I am a fairly new WH player, as I've only played about 3 or 4 complete campaigns. The next faction on my list was The Empire.

I just finished taking control of Reikland and destroying the secessionists, but now I am not sure where I should expand next because everyone around me is very friendly and I have NAP and trade agreements with most of them.

I intend to wipe Crooken Moon in the following turns because something tells me they will become a problem in the future, and now they have only one stack and one settlement, and that settlement is unwalled, so it should be fairly easy. Thay way I can also please and befriend the neighbouring Dwarfs.

But other than that, what should I conquer next? I mean, being friendly with all other human factions is cool and all, but you're not getting anywhere by just being friendly. The ultimate objective of this campaign is to control all human lands (including vampires) under the Franz banner. So what are some factions that make for a nice target to conquer through force? (other than Middenland) And to take through confederations? Preferably I'd like to stick to the lore.

I have also thought about taking on the vampires early before they become harder to handle. Would this be a good idea?

Anyway, that's my question about expansion, but I am also writing this post about any kind of tip you guys may give for my first run as The Empire. Like tips on economy, miltary, general tips, other campaign tips... Things I should know to play this faction effectively and efficiently.

About the military, I should say that I am somewhat familiar with the roster, from what I've seen when fighting against them and from YouTube battles I've watched, but I don't quite know how they play, as in what are the standard army compositions and what are some variants and tactics you could pull, as I do know their roster is pretty complete and flexible and can be played in many different ways.

Thank you in advance! :)