Editing Total War: Warhammer/Tactics (section)

==Units==

Every faction has a mix of different kinds of units. While they are all different, they each fall under one of these categories.

*'''Lords''': The (required) generals of your army and your most important unit. They generally buff leadership and other stats for nearby units and usually tend to be a beast in combat either through melee, missiles or magic. Problem is that if they die, the whole army suffers crippling leadership penalties for it so you have to protect this leader as much as possible. An important note, in the campaign, if your Lord is bested in battle ''before'' they hit level 20, they well and truly ''die'' and you are forced to recruit a new lord to lead that banner army, if one even remains. If they are defeated after level 20, then they are merely wounded for a set number of turns and can return to active duty once they recover.
**'''Legendary Lords''': A "sub"-division of Lord, Legendary Lords are what the name implies: individuals of extraordinary renown who exemplify the best (or worst) qualities of their race. Translation; these are the named characters from Warhammer Fantasy you've grown to know and love. In the campaign, you can only ever have one particular Legendary Lord and you can only acquire other LL's of your race through the complicated process of Confederation. Each Legendary Lord leads their own sub-faction on the campaign map and confers unique bonuses to their faction and army no other mere Lord can offer. In practice, Legendary Lords often have access to stronger perks, stats, gear or abilities over their generic kin but they tend to cost more for it. Because of this (or the Legendary Lords available to you are a bit too niche for the fight you're expecting), it's a pretty common practice in Multiplayer to skip out on these guys and gals for the basic lords to simply save a few gold for the rest of the roster.
*'''Heroes''': Your secondary leaders, usually coming in both melee and mage form. Not as much as a badass as your lord, but are usually cheaper and you can bring more than one. Heroes tend to be slightly more specialized than your Lords, but they can often fill a particular role that your Lord isn't able to. Have a melee beatstick who is magically inept? Bring a mage hero to call down the magical thunder or further buff that beatstick into the stratosphere. In the campaign, much like your Lords, if they are defeated in battle before they hit level 20, they die and must be replaced. Once they rank up to level 20 and beyond, they can return to their banner armies or set out to scout/sabotage/assault enemy forces once more.
*'''Melee Infantry''': Simply put, the foot boys you are throwing into melee. These infantry tend to be slow but also tend to be pretty good at holding the line and dealing damage in prolonged melee compared to missiles and cavalry. Their job is usually to engage the enemy front line and either hold long enough for your other elements to do their job, or break through and begins pouring into the enemy backline.
**'''Swords/Axes/Maces/Macahuitls''': Default dudes, often your most accessible/cheap infantry. If you are buying sword infantry, you get them because you want them to deal damage to the enemy frontline or bog them down in bodies. They don't ''generally'' have a particular focus/bonus against units, so they tend to function as generalist soldiers. Many often have the option to have shields to add further defensive bonuses and to protect them from missiles on the approach.
**'''Dual Swords/Axes''': Infantry that sacrifice a shield in exchange for an extra weapon. They tend to have much higher attack than the standard sword infantry and usually carry an Anti Infantry bonus, so they are much better in the frontline fight at DPS. However, they have lower defensive stats and a vulnerability to missiles, and the fact that they usually rely on Anti Infantry means they aren't as versatile as the standard sword unit.
**'''Spears''': Your more defensive option. Not as good at killing things but better at holding the line than swords. They also usually come with an anti-large bonus, meaning they do more damage when fighting bigger targets. Many also come with some kind of kind of charge resistance. Units with both will completely turn the tides on enemy cavalry. Keep in mind that most spearmen lack AP damage so they will still struggle vs heavily armored cavalry, halberdiers are usually better for those.
**'''Great Weapons''': Infantry that usually carry two handed weapons like great swords and great axes. They tend to have majority AP damage, so they do more damage than normal sword infantry, but also don't have shields so missiles are very effective against them. Most units with great weapons also tend to have a low attack speed, leaving them vulnerable against hordes. 
**'''Halberds''': Great weapons for spears, really. Same thing with great weapons, trades a shield and lower attack speed for more AP damage. Usually have much worse melee attack than a great weapon unit to balance their bonus vs large. Often do decent versus elite infantry also though. 
*'''Missile Troops''': Your ranged boys. Good at dealing damage from a safe distance but generally suck in melee. They tend to come either with arc fire or line fire. Arc fire like archers can shoot over allied troops and don't need line of sight, usually have poor Armor piecing and slower projectile speed. Line of sight troops like guns tend to do high Armor piercing damage, but need to actually see their enemy before they can shoot, so if allies or terrain is in the way, they might not get a shot in. Luckily, their difficulty in positioning correctly is negated by one simple fact: while only the melee troops in actual contact with the enemy will attack, all 120 units of archers will attack at the same time.
**'''Bow Infantry''': Often, but by no means always, the lowest tier of missile infantry you can recruit. Usually trades raw damage for greater range, the ability to fire indirectly and rate of fire. They are a great counter to infantry blobs and other archers. Though most bow units have poor AP, some factions have access to armor piercing variants. Sisters of Avelorn have Fire/Magic for example, Wood Elf Glade Guard with Starfire Shafts and waywatchers have majority AP etc. Unsurprisingly elves have the best archers, with second best being Kislev. 
**'''Crossbow Infantry''': Basically the same as bow infantry, but they trade range for power, although there are exceptions (Cathayan crossbows outrange their bows). Notable for covering a large variety of different units, such as the rather mediocre Imperial Crossbowman to the highly armor piercing Darkshards. While their shots can still arc, their shorter range makes this tricky. The best crossbows are the dark elf shades and Cathay’s Celestial Dragon Guard. Dwarf quarrelers and rangers also earn a honorable mention. Many crossbow units can also use shields so they can out duel other archers.
**''' [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|Gunpowder]] Infantry''': Loud, smelly, and more often than not more dangerous for their user than the enemy (a mechanic entirely missing in-game), these are all kinds of primitive guns. They hit hard, don't care about armor and usually come in unpleasant numbers for the receiving end. The only major downside to them being that they can't shoot indirectly, so you have to make use of clever unit deployment and/or flanking to get the most out of them. Of course, if they are forced into melee it is usually an absolute disaster, more so than other ranged units. The chaos dwarfs, skaven, Cathay, and vampire coast are the undisputed kings of  [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]]. 
**'''Hybrid Infantry''': Sitting comfortably in between ranged and melee infantry, all of these guys (and gals) can switch between ranged and melee combat at the press of a button. The Elf factions and Kislev in particular use a lot of them (with Great Weapon Shades and Sisters of Avelorn being outright the best options) so be prepared to not charge them blindly with cavalry; nearly all of them are more than capable of dealing with lower tier cav on their own. Tend to be moderately expensive at least.
**'''Weapon Teams''': Two-(rat)man teams toting a single heavy weapon, they trade unit size in exchange for an ungodly volume of firepower; once they are properly set up, there is hardly anything stopping them. On top of that, they are also armoured and have large HP pools due to "one model" being actually two to three (rat)men, giving them a surprising resilience against counter fire from enemy ranged units. Besides the mortars, they also can't really shoot over their comrades, so they will require a bit of management to make the most of their firepower. Beware of cavalry, for what they posses in offensive power, they lack on the defense. Vampire coast and Cathay have some similar units now also.
**'''Others''': An umbrella category that includes more unusual weapons such as Javelins, Slings, Blowpipes and Throwing Axes. Mostly rather weak weapons that either benefit from being used in great numbers (slings and javelins) or really strong weapons that suffer from limited ammo-capacity (Norscan Axe Throwers come to mind). A lot of ranged units with weapons of this category tend to be skirmishers; mobile, modestly speedy infantry/cavalry that is able to fire while moving to harass the more vulnerable or slower elements of the enemy army.
*'''Hounds''': Technically, these units can be any kind of very fast, cheap melee cavalry and not just doggies but whatever. These cheap puppers are used to harass and interrupt Artillery crews, chase off routing units, chew on squishy casters and Heroes and sometimes take out a ranged infantry unit. They're not tough by any means of the word but they're fast and can hold a unit back in a few crucial moments. Some of them are specialized to the point where they can be used for other roles, like the Poisoned Warhounds that can charge into the backs of the enemy line to apply a rough debuff. Some units like ice wolves and flesh hounds are beefier and will shred lightly armored units.
*'''Cavalry''': Boys on horse (or other fun creature) back. Mobile and has high charge but tend to fall apart fast in prolong melee.
**'''Shock Cavalry:''' Lance cavalry with loads of Charge Bonus but little in the way of defense; charge them into the sides and backs of the enemy, retreat after 10-15 seconds and repeat until the enemy is mashed, red pulp on the ground... Or crushed bones, or green shroom-mush or what-else. One of the reasons you bring Spears and Halberds is to keep these dudes away from your lines. They're also often decent at countering other Cavalry units.
**'''Melee Cavalry:''' Rare mounted troops that excel in longer engagements (but not forever; they're still cavalry). They usually use Great Weapons, Halberds or Sword'n'Board. Almost never used alone; they're better at quickly engaging and messing with a line battle you're already engaging with with you troops. i.e. Chaos knights, Cold one dread knights
**'''Skirmish Cavalry:''' The deeply annoying yet totally crucial lighter cavalry. Annoying because they are tiresome to micromanage and run away all the time when fighting against them, and infantry can never catch them. Crucial because Skirmish Cavalry ''can'' fight in melee but usually work better as ranged, mobile units harassing the enemy's ranged units with melee attacks, countering enemy Shock and Melee Cav with ranged attacks and higher movement speed, and shooting into the back of the enemy line.
*'''Chariots:''' Those sweet ones that swing low. Chariots are a bit rare and are used to break through enemy lines with impunity, cycle-charging like a maniac. They are dismantled very quickly in prolonged melee and tend to not do a lot of damage unless they're charging. One of the hardest type of unit to use properly because they need to be micro-managed at every turn. Also out of every unit, chariot suffered the most when they are out of vigor (aka exhausted), which lowers their speed to the point they can't knock over as many infantry as it wishes during charging and gets caught easily in the crowd as result. So always remember in campaign to not get attacked during march stance while fielding those bad boys. Some chariot units have ranged weapons but don't use them as a ranged unit, make sure to turn melee engage on. Their small unit sizes means that their ranged attacks tend to be a lot worse than other units and if they are staying out of melee they are not using their ability to break through enemy lines. That being said, a chariot having ranged attacks isn't a reason to not use it, think of its ranged attacks as just inflicting some extra damage and more importantly, a leadership penalty as it charges and retreats. Many players forego chariots altogether due to their micromanagement and fragility, which is to their detriment. Properly used, they can shatter enemy lines and ruin morale.
**'''Ranged Chariots:''' Unlike the former category where missile attacks are just a way to deal a little extra damage and a leadership penalty, these chariots are specialized for ranged combat and should only be charged into an enemy when out of ammo. Their function is often similar to that of an artillery unit but more mobile, blasting enemy units with powerful ranged attacks and retreating should opponents try to reach it. If you're a beginner player, you should know that it's typically best not to use these as skirmish cavalry, as the missile attack on the chariots are generally quite useless. You usually just want to use them as a melee chariot. The most notable exception is the Scourgerunner Chariot for the Dark Elves which is an incredible unit all around with a very powerful missile attack vs large. The missile attack on chariots like the Tomb King's archer chariot is designed to allow the unit to inflict extra causalities as it charges in and leaves, not so much to exclusively rely on its missiles to do its damage. 
*'''Monsters:''' A category that covers a bewildering amount of different units, every Monster does something different for the faction it's found in. Usually they are either infantry-slayers, monster/cavalry-eaters or huge battering rams meant to break up the enemy's line. A few factions even have "artillery" monsters balance their exorbitant cost by being able to hold their own in melee. Some monsters (like Giants) are cheap and cheerful units you can just throw into the enemy for a spell, while others (like the Dread Saurian) can easily eat up a fourth of your money in multiplayer matches. The only faction without access to a monster is the Dwarfs (Gyrocopters does not count). As you would expect from a unit category called "Monsters", virtually all of them count as "large" creatures and thus are more vulnerable to spear infantry. This is particularly notable for them, as due to their physical size and low model count, they can be quite susceptible to being tarpitted by hordes of anti-large spear infantry if you're careless with their positioning.
**'''Monstrous Infantry''': Monsters that generally come in a small units size and feature slow, relatively tanky monsters designed to help out in the front line. Here's a tip, do NOT throw them in alone, team them up with other infantry. That way the enemy units will have to split their damage across 2 different units instead of being able to focus your monsters down. Generally have lower MA/MD but high damage, charge, and mass.
**'''Monstrous Cavalry''': Faster, harder hitting but also squishier than the infantry option, they are meant to be used a lot like cavalry. Use them as heavy flankers and for pure raw charge bonus and can even be decent in prolong melee. Their downside often comes in the form of cost, frailty and lower model count compared to most cav.
**'''Single Entity Monsters''': Big super monsters meant to be a gigantic problem for the enemy and generally have impressive stat lines along with a combination of fear and/or terror. Their attacks can stagger smaller monsters. However these guys tend to be expensive and have a massive target that says "Shoot me" in every language in the Warhammer world, so use them wisely. They become overpowered if the unit size setting is not set to Large or Huge (the settings the game was balanced for) because while their health is reduced their other stats are not and their attacks damage a higher percentage of a unit. In TWW3, these guys now have a degrading statline based on how wounded they are, reducing their general effectiveness should they take sufficient damage. Single entity monsters are often considered overpowered in large groups, due to high damage and mass allowing easy picking of targets and they synergize incredibly well with healing spells. This is one of the most common form of "Doomstack" (a generic term for an army filled with high power units designed to be able to wipe out multiple enemy stacks at once, usually a full army of powerful monsters, Heroes, or powerful endgame units). 
**'''Warmachines''': Single entity monsters, but mechanical. These range from imperial Steam Tanks to the Skaven DOOMWHEEL. What all of them have in common is high armour, high morale, large HP pools and very powerful ranged attacks. 
*'''Fliers''': Your flying units, ranging from cheap fliers meant to bog down missiles and artillery to fucking dragons. Their edge is that since they can fly they can engage on their terms and you can get them anywhere in the battle they need to. Their downsides comes in needing breathing room to take off again and generally frailty. Even dragons aren't a unit that can stand being in melee for too long, so you got to micro them well. Be warned: soaring around in the skies means ranged units can fire freely without being blocked by either the terrain or their own troops. Many fliers are also large units and can be easy pickings. Wait for them to be preoccupied or flank them so they have to reform their formation before firing.
**'''Bats''': Like the hounds above, we say "Bats" but we really mean the assorted plethora of flying vermin, from vultures to furies to harpies. Basically a flying version of Hounds, do ''not'' expect them to do anything beyond tarpitting missile/artillery units. They're weak enough to be defeated even by Mage heroes (though they can probably get some wounds on them), but can prevent artillery or charging cav from damaging your more valuable units. There is '''one''' exception to this, and that's Drycha's Great Hawks, who can cycle charge in and out doing bursts of AP, but that's only because their statline is based off...
**'''Missile Flyers''': Terradons and Hawk Riders, and other ranged-flying cavalry. They tend to be fast and quick, but their DPS is hampered by low model count. Never take more than 2 or 3 because even if you had more, their small unit size and health pool means they can never replace land-bound archers. They excel in harassing the opponent from above and can do ''some'' charge damage when they run out of ammo because they're all flying cavalry, but keeping them stuck in just makes them as useful as Bats Most of them also have a way to do extra damage with abilities, such as by dropping bombs or magical arrows. You'll have to micro a bit when you drop stones/bombs.
**'''Flying Cavalry''': You'd think that they'd just be flying shock cavalry, and you're not wrong, but they are almost always a faction's top tier cav option too. As elites, they have lower model counts, tend to be heavily armored, and with the exception of Cathay's Longma, anti-Large to boot. One thing that differentiates them from Shock Cav is their need to build-up speed/momentum to be able to fly away, like other flyers: while they can literally get the drop on other cav, if the opponent tarpits them (like, say, with weaker light cav) they will not be able to escape. It's best to save them for when the melee is well and truly underway, have them single-out single-entities, or have them fight in the air (where they will do their best work) 
*'''Artillery''': Your good old catapults, bolt throwers, cannons or what ever crazy contraptions your race can bring to the table. Can lay down an absolute whooping from very long range, some being table to take down even the scariest monsters with fairly little problem. However, they are garbage in melee, are ridiculously slow, are somewhat expensive, and need extra room and a clear line of sight to even fire, which means they need protection more than just about any other unit type in the game. However, it pays off by racking up hundreds of kills before the enemy even meets your front line. Important to note is that while the contraptions themselves offer cover to their crews, they aren't invulnerable and can be destroyed by ranged units and magic. There are some Monster units (usually Single Entity Monsters) like Cygors and Stegadons who can function as artillery (and indeed will only lose their ranged capacity if killed, tied up in melee or if they run out of ammo) ''and'' safely engage in melee as needed, though they tend to be a bit pricier for it.