Swordsmen, Greatswords, and all the knights have WS 4. The Rule of Three: Almost all non-character Empire troops have WS3, BS3, S3, T3, and I3. This is a net improvement to Empire players and a net improvement to Empire opponents because the army is less boring and predictable than before. Put these things together, the Empire basic strategy has changed from spamming you with cheap infantry led by and artillery and an invulnerable Steam Tank to coordinating attack forces with support units. Gained: Monstrous Cavalry, many synergistic bonuses. The artillery faced a minor amount of cost increases and nerfing. All the state troops became more expensive.

Lost: The Steam Tank was nerfed a bit (long overdue). The cost of all of their state troops went up. The Empire army has changed substantially between their seventh edition and eighth edition book.