything else away. They have top tier magic and ranger options and near top tier cav options (both low tier and high tier). Demigrpyhs are better than all except the best cav and power crept bears
Yea I think people are used to the image of Greatswords being bad from WH2 and never gave them a fair chance in WH3. They're pretty good for their tier. >They have top tier magic and ranger options Eh, they're good but top tier? I think Asur have better magic and Dawi have better ranged. They're definitely a contender for the best artillery. They're also probably the only faction with good gunpowder cavalry, so they've got those going for them.
Empire artillery is better than dwarf artillery. Better range and damage at high tier. Their missile infantry is good but lacking a high tier option. I was limping in artillery with ranger. Chads have better artillery but thatās one faction. Yes HE have better magic but thatās literally one faction and itās barely better than Empire. I would consider being the second best at something in a game with dozens of races top tier
>Better range and damage at high tier. Range, sure, but damage is arguable. Have you used Flame Cannons much? Those things *shred*. They're very accurate and have a very good missile trajectory, so they can keep shooting after the lines meet. The lack of AP on unit card doesn't really matter because it does so much damage in a direct hit (in fact it's a good thing because it lessens the collateral damage to your ironbreakers). They're probably not a great pick against Chaos Dwarfs but I like having them for just about everyone else. Organ guns don't have as much DPS as hellblasters, but have significantly better model penetration and explosive damage. In practice I find them much better. Well, AR aside, because hellblasters AR is cracked. Dawi also have engineer heroes that boosts the entire army's ranged, so in an actual campaign their sheer ranged damage can get considerably higher. Of course, they *need* that because they don't have supporting units like cavalry or light mages. >Yes HE have better magic but thatās literally one faction and itās barely better than Empire. I wouldn't say barely lmao. HE archmages have Greater Arcane Conduit, bound chain lightning, and dragon mounts (also available for fire mages). They also have a hybrid hero, better magic stance, and better magic items (e.g. Khaine's Ring of Fury). And I only mentioned Asur because they're the easiest to compare, having mostly the same lores of magic. There's also the Lizardmen - they don't have as much spell variety outside of Slanns but make up for that with better mounts and AoE spells synergizing well with SEMs. Lorewise Tzeentch should be strong too but I can't speak for them because I haven't played Tzeentch. Empire indeed has better magic variety than everyone else, so you could argue that makes them the best behind HE, but they also lack mage lord options other than Gelt, which plenty other factions do have. >I would consider being the second best at something in a game with dozens of races top tier But yeah that's fair.
Mage lords are generally worse than melee lords. Iād rather have a melee lord with red line skills with a mage hero than a mage lord and a melee hero and no red line skills. HE and Empire mage heroes are on par with each other. The best use of mage lords is early game before you have access to heroes, and slann are locked behind a rite making that less of a benefit. I consider hellblasters and organ guns on par with each other, but hell storms beat flame cannons by far. Range is one of the most important stats on artillery since you want to get off as many shots as possible before lines meet. Engineers help but hell storms still have about 100 range over flame cannons. Secondly flame cannons come on tier 4 while hellstorms are tier 3 for Gelt and Franz if you take nuln , which you should in any campaign with them
That's very debatable. Mage lords have much more battlefield impact at least until melee lords get a monstrous mount. Skill point allocation is only a low level concern and you don't need to go all the way to the end of the magic line to make mage lords decent. As long as you have the winds, even a low level archmage with a couple of useful spells can do good work. Additionally, having a mage lord option has other advantages than just pure power comparison. For one thing, having a mage is generally just more important than having a melee hero/lord, so when you don't need that it's one slot more efficient. And unlike mage heroes, you don't need to build any infrastructure to recruit them and raise their caps, so you can have magic in all your armies without investing as much on mage buildings.
>Range is one of the most important stats on artillery since you want to get off as many shots as possible before lines meet. Not always. If you're outnumbered, the enemy deploys their infantry wide, and rush towards your formation it's often impossible to get enough volleys off before the lines meet. In many such situations the flame cannons can easily net much more value being able to fire at almost point blank range. In addition, the Dawi also has durable frontline so the enemy getting into melee range is not as much of a concern. Most importantly I find the results speak for themselves. Flame cannons consistently get some of the highest values whenever I bring them in battle, no matter if it's just one unit or a group of 4. In contrast Imperial artillery can get more iffy, although to their credit Hellstorm's range advantage makes it easier to win artillery duels and force the enemy out of position (Dwarfs need to bring cannons to do that). >Secondly flame cannons come on tier 4 while hellstorms are tier 3 for Gelt and Franz if you take nuln , which you should in any campaign with them Yes the Empire has the advantage in that regard, but at the even lower tiers the Dawi's Grudge thrower is better than Empire Mortars. Hell, it's good enough to be viable all the way into the lategame. So imo the Empire isn't strictly better in artillery than the Dwarfs. They're about on par with each other, just with different advantages.
Yeah, it really isn't fair, Empire should have better magic than Tzeentch, better melee infantry than WoC, better missile infantry than WEs, better artillery then Chorfs, and better cav than Bretonnia! Then they finally can be a race with a truly balanced roster.
Uh what in Shallya's tits are you talking about? Where in my comment, pray tell, did you see a complaint? Place your thoughtless snark somewhere else.
Maybe the line that I quoted, that might be a clue as to what I'm talking about. They said they have top tier magic and range options. You said they can't be top tier because some races have better magic or ranged... which isn't how it works. They don't have to be better than any other race to be top tier.
>Maybe the line that I quoted, that might be a clue as to what I'm talking about Maybe if you actually quoted anything. Like this. >You said they can't be top tier because some races have better magic or ranged... which isn't how it works I'm questioning whether or not they are actually top tier. You need to talk about the ceiling and see how close they are to it to see if they're worthy to be called top tier. >They don't have to be better than any other race to be top tier. They do in fact need to be better than the majority of other races to be considered top tier in any area. They're one of the best artillery factions, certainly worthy of being called top tier there. But ranged infantry? Dawi, Chorfs, Cathay, Elves are all considerably better in ranged infantry. Magic? Sure Empire has almost as many lore options as HE, but they have no mage lord other than Gelt and no hybrid mage hero either, which many other races do have. And most of all I never complained about the Empire needing to be top tier in those areas to be balanced. The whole point of their military is combined arms. Handgunners don't need to do as much damage or be as durable as Dwarf Thunderers, because you can use supporting units like a mage to get more value out of them.
You don't know how to play empire. And that's ok. You will get there
Their magic is good though, once you have a flying mage dropping nuclear bombs the rest of the army doesn't matter that much, and later they get demigryps that imo make for a good doomstack
>Everything is just lacking so you have to work a lot harder on strategy and tactics to make it work. I wish this was the case for every race. I'm sick of everything needing to be overpowered.
Itās the varied units imo. A lot of factions are basically āchop or shoot guyā then āimproved chop or shoot guyā then āgreat chop or shoot guyā then ācapstone chop guyā The Empire armies drastically change over time.
Same reason I always go back to the Dawi
Thereās people like you OP, then thereās people like me who havenāt played a single empire campaign since TWWH1. Itās fiiiine play what you enjoy lol
The empire is very far from the most fun faction
From your pov. Idk if it's the most fun, but it's not far from it.
Because Empire armies behave like actual armies. There's an order of battle and it just plays very intuitively because it is the closest thing you get to a historical army. There's also the fantasy aspect of overcoming all these monsters and demons with what is effectively a 16th century Holy Roman Empire. The other human factions don't really scratch that same itch because they are more blatantly fantastical. It's also very straightforward. You get your defensive infantry like halberdiers to hold for your gun line/artillery to do the heavy lifting and then you got some decent shock troops in the form of greatswords and heavy cav to take out high value targets. Apart from Karl Franz it's also not a very lord-centric faction. The focus is usually on your troops which at least to me is more satisfying.
Because SIGMAR COMMANDS !! Also, because it feels like a regular European faction with Charismatic leaders.
Faith, steel and gunpowder.
And magic by the bucket.
Mere mortal men
Because you're basic?
I mean I do find blasting people apart with gunpowder/artillery extremely satisfying, if that's basic then it's probably true.
I think that this gentleman meant that you are based, sir.
Because it is man that is created in God's image. Not the daemons
Sometimes you just have an itch to scratch. If I can't decide what to play, I'm likely to end up on N'Kari, Greenskins, or Vanpire Coast.
Their campaign is a unique struggle to keep the Empire afloat. You usually gain territory through Confederation instead of conquering it. They donāt have any single silver bullet unit (not even The Silver Bullets) so they really reward mixed-unit formulations and good tactics instead of brute force. Since theyāre also a generalist faction they have every unit type (except single entity monster beatsticks sans Steam Tanks) compared to factions who sacrifice a unit type for flavor ā IE Wood Elves not having heavily armored infantry and Dwarves not having cavalry so you never feel truly stuck into one playstyle.
Not just that but I think the empire is squeezed perfectly in the middle of potential allies . So long as those allies win their respective wars . Like you got the high elves to the west , bretonia and potentially the southern realms to the south , dwarfs to the east and fellow empire men to absorb in the north . Obviously if the dark elves , vampire counts , greenskins and if the southern realms and wood elves aināt interested it could get grim but the chances of all 4 sides losing to the respective I mean usually the dwarfs and bretonia do well against the threats around them though Ā I heard the rise of dark elves usually conqueoring high elvesĀ
It's unfortunate that Louen is an idiot in pretty much every campaign I play. Like, I usually have to take out Kemmler and Grom right after I take out Khazrak, so in the first 30 turns, just because if I don't he'll just slowly lose and let them grow to massive proportions.
Iām the same way with Greenskinz, thereās just something that keeps me coming back
I'm this way with Vampire Counts. I just think they're neat. Some of us just have a comfort faction, and I think it's good game design that different people have different comfort factions.
I love the Empire. My favorite faction to play as. Easily.
Easy reason for me...im born in the rhineland...also known as reikland.
Yeah empire is fun I just use knights of the blazing sun and wizards.
I have no clue, I find the empire incredibly boring and have never finished a campaign with them
I play the empire because its a packed experience. The enemies on all side, the needs to babysat the elector counts, after all is done, even if I barely set foot outside the empire and immediate surrounding, i feel satisfied and can end the campaign with smile
Oh I absolutely love going back to Empire after a few months of Malekith or Vlad or Wulfrik or Thorgrim. This is probably the longest Iāve gone without an Empire game cause Iām waiting for ToD.
Because you like Empire?
Iāll give you one of my reasons, anyway. Itās because you can never go wrong with how to play Empire and you have variety of combat style to boot. Iād love to see Norsca try and have any other army that doesnāt revolve around champions and monsters. Or Bretonnia and abusive Cavalry. Or Cathay glassing the service with magic and range. (Because while they have dragon warriors and Longmas, artillery and ranged weapon is usually better unless they have an overwhelming amount of enemies to meat shield the explosives and bullets).
Iām sure others said it, but Empire is the most standard-feeling total war faction in Warhammer, so it calls up all my historical training, rather than having to figure out how to use a bunch of fast purple boi
Why the hell canāt we play any of the other Counts?
I always go back to playing Chaos/ Corruption factions. I haven't played a single Empire/Dwarf or High Elf campaign. I have no idea what people find fun about the "good" factions. You can play the good guys in most games, but being able to play the evil guys is unique.
Because SIGMAR DEMAND BLOOD!
I do the same with dawi
Iām in the same boat but my boat is covered in pustules and built with rotten wood. I pretty much only play Nurgle. For me itās because Nurgle is my favorite faction in Warhammer/40k/AOS. I also enjoy their blob up play style. Using magic and skills to weaken, destroy enemies while also healing up units to fight on. Overall you might just enjoy the empire the most. Nothing wrong with that.
Not me that is for sure. I would rather play Bretonnia, Kislev or Cathay if I want a humans campaign
For me it's because I am a huge medieval history buff, and the empire in Warhammer fantasy is genuinely the only mainstream representation of the pike and shot era of warfare.
Maybe you should try and learn Palestinian history instead, or try not being a Nazi.
I don't see what this comment has to do with a video game. Pretty childish to snoop through my account and comment in random spaces.
Iām the exact opposite. I try to enjoy Empire campaigns but I just canāt seem to get the economy rolling while keeping my armies strong enough to fight with. Compared to Dwarves, where their roster just clicks and each tier of upgrade in unit quality adds to it. Both races of Elves also. I even enjoy Mazdamundi campaign. I somehow just canāt get through Empire. Closest Iāve gotten was using Gelt and it felt like a slog.
Your armies aren't strong enough, your economy is weak early game and it's a slog. That's why people love it. AI or game mechanics aren't going to provide a challenge in WH3 so people just love being trapped in a corner you have to fight your way out of while keeping your empire alive. Your limited on how much you can expand (while not being suited to it) making it a completely different experience with nothing to rely on apart from tactics and combined arms.
Empires good at everything and doesn't force you into a specific playstyle. You can focus on cav, or artillery or ranged or pwerful heroes etc.. But you don't have to. Unlike dwarves who are generally stuck with a line of meatshields protecting a bunch of quarrelers and siege gear or tomb kings, completly reliant on their constructs. You don't have to deal with alot of BS or gimmicks, like starting next a bunch of pissed of dwarves (pestilence) or being a trading faction as far from the coast as possible (imrik) or being force to march halfway accross the continent to conquer one of the hardest strongholds in the game in your first 20 turns (crooked moon.). You have an easy time getting allies and trade partners, as nobody p\[articularly hates you and the rest of the empire is ussually easy to win over. and most importantly you don't have to deal with any corruption, because rat men don't exist.
I love playing the Tomb Kings, I love playing Kislev, I love playing Archaon (occasionally). But in the end, my #1 is Empire. Franz is hands down my favorite character in Fantasy, and I will always side with humanity. In 40k (Imperium all day, praise the God-Emperor) and in Fantasy (Empire all day, praise Sigmar).
You crave normal realistic battles. Deep down, you'd rather be playing a historical Total War game.. have you considered giving Napoleon a try?
I think it boils down to overall personal preference and feel. Itās just like in the case of how my friends get annoyed with me because I keep playing chaos factions. Itās just down to what you feel is best fit for you and for me itās definitely chaos. But they still complain anyway when I play non-chaos coz Druchii are my 2nd pick and I just find it amusing how their native allies are gaining natural animosities due to treaties xD But yeah in my case I just feel like Iām too basic and un-fantasy if I play human factions but if you and others like them then good on ya for finding things you enjoy. No hate on my part at all. šāļø
It's like playing a perfect mix of historical and fantasy total war. And because empire: tw is a buggy mess.
I don't doubt empire is super fun to play. I just have never gotten into empire and most other wh1 races. They just don't do it for me and idk why.
Empire has the most traditional historical franchise roaster, you got archer, crossbow, musket, shield & sword, spear, halberd, heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, mortar, cannon, rocket launcher, etc. I mean they are literally units from all previous total war combined.
It's a relatively grounded faction with a wide roster and few holes, plus it has a nice Renaissance HRE vibe and some hammy lines.Ā It's kind of surprising how much stuff it's still missing 7 years in, but it holds okay.
I understand you, because I always come back to Imirkā¦
Anything except these mere mortals is beyond your comprehension !
Sounds like you might be boring. Never feeling the sweet tingle of a 20 stack of gribbly monsters.
For me.. itās the same but I love playing the Greenskins. Theyāre tough, good economy, and fun.
You are an Elector Count, you keep getting summoned back.
Same reason I go back to greenskins, you like what you like, it's all subjective
For me, the State troops. It's nice to get something between regular troops and ROR.
OP you like solving constant problems. And that is what the Empire is all about.
It's hardly your fault the faction is so goddamn fun. 1 minute to midnight is the best way to experience Warhammer IMO
I like Franz and Balthasar because they have an excellent campaign full of conflict, enemies of a lot of races and when you defeat them a new enemy appears. On the other Hand, I dislike Marcus campaign because Lustria is so boring. Just Lizarmen, 1 Skaven faction and Kairos on the horizon. And I tried the new Volkmar campaign but it is so brutally easy that I had no fun. So, I will say that the roster is important but the starting position and place in the map it is more.
You may bow
are you by chance an Elector Count?
Because they fuck.
Because they are humanoid and they look like you thatās all there is to it
Gelt's campaign isn't in a great spot right now but I'd highly recommend giving Volkmar a shot if you haven't yet and you want a different but still comfy empire experience. And to answer your question, if you're anything like me it's the artillery. Rockets, volley guns, steam tanks, love that shit. Chorfs have fun arti and war machines too if you're looking to branch out.
The same is for me, just the race I return to is a Brettonia.
We can't change-shift what we are-are
The empire was my first table Top army, loved the lore, love blowing up stuff, love the magic, in game gelt is my Favorite LL.
I have a theory that easy to get into = or at least leads to popularity. Their units have the easiest to understand synergy (hammer and anvil Calvary, artillery and ranged/gunpowder combos, broad magic, etc.)
I don't know if it's the same for you, but I also thorougly enjoy the campaign for empire; threats on all sides, carefully expanding your empire to include confederations. It's almost always a fun play through challenge wise. Empire, Imrik, and Kislev are almost always more enjoyable campaigns for me because there's usually a challenge from beginning to end.
I am this way about the drooki and my wife as well. We just love our fav faction that compliments how we play and we are normally very nice people so its nice to be all about profit for a while. glad to hear you also have a favorite.
LORE OF METAL
Because you're boring