Starting Out: Imperium

Trains, Zeppelins, and Giant Robots. Or maybe you’re just a fan of traditional warships. Either way, the Imperium has you covered.

The lists I’m suggesting are leaning towards good lists, but fairly balanced in playstyle for new players. I’m not aiming to go all in on one particular aspect.

This was written for the 3.05 Orbat.

Overview

The Imperium strikes me as a Jack-Of-All-Trades Faction made up mostly of specialists. Most of your unit choices are good at one specific thing, while also being at least decent at assaulting. You can bring an answer for anything, but then again a list can only fit so much.

Scandinavians are a bit different. All of their ships mount a lightning cannon in the front, and are ridiculously good at assaulting. Even their merchant ships. Especially their merchant ships. They’re more suited to a rush in play style.

Offense: Strong at close and medium range, with good assault. Scandinavians lean even more into close range and assaulting.

Defence: Tending towards average, with tough flagships. Scandinavians and Zeppelins are more fragile.

Movement: Average, with some focus on deep strike shenanigans. Scandinavians are faster.

Point Cost: Tends to be on the higher end for Flagships and Cruisers, but you get what you pay for. Scandinavians tend to be on the cheaper end instead.

Models: Most ships lean towards a more modern naval look. The modular nature and train tracks on most ships tend to be love it or hate it, though if you’re not a fan the superstructure generally covers it up. Scandinavians are even sleeker, some of the best models in the game in my opinion.

Options

I’ll be listing prices directly from the Wayland Games website, in pounds. Especially in Europe and probably the UK as well, you can get discounts from various retailers.

Imperium Starter Set

Imperium Starter Set by Warcradle Studios

Cost: 60£

Templates/Tokens/Dice: Yes

This is one of the best starter sets, and a great way to start the game. It comes with everything you need, and the full variety of Prussian surface choices. The Kaiser is also a staple choice for playing Imperium, and its modular nature means you can try some alternatives with it later.

List Idea:

Imperium Faction Battlefleet

Kaiser Pattern Heavy Battleship (Shield Generator)
Sigimer Destroyer x2 (Attached Kaiser)
Konrad Support Carrier x2 (Volt Gun Battery)
Blucher Cruiser x2
Nachtsturm Flak Frigate x4

1000 Points

This gives you a nicely mixed force, with some carrier and flak support. Due to the modular nature of Prussian ships, you are not locked into anything here other than possibly the support cruisers, depending on how you assemble them. The frigates and destroyers in particular have many variants distinguished by their armament. While the flagship has variants, the Kaiser is generally considered the best, due to increased toughness and Fortunes of War.

Expanding:

This box gives you a solid rock to start from, in whichever direction you want to go. The Templehof or Falkenstein Battlefleets give you some more carrier potential, including the Imperium’s bomber wings in the Templehof’s case. The Konig opens up the Teutonic subfaction (even more elite ships), defensive buffs, and deep strike shenanigans. The Hochmeister Battlefleet gets you giant robots.

And finally, any of the below options will also appreciate having a solid surface fleet to back them up. In particular, the Scions of Jutland Battlefleet gives you a close range contingent (and the aforementioned giant robots), and the Escorts, Submarines, and Colossi (as Metzger) can all be used for a Prussian fleet as well.

Sturginium Skies / Zeppelin Battlefleet

Sturginium Skies by Warcradle Studios

Cost: 47.5£ (Half of Sturginium Skies) / 78£ (Zeppelin Battlefleet + Support Squadron)

Templates/Tokens/Dice: Maybe

Splitting a Sturginium Skies box gets you the same stuff as the Zeppelin Battlefleet plus a Support Squadron at a much cheaper price. The starter box also comes with 2 sets of game materials, except for the templates, which are only included once. If you can arrange a split with someone, it’s a very cheap way to get started.

The issue with this fleet though is that it is almost entirely aerial, and also quite strong rules wise. When playing against other new players, this fleet can be oppressive right out of the box, without any particular effort. Don’t let that stop you if you love Zeppelins, and a good deal is a good deal, but I’d suggest starting with the 1 Player Starter instead.

I’ll be going over this a bit later, but just to cover the common questions:

Stark Imperium vs. Zeppelin: Both are great, build what you prefer.

Prussians vs. Bavarians: Again, both are great and fairly similar, but build both sprues in the same faction so you can build a legal list with them.

Uber Volt Vierling vs. Sturmbringer vs. Luftspeerschleuders: The Uber Volt Vierling is the best generalist option. The Sturmbringer is a more specialized point blank anti shield generator tool. The Luftspeerschleudern is your only long range option, but lags behind the other two choices quite a bit otherwise.

List Idea:

Prussian Support Battlefleet

Stark Imperium Skyfortress (Uber Volt Vierling, 3 Escorts)
Sigimer Destroyer x4 (Gun Batteries)
Jaeger Aerial Fast Destroyer x4
Kriegsturm Assault Airship x2 (Uber Volt Vierling)
Konrad Support Carrier

999 Points

Stark Imperium + Konrad gives you a bit of a long range option that Zeppelins generally lack. Jaegers and to a lesser extent the Kriegsturm Airships want to get into point blank and melt whatever they can reach. This is about as balanced as a list that you can make with this box.

Expanding:

If you can’t split a Sturginium Skies box (and don’t want a small Crown fleet), I’d probably skip the Support Squadron and just go with the Imperium Starter and Zeppelin Battlefleet instead. Zeppelins will be less problematic at 1500, and your opponent will appreciate having some surface ships to shoot at. Otherwise, more Zeppelins is also an option.

Ice Maiden Battlefleet

Ice Maiden Battlefleet by Warcradle Studios

Cost: 95£

Templates/Tokens/Dice: No

While you do get 3 frontline and support sprues, covering almost all build options, the Ice Maiden is a problematic flagship for starting out. At 555 points for its most common loadout, it’s more than half your list at 1K, and very lethal at long range. A new player is going to have a bad time facing that, especially if you’re low on terrain as well. I would advise against picking this up first.

List Idea:

Imperium Faction Battlefleet

SMS Eiskalten Schoenheit
Toten Heavy Destroyer x5
Volsung Strike Cruiser x2
Blucher Cruiser x3
Nachtsturm Flak Frigate x5

1478 Points

This list gives you a good variety of units to try, and a mix of fire support, medium range skirmishing, and close in brawlers. This box does give you quite a lot of options; you’ll be able to try almost all Prussian units. The main issue is only having one flagship, since the Prussian and Teutonic fleets only come with 3 surface slots. As such, the faction battlefleet will be your best bet until you pick up another flagship.

Expanding:

Your priority should be picking up another flagship. I would look at the Konig or Kaiser to provide a more solid frontline. The Imperium Starter would be a solid pick, or you could go for a Scandinavian detachment for more variety.

Scions of Jutland Battlefleet (Scandinavians)

Scions of Jutland Battlefleet by Warcradle Studios

Cost: 85£

Templates/Tokens/Dice: No

Scandinavians are a fun, different way to play Imperium. They lean more into a horde assault fleet, rather than the Prussian’s more elite play style. The new Scions of Jutland Battlefleet lets you build a fairly solid fleet right out of the box, and can also be used as mercenaries (more on that here).

List Idea:

Scandinavian Reaver Battlefleet

Valhalla Fast Dreadnaught (2x Heavy Shock Rocket Battery)
Hoth Heavy Corvette x2 (Attached Valhalla)
Gungir Raider x2 (Sturmklaue)
Angrboda Midget Sub Carrier (Sturmklaue)
Gefjon Merchantman (Freya Array, Attached (Angrboda))
Einherjar Vitruvian Colossus
Fenrir Hunter Submarine x3

998 Points

As you can see, Scandinavians can fit quite a lot into even a lower points total. They tend to be lacking in long range fire support, though the Valhalla and Fenrir cover that, and everything except the Fenrirs are terrifying up close.

The only reason I’m suggesting Gungir here rather than the new Bogmaor Flak Cruiser is that the box doesn’t currently come with any flak turrets. If your playgroup is fine with proxying, or you already have some, build those instead. Of course, it’s fairly trivial to magnetize between the two.

Scandinavian Reaver Battlefleet

Valhalla Fast Dreadnaught (2x Heavy Shock Rocket Battery, 3 Escorts)
Hoth Heavy Corvette x4
Jotun Heavy Raider x2 (Sturmklaue)
Angrboda Midget Sub Carrier x2 (Sturmklaue)
Einherjar Vitruvian Colossus x2
Fenrir Hunter Submarine x4
Valkyrie Hunt Rotor x2

1482 Points

You can go up to 1500 with one box, though that’s more of an everything and the kitchen sink build. I’d probably suggest expanding with the options below instead, but other than the min Valkyries this is still a solid list.

Expanding:

If you plan to run Scandinavians, the first thing you want to pick up is the Ragnarok Battlefleet box, for a second (cheaper) flagship. After that, you’ll probably mainly need more Scandinavian Support Squadrons (the cruisers come with many options, and Valkyries are one per sprue), or possibly another Scions of Jutland Battlefleet if you’re planning a full Scandinavian fleet.

If you’re leaning towards playing Scions of Jutland, a second Scions of Jutland Battlefleet is probably the best start to pick up another flagship, followed by whatever Squadrons you want more of (In my opinion, Support).

Note that Valkyries are 1 per Support Sprue, so they are kind of a pain to get multiple units of. Going Valkyrie heavy is probably the closest this game gets to an expensive list. If you are interested in playing them, consider proxying first.

Build Choices/Priority

As always, I’d suggest magnetizing weapon mounts. I’m listing what I would consider the most important ships to assemble, if you aren’t planning on magnetizing any major parts of the hull. Weapon mounts are easy enough that I’m not giving you a pass there.

Flagship choices will be added to a semi-appropriate sprue, if they are more complicated than just magnetizing regular turret mounts. In general, they’re quite easy.

Prussian Frontline

These can be fully magnetized, bluetac’d, or even just set on the hull. The only thing that’s really set in stone without magnets is which form of the mortar you want, and both are fairly good. The Frigate variants are just weapon swaps.

Kaiser/Elector/Heidelberg: same modular rail system as the cruisers.

Ice Maiden: Front weapons are on rails like the cruisers.

Prussian Support

I’d suggest building a Konrad or two to start with, if you don’t want to make it more modular. You should be able to switch between the Konrad and Ferdinand, like with the Prussian Frontline Cruisers. The Destroyer variants are just weapon swaps.

Falkenstein: same modular rail system, except for the rear, which just uses a fixed Konrad deck.

Scandinavian Frontline

Start with a full unit of the new Bogmaor. If you magnetize the gun and the freya array, you can also use them as Gungir instead. After that, it’s more of a personal taste question. I love how the Jotunn looks. Some people like what the Odin brings to the table. You can’t really go wrong here.

Scandinavian Support

Start with a Gefjon so you can run Scions if you want. After that I think the Angrboda is the most interesting choice. All the other options share a layout, the most interesting being the Heimdall (with the Thor being a bit of a special case. It should be doable).

As such, 1 Gefjon, 1-2 Angrboda, and 1-2 Heimdall hull bases should cover you very well starting out.

I personally like the idea of running a full 5 model unit of Gefjons, but that’s probably a more long term plan.

The Valhalla/Asgard/Skjalden/Skagerrak looks complicated, but is actually fairly easy to magnetize fully. I’ll cover it below. If you don’t want to do that, you’ll have to pick between Valhalla, Skjalden, or Asgard/Skagerrak, which only differ in the front turret. I’d go for the Asgard/Skagerrak due to being cheaper, unlocking all the Valkyries, and potentially Scions, but the Valhalla is also a valid choice.

A note for Prussian players: This sprue comes with the default escort, and the Fenrir Submarines are also available as Prussian.

Fully magnetized Flagship. Easier than it looks.

Hochmeister Vitruvian Colossus

Magnetizing between the Hochmeister and Metzger is not hard, but not completely trivial either if you want the shoulder guns lined up nicely. If you don’t want to magnetize, 2 Hochmeisters and a Metzger is probably a good start, though the Metzger is only really interesting if you want to take one in a Prussian Detachment.

If playing Scandinavians, 2 Einherjar should cover you for a good while. If you go double Scions boxes, I would consider building #3 and #4 as Hochmeister or Metzger.

Zeppelin

Tl;dr: Zeppelin or Stark Imperium with Uber Volt Vierling or Sturmbringer

Just save yourself the pain and don’t try magnetizing. Build what looks the coolest and proxy if necessary. If you want to go by rules, I’d suggest building the Uber Volt Vierling (4 Barrel Gun), it’s an all around great weapon. The Sturmbringer (Pointy Spike) is more specialized, letting you ignore shields. The Luftspeerschleuder (Cone with Torpedo Tubes) is the only option with long range, but is generally weaker than the other two.

As for Zeppelin vs Stark Imperium, both are great and cover similar roles. While both have some long range punch (SRS vs Rockets), both prefer to be at closing for the Uber Volt Vierling, Flak Arrays, and in the Zeppelin’s case bombs. I’d probably build suggest building your first one as a Stark Imperium just for the SRS utility, but you’re not going to regret the Zeppelin either. If your playgroup doesn’t exile you for it, you can play Oops (almost) all Zeppelins with the Iron Skies Battlefleet though.

Aerial

I would suggest picking whether you want Bavarians or Prussians, and building all of them that way to make your list building work. Both options do basically the same thing. Jaegers and Munichs shred anything at point blank. Nurembergs can deep strike and annihilate something (Consider the sturmbringer here, since you’re almost guaranteed point blank). The Kriegsturm is more of a general purpose close in and engage unit, I think the Uber Volt Vierling is optimal there.

Assembly and Magnetization

Some of these really go into the weeds, depending on how frustrating the kit is (Scandinavian Frontline, I’m looking at you).

Magnetization 101: Make yourself a Polarity Stick. Cut a piece of sprue to about 5cm/2”, and glue a magnet to one end. I named that end Arm (initially used for Adeptus Titanicus). Put another magnet on that one and add some paint to the visible surface of it. Glue the painted side to the other end of the stick. I named that end Weapon. When you need to add a magnet to a model, you can now use the appropriate end of your tool to ensure the polarity is correct.

To ensure two (flush) pieces match up precisely, place your first magnet on one piece. Dab some paint on the magnet. Then press the second piece where it’s supposed to go, and carefully pull it off again. You should have a dot of paint right where you need to drill to perfectly place the second magnet.

Magnets hold best when touching, so if you want a strong hold try to get them flush.

Prussian Frontline

These cruisers are fully modular; even without magnets; the only option which is generally glued is the bombard cannon barrels. I personally added 2x1mm magnets in the front and back along the tracks to secure the options, but blue-tac or gravity will work as well. The only tricky bit is the Schaumburg’s trains, which are quite narrow so 2mm is almost too large, and sometimes don’t stand up perfectly with how I placed the magnets. Skill issue.

For the frigates, magnetize the weapon slots. You can then build the Nachtsturm variant by adding the flak guns from the Support or Zeppelin sprues.

Prussian Support

The problem with the cruisers is that most of the builds require Part 21. While you can magnetize the parts that go on it, it’s going to be a bit of a pain. So you have a few choices:

Accept that your ships are switchable between the Ferdinand and what you built them as.
Buy the Falkenstein Battlefleet, which comes with some extra resin copies of Part 21.
Scratchbuild a replacement. You basically just need a rectangle cut out of plasticard. The parts on top should hide it well enough, no extra effort needed.
Magnetize. It’s a small part, with 3 slots that need to be magnetized for the Flak Array. This will be a pain, especially if you want to magnetize to the cruiser hull as well.

For the Destroyers, magnetizing the weapon slots is again your friend. While the Toten are very good, the other options also have their niche, and Toten are limited in Prussian fleets.

Scandinavian Frontline

These are a pain to assemble. First, make sure you clean off every last bit of the sprue gates, they are generally right where you need to glue. Then, build your subassemblies. Glue together the 3 drive panels per side (24-29, you can also attach 21 and 20 already), the 2 bridge pieces (31 32, cutting off the bottom pegs, roof optional at this point), the broadsides into the side panels, and the funnels (38-41, top piece again optional).

Once everything for one cruiser is ready, start assembly with plastic glue, in one go. You need the pieces to still be moveable to get everything lined up right. Slot together the rear assembly as shown, Then attach the side panels. That should all still be reasonably lined up. Now comes the hard part. While 30 has guides in the hull, they tend not to fit well, so you’ll have to straighten these pieces out yourself. Slot in 30, then add the funnels and get 30 seated properly using the funnels as a guide. Then add 33 from the front, which should seat properly if 30 and the funnels are in the right place. Otherwise slide everything around until it fits. Once it does, let it dry so you don’t mess it up again.

The remaining assembly is fine. For the front, glue together the nose (1,2,3) and then add the deck piece for the variant you’re building. Then add the side armor panels, and once that’s somewhat dry you can slot it onto the front of the bridge.

Scandinavian Support

These come together better than the Frontline cruisers, but I’d still be very careful about cleaning off gates.

As for variants, the Gefjon and Angrboda have a unique rear, that you might be able to magnetize between (I did not, for now). All other variants just have different equipment in the rear turret slot, except for the Thor, but that should also be doable if you’re interested in running it. Consider, however, that if you want to play Valkyries you will end up with so many of these cruisers anyway.

As for the Valhalla/Skjalden/Asgard/Skagerrak, it’s actually fairly easy. The bridge section magnetizes to the hull, and the middle landing pads can be glued entirely to that section (though I left them off for painting, for now). The front landing pad just magnetizes like a turret.

The rear is a bit trickier, but not too bad either. First, assemble the Valhalla sub dock rear section, without attaching it to the hull. I placed the sub piece into the slot, then glued a side on. Once that was set nicely, I added the other side and the spoiler.

Trim the guide pegs, then mount a magnet on each side. Now use the paint trick to get both rear sections precisely aligned with your already placed magnets.

Hochmeister Vitruvian Colossus

Magnetizing the weapons (at the wrist and shoulders) is easy, magnetizing between Hochmeister and Metzger is a little harder. I mounted magnets on top of the shoulder ball joints, and use the weapon magnet to hold the Hochmeister shoulder panel in place. The Metzger shoulder panel just got a magnet on the bottom.

There’s an issue during assembly, the backpack doesn’t line up properly with the pegs on the back of the torso. I ended up cutting off the backpack mount from the torso side pieces entirely, and just slotting the backpack on carefully (since you won’t have guides). Some people have also reported just removing the pegs works too.

Zeppelin

Giant plastic flagships, it’s great. Sadly, magnetizing this is going to be at least a moderate amount of pain, depending on what all you want to be able to switch. I ended up not magnetizing the weapons, and I glued my Zeppelin and Stark Imperium as well. Below are my rambling thoughts on what you can do, but I’d suggest going with the build priority above and just gluing the thing.

The front weapon slots in from inside the hull, and is narrower towards the front. So you can’t just put a magnet in and call it good, you’ll have to cut the weapon where it emerges from the hull and then magnetize the pieces. This is somewhat of a pain, and will probably look not quite right with the different weapon options anyway.

Magnetizing doesn’t look so bad at first glance, but the more you work on it the more annoying it gets. The main thing would be the Flight Deck right? And it slots in nicely, just stick a magnet in and done. But the rockets for the Zeppelin stick into where the deck goes, and there’s glue points at the corners that would be covered up by another part on the Zeppelin. Then you need to figure out a way to magnetize the bottom fighter/bomb bays (I added a steel sheet to the inside of the hull to attach them to). The flight control tower would probably be ok on the Zeppelin as a fire control post, so that’s not a problem. For the top, I built a new superstructure for the Zeppelin, but then it warped a bit. So I ended up gluing it down anyway, and just decided I’d buy more Zeppelins if I needed them.

Aerial

Again, magnetizing is more of a non-starter here. The front guns on the cruisers have the same problem as the Zeppelin, see above. Switching between the variants would mean magnetizing the bridge and top of the hull section, which will require internal bracing (but would let you switch the main gun too).

Closing

Some of that got a little deeper than I would have liked, but hey, details are what text is good for. I hope my tribulations with some of these assemblies will help you find a better path forward with them.

Let me know if there’s anything unclear or you’re interested in more info on something. I mainly focus on Zeppelins and Scandinavians myself, but there’s always the Dystopian Wars Discord for hashing these things out.