Tactica Astra Militarum - Hellhounds

Howdy howdy ho everyone and welcome to my latest in the long-running Astra Militarum Tactica series! I have eagerly awaited the chance to review some of my favourite tanks employed by Imperial forces, the Hellhounds, and that day has finally come. While each of the three variants is distinct in regards to what their preferred targets are, all of them are almost identical in terms of role and profile that comparing each variant in the one article is not only logical but also sensible. While the incredible points reductions to most Leman Russ variants has in turn reduced the comparative value of the Hellhound tanks, that 7th Edition mostly revolves around mobility and clearing out opposing Objective Secured units gives these fast vehicles a solid place in many competitive army lists. I hope you enjoy this article!

Note that this can be considered a review of each Hellhound variant, including the Hellhound, Bane Wolf and Devil Dog. 

Tactica Astra Militarum - Rough Riders

Hello there everyone, I am Learn2Eel from Imperator Guides and I welcome you to my latest Astra Militarum Tactica article! Today I wanted to focus on Rough Riders, one of the earliest examples of cavalry in Warhammer 40,000 and a throwback to the mounted spear regiments employed by the conquering Mongols of ancient Asia (and yes, they were more famous for their bow riders). While their inherent fragility and hitting power after the charge are questionable traits for a competitive unit, their first round assault capabilities and mobility make them one of the hardest hitting units in the game for their points cost. While they aren't exactly the type of unit you would usually field in an Astra Militarum army list, using them as interdicting squads or as the cheap hunters they are makes them surprisingly worthwhile in lists that propel other mobile threats towards the enemy in numbers.

Dwarfs - Unit Overview - Special

Hello there everyone, my name is Learn2Eel and welcome to my newest set of Unit Overview articles focused on the "stunties" - the mighty Dwarfs from the Warhammer Fantasy setting. While much of the background Games Workshop employs is heavily inspired by sources such as Tolkien, their own version of Dwarfs has proven most successful by carving out their own identity and distinct traits. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran when it comes to all things small and bearded, I hope you find this a useful series and hope you enjoy it!

Dwarfs - Unit Overview - Core

Hello there everyone, my name is Learn2Eel and welcome to my newest set of Unit Overview articles focused on the "stunties" - the mighty Dwarfs from the Warhammer Fantasy setting. While much of the background Games Workshop employs is heavily inspired by sources such as Tolkien, their own version of Dwarfs has proven most successful by carving out their own identity and distinct traits. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran when it comes to all things small and bearded, I hope you find this a useful series and hope you enjoy it!

Total War: Rome II: Emperor Edition - Review

Greetings fellow hobbyists and gamers and welcome to my latest video game review! I am excited to finally articulate my thoughts on even just one game from a strategy battle series that has captivated millions of gamers across the world for almost two decades now, the highly acclaimed Total War series from Creative Assembly. Their latest offering in Rome II had a very rocky beginning when it was released all the way back in late 2013 with an endless supply of glitches or bugs, a wealth of features stripped out from the previous game - Shogun II - and several in-game systems (such as politics) that were either unexplained or had no depth whatsoever. With almost a year having passed since Rome II's initial release, Creative Assembly have completed what many would call a story of redemption; constant patches and bug-fixing have finally culminated into a huge content update and re-branding of the game aptly titled the "Emperor Edition". This is a free update for all Rome II owners and despite merely testing the waters of its scope and size - having invested well over 30 hours into it since the games' re-release as the Emperor Edition, and spending 120 hours on the native version - there is still much for me to articulate about and even more for you to enjoy. I hope you find this an entertaining and useful review!

Tactica Astra Militarum - Sentinels

Greetings everyone and welcome to the latest - and long delayed - installment of my Astra Militarum Tactica series! Though I tend not to employ them as much as I would like to because their rules and place in my particular army lists are sadly limited, Sentinels nonetheless provide some awesome nostalgic value for Star Wars and Imperial Guard fans alike. Aesthetically it is very clear where the inspiration for Sentinels come from, but the model itself mixes that unique World War I theme in typical of the Imperial Guard range to create one heck of an awesome model. As for their in-game usage, Sentinels aren't as generally useful as everyone would like them to be but there is at the very least a niche role they can fill for all kinds of Astra Militarum builds. Whether it is to provide cheap AP2 firepower on a mobile platform or inexpensive Outflanking heavy weapons is really up to you given that both Sentinel variants - Scout and Armoured, respectively - are almost identical in terms of points cost. I hope you enjoy this article!

Note that this can be considered a review for both Armoured Sentinels and Scout Sentinels, as the two are mostly identical outside of one or two differences.

Dwarfs - Unit Overview - Heroes

Hello there everyone, my name is Learn2Eel and welcome to my newest set of Unit Overview articles focused on the "stunties" - the mighty Dwarfs from the Warhammer Fantasy setting. While much of the background Games Workshop employs is heavily inspired by sources such as Tolkien, their own version of Dwarfs has proven most successful by carving out their own identity and distinct traits. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran when it comes to all things small and bearded, I hope you find this a useful series and hope you enjoy it!

Dwarfs - Unit Overview - Lords and Army Special Rules

Hello there everyone, my name is Learn2Eel and welcome to my newest set of Unit Overview articles focused on the "stunties" - the mighty Dwarfs from the Warhammer Fantasy setting. While much of the background Games Workshop employs is heavily inspired by sources such as Tolkien, their own version of Dwarfs has proven most successful by carving out their own identity and distinct traits. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran when it comes to all things small and bearded, I hope you find this a useful series and hope you enjoy it!

300 Posts and 700,000 life-to-date Views!

Hello friends, family and fans; my name is Learn2Eel and I have not one but two special announcements to make today or tonight, based on your time zone. Imperator Guides has been active since February 3, 2013 and has been an amazing experience for myself and its other contributors. The constant support and feedback has been nothing short of astounding and I cannot thank you all enough for what has become one of my main hobbies. As such, I am pleased to announce that not only is this the 300th post (or article) on the Imperator Guides blog, but we have exceeded 700,000 life-to-date views as of September 3, 2014 and at the current rate of average views per day we may very well reach 1,000,000 life-to-date views before the end of this calender year! Editor's Note: Of course, that was before we went down for a week and potentially alienated a big part of our fan-base, but hey, you can't blame the poor little Eel!

This is obviously a fantastic accomplishment for a blog that started out with the support of +Bell of Lost Souls and numerous other bloggers, appearing first as a collection of my old Tactica articles but evolving into one of the biggest blogs dedicated to tactics for Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy. I couldn't be more proud of the work we have done but most of all I cannot stress how grateful I am to all of our amazing fans and co-bloggers who have supported us on this journey. I hope we have many more experiences to share and that our content continues to improve in both quality and quantity - making a post every day is my ideal goal but unfortunately other commitments have made this impossible so far. In any case, I hope you have enjoyed your time with Imperator Guides so far and I hope to share many more articles with you in the future. Thank you again! Eel out.

WH40K Eternal Crusade - Angry Joe Show Pre-Alpha Impressions

Hello there everyone, Learn2Eel here with a quick post that is aimed specifically at Behaviour Interactive's awesome new Warhammer 40,000 MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). One of my favourite video-game channels on Youtube, the Angry Joe Show, has posted an in-depth one hour long look at the huge new game. I am sharing the game not only because Angry Joe recommended everyone to, but also because I am sure a lot of you are also as (or more) excited as I am for this! Please remember that all of the footage you see is from a build of the game barely a few months old, meaning that the game still has at least another year or two of development time to add polish and fix any issues. This should not be considered representative of the final game.

You can view the rest of the AngryJoeShow's fantastic video game and movie reviews at their Youtube channel, the AngryJoeShow. If you are a fan of video games then you will find few reviewers as balanced and humorous in their discussions as Angry Joe!

Thanks guys and I hope you enjoy the video! Let us know in the comments section if you have had any experiences with the big new Warhammer 40,000 game around the block and what you think of it.

Why Imperator Guides Temporarily Shut Down

Hey guys, with the blog now back up and running I am sure there is but one burning question on everyone's minds; what happened for the blog to be shut down in the first place? While I have been sharing updates on our Facebook page and also sought advice on +Bell of Lost Souls, a lot of you are doubtless in the dark about what transpired. With that in mind, here is the rundown;

a) Google's Terms of Service states that links to any malicious content (malware, also commonly known as viruses) in a blog will result in the blog being temporarily shut down until the malicious content (or links to it) is removed.
b) Blogger/Google have an automatic system for scanning links and detecting malware that reported malicious content had been detected in two of my year-old Space Marine articles. The only links in the articles were to pictures taken from Google Search.
c) Even though the pictures themselves were safe, clicking on them could redirect viewers to websites that contained malicious content. While the websites these images linked to (i.e. were sourced from) may not have necessarily contained malicious content when the articles were first posted, evidently malicious content has made its way on to those websites.
d) I do not know which pictures were specifically to blame, but I have since removed all pictures and any possible links from the two offending articles and placed them in "Draft" form - once the all-clear is given, I will re-post them as they are currently: safe and devoid of pictures.
e) I addressed the issue within a few hours of it being brought to my attention, but Google did not immediately re-instate the blog to full activity. This is obviously a warranted precaution and I must express my gratitude for their response, even if all of it was likely handled automatically without user input.

The timing of this situation was unfortunate not only for all the obvious reasons but mostly because the blog reached that amazing 700,000 view milestone only a few days before this occurred. In fact, the night of the blog being taken down was also when I was supposed to post up that "commemorating 300 posts" update! Unfortunate timing indeed, but thankfully it seems like no harm was done and the blog can resume as normal. Rest assured that I am still committed to bringing you tactics articles, video game reviews and other content as normal regardless of what has transpired this past week. I do not in any way want to have viewers' computers infected by malware or "viruses" so if this ever happens again I will be sure to let you all know about it and remove the compromised links where necessary.

All of that aside, I wish to express my gratitude for the continuing support of our fans, friends and family and wish you all a very good day. I am very sorry about what happened and accept full culpability for potentially risking the cyber-safety of any viewers of Imperator Guides. Hopefully this never happens again and we can all move on with what should be an exciting end to the hobby year with more End Times and various Warhammer 40,000 releases still to come. Have yourselves a lovely day! Eel out.

Tactica Astra Militarum - Militarum Tempestus

Hello there friends and welcome to my latest addition to the long running Astra Militarum Tactica series! I am proud to finally review this codex's personal rendition of Stormtroopers, the most elite human soldiers still in the employ of the Imperial Guard. These skilled marksmen are prepared for any challenge that lies before them and have carved their way through the foes of countless battles, earning a fearsome reputation as some of the Emperor's finest warriors. Though they are expensive per model for what is still a Strength and Toughness 3 shooter, they nonetheless prove their worth in much the same way as a squad of Veterans and fill the starring role in an Elites slot otherwise bereft of any truly high-tier competitive choices.

Note: As Militarum Tempestus Command Squads and Scions are virtually identical with only a few differences, this can be considered a review for both units. Specific sections will focus on either unit, but the general points raised apply to both Command Squads and Scions.

End Times Characters and Units Rules Review

The End Times have come and nothing will ever be the same, especially with a host of returning or updated special characters that are each a master of the battlefield in their own way. The Nagash and End Times series has kicked off to a fantastic start and I can't wait for future titles in the series - imagine if Tyrion, driven by grief, is forced to draw the Widowmaker and truly takes up the mantle of Aenarion reborn? - but right now the content in front of us simply amazing. These are some of the strongest characters in the game now and I can't wait to see them take to the fields of war!

Tactica Astra Militarum - Wyrdvane Psykers

Hello there family, friends and fans of Imperator Guides and welcome to our latest addition to the long-running Astra Militarum Tactica series! Psychic squads and characters are amongst the most heavily affected units with the new 7th Edition behind perhaps only Chariots for the sheer breadth of changes wrought, and Wyrdvane Psykers have become a far more important unit as a result. Being able to generate warp charge points is a necessity for any psyker to cast powers - especially against armies with potent psychic defences such as Grey Knights or Chaos Daemons - and Wyrdvane Psykers may have a place if only as a battery to power your Primaris Psykers. I hope you enjoy this article!

Tactica Astra Militarum - Ratlings

Hello there everyone, I am Learn2Eel and I am very happy to bring you the latest installment of my Astra Militarum Tactica series. Today ushers in my review of the appropriately titled Ratlings, models that are as miniature in proportion as they are in....well, the fact that they are "miniature miniatures"! Excuse my poor humour, but this specialist sniper unit is one that is intended more as a squad to spend throw-away points on because of their tiny minimal squad size and relatively inexpensive price per model. They may be vertically challenged but they sure do know how to punch below the table with their always annoying sniper weapons. Will the terrible and obviously unintentional puns continue in my review? Grab a pint and read on to find out; I hope you enjoy it!

We apologize for the discriminatory content of this article. Those responsible have been lynched.