Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Khorne

This is the general tactics page on how to play Khorne in Total War: WARHAMMER. As the game isn't out yet and we know very little about how the faction will work, this page won't be filled out for a long time. However, we can make some early guesses based on the table top and the trailer.

Why play Khorne?

• Because sometimes you just want to not think too hard and rip the other guys apart limb from limb.
• You play aggressive, and don't want to play any of that "defense" bullshit
• Doom is your favorite game franchise and you always wanted to play from the Demon's point of view.
• You are fond of Mesoamerican cultivars that are not beans or squash.
• You want the best/second best warcry in the game
  • Ahem: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

Pros

(Again, we know jack shit other than the factions so this is all subject to change)

• Unmatched Melee: If CA does our homeboy justice, don't expect anyone to be able to match you in melee. There should be high charge and high attack across the board in this army roster.
• High Armour: Considering every unit showed off so far has been dressed head to toe in it, it's safe to say armour values for your units are generally going to be very high.
• Monsters: Bloodthirsters, Bloodcrushers, Skullcrushers and many more means you will have some of the scariest monster units in the entire game. Winning the monstermash shouldn't be an issue and allow your big bois to take over the battle for you.

Cons

• No Magic: What you want to blow shit up with your mind like a god damn pussy? If that's the case Khorne isn't for you. Their units will likely have magic resist aplenty and heavy buffs to compensate similar to the Dwarfs, but you will not be able to contribute any magic to the field.
• Very Limited Range: Skullcannons will likely be your only ranged option, (Depending on the status of the Soul Grinder). That said it's more then likely your ranks will be fleshed out with mortal followers, (the Kislev V. Khorne splash art defintly has some humans) so you will likely have some short-ranged options similar to the the Norse, Throwing Axes and Javelins at best.
• Slow: With a ton of heavy infantry and no light cav (so far anyway) expect to be out run by most factions. You aren't Dwarf bad, but your cav is slow by cav standards so getting to important objectives first might be difficult for you.
• DLC: Every core race has joined this club, so you may as well apply early.

Faction traits

• Hellblade: Units gain 20% base and AP damage when they get 80 kills. Designed to reward you for being aggressive with your units with more damage. It'll be easier to get this off on squishy swarm factions (you'll get this fighting Skaven in no time) than smaller tank factions (good luck getting this fighting Dwarfs).

Lords

Legendary Lords

• Skarbrand: SKARBRAND APPRECIATES NOT BEING DLC!!!! Recently leaked on the Steam Database. Likely going to be the Bloodthirster themed campaign along with being a pure combat beast. Unknown right now what is going to distinguish him from a regular or Exalted Bloodthirster. Outside the possibility of not being able to fly because of that disagreement with his dad.

Generic Lords

• Exalted Bloodthirster: One of two possible Bloodthirster units available in the army, this one being the Lord equivalent. As you'd expect, it's really fucking scary. The stat line on this thing is absolutely absurd, giving it flaming and magical attacks along with a plentiful amount of AP. The ability to fly also allows it to pick and choose its targets and stay on the move. Combine all of this with it being unbreakable due to it's Daemonic trait and it will be extremely hard to get rid of. There will likely be some kind of limit to them in campaign because otherwise there is really no other reason to pick any other generic lord that Khorne may have.

Heroes

Generic Heroes

• Herald of Khorne: Shown off in the gameplay reveal. He appears to be a combat/support character for going around murdering groups of infantry while also giving offensive buffs to your units. In the video he was riding a Juggernaut, and its safe to assume he also has other mount options. With AP and anti infantry he's a scary melee character that can also give other units a helping hand.

Units

Infantry

• Marauders of Khorne: Appeared in the Kislev trailer. Likely going to be your standard tier one infantry, very similar to normal Marauders only with frenzy.

• Bloodletters: Your mid tier Daemon unit, meaning that unlike Furies these guy might actually kill what they're fighting. They wield great swords with magical AP damage and anti infantry, so they're really good at busting through armored infantry. As Daemons they're also unbreakable and contain nice defensive buffs, which is good because 30 armour isn't great. They will likely be your cheapest source of AP in the infantry fight, which will make them highly desirable when fighting heavy armor.

• Chaos Warriors of Khorne: Showed up in the gameplay reveal trailer, with the currently known options being dual-wielding axes, an axe and shield, and a halberd. They will likely be heavily armoured with frenzy and a high amount of attack stats in exchange for less melee defense compared to other Chaos Warriors. They seem to have smaller unit size compared to normal Chaos Warriors, likely to balance them having higher stats, but that might just be for the demo/still in development.

• Exalted Bloodletters: Bloodletters plus. They're a very similar unit only just much better at the job but also much more expensive. These guys will let you carve through more elite options than your standard Bloodletters can.

Cavalry

• Skullcrusher: Not to be confused with Bloodcrushers which is a Bloodletter riding a Juggernaut, because Khorne is not very creative at naming things. They will be your Monstrous Cav similar to Demigryphs, and oh can they lay the whooping. With AP, Frenzy and 77 CHARGE these things will turn whatever they charge at into paste. They're decently slow by cavalry standards, but with 130 armor they won't care that much if most standard cav get their hands on them. Their biggest weakness seems to be that unlike their Daemon counterparts they actually will run away, but if that's their biggest problem I don't think they have much to worry about.

• Bloodcrusher: Very similar to the Skullcrusher, though instead of an angry man riding the Robo-Rhino, it's an angry Daemon riding the Robo-Rhino. The big difference between these guys and Skullcrushers is that they're Daemonic, so they won't run away and will crumble instead. They also have an Anti Infantry bonus, making them a bit more specialized than their mortal counterparts. The big trade off for both of these is a noticeable decrease in stats, so they will likely not be as effective against other cavalry. Still, potentially a good unit, especially against heavy infantry factions.

Monsters

• Chaos Furies (Khorne): They're Chaos harpies, only they lean even more into the glass cannon playstyle. They have surprisingly high melee attack and weapon strength. Combine that with having vanguard and high speed, and they will feast upon any artillery or archers you can get on them. Unlike the presumed furies of the other gods, these guys come with the Khorne traits of Frenzy and Hellblade. Their melee defense if pitiful and they have low model count, so keeping them alive may be some work. Potentially good skirmisher harassers.

• Chaos Hounds: Appeared in the trailer. Will likely serve the same purpose they have in the WoC roster.

• Spawn of Khorne: Chaos Spawn for Khorne. Yeah that's pretty much it. They have significantly higher weapon strength so they will lawn mower light troops even faster than normal spawn do already. They trade this for some slightly reduced melee defense, as you'd expect from the all out offense Khorne style.

• Bloodthirster: The smaller, more accesible version of its Exalted cousin. It trades a lot of the scary combat stats in return for Anti Large, making it more of a dedicated monster fighter. Aside from that, it functions as a cheaper version of the Exalted lord version.

Artillery

• Skull Cannon: CANNON ON WHEELS! khorne's only reliable ranged unit (for now, anyway) and it seems to be trying to really make up for being the Blood God's only ranged piece. It has good range and damage, and it's mobility allows it to keep itself safe from enemy ranged and cavalry that try to take it out. Plus, if something does get its hands on it, it'll be hard to kill with its high armor and ability to regenerate in melee. With good micro this thing has to potential to be frustrating as hell to play against. Of course, it has only 18 melee defense so if something does catch it it might take some hits, but they'll have to actually catch the damn thing first. If it runs out of ammo, it also functions well as a chariot.

Total War: Warhammer Tactics Articles
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Total War: Warhammer 3	Kislev Khorne Tzeentch Nurgle Slaanesh Grand Cathay Ogre Kingdoms Daemons of Chaos Chaos Dwarfs