Witch Hunter

Witch Hunter is a Empire missile infantry unit in Total War: Warhammer. With pistol in hand and a furious desire to root out heresy, the Witch Hunter is a formidable fighter.

Description
Judge, jury and executioner combined, a Witch Hunter will use any means necessary to burn out heresy from the heart of the Empire. Not a twinge of doubt softens the knife-sharp edges of a Witch Hunter's soul; his bleak existence allows no room for foibles such as compassion or mercy. Indeed, they are often feared even by the innocent, as it is said that a Witch Hunter would sooner raze an entire village to the ground then see a single worshipper of Chaos go free. And yet, for all the heartlessness and cruelty of this dark brotherhood, the Empire needs men of this calibre - men who will put aside their own humanity in order to punish and destroy those who embrace dark sorcery or the temptation of Chaos. Such is a Witch Hunter's duty, and it is a burden lesser men would find impossible to bear.

Abilities

 * Accusation
 * Slippery

Items

 * Opal Amulet
 * Skull of Katam

Strategy
Witch hunters are the assassins of the empire, while all empire heroes are capable of performing the assassination action in the campaign, only the Witch hunter is proficient in doing so on the battlefield. Have 2 Witch Hunters working in tandem, yet separate. One will move independent of an army to scout, with gear, followers, and skills to assassinate enemy lords and heroes, and debilitate armies. The second will be part of the army, protecting the lord, army, and other heroes from similar attempts, while mainly kitted and skilled to partake in battles. Both should have at least one point in reducing corruption.

The Witch Hunter's melee has higher base damage than AP, while in range it is the opposite. Use melee, against foes you will win against in hand to hand like spell casters. Use range for melee powerhouses, if they start to charge you retreat to a safe distance and fire then retreat again, use Slippery if they get to close and have a strong unit available for the Witch Hunter to retreat through and absorb the attack for him as he resumes firing.

Single out enemy lords and heroes for the Witch Hunter. Use forests, the chaos of battle, the enemy's inattention, or anything really to get the Witch Hunter to focus on important targets. If the quarry is alone, this is ideal as it allows the Witch Hunter (if target is armoured) to fire his blessed pistol at it unmolested and run away unhindered if the quarry decides to attack him and (if unarmoured) engage in a melee duel. If the quarry has support from troops, bring your own to distract the enemy as the Hunter engages in either range or melee.

The Witch Hunter has only two abilities as most of the skills are just upgrades to the stats:
 * 1) Accuse: Their faith in Sigmar and conviction in rooting out evil is so strong that they are able to manifest it into focused, powerful, and invisible laser beams projected from their fingertips and activated from shouting "HERESY!!!" Joking aside, this does great damage to single targets such as Lords and Heroes, but not very useful against entire units of infantry. Useful for a powerful first attack, you could follow up with more accusations by having more witch hunters, (I hope your higher upkeep and less numerous soldiers in your army is worth it) or having the Witch Hunter survive until the cooldown ends. In Warhammer II, Accusation was changed to lower melee defence and armour with no direct damage. This makes much more sense and enhances the witch hunters role as softening up enemy units for sniping.
 * 2) Slippery: this ability adds speed and melee defence. It is to be used in evading melee combat or damage against melee powerhouses or swarms of infantry, can also be used to buy time for Accuse to be used.