OLD:Human Empire Tactics

Human Empire
File:Humans.webp
Setting:	Age of Fantasy
Games:	Age of Fantasy, Age of Fantasy: Skirmish, Age of Fantasy: Regiments
Species:	Human

Why Play Human Empire

The human empire brings a mundane flair to the otherwise extremely fantastical feeling of Age of Fantasy. Utilizing industry and ordinary people supplemented by magical institutions, you'll be facing down far more traditional factions. If you like the idea of bringing a guns to a sword fight, tanks to traditional medieval warfare, or bringing a council of wizards to bear on unspeakable evils, this is the right faction for you.

Pros:

• Lots of Activations
• Very flexible army loadout, you are the "baseline" army in many ways.
• Buffs: Your faction has easy access to a variety of buffing units that expand your options in any given fight
• Ranged: Your ranged game, while not as elite as some other armies, is still extremely strong and relatively cheap

Cons:

• Many of your troops are focused on quantity over quality
• Your troops are reliant on buffs, either from your wagons or your heroes
• No Ambush, which means your ability to respond to the board state is somewhat curtailed outside of movement shenanigans

Army Special Rules

• Artillerist: Once per activation, pick one friendly Artillery unit within 6”, which may either get +2 to its shooting rolls or move up to 6” during its next activation.
• Aura of Fury: Once per activation, pick two friendly units within 6” get Furious next time they fight in melee.
• Battle Aura: Once per activation, pick two friendly units within 6” get +1 to hit rolls next time they fight in melee.
• Battle Chant: Any attached unit gets the Furious special rule.
• Battle March: Once per activation, one model within 12" can move by up to 6".
• Boing: Effectively Fast 0.5. This model moves +D3” on Advance and +2D3” on Rush/Charge actions.
• Inspiring: If the hero is attached to a unit of Infantrymen, that unit now counts as having Quality 4+.
• Protective Aura: Once per activation, 2 friendly units within 6” get +1 to their defense rolls next time they take hits.
• Takedown: When this model is in melee, may pick one model from the target and roll one die. On a 2+, it takes an AP(1) Deadly(3) hit.

Wizard Spells

• Wild Form (1): Target friendly unit within 12" gets +1 to hit rolls next time it fights in melee. A great buff, though since it only targets a single unit it pales in comparison to the wagon version.
• Fireball (1): Target enemy unit within 12" takes 2 hits with AP(2). A basic blasting spell that exists to boost the attack power of your casters.
• Protection (2): Target 2 friendly units within 12" get +1 to defense rolls next time they take hits. This is a phenomenal buff for almost any unit, but of particular note is that it can turn your heavy cavalry into Def +2 for a single fight. An extremely powerful spell.
• Leech (2): Target enemy unit within 9" takes 1 hit with AP(4) and Deadly(3). One of the only AP(4) strikes in the game. This is ironically one of the best spells if you're facing a mirror match, as it's one of the best ways to deal with Steam tanks or buffed heavy cavalry.
• Magic Wind (3): Target 2 friendly units within 12" get +3" next time they Advance, or +6" next time they Rush/Charge. Your top tier casting doesn't disappoint. Extra mobility on your infantry can mean you arrive on the front line first, which means you can dictate where the battle is going to take place.
• Blood Hex (3): Target enemy unit within 18” takes 1 hit with Blast(9). Expensive, but it can punch a hole in most battle lines. If you manage to get this spell off, make sure you have something that can take advantage of the gap it will open.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Battle Master: Your most versatile hero. Anything you need, the Battle Master is capable of filling in. He's not that bad alone either, with a 4+ quality and defense with an open selection of melee weapons. This is on top of the fact that their stock Hand Weapon comes with AP(1) so you can get by without a new weapon.
  • Ranged: You have some slim pickings in either handbows or pistols. Probably not worth it unless they're traveling with a ranged unit for some reason.
  • Buffs: Battle Standard Bearer gives you Fear to reinforce a battle for your squad. Bounty Hunter has Takedown to help strike down enemy heroes. Cleric has Battle Chant to support the charging foes. Captain has Inspiring to improve a block of Infantrymen. General gives you battle march, which can allow for some excellent positioning shenanigans.
  • Mounts: Your cheapest mount is the Horse, which is Fast and has Impact(1) - Perfectly equipped for lances. The pegasus has Flying on top of Fast, and has its own attacks as well as improving the Captain's Tough value by +3. The griffon is a very pricy but tanky wall with a +2 to defense and +12 to Tough, and it has some devastating attacks with Fear and Flying. The dragon is a bit more expensive and is pretty much a griffon with a Breath Attack and slightly more focus on AP over rending. More than anything, the choice of mount determines whether or not the battle master is a beat stick or a buffer.

• Champion: To call the Champion a toned-down Battle Master is a surface-level understatement. While still capable of picking up the same melee weapons without the AP bump, you will notice that the Champion carries a better selection of guns as well as new buffs. In addition, their mount selection is cut down to only the Horse and the Robot Horse with improved Impact and Boing for a bit of a speed bump.
  • Ranged: The Gatling Pistol is a short-ranged rapid fire tool with AP(1) to cut through armor, with the Gatling Rifle doubling that range. The Grenade Launcher provides long-range bombardment to clean crowds. The Sniper Rifle gives you the tool necessary to take down key models including even heroes.
  • Buffs: While still able to take Battle Chant, that is the only thing the Champion can take from the Battle Master. Battle Mage gives you a Wizard for casting and Engineer gives Artillerist so they can support any Artillery units. The champion is going to be a very decent buffer, and can make lists that are focused on a particular strategy really shine.

Infantry

• Mage Council: This is a strange unit. Unlike many caster units it comes in a group a five, giving it five caster tokens to play with per turn, though as their numbers dwindle that number will go down. They're fairly squishy but can be a very powerful support unit, providing buffs, countering spells, and inflicting some modest damage when needed. Keep them safe and they can be a massive boon to your army.
• Infantrymen: The epitome of standard infantry. While each is flimsy with a 5+ quality and defense, you'll be able to build big blocks of weapons out of them. Spears particular can make them very annoying (and costly) roadblocks and Halberds give them Rending to manage armor. They become especially effective with a Battle Master using inspiring, giving them much better quality.

• Fanatics: Literal glass cannons. Their defense is as bad as it gets at a 6+, but each one carries AP(1) Sharp Weapons and Furious to make charges pretty deadly for a block of fodder. Fearless is a nice way to make sure they can survive to close the distance.

• Elite Swordsmen: Elite infantry with Fearless and a 4+ on both quality and defense. While they're stuck with Great Weapons, they're plenty strong with them and still get to use the command group in order to improve their odds in a fight.

• Marksmen: Shooty infantry, and as such have no business in melee. Their basic rifles may not have the best range, but they can punch through armor with AP(1). Taking the Crossbow bumps their range a bit, but your AP is now subject to Rending, which might ruffle feathers. One of them can also get a Dual Pistols (ideal for punching holes at short range), a Gatling Rifle (for rapid-fire armor-busting) or a Sniper Rifle, with the latter two taking full advantage of your range.

• Hunters: Sneakier marksmen, carrying long-range Bows and Stealth to protect them from return fire. Scout gives them a means to get into position for optimal protection but do be wary of your targets. Without any AP, you're relying upon either weight of fire or a distraction to keep them from getting flattened by anything with decent armor.

Cavalry

• Horse Marksmen: When you pick up Marksmen on horses, gifting them Fast as well as a surprise Scout for better positioning at the start. Your choice between the Rifle or Dual Pistols is ultimately a matter of choice as both options cost you nothing. You can also give one model either Dual Gatling Pistols or a Gatling Rifle for rapid-fire carnage.

• Knights: The cavalry, gifted with a 4+ quality and defense while Impact makes their focus getting to melee. For a mere five points you can grab lances and make them that much better at mowing down infantry.

• Guard Knights: Elite Knights with a 3+ defense and Fearless so they can tank even more abuse. They come stock with Great Weapons to take down the worse, but you can buy Lances if you want to focus them on charges.

• Gryph Riders: Your heaviest cavalry. Each one comes with Impact(2) and Tough(3) so they tank harder. The Halberds are pretty decent and each mount has some AP(1) attacks to complement, but you can grab Lances if you want to focus on your charges. They're perfect for disrupting the enemy line. Unlike most cavalry, they're not just shock troops, they can follow up their initial charge with some pretty decent staying power.

Vehicles

• War Wagon: Effectively a lightweight battletank that can threaten the opposition at any range. Up close it has AP(1) Rending attacks to handle troops, letting it disrupt enemy lines fairly well. You can also turn it into a long range powerhouse with upgrades, or upgrade it to hold infantry and ferry them to the front lines, though this option is mostly best if you're afraid of enemy artillery.

• Hurricane Wagon of Air: The first of the buffwagons. It has a decent level of offensive power against infantry thanks to its blast, but this is mostly a secondary bonus to the fact that it buffs infantry around it with a +1 when making attacks. This really shines when supporting your frontline.

• Beamer Wagon of Fire: This particular wagon gives a laser beam keyed to demolish monsters, heavy infantry, and vehicles with AP(2) Deadly(3). Much like the other buffwagons this is mostly a nice side benefit to the real star of the show, the +1 it can provide to defense on units around it. Your infantry blobs suddenly become a lot stickier.

• Altar Wagon of Aether: This wagon is more of a gatling gun made of magic rather than a cannon. With the number of shots it has to go off, it's enough to likely break light tanks and most infantry. Unlike most of the buffs provided by the wagons there's a definite trade-off. Yes, Aura of Fury gives two units Furious, but the moment they go charging off, you're exposing the wagon to enemy fire. If you take this, you're going to make sure you have many layers.

• Steam Tank: This is one of the most unique units in the Human Empire list. With a toughness of 9 and a defense value of +2, you're looking at one of the hardiest units in the game. The tank totes a devastating AP(1) Blast(3) Tank Cannon, which can pretty much flatten most blocks of infantry, while the turret can pepper the enemy with plenty of shots that can wipe up lighter crowds. If you're looking to take down enemy tanks and monsters more than crowds, you can instead take a Heavy Tank Cannon for AP(2) Deadly(3). Don't let all that fool you into thinking it can be left by itself. If it's charged it will likely be forced to take morale checks. Make sure it has a unit of infantry to protect it while it mows everything down.

Artillery

• Artillery: Your static emplacement, capable of becoming whatever you want of it. By default, it's the Volley gun, which is best suited to guarding objectives close to your side of the board. The cannon upgrade lets it extend its range far more effectively, becoming a powerful tool for forcing enemy infantry to hide behind blocking and cover terrain. The rocket battery is a tool that if placed correctly, will guarantee early game hits against the enemy infantry. The heavy cannon functions much like the normal cannon, except it forces vehicles and heavy infantry to hide. The mortar is for when you don't feel like thinking about positioning. Place this forward in the center of your deployment and it's likely there won't be a single objective you can't strike at. Be advised that your artillery is extremely vulnerable to ambushes, so either expect to be forced to babysit it OR expect it to go down after the first round.

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

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Tactics

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See Also

• Human Empire
• Human Empire Quickplay Armies
• Age of Fantasy

Human Empire
Overview - Tactics - Skirmish Tactics - Miniatures - Quickplay Armies - Skirmish Quickplay Armies