Empire detachment rules

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Red...
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Empire detachment rules

Post by Red... »

Hi there,

I played a bit of a funny game versus Empire this evening (2x1500 armies on one side - my Dark Elves and my friend's Vampire Counts - and a single 3,000 Empire army on the other).

The Empire player had a few detachments linked with some of his units. He claimed to be able to link just about every buff or boost that was applied to the main unit to the detachments that were within 3". Some of these seemed rather fanciful and I think he may have been getting some of them wrong due to over excitement, but without the book I aren't able to verify which links were valid and which were a tad fictional. (I did try to look through the book at the table, but the rules seemed to be splashed across a host of different places, making it hard to get them all easily pinned down)

Could someone with the Empire book let me know which buffs and boosts are shared from the main unit to the detachments and which are not? In particular:

- Leadership
- Frenzy
- Hatred from characters (e.g. warrior priest)
- Hatred from other sources
- Stubborn from special rules
- Steadfast from ranks (i.e. if the parent unit has more ranks than the enemy unit, would it confer steadfast to the detachment even if the parent unit was not in combat and the detachment had less ranks than the enemy unit it was in combat with?)
- Immune to Psychology
- Hexes and augment spells
- Boosts from magical banners
- Other boosts or buffs

Also, do detachments take a separate leadership test from the main unit if both are engaged in the same combat?

Thanks so much :)
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Post by Calisson »

There's a Table of Content p.2.
Detachment rules are the first page of the bestiary, p.30, "army-wide special rules".

The answer:
There are nine properties which are transferred to a detachment at 3" max:
- Leadership
- Frenzy
- Hatred (warrior priest, other sources...)
- Stubborn
- Steadfast (see note 1)
- Immune to Psychology
and...
- Hold the line (see note 2)
- Stupid! ;)
- War Priest's prayers (see note 3), including War Altar's buffs.


Nothing else is transferred.
- Hexes and augment spells from non-religious origins
- Boosts from magical banners and wizard carts (Luminark & Hurricanum)
- Other boosts or buffs

unless they provide any of the properties listed above.

-=-=-

Also, do detachments take a separate leadership test from the main unit if both are engaged in the same combat?
Answer: YES.

-=-=-

In addition,
detachments have a specific charge reaction when the main regiment is charged (unless there is no possible reaction):
- they can S&S (consider the distance between charging unit and the main regiment, not the detachment)
or
- they can countercharge, i.e. declare a charge during opponent's turn.
No reaction is allowed to that countercharge. The enemy must have achieved his charge previously.

There is no longer supporting charge when the main regiment attacks.

-=-=-

Note that a detachment may now contain a character.
Beware of the witchhunter inside bowmen unit, he becomes skirmisher and can double-move and shoot.

-=-=-

Note 1 about steadfast:
It is heavily debated on Warhammer-Empire.
Steadfast is sometimes permanent (unit in a building, skirmisher unit in wood...).
However, for the usual understanding of steadfast, there are several readings:
- it just means to have more ranks than any opponent engaged, therefore it is permanent
or
- it happens only when you loose combat and you count ranks, therefore that property has to be transferred only during a very specific time.
Furthermore, there is a debate about how steadfast applies when the regiment and the detachment are not in the same melee, or if only the detachment is fighting.
Everyone expects it to be clarified in the next FAQ.

My advice would be that when you determine if the detachment is steadfast, assume that the detachment has as many ranks as his regiment; if the regiment is steadfast because of terrain, the detachment will be too.
That's a simple and logic way to use that rule.

most of the time, from ranks (i.e. if the parent unit has more ranks than the enemy unit, would it confer steadfast to the detachment even if the parent unit was not in combat and the detachment had less ranks than the enemy unit it was in combat with?)

-=-=-

Note 2 about Hold the line
A "General of the Empire" (i.e. regular dynast, not a wizard lord or a templar knight lord) and also a "Captain of the Empire" (including BSB but not a war priest...) have the rule "hold the line".
If they are inside a unit, that unit uses 3D6, keeping the 2 lowest, for all morale tests.
This is transferred to detachments.

-=-=-

Note 3 about prayers.
War Priest's prayers are transferred to detachment (Army book p.36).
These are 3+ bound spells.
- 5++ ward save in melee
- reroll to wound in melee
- flaming in melee and shooting.
The last one can be used to make bow/crossbow/handgun detachment get flaming bolts. The hydra cannot regenerate them. If the hydra loses one wound, it will be immediately followed by a cannonball, which won't be regenerated either.


-=-=-

About buffs,
Empire has now access to three chariots,
the Popemobile and two Wizard carts.
All three buff all units within 6"
- popemobile with hatred and all prayers (reroll to wound in melee, 5++ ward save in melee, flaming in shooting/melee)
- Light wizcart with 6++ ward save
- Heavens wizcart with +1 to hit in melee.
Among that, only hatred and prayers are transferred to detachments.
Last edited by Calisson on Mon May 07, 2012 6:29 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Red...
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Post by Red... »

Thanks Calisson,

That's a really helpful and detailed explanation, I'm very much in your debt :D I did skim through the main section on detachments, but then there also seemed to be a number of references made in other places (e.g. a bit of text in the warrior priest entry), so it's really handy to have a proper running through of it from a neutral Empire player - thanks again :)

I'll have to give some thought as to how to combat these new advantages for the Empire - they do seem to represent a significant boost for the formations. That said, I'm optimistic that in a normal game, i.e. one without an under-performing undead ally (yesterday's game helped me to understand why Dark Elves feel the need to be treacherous: 'what do you mean your corpse cart did no wounds on the charge against a unit of light cavalry?? *sigh*') it'll be less of a problem.

Thanks again! :)
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Post by Calisson »

In addition to what I mentioned,
War Priest's prayers are transferred to detachment, too (that's in the WP's page 36).
These are 3+ bound spells.
- 5++ ward save in melee
- reroll to wound in melee
- flaming in melee and shooting.
The last one can be used to make bow/crossbow/handgun detachment get flaming bolts. The hydra cannot regenerate them. If the hydra loses one wound, it will be immediately followed by a cannonball, which won't be regenerated either.
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