Imperial Officer - Unit Guide (english)

 Imperial Officer - Unit Guide

  

A common sight among the brave people is the tactician and commander of the professional army of the Hundred Kingdoms. He himself rarely engages in combat, but enriches the army with skills that cannot be found elsewhere, supporting the current elite infantry of the people.

Overview:

• Profile Values: With defensive statistics of D3 R3 and 4 wounds, the officer does not seek direct duels. His true potential lies in the two Battle Drills, of which his regiment is allowed to perform two each round, as well as in his Supremacy, which makes the infantry of the Hundred Kingdoms somewhat playable. Overall, he is quite expensive at 90 points, and the new Forward Force, which gives Flank to the regiment he joins, only partially offsets this. However, it naturally benefits heavy infantry.
• Battledrills
  
• Brace for Impact - Grants Bastion 1, meaning the character's unit receives +1 armor (D). Very solid, but not cumulative with the Bastion from the Seasoned Veteran, as both are Bastion 1 and not Bastion +1. Fundamentally solid and best suited for units with already high armor value.
• On your Feet - Grants Double Time, stating that if we have chosen Move as an action twice in this round, we may perform a third Move action as a free action. Situation-dependent and rather unpopular. Personally, often my first choice, as movement wins games.
• Fire First, Aim Later - Grants Fire and Advance, allowing us to perform an additional Move action as a third action if the second action was a Volley action. In combination with Double Time, for example, one can perform Move Volley Move Move. This allows, for example, to move 5" forward, shoot, and then move a total of 5" back. Or push an annoying enemy ranged unit into the ranks and then attack it from the side.
• Aim for the Head - When declaring Aiming and the opponent is within 12" distance, ranged hits also cause morale damage. The application is not easy, but if you manage to do it, the result can be devastating.
• Warband: In addition to standard troops such as Man at Arms, Militia, and Crossbows, he has the Rangers as his own Mainstay and can lead our three elite infantry regiments into the field. Especially the two legions benefit twice from his abilities, and apart from the Order Knights, this is our best warband.
• Supremacy: His Supremacy grants the Vanguard rule to up to two infantry regiments per round. Whether the officer is on the field, has already been slain, or is lurking somewhere does not matter. The options for this are diverse:
• Many zones are 15" away from our edge, so infantry units with a movement of 5" can run directly into these zones.
• With the Vanguard Move, a ranged unit can run onto the field, aim and shoot, or run, run, shoot. Heavy infantry is usually immediately where it is needed and does not have to run for a few rounds first.
• Feel free to let regiments come from the side so they can progress further, as the turns are cheaper, and many zones are thus reachable more quickly.
• A Chapter Mage / Theist Priest can cast spells when the regiment is on the field. Therefore, a very distant Fire Dart, Holy Fire, etc. can suddenly hit the opponent unprepared.
  
   

Equipment & Gameplay:

• Masteries: Thanks to the removal of the entourage, we can now choose masteries without restrictions, but since we already have Flank by default, most of them are not interesting for the Imperial Officer. If you want to turn him from a deficient to a bad melee fighter, he can receive +2 attacks and rerolls with Eccentric Fighting Style. However, this is rarely worth the points. Otherwise, Marksmanship is still worthwhile, which gives a character with ranged attacks +2 Barrage.
• Heirlooms Support: With the option for two heirlooms, you can already do a lot, unfortunately, most heirlooms of the Hundred Kingdoms are deficient or very expensive. The most popular ones are the Armor of Dominion and the Standard of Steel. The armor makes all enemy units in contact lose the special rules Smite and Cleave. Important: This does not apply to Brutal Impact, and in duels, the officer must be in direct contact with the opponent. The standard gives Dread, which prohibits enemy regiments in contact from benefiting from Inspire. In combination with Bastion, this greatly increases the stability of our regiments, but is very specific and makes the officer very expensive.
• Heirlooms Ranged: Alternatively, you can turn him into a shooter to support Rangers, Crossbows, or Hunters. Unfortunately, the officer only has Volley 2 and Movement 5, thus reducing the movement of Rangers and Hunters if he joins them. Also, the only option for ranged combat is "The Kiss Farewell" for 30 points. This gives the officer 3 shots with a range of 18" and Deadly Shots. Additionally, you can give him the Mastery "Marksmanship" for 15 points, which gives him two more shots. Caution! Currently, the entry in the Armybuilder is incorrect, the army book has the correct one. Unfortunately, the Marksmanship of the Hundred Kingdoms is worse than that of the Wadrhun. However, this can be interesting because with Fire and Advance and Double Time, you can Move, Shoot, Move, Move. This sounds very situational at first glance, but allows absurd tactical maneuvers and almost always shots in the opponent's flank.
  
  

Conclusion: The Imperial Officer is a versatile and crucial part of the forces of the Hundred Kingdoms. With his abilities, he reflects the tactician and commander of the army well, and his Battle Drills give the units tactical advantages, while his Supremacy allows effectively positioning infantry regiments on the battlefield. Unfortunately, he does not bring good offensive potential and his Battle Drills are often only nice or too slow (Bastion). Whether you want to equip him with additional equipment and abilities is a matter of belief, but the overall package is usable and a worthwhile investment for anyone relying on a strong infantry unit.