Idol of Gork Army Lists: 'Da Snatch' (Empire)

On Thursday night my uncle and I got together (with the rulebooks!  I’ve been running off memory up till now) to figure out the armies for ‘Da Snatch.’  Remember, our goal here was NOT about building the most effective, or even the most balanced lists (though we’d like the battle not to be a boring walk-over) – we want to have fun playing out a story!

For the Empire all we get to go on from the campaign pack is that the Idols are left under the protection of Manfred von Bock, ‘a reliable captain’, and a band of ‘picked guards.’  Also there were no knights (knights on guard duty? Surely you jest), wizards (none available – they’re sending to the Empire for one to fix the Idols!), or war-machines (too valuable for guard duty) allowed.

For us, guard duty suggested state troops who do what they’re told (like sleep beneath terrifying idols in foul weather) – especially spears and halberds so we started with big units of those.  Handgunners also made sense even though their effectiveness will be limited given the battle takes place at night – THEY don’t know that!

The detachment are just for flavour – gallant young bravos who are full of strut and song and are humoured by the halberdiers even though they tend to monopolize the prettiest girls and the most wine.

What next?  We’ve never really used hunters so we stuck them in – I have this imagining of a hard-bitten, grumbling tracker captain who thinks it’s complete madness to be lying out in the open around accursed idols but whole do his best to make sure there are no nasty surprises out in the wilderness.  It is probably due to his hunters – scouting out in the darkness – that the guarding force manages to get themselves into any sort of ranked defence before the goblins are upon them!

Finally the pistoliers!  Now the young men of the Pistolkorps tend to be nobles either serving some time in the military before taking up family responsibilities or ‘earning their spurs’ before entering a knightly order.  So this lot are entitled, hot-headed, untried in battle, and not keen on the tedium of guard duty.  Unlike the other troops, their interpretation of Von Bock’s orders are ‘flexible’ at best, but they are loyal, and when the enemy turns up they will do their bit (albeit with a lot less swagger).

So: here is (the more or less final - might make a couple of changes) Captain Manfred von Bock’s guard force. 

1000 point army
Heroes
Captain von Bock	60
Full plate armour	6
Shield	2
Pistol	5
Core
29 Halberdiers	174
Full command	30
Shields	29
5 Swordsmen (Detachment)	35
30 Spearmen	150
Full command	30
Shields	30
10 Handgunners	90
Marksman with Hochland long rifle	30
10 Handgunners	90
Marksman with Repeater handgun	20
Special
10 Huntsmen	80
Tracker	10
Musician	10
5 Pistoliers	90
Outrider with repeater pistol	20
Musician	10
Total	1001
	1001