The Empire

**The Empire of Man** is the principal human domain in the world of *Warhammer*.

## Gameplay

* The Empire plays similarly to traditional Total War factions, with diplomacy playing a major role in the initial stages of the campaign (uniting the Elector Counts with the strength of their arguments or the argument of strength) and strengthening the realm against future threats. Late game focuses on frontline affairs more strongly, as the Empire comes under attack from Chaos.

* Balanced unit roster with a wide range of options. Imperial unit roster is very varied and offers plenty of flexibility in terms of strategy, including anything from the squishy rank and file, through various types of cavalry, to artillery and the mighty steam tank and mages.

* High specialization among units means that the day is won not through numbers or tactics, but a competent strategic approach through combined arms: Mixing units and covering their weak spots with other forces.

* Plentiful confederation options allowing other Empire factions to be merged with the Emperor’s via diplomacy. Fractured Empire, whereby the provinces of the Empire are ruled by Elector Counts over whom the Emperor has tenuous control at best.

* Numerous enemies. Dissatisfied Elector Counts to the north and east, Chaos even further up, Orcs to the south, Vampires Counts in Sylvania and agents in the shadows, and Beastmen all around. Bretonnia, Tilea, Estalia and the Border Princes can become your enemies should relations turn sour. Lastly, the Dwarfs and their heavily armoured warriors will stop at nothing to settle any grudges with the other factions, try not to put yours on the list.

* No flying units other than high level characters.

## Background

For two and a half millennia the Empire has formed a bulwark against the encroaching forces of Destruction. Lying at the heart of the Old World, it is the greatest and most powerful of all the nations forged by Men. But the realm is in constant turmoil, beset on all sides by enemies ferocious and foul - despised by countless foes, with even gods and their unholy followers desiring nothing more than the Empire's utter destruction.

Yet it endures, for mankind has a steely determination to not merely live, but thrive. The Empire’s armies are mighty with ranks of highly-disciplined troops and heavily-armoured Knights, led by valiant warrior-generals and supplemented by the arcane will of Battle Wizards and powerful machines of war.

While the Empire’s vast armies are constantly caught in the swirling maelstrom of war, facing all manner of threats within and without its porous borders, perhaps its greatest foe is, and always has been, itself. For the Empire is not one harmonious nation but a collective of fiercely independent provinces and city-states each led by an Elector Count – a powerful noble whose own interests often come before matters of his people or the greater good of the nation. It is from these men and women that an Emperor is elected; in the past the realm has been blighted by a succession of corrupt leaders, or been riven with internal strife as rival Electors fought for the throne. During such dark times the Empire was at its weakest and so its many enemies have taken full advantage.

And yet when mankind seems in greatest peril, the Twin-Tailed Comet arcs across the sky and a great leader comes to the fore. First it was Sigmar, the warrior-god that founded the Empire, and in recent centuries Magnus the Pious purged the lands of Chaos, uniting the nation under one glorious banner. But that was five hundred years ago. A new Emperor has been crowned, he is untested, unwilling - as yet - to take up Sigmar’s Warhammer, and not the candidate many Elector Counts wanted. They are uneasy, fractious and, in some cases, outright hostile - and at a time when dark clouds gather in the north, the dead walk again in Sylvania, ancient allies are under siege, and the Greenskins are more belligerent than ever.

So begins the age of Karl Franz, and he has much to do: unite the Empire, secure its borders and bring prosperity to its beleaguered citizens. The Twin-Tailed Comet blazes across the sky once again, but is this an omen for good or ill?

## Lord Choices

* Emperor Karl Franz
	+ Additional Starting Units
		- Halberdiers
		- Handgunners
		- Reiksguard
	+ Lord Effects

* Balthasar Gelt
	+ Additional Starting Units
		- Greatswords
		- Mortar
		- Outriders
	+ Lord Effects

* Volkmar the Grim
	+ Additional Starting Units
		- Knights of the Blazing Sun
		- The Tattersouls
		- Flagellants
	+ Lord Effects