State troops can be used as individual units, parent units, or detachments. This gives them a great deal of variety in use. With your state troops, you'll usually want to have a least one detachment; two for your core units. A detachment of Swordsmen or Free Company troops is great for counter-charging an enemy (especially useful for spearmen and handgunners, who are usually going to get charged and not be charging themselves), and a detachment of archers will allow a unit to soften up their target before they reach it as well as provide some supporting missile fire should the unit be charged.

Halberdiers are the backbone of your army's battle line. They are relatively cheap, and equipped with a weapon that can be used equally well for attacking or defending. Halberdiers can be included in any part of an Empire army, whether it's the assault force or the defense. Always take halberdiers in large units of at least 20 models.

Spearmen are a great defense unit, but not as good for assaulting. They gibe you a good solid unit to use for defending your missile troops, however, and are even better in this role when backed by a couple of detachments, whether they're swordsmen for counter-charging or archers for missile fire support.

Swordsmen are your best assault troops in the core units. They have a good WS, and are armoured decently. In hand to hand combat, they have a 4+ save - equal to full plate armour! Given a detachment each of Free Companies and archers, swordsmen will cause a great deal of harm to your opponent's troops. The swordsmen's charge will be backed up by missile fire from the bowmen as well as a flank charge by the detachment. Without their rank bonus, and facing what should be a numerically superior unit, most units will flee the combat after a turn or two.

Handgunners are a very useful missile unit, but are limited by being unable to move and fire, and having a relatively short range. Don't let this bother you, because handgunners are still a great unit for defending your artillery and lending some supporting fire to your units. Handgunners are especially useful against units like heavy cavalry, where they have a good chance of wounding and will reduce the armour save of their targets by -2, bringing most heavy cavalry (who have a 2+ save) down to a 4+.

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MILITIA TROOPS

Militia troops can form individual units or detachments. All three of the militia units make great detachments. Free Company troops can provide a nasty counter-charge or help when charging an enemy. Archers and Crossbowmen also help in a defensive role, firing upon charging units before the unit can engage the missile unit's parent unit. Don't underestimate the usefulness of militia troops as individual units. Archers and Free Companies are great for protecting your flanks, and  crossbowmen can form a useful defensive anchor.

Free Companies are useful as individual units and detachments.  They are cheap, and are allowed two attacks in hand to hand because of their additional hand weapon. As detachments, they are ideal for counter-charging or supplementing a charge, attacking the flank of an opposing unit. As an individual unit, they can move forward to attack the enemy. Make sure you take them in large units, so they aren't quickly taken out. Because of their light armour, free companies are not prime candidates for leading an assault, and so should be used as a supporting unit to supplement a charge by a stronger unit.

Archers are a very useful unit, whether they're used as individual units or detachments. You should use them as both.  As skirmishers, archers are good for defending your flanks, and are hard to take out with opposing missile fire. You'll need to keep your archers moving to give them range and access to the best targets, but this isn't a problem as their bows are able to move and fire, unlike the weapons employed by handgunners and crossbowmen.

A single unit of archers can be upgraded to Huntsmen, and this is something you should look into. Being armed with longbows and having the ability to deploy forward at the beginning of the game makes huntsmen a prime unit to use as snipers of a sort, disrupting your opponent's battle plan by causing casualties to some of his best units while remaining in a position where it will be hard for him to retaliate. Huntsmen are great for distracting your opponent, but are also vulnerable, so make sure you give them as much protection as possible in the form of woods, location, and accessibility.

Crossbowmen are the third missile unit available to the Empire.  They are best used for defense, since they can't fire their crossbows if they move. Because the crossbows are S4, crossbowmen are good for defending against tough or well-armoured units. Crossbowmen should be protected in turn by spearmen or some other unit, preventing them from being charged.

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KNIGHTS

Knights can only be used as individual units. They are your shock troops, forming the fast moving, hard hitting assault component for your army. Don't forget to support them with pistoliers and missile fire from archers, as even the mightiest charge by your Knights will be repulsed without the aid of missile fire and artillery.

Your basic Knights are awesome assault units. You should always try to get at least eight Knights in a unit, and in some circumstances twelve Knights will be useful. Because they are cavalry, Knights count as two models for unit strength and so will not be easily outnumbered. Because Knights are rather devastating on the charge, you might end up breaking your opponent, leaving your Knights open to a counter-charge by your opponent. Because of this danger, you should think about whether or not pursuing a broken unit is worth it, because you might present your flank or rear should your do so.

Knights of the White Wolf are an awesome combat unit, regardless of their lack of a shield. On a charge they are able to get a +2S bonus in the same manner as Knights with lances, but on subsequent turns the cavalry hammers will allow the White Wolves to keep striking with +1S. This can be very effective in taking out tough foes.

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Greatswords are a wonderful unit, being heavily armed and armoured. The combination of full plate armour and great weapon gives Greatswords good attacking power as well as staying power.  Greatswords are one of the best units available for leading an assault, especially when backed by a swordsman unit or two.  Greatswords also have some usefulness as a defensive unit, but in my opinion this is a waste of their abilities. Greatswords are best used against tough opponents where their extra +2S will not be wasted.

Pistoliers are a wonderful harassment unit, with other uses.  They are able to provide some mobile protection for your Knights, both in the form of missile fire and flank protection, and make a great unit for attacking small opposing units that they have shot up before assaulting. Don't try to attack large or tough units with Pistoliers, though. You can use them in their Knight protection role to charge the flanks of units engaged by the Knights.

Great Cannons are some of the most powerful artillery in the game, and their bounce through ability allows them to take out multiple opponents, and even harm multiple units. Great Cannons should be taken against armies with tough units that will take a lot of cracking, at which the Great Cannon excels. I suggest setting up your Great Cannon(s) to get the best possible targets, as well as placing it on a hill if possible to prevent easy access to it by a charging opponent. Artillery needs protection, so try to keep a unit nearby to help, even if it's just a small unit.

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The Helblaster has short range, but devastating firepower.  The Helblaster's best (and practically only) use is to defend your other artillery and defensive troops. If placed on a hill,  hopefully in the middle of your defense line, with a good line of sight to most of the battlefield within range, you'll be able to devastate any unit that attempts to charge your line.  The threat of the Helblaster is sometimes greater than its actual ability, so use this psychological advantage. Most opponents simply will not charge into a Helblaster's range, and with good reason.

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Detachments can be classified as two types. First, there are close combat detachments, which add some extra hand to hand fighting capability to the unit. These detachments include swordsmen, halberdiers, free companies, and similar units. The other type of detachment is missile detachments. These consist of those detachments that lend supporting missile fire to a unit. This category includes archers, handgunners, and crossbowmen.

Close combat detachments have many uses. First off, they can support a charge by their parent unit or counter charge an opponent who charged their parent unit. In either case, they will charge the flank of the unit their parent unit is engaged with. Though they won't cause panic in the unit, they will still gain a flank attack bonus and deny the units its rank bonus, assuming your detachment unit still has at least a five unit strength.

Close combat detachments can also be moved forward to block an incoming charge from a powerful unit. When they finally break, they will not cause panic, and could leave the enemy unit standing in front of your parent unit, who will be ready to charge it in the next turn.

If you're not bothered about losing your bonuses for being close to the parent unit, your close combat detachments can occasionally move forward to engage small units themselves. This can help if your parent unit is a missile unit in danger of being assaulted, or one of your other units needs helped. I recommend you bring the detachments back to their parent unit once you're through with their task, otherwise you might risk leaving the parent unit without their protection and aid.

Missile detachments provide supporting fire while your close combat units move forward, lend some extra missile fire to your missile units, and add their supporting fire to a parent unit that is being charged. The benefits of a missile detachment are pretty obvious. You have, in effect, a small missile unit assigned to provide aid to the parent unit, with all of the abilities missile units have.

Once your opponent learns how dangerous your detachments are, he may take steps to get rid of them. This will almost always come in the form of charges. To prevent, or at least discourage, this, deploy your detachments to the sides and just slightly behind your parent units. Keep them in this position as the parent unit moves around. This will give your opponent two choices: charge the parent unit, or try to charge the detachment unit and open themselves up to a flank or rear charge by another unit. If the detachment belonged to a parent unit in your main battle line, then your opponent will find his unit breaking through and presenting his rear to a number of your units, and panicking none of them. If you have a Helblaster volley gun, your opponent will also find himself staring at the wrong end of it from a very close, and very dangerous, range. (I think it goes without saying that you shouldn't fire any other type of artillery at a unit that close to your own troops.)

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Because your troops and characters are only average, you might be tempted to use magic items to increase their abilities.  Don't fall into this trap. Some items are useful, but it is often far more useful to purchase more troops than expensive magic items. It is often the number of troops you have, and not the quality of the magic items, that will make the difference in a combat.

One of the best things you can do to ensure success is to learn not only your own units and forces, but also your opponents'.  If you learn your troops, but don't know what your opponent can do, you won't be able to win many games. If you know both your troops and your opponents', you'll be able to win most of your games. Conversely, if you don't know your opponents' troops or your own, you will be doomed to failure. So borrow your friends' army books for a few days and learn their abilities.  If possible, buy a copy of each army book for you own personal library.  This way you won't have to keep borrowing books, and you can spend more time learning the abilities of your opponents' troops.

The Empire's tactics usually involve the use of a battle formation, the way you set your army up at the beginning of a battle. This allows you to determine what you will do and often helps you stick to it before the battle begins.

The first tactic for the Empire, and one of the best in my experience, is known as the Weighted Flank formation. In this formation, you place your strongest units at one end of your line and then work down to the weakest unit. A variant of this is the Echeloned Line, in which your strongest unit is deployed furthest forward, with the weaker units deploying slightly "behind" it, in a sort of stepped line (the "echeloned line" which gives the formation its title). Both formations work the same. You move forward with the stronger part of your line, until you finally assault the flank of your opponent's battle line. Traditionally, most people set up with their strongest units in the center of their line. What this means is that your strongest units will be facing units that are weaker than yours. Once you assault them, they will likely break. Then you can begin wheeling your line around to attack each of his units in turn, finally assaulting his strongest units with an overwhelming force. Your best bet is to have one or two units of Knights, backed by some Swordsmen and maybe some Greatswords, to form the strong end of your line. You'll also want a good number of missile units and artillery, which you can use to weaken your opponent's units before you assault them.

The castle formation is a great defensive formation, but it is only a defensive formation. You'll need a hill to make it work, preferably with two levels. On the top level of the hill, you'll place your artillery, giving them a superior view of the battlefield. On the lower level(s), you'll place your missile units with a few units to protect them from being assaulted. This gives your missile troops a good view of the battlefield and permits a larger number of the troops in them to fire each turn. At the base of the hill, you'll have a "moat" of assault units, protecting the "walls" of missile units and the "keep" of artillery. You can launch a few assaults with the "moat" units if you want, or have some extra units to attack with, but overall they will usually not do much good. This tactic best works with a large number of missile units and lots of artillery, with which you can pound the opposing units from relative safety.

If you're feeling like taking a traditional approach to a battle, then a Spearhead might be the tactic for you, though it has its weaknesses. You arrange your strongest units into a "spearhead" in the middle of your battle line, then move them forward quickly and assault the enemy's middle units. This can well break your opponent's line wide open, but it can also leave your spearhead units open to be closed in on by your opponent's flank units. Don't try this without a strong selection of units for the spearhead, which should include at least two units of Knights.

Although it may seem odd, the Horns of the Bull tactic, or just the Horns, is also a good trick for the Empire, due to the availability of Knights as Core Units. With the Horns, you place strong, fast units on your army's flanks, with a solid line of infantry between them.  During the battle, keep your battle line longer than your opponent's.   You can choose either to move forward and assault your opponent's army with your own, or wait for him to engage your army.  Once your army makes contact with his, circle around the flanks of his army and hit it from the sides.  This will mean that his army is engaged from three directions.  Once you destroy or run off his flanking units, move inward and behind the army, using your own flanking units to close in and prevent your opponent's troops from having an easy escape.  This movement gives the tactic its name; your flanking cavalry curve inward around your opponent's army, shaping your battle line line the horns on a bull's head.  Performed correctly, this tactic will usually devastate an army.  Just make sure you don't neglect your battle line.   Use strong defensive units.  A selection of spearmen and archers is great, backed by some detachments of swordsmen.

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Skirmish games are small, semi-chaotic games. You can buy almost any troops you want to, and there are no units. This allows great freedom amongst the different models, and means you will be dealing with far more actions than you have to in a pitched battle. Your opponent is likely to move around, find good avenues of attack and cover for his missile troops to snipe from, then use them to attack your troops. The only way to prevent this, of course, is to take most of the high ground early with your own missile troops and form bands of two or three close combat troops searching for your opponent's troops and taking them out. Skirmish games are as much about quality as they are quantity. While the Empire certainly has the latter, they do not have much of the former in their individuals. For this reason, you should always play it safe by ganging up on individual models as much as possible. This gives you a far better chance. Just use cover to your best advantage, and gang up on your opponent's troops, and you should do well. Go with mostly infantry, backed up by some cavalry. Artillery is, quite frankly, useless.

Siege games offer two approaches, depending on whether you're the attacker or defender. As an Empire general, your army is well suited to both.

The Empire has access to many cannons and mortars, which can help them a lot in besieging a castle. While the cannon is one of the best artillery pieces available to attack castle walls, the mortar is not so grand. However, the mortar can be used to lob shells onto and over the castle walls, killing troops and making it easier for your troops to reach the castle and take it. A good mix of both will help you immensely. Don't try to over powder your cannons, unless you are very desperate.

It takes a long time to knock down a castle's walls, For this reason, you can't rely on your artillery alone. You'll need to assault the castle, quickly. The cheapest way to do this is with ladders, but your troops are likely to get slaughtered as they try to man the ramparts, unless you've managed to find a hole in the rampart defenses. Rams can, with time, break through the gates, but during that time you will likely take many casualties, unless you have a great diversion. So the best route is the siege tower, manned by one of your better units. You'll need to either smash the gate or capture the ramparts above it with any unit you can up there. Expect to run into heavy resistance while you do this, because capturing the ramparts above the gates will allow you to open the gates for your troops. This will allow them to flood in and overwhelm the castle's defenders, winning the game.

During the siege, don't forget your missile troops. Give them mantlets, and they will be well protected while they give your troops some covering fire and act as a good distraction. Missile troops are also useful for thinning down units holding the ramparts from your troops' assaults, so don't forget to fire at them when the opportunity presents itself.

Defending a castle is entirely different from besieging it, as you'll have to combat the threats of troops storming your castle walls and bursting through your gates. It's a good idea to spend the 20 points for a reinforced gate, and take some units of Greatswords and swordsmen to defend the ramparts. Greatswords are very useful against troops using ladders or grappling hooks, as they will strike first and hit with a Strength 5, likely enough to kill any troops trying to get up the wall that way. Your Swordsmen will be able to fight troops using siege towers, as the swordsmen are skilled and equipped well.

Your other defenses should include missile troops to fire at incoming attackers. Don't worry too much about opposing missile units, unless they become too much of a problem. You'll need to thin the ranks of the attackers as quickly as possible. Once they reach the walls, you should have some boiling oil and rocks ready to hit them. I recommend a pot of boiling oil stationed above the gates, to hit any unit trying to break through it with a ram.