Battlefield role: Sword-and-shield melee infantry.
Unit type: Melee infantry.
Content pack: Total War: WARHAMMER — Empire core roster. Immortal Empires ownership
Availability
- Part of the original Total War: Warhammer Empire roster. In Immortal Empires, use the base Empire troops available to your owned Empire campaign; The Grim and the Grave, The Hunter and the Beast, Thrones of Decay and Lords of the End Times add their own separate content.
- Total War: WARHAMMER unlocks Karl Franz and Balthasar Gelt’s Empire campaigns in Immortal Empires, including Swordsmen in the core roster.
- The Grim and the Grave, The Hunter and the Beast, and Elspeth — Thrones of Decay unlock other Empire lords. Boris Todbringer — Lords of the End Times also supplies a core Empire roster.
Official references
Hold a fight without sealing the gun line
Deploy Swordsmen where they can meet enemy infantry while the shooters keep firing. Their sword-and-shield equipment suits a conventional fighting line. Keep neighbouring regiments close enough to support a threatened section without crowding every soldier into the same melee.
Watch the flanks and keep another unit ready to intervene. Swordsmen tying down infantry create an opening for cavalry, a melee character or magic to help; leaving them to handle every threat alone removes that cooperation.
Use Swordsmen to engage approaching infantry and give the Empire’s damage dealers time to work. A continuous wall is easy to deploy, but gunpowder troops behind it may lose their direct line of fire. Leave protected lanes or arrange a position from which guns can fire into an exposed side.
Keep cavalry or another reserve near a threatened flank. If Swordsmen turn to meet a fast attacker, another part of the front may open. Reinforce that position before sending every mobile unit on a distant pursuit.
Recruiting State Troops
Swordsmen belong to the Empire’s regular infantry roster. Use the local recruitment panel and the infantry recruitment buildings available to the faction. Wulfhart’s expedition also has its own campaign supply systems, so plan replacements around the recruitment options in that campaign.
Spearmen, Halberdiers and Greatswords have different equipment and jobs. Choose the actual unit entry needed by the army rather than treating every Imperial infantry regiment as interchangeable.
Artillery and characters behind the line
A Helstorm Rocket Battery threatens infantry while it is still at a distance. Once Swordsmen are in contact, choose a safer artillery target or stop firing into that fight. Protecting your own line matters more than continuing the same barrage.
Franz, Theodore Bruckner or Emil Valgeir can help a contested melee. Gelt and Elspeth add spellcasting. Keep the relevant character close enough to influence the engagement while preserving lanes for the army’s guns.
Pick the weapon for the threat
The recruitment name is Swordsmen. Their swords and shields suit an infantry engagement. Spearmen and Halberdiers are separate Empire regiments with polearm roles; Greatswords are a distinct great-weapon unit.
Use shields with the regiment facing incoming missiles, and avoid leaving the unit isolated against armour-piercing attacks or several attackers. A state-troop line works as part of a combined army, with support ready to exploit the enemy it has engaged.
Use the core Empire roster in Immortal Empires
Recruit Swordsmen through the Empire’s infantry recruitment buildings. The building browser and local recruitment panel identify where the regiment can be raised; campaign-specific troops may have additional systems.
As the army develops, retain enough infantry to protect the expensive units around it. Adding artillery or a wizard increases the value of a stable front, but also makes it more important to keep the enemy away from the support behind that front.
Race and roster
All profiled and notable units for this race · Compare all profiled units