Determined, disciplined and unyielding, the Imperium prides itself on its ability to adapt and thrive in a hostile and unstable world. Forever striving for improvement and excellence, the Imperium wields its industrial might with calm precision. From their small arms to their immense war machines, the Imperium’s technology typifies the ingenuity and skill of its creators, their commitment to excellence unparalleled amongst the brilliant artificers of the Dystopian Age.
At the Kaiser’s command, ranks of well-drilled soldiery, batteries of powerful field guns, and fleets of armoured vehicles crawl or stride across the battlefield, their assembled corps resembling nothing short of a mighty fortress on the move. As if commanding the very elements themselves, Imperium battlelines unleash withering bombardments of cracking lightning, a testament to the wonders of voltaic weaponry.
Masters of battle doctrine and logistics, the commanders of the Imperium’s fighting regiments are seasoned veterans who have proven themselves over many years of distinguished service. Their knowledge of war and its principles ensure that their battle plans are carried out to the letter. The Imperium war machine is no grinding behemoth, however. Such is the quality of its soldiers that it would sooner withdraw units from the field and seek victory some other day, some other way, should the cost become too great.
That which cannot be achieved today can be tried again tomorrow, each successive attempt offering the chance to hone tactics and designs until victory becomes inevitable…
The Imperium shall not go shrinking into the darkness like some thief in the night.
Willkommen, servants of the Kaiser!
This blog provides an overview of how the Imperium plays on the Battlefield, including their key strengths and things to look out for, and provides insights into how to build an Imperium Force, with example Force Lists for all three Force Scales.
How the Imperium Plays
The Imperium are a faction that tends towards elite units, most of which have high Discipline values, and which can inflict horrendous amounts of damage if they roll well, due to the Arc quality on many of their attacks.
The Scion Grenadier Command Platoon possesses the Logistical Expertise special rule, which increases the Card Value of all Command & Conquest Cards by one when you issue them as Commands or use them for Interference. This gives Imperium players a significant advantage in card-based plays, allowing you to rely on your Command & Conquest Cards in ways your opponent cannot. This unit and the Scion Grenadier Platoon also hit surprisingly hard, as all its attacks have the Arc weapon quality. Additionally, the Scion Vierling Heavy Infantry, with the Point Blank and Devastating qualities, can shred light targets at close range.
Luftlancer Air Jaegers and Totenkopf Jaeger Cavalry are both powerful terror troops that can inflict the Disorder status on enemy units. The former has the Precision quality on its melee attack, allowing you to deliberately target the enemy Officer during Close Quarters Combat, while the latter has the Corrosive Fumes special rule, inflicting the Disordered status on all enemy units within 2” at the end of this unit’s Move Step. Both effects make it harder for the target units to resist Suppression, allowing you to throw a vital stretch of the enemy battleline into disarray with one well-timed charge.
Imperium Forces can also deploy Teutonic Knight Armiger Crusaders and Teutonic Knight Armiger Castellans - two of the most powerful (and expensive!) Infantry units in Armoured Clash so far. Get one of these units of heavily-armoured knights and automata squires onto a Strategic Objective and watch your opponent struggle to remove them!
Whilst the Imperium lacks more conventional heavy artillery, their excellent Field Gun units more than make up for the deficiency. Krupp Field Guns punch well above their weight against Heavy targets, thanks to their large dice pools, and the Thunar Arc Field Guns boast an incredibly versatile attack with the Arc weapon quality. The Essen Rocket Field Guns have a useful dual role, serving not only as an anti-aerial option but also effectively pinning down enemy Infantry and Cavalry units owing to the Suppressive weapon quality on their Ranged (Light) attack. All of these units also have the Shrouded Special Rule, meaning that any unit targeting them with a Ranged Attack suffers the Concealed Combat Rating Penalty. This should allow your Field Guns to remain on the Battlefield that little bit longer than their counterparts in other factions.
As an Imperium General, you can also pick from a veritable smorgasbord of Armour units, each of which boasts a particular specialism to make it well-suited to a particular battlefield role.
Sturmpanzer Battletanks are dependable fighting vehicles that can make multiple attacks per Activation due to the All-Out Attack (2) special rule. Sturmpanzer Zerrütten Siege Tanks offer a powerful Ranged (Light/Heavy) attack that can reduce Defensible Buildings to ruins. Panzerwagen Armoured Transports, meanwhile, provide a tough transport option that, thanks to the Spacious special rule, can accommodate Teutonic Knight Armiger Crusaders and Teutonic Knight Armiger Castellans. The high Defence and Damage Limit value of these units means that they can take a significant amount of hits before losing models.
The Imperium roster also contains the lighter Lucifyr Heavy Walkers and Sturmriese Arc Walkers, which are perfect for flanking and skirmishing, the Pioneers special rule allowing them to move through and fire from the safety of Dense Terrain without penalty. Rounding out your Armour options is the Sturmwagen Transport, a nippy little Transport and Tractor unit that can tow a Field Gun unit with the Gun Carriage trait on account of the Limber (1) special rule. This makes it perfect for repositioning those powerful Field Gun units mid-game, either to move them out of danger or into range of a new target.
The most impressive units available to the Imperium, though, are their Behemoths. These include the Sieger Vitruvian Colossus, a potent unit with a powerful Ranged (Heavy) attack with the Arc Weapon Quality, and the Faust Virtruvian Colossus, a powerful melee specialist that can deal significant damage to enemy Heavy targets (including other Behemoths) in Close Quarters Combat on account of the Wreckers weapon quality. Both of these units also possess the Logistical Expertise special rule, meaning that even if all of your Commander units are destroyed, these towering effigies of the Imperium’s might can continue to direct and inspire your soldiery.
If you are looking for longer-ranged fire support, the Imperium’s sole Artillery unit, the Donnerschlag Artillery Walkers, gives you the option to bombard Light, Heavy and even Aerial targets with a barrage of deadly rockets.
In terms of Aircraft units, the Imperium can field the deadly Messer Interceptor Squadron, which has the potential to devastate enemy tank formations with a single Attack Roll owing to the Penetrating quality on its Ranged (Heavy) attack. This unit also has the Intercept special rule, which allows you to issue it a Special Command during an enemy Aircraft unit’s Reaction Step. If this Special Command is successfully issued, your unit immediately makes an Interception Sortie. This involves an Approach Step, Engage Step, and Escape Step, just as if it was the intercepting unit’s own Activation, although it can only target the active unit during this process. This, combined with their impressive Ranged (Aerial) attack, makes them perfect for shooting enemy Aircraft out of the sky.
When combined with the anti-aerial capabilities of the Scion Vierling Dreirad, Sturmpanzer Battletanks and Donnerschlag Artillery Walkers, this gives the Imperium plenty of options for neutralising enemy Aerial units.
Battlegroups
The Imperium Faction Battlegroup offers a flexible composition of units, with the ability to Bolster a single Infantry, Field Gun, and Armour unit. This means that you can include a formidable Behemoth as part of this Battlegroup in Battle-Scale Clashes!
The Battlegroup’s Commander Bonus, Company of Iron, means that an Imperium unit gains a +1 Discipline Bonus for each friendly Imperium unit within 3” that does not have the Suppressed status. This is an amazing bonus that can reward careful placement of your units with some truly impressive Discipline values. Pay attention to your battleline, and your highly-trained Imperium soldiers won’t let you down! So long as you have access to Company of Iron, your units are seldom going to suffer from the Suppressed status, keeping them operating at maximum efficiency regardless of casualties.
With an emphasis on Cavalry and Infantry units, the Imperium Erlkӧnig Auxiliary Battlegroup has Luftlancer Air Jaegers, Totenkopf Jaeger Cavalry and Scion Heavy Dreirad as Mainstay Units, allowing you to catch your opponent off guard by building a surprisingly mobile Force. If you want a charge from your Infantry or Cavalry units to hit with real power, this Battlegroup’s Commander Bonus, The Wild Hunt, is a Special Command that, when successfully issued to an Imperium Infantry or Cavalry unit, increases the unit’s Speed Value by 2” and Attack Pool by 2 if it makes a Charge manoeuvre this Activation.
If you are keen on fielding the military might of the famed Teutonic Knights, the Imperium Gelve Auxiliary Battlegroup lets you take a number of powerful units with the Teutonic trait, with every Imperium unit with this Trait listed as Mainstay Units. With this focus, you can use the Imperium Gelve Auxiliary Battlegroup to build a frighteningly strong, but small, body of units that your opponent will struggle to bring down. Any units in your Force with the Arc weapon quality can also benefit from this Battlegroup’s Commander Bonus, Sturm und Drang, a Special Command that increases the dice pool of such an attack by 2 if successfully issued.
Boons
The Imperium has access to two unique Boons.
Firstly, at 35 points, Kriegsspiel gives you a Special Command that, when issued to an Imperium unit at the end of their Activation, allows another friendly Imperium unit within 6” to immediately Activate. This effectively gives you two successive activations without your opponent being able to counter, save via the Reaction Step. This can lead to some interesting strategies, with the consecutive Activations allowing you to focus on a single enemy unit, or get a friendly unit close enough to its comrades to benefit from the Company of Iron Commander Bonus should a strong counter-attack look imminent.
For 40 points, Grappling with Giants grants a once-per-round ability for one of your Behemoths to suppress an enemy Behemoth, if your unit inflicted at least one damage on this target during a Close Quarters Combat. This is currently the only way to suppress a Behemoth and can seriously compromise its combat capabilities during its next Activation, especially if it fails its Rally Test. Why not take this as part of a Force List with at least one Faust Virtruvian Colossus, and send your towering war machines straight towards the enemy General’s own immense battle engines for a real clash of the titans?
Key Strengths
Castles on the March
The Imperium functions best when its units band together to create small, but resilient, strongpoints. Company of Iron, the Imperium Faction Battlegroup’s Commander Bonus, works particularly well with this configuration, as keeping your units within 3” of each other gives each of them a cumulative +1 Discipline modifier. Having your units close together also allows them to defend and protect one another, either during their Activation or an enemy unit’s Reaction Step, or in a Close Quarters Combat, where they can potentially trigger the Supported Combat Rating Bonus and the Threatened Combat Rating Penalty.
This is not to say that Imperium armies are plodding blocks of heavily armoured troops and vehicles. Imperium Field Gun units, for instance, can be surprisingly manoeuvrable, with the Gun Carriage trait allowing them to be towed by Sturmwagen Transports. This allows your short-ranged Field Gun units to easily keep pace with your Infantry and Armour units, creating a formidably mobile forward defensive line.
Shock Doctrine
Owing to the prevalence of voltaic weaponry across the Imperium’s armed forces, many Imperium units boast attacks with the Arc weapon quality. This causes two extra Attack Dice to be rolled per Heroic Strike instead of one. Roll well with these attacks, and you have the chance to inflict tremendous damage on your target!
However, Imperium units whose ranged attacks have this Weapon Quality tend to have small-to-average-sized dice pools and lack a Short Range, so they can only gain Combat Rating Bonuses through Aiming or being issued Commands. Luckily, the Logistical Expertise Special Rule that your Commander and Behemoth units possess increases the chance of successfully issuing Commands, creating a nice synergy with such weapons. Be sure to check your hand for Command & Conquest Cards that provide Combat Rating Bonuses or increase the Attack Pool. The latter is particularly helpful, as each extra dice increases your chances of rolling those much-desired Heroic Strikes.
Teutonic Power
Certain units in the Imperium roster have the Teutonic trait, representing the elite warriors of the Teutonic Knights taking to the field in support of the Kaiser’s armies. Teutonic units include Teutonic Knight Armiger Castellans and Teutonic Knight Armiger Crusaders, as well as Thunar Arc Field Guns, Sturmriese Arc Walkers, and the towering Sieger Vitruvian Colossus. All these units possess powerful attacks with the Arc weapon quality. This can be further improved via the Sturm un Drang special command if your Force contains an Imperium Gelve Auxiliary Battlegroup, which also allows you to include an even larger contingent of powerful Teutonic units as part of your Force.
Watch out for…
Quality Over Quantity
The elite nature of many Imperium units means they can be expensive, with Reinforced and Full-Strength units being particularly costly when compared to their equivalents in other Factions. This means that most Imperium Force Lists will contain a relatively small number of units, especially if you want to include the Imperium’s more powerful options. Imperium Generals must make the most of each of their units, both in terms of defending against attacks and maximising damage output, to make sure that their Force is not overwhelmed by a more numerous enemy.
Reason Before Honour
Although Imperium units can gain very high Discipline values through the Company of Iron Commander Bonus, their Infantry and Field Gun units also tend to possess higher than average Break Limits. This combination means that failed Suppression Tests can be a major headache for the Imperium General, so be sure to use the Company of Iron commander bonus to maximum effect, keeping as many units within 3” of each other as possible.
To Break the Chain
Commander units are the lynchpin of any Imperium Force. So long as they remain on the Battlefield, their Logistical Expertise special rule and potent Commander Bonuses provide a tremendous advantage to your Force. Losing the Commander of your Imperium Faction Battlegroup can therefore deal a major blow to your battlelines. Be sure to keep your Scion Grenadier Command Platoon units out of harm's way for as long as possible, only committing them to a fight as a last resort or if the odds are heavily stacked in their favour. If you are particularly concerned about losing the effects of the Logistical Expertise special rule, why not field the Sieger Vitruvian Colossus? Its high Defence and Damage Limit means that your enemy will need to invest a great deal of firepower into bringing this mighty giant down.
Building your Force
The Imperium Faction Battlegroup Set provides plenty of Infantry, Cavalry, Field Gun, and Armour units, including a Behemoth and options for an Artillery unit. This makes it ideal for building your first Force for Battle-Scale Clashes.
If you want to try out a smaller Force first, or are looking to upscale an existing one, the Imperium Introductory Set offers you a range of Basic units and resin models to represent the Officer (and his trusty doberman automata) of a Scion Grenadier Command Platoon. If you would like to expand the number of Behemoth units in your Force, the Sieger Battlegroup Set lets you build either a Sieger Vitruvian Colossus or a Faust Vitruvian Colossus, and provides enough sprues to put together some extra Infantry and Armour units for your Force.
Looking for a smaller purchase? The Imperium Infantry Regiment offers a great selection of Infantry, Cavalry, Field Gun, and Armour units, whilst the Imperium Armour Regiment provides yet more Infantry, Armour, and Artillery options. The Messer Interceptor Box also provides a single Aircraft model with which to expand your Fore’s superiority of the skies.
Skirmish-Scale List (1,000 points)
This Force List makes use of the models in the Imperium Introductory Set and the Imperium Infantry Regiment. Its core centres around a large Infantry contingent, so that you have plenty of options for controlling Strategic Objectives.
The Reinforced unit of Scion Vierling Heavy Infantry can easily be transported across the Battlefield by the Basic unit of Sturmwagen Transports, whilst the Reinforced Krupp Field Guns provide vital supporting fire for your advancing units.
The Forlorn Hope Boon can be placed on either the Teutonic Armiger Castellans, to get them onto Strategic Objectives as quickly as possible, or the Lucifyr Heavy Walkers, to get them close to the centre of the Battlefield, ready to cause havoc amidst the advancing enemy battleline.
Battle-Scale List (2,000 points)
By combining models from the Imperium Faction Battlegroup Set, Sieger Battlegroup Set, and a Messer Interceptor Box, you can build a Force that sports an equal balance of potent Light, Heavy, and Aerial units.
The Teutonic Armiger Crusaders and Teutonic Armiger Castellans serve as formidable defensive units that will stoically endure the most heinous of bombardments as they march towards Strategic Objectives. A high number of units in this Force also possess attacks with the Arc weapon quality, meaning that you have plenty of opportunities to engage in all manner of lightning-based tomfoolery by issuing the Imperium Gelver Auxiliary Battlegroup’s Sturm and Drang Special Command multiple times per Round!
Taking advantage of the ability to Bolster an Armour unit in both the Imperium Faction Battlegroup and the Imperium Gelve Auxiliary Battlegroup, this Force contains both a Faust Virtruvian Colossus and a Sieger Vitruvian Colossus, the Grappling with Giants Boon allowing them to really lay on the hurt to any enemy Behemoth foolish enough to get too close.
The Messer Interceptor Squadron allows you to terrorise enemy units from the air and, combined with the Scion Vierling Dreirad Squadron, provides significant anti-aerial defences as well.
Cataclysm-Scale List (3,000 points)
Making use of two Imperium Faction Battlegroup Sets and three Messer Interceptor Boxes, this Force emphasises speed and manoeuvrability in order to hit hard and quickly capitalise on any breaches in your opponent’s defences.
The Faust Virtruvian Colossus and Sieger Vitruvian Colossus can stalk across the Battlefield, ready to bring down enemy Behemoths. Fast-moving Infantry and Cavalry units, notably the Luftlancer Air Jaegers and the Totemkompf Jaeger Cavalry, can make opportunistic charges against degraded targets. The Wild Hunt Commander Bonus, granted by the Imperium Erlkӧnig Auxiliary Battlegroup, can significantly increase the lethality of these assaults.
The larger of the two units of Teutonic Armiger Crusaders would do well paired with the Panzerwagen Armoured Transports to maintain their momentum. The Essen Rocket Field Guns, Donnerschlag Artillery Walkers, and the Full-Strength Messer Interceptor Squadron will also make any opponents with Aerial units think twice before committing them to the fight.
In Short…
The Imperium works best when its units are in close proximity to one another, and when they can use their various bonuses and abilities to make attacks with the Arc weapon quality as deadly as possible. The high Discipline values and sheer tenacity of your units mean they should be competitive even when badly outnumbered and under heavy attack. With powerful unit synergies and other effective combinations of abilities, this is a faction that rewards Generals who really understand the potential and limits of the units in their Force, and who diligently construct their battle plans accordingly.
However, the high cost and break limit of many Imperium units can make your Force vulnerable should an enemy General outmanoeuvre and isolate individual units, cutting them off from the vital support provided by their comrades.
The Imperium is like a well-balanced machine: it is staggeringly efficient when working at full capacity, but will struggle significantly should key mechanisms become degraded beyond repair.