The Black band was originally formed in the Empire. They were trained as state troops and were some of the best in the Empire. However, the Empire is chronically short of money and could not afford to keep the Band as full time troops. Thus with the Emperor's blessing, they began hiring themselves out as mercenaries. Since then the Band has fought across all of Tilea. Their most famous victory occurred at River Tarano when the band was able to hold for 3 days versus an entire army of Skaven while the Tileans raised an army, paid for by all the city states, to repel the invaders.  Despite their popularity and love of money, the Band will not fight against the Empire and often return home to help (at a large discount) when the Emperor is threatened.
 The Black Band, sometimes known as Lansknechts, has adopted the Tilean pike while still retaining the command system of the Empire. This has proven itself many times over and the Black Band are regarded by some as "Universal Soldiers" because of their discipline.

Captain - Dietrich Heisler.

Motto - When only perfection will do.

Battle-Cry - Hut-Dich-Baur Ich Komm (Look- Out- Here I Come)

Appearance- The Black Band wear Empire style armor, blackened against rust. When in service to the Empire, they wear a red sash over their armor (or a red X on the front and back of doublets). They stand out in Tilea because of their plunderhosen, heavily slashed trousers of which the two legs are often different, and their heavily plumed hats which are often tied on with ribbons.

For Hire: Any army may hire the Black Band, but when in the employ of evil armies, they are notoriously unreliable when they are ordered to fight against Tilean or Dwarven armies (lightning strikes for double pay are not uncommon in such cases). Further, they will never fight against the Empire (see below).

Points: Dietrich, 9 pikemen (including std and musician), plus 5 flankers (armed with either halberds or two handed swords) , and 5 archers cost 295 points. This is the minimum you may hire. Extra pikemen may be added at a cost of 12 points each, flankers at 9 points each and archers at 10 points each. However the number of either archers or halberdiers can never exceed half that of the pikemen (ie. if you have 16 pikes [including Dietrich] you can have a maximum of 8 halberdiers and 8 archers).

Profile                 M       WS      BS      S       T       W       I       At      Ld
Dietrich                4       5       5       4       4       2       5       3       8
Troops                  4       3       3       3       3       1       3       1       7

Amour Save: 5+ - pikemen, none- flankers and archers

Special Rules:
Detachment- The flankers and archers are detachments of the pikemen and function exactly the same as in the Empire book. This is reprinted here for convenience. As long as they remain within 8" of the pikemen, they can test on Dietrich's leadership for any Ld test (save those which disallow the use of a character's leadership).  They cannot have champions, standards, or musicians, but are effected by any magic items that effects the parent unit's leadership.

Charge reactions- The Black Band has drilled and fought together for so long that they are one unit. If any part of the Band is charged, any other section within 8" and not engaged in HtH or compulsory movement (example-fleeing), is allowed to make a leadership test on their own or Dietrich's Ld as appropriate. Note that no other character's Ld (including the general's) can be used for this test. If the test is successful, that part of the band is allowed to declare a charge reaction in addition to one declared by the part of the band that was charged. This charge reaction can either be a stand and shoot, or a counter-charge (see below). The charged part of the Band declares its charge reaction as normal.
 Example- A group of Rat Swarms charges the Pikemen of the Band. The pikemen decide to stand and receive the charge. The archers are within 8" but the flankers are not. The archers roll and pass a Ld test. They can now either counter-charge or stand and shoot at the rat swarms.

Counter-charge- As a charge reaction any part of the Band can counter-charge. After the enemy unit has completed its charge move, if it lies within the charge arc and range of the counter-charging part of the Band, that part of the Band is moved into base to base contact and both sides will count as charging (Note that any non-counter charging part of the Band though does not count as charging). It is this ability which makes the Black Band so feared by other pike armed units. The Black Band's own pikes will engage the enemy pike block from the front, locking both in a stalemate which is then broken as the soldiers armed with halberds or two-handed swords hack their way into the enemy's flank.

Devotion to the Empire: Despite their typical mercenary attitude in most things, the Band remains loyal to the Empire (the fact that the Emperor keeps most of their family members very close to him probably has nothing to do with this). When asked to fight against an Empire army, they simply refuse and instead join some of their mates in a bout of drinking and storytelling.  You may nominate a single unit of Empire troops whose total value (with included characters) does not exceed that of the Black Riders. Neither the nominated troops nor the Riders will participate in the battle. Note that you cannot nominate a unit of Flagellants as they are too consumed in their own visions to enjoy drinking with the boys.
 
 

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