The Book of The Einar Imperium

[Vlad the Impaler]

I'm seeing a lot of people say these guys are bad, that they never last long. now, I kick serious tail with these guys, they have never failed me; and yet, they seem to take a lot of flak.

Honesty, I'm just complaining. I was so happy to get these guys, but they all die when I get them in a battle. I have yet to even get them into an attack. I haven't even seen them create a wound against me.

that is because you rush them into the thick of things where they can easily be obliterated. use them to hang around the edges and pick off easy targets. once you get them on height, STAY on height. with five move and flying, stealth flying no less, you should get them there quickly.

Barky, you keep missing the point that Marcus makes them move faster.

Or maybe not. I don't know, but it is one semi-fix. And in an otherwise effective soldier-based army (AE, 4th. Mass...) they might not be awful. Still 140 points is a lot for them, I agree.

this is typecasting them as having to be with other soldiers. they do not have to be used as soldiers in the way romans or 4th mass. would. in fact, they should not be. their being soldiers is a little bonus you can have fun with, but you should not center your army around that fact; with five move and flying, you shouldn't even need marcus in the first place.

The Cavalry have a chance to actually enter the battle Rolling Eyes

again, you don't want to immediately enter the battle with them; they are meant to hang around the edges, on height, and should only come off their perches if absolutely nescessary. they should stay on height and kill those foolish enough to come to them. they should only risk engagements with weak attackers, such as orcs and zombies.

There just sooooo sssslllloooooowwwwwww. How can anything fly that slowly? Helicopters hover faster then that....

they fly, you fool!

[MKSentinel]

Yeah...BUT for 140 points I don't want a unit that can hover outside the melee and pick off easy targets. I'd rather have 2 squads of 4th mass...or 2 squads of knights...or...you get the picture.

There are plenty of other figures for the point value that do MORE. The Einar aren't bad. They just take up too much of the average 400-500 build to be worth while.

Now if you play 1000 games regularly then a 140 point squad to pick off the weak might be beneficial.

Adam

Oh yeah...EVERYTHING is better with height advantage...fool!

[bluekitsune13]

I've had pretty good luck with them so far. Here's an army to consider:

Take some Imperium with Marcus and Legionaries. Maybe bring some other ranged units too. Anyway, my strategy has been to move forward in one group, slowly but surely. All you need to to have Marcus bond with the Romans on turn 1, move up some support ranged units on turn 2 to put some holes in the enemy line, then on turn 3 fly the Imperium to the holes, and use their double attack to slice a bigger hole in the enemy. Hopefully next round you will win initiative and be able to retreat them to the rear, and move in Marcus and his legionaries forward to wipe out the remaining enemies.

The biggest threat to an Imperium is range. Make sure to use your ranged units to pick off your enemy's, or else they will fall.

I also find the Imperium to work great for castles. Park them right behind the door, and when an enemy comes close enough, fly them out and attack them. Then, next turn, move them back to the safety behind the walls.

It's true that two 4th Mass. units are probably better than the Imperium, but they do have their uses. When faced with weak swarming squads like vipers or orcs, they will hold their fair share, as long as they get the first strike.

[rdhight]

It's fun to take these guys against a very rat-dependent army. Watching your troops just sail through the rats like they don't exist is priceless.

They are a life-saver in high-point games, where their effective speed really increases sharply. With three squads of these guys, you can buy 420 points of common melee that can move as a group with three order markers. Yes, in low-point games it's usually better to take Knights x2 over Imperium x1, but in a bigger game, Knights x4 or x6 are going to take double the order markers to move an equal point value into the fray compared to their weight in Imperium.

[RichardD]

I've played about 10 games with these guys now, and when they work, they absolutley murder just about anything.

A good half of the time, they should have height; the 5 flying makes them much better at grabbing height than something with normal movement, and stealth flying allows them to withdraw from an even battle and get to height should they need it.

And on high ground, a 4 defence isn't too shabby, and a 4 double attack is deadly.

Where you have to watch out is that base 3 defence. It's not enough against anything throwing 3 or more attack dice, and even a two-dice attack can get lucky half of the time.

So it's possible the EI will go down fast (and not be worth their points). Although once they get in amongst the enemy, it's fairly easy for them to do 140 points of damage over a turn or two.

With Kiova, and then Raelin if you have the points, their defence gets a little more robust. Doubly so, because not only do you have extra dice and rerolls, but an opponent will often target Raelin first, allowing the EI an extra turn or two unmolested! If they make the same mistake by targetting Kiova too, so much the better.

I'd not draft a single squad of EI, though; the low survivability means you need a couple of extras around to carry on the attack at full strength.

[Zeus Jupiter]

If Kiova was an Empress instead of a Warrior, and these guys had Empress Bonding, I would probably play them alot more than I do (whish is almost never). As it were, they don't, so I really can't justify spending 230 points on the EI and EK. They just die too easily, and seldom kill their point worth.

[rym]

What about: 3 x EI (420)
Eldgrim (30)
Me-Burq-Sa (50).

Send in Eldgrim, get him killed, put his move bonus on the Einer, and then go to town. If your opponent doesn't want to kill off Eldgrim to give you the move bonus, then you just keep using Eldgrim until he poses enough of a threat that your opponent finally kills him. I think that's a cheaper way to get a bonus movement without having to spend 100 points on Marcus.

Me-Burq-Sa is the only cheap 50 point ranged hero I could come up with that had good movement and decent range. Unless someone had a better idea for that last 50 points...

Either way, I plan to try this army out very soon and see how it goes. I've used 2 squads and had success, but will see what happens with 3.

[Shades fan]

If you had Kiova in their it may be okay but other wise it would be decimated by range.

[Silver1327]

Originally Posted by rym

What about: 3 x EI (420)
Eldgrim (30)
Me-Burq-Sa (50).

Send in Eldgrim, get him killed, put his move bonus on the Einer, and then go to town. If your opponent doesn't want to kill off Eldgrim to give you the move bonus, then you just keep using Eldgrim until he poses enough of a threat that your opponent finally kills him. I think that's a cheaper way to get a bonus movement without having to spend 100 points on Marcus.

Me-Burq-Sa is the only cheap 50 point ranged hero I could come up with that had good movement and decent range. Unless someone had a better idea for that last 50 points...

Either way, I plan to try this army out very soon and see how it goes. I've used 2 squads and had success, but will see what happens with 3.

Eldgrim can only place his spirit on Unique Heroes.

[Mooseman]

Originally Posted by Silver1327

Eldgrim can only place his spirit on Unique Heroes.

Eldgrim can only place his spirit on Uniques. It works on unique squads to.

[Silver1327]

Sorry. Anyway what is important right now is that that Eldgrim can't place his spirit on EI.

[Hex_Enduction_Hour]

Originally Posted by RichardD

Where you have to watch out is that base 3 defence. It's not enough against anything throwing 3 or more attack dice, and even a two-dice attack can get lucky half of the time.

So it's possible the EI will go down fast (and not be worth their points). Although once they get in amongst the enemy, it's fairly easy for them to do 140 points of damage over a turn or two.

With Kiova, and then Raelin if you have the points, their defence gets a little more robust. Doubly so, because not only do you have extra dice and rerolls, but an opponent will often target Raelin first, allowing the EI an extra turn or two unmolested! If they make the same mistake by targetting Kiova too, so much the better.

RichardD, I was just coming to this thread to comment on the very issue issue you mention. It's a glaring glass jaw, but only when I recently played the EI did I realize that even with the Gift of Kiova, the common kyries are only getting THREE dice. I was up against the Minions and a few times Utgar's guys had height on my Imps. the chance to get those two Deadly Strike skulls is too great with more dice
It was such a shock* to see the expensive guys go down without anything to save them - even if they were in range of Kiova's aura.
I do like the option of adding Raelin and allowing the opponent a differernt target while the EI fly in.
As they are Soldiers, having MDG in the army configuration is must for me. Move 6 with Stealth Flying is potent stuff!





* Much as it is a shock to see them fall to Chilling Touch.