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Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)

2023-05-22T00:41:42Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922: /* Southern Realms */

{{NeedsImages}}

Gunpowder-also called Black powder or Dragon powder-is a mixture of sulfur, carbon and potassium nitrate and is used by many races throughout the Warhammer World.

==History==

The first race known to have used gunpowder are the mysterious [[Giant#Giants_in_Warhammer_Fantasy.2FAge_of_Sigmar|Sky-Titans]], a race once known to occupy [[Mountains_of_Mourn|the Mountains of Mourn]], with their most populated area being within the [[Mountains_of_Mourn#Ancient_Giant_Lands|Ancient Giant Lands]]. By -2750 IC, the [[Great Migration]] kicked in caused by a warpstone meteorite crashing into the earth in an attempt by the [[Dragon Emperor]] to exterminate the Ogres...[[FAIL|Only to end up creating their new God, the Great Maw.]] At this time, [[Ironblaster]]s were used as pistols, and the Sky Titans lived in [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|huge, well defended cities in the mountains supporting huge populations and technological marvels.]] Unfortunately for everyone, Ogres set forth to raze down every capital in order to secure themselves food and a new home. (According to some legends, the Sky Titans are the ones who even cursed Ogres to always be hungry no matter how much food they ate as poetic justice... Not that it helped as it just made them fight more fiercely.)

The next faction to crack the Gunpowder mystery would be to the far east and in parallel to the origins of gunpowder in our own world-[[Grand Cathay]] had gunpowder sometime before -1741 IC as is record in the Nagash Trilogy, having traded with the Eastern Cities of Nehekhara. Although crude, these rifles were very effective in combat to the point they were crucial in the defeat of [[Nagash]] in [[Nehekhara#Charnel_Valley|Mahrak]] and the establishment of [[Nehekhara#Devil.27s_Backbone|Lahmia]]. It is fair to say after the establishment of Lahmia, the city of Lybaras probably had similar devices given they had more advanced devices such as flying machines, but it seemingly didn't stick around or these devices were lost to time, as the [[Tomb Kings]] are not shown using any materials in battle. Cathay, however, still maintains a large amount of gunpowder weapons including cannons and weapons akin to blunderbusses, but seemingly are not as advanced in terms of rifling as the Old World is.

From there, either the Dwarfs or their [[Chaos Dwarfs|cousins]] were the next to invent them, with dwarfs inventing them in -420 IC during the Times of Woe where they were of particular use against the Greenskins, and slowly, despite their trepidation, grew to encompass them in the dwarven traditions, to the point where Thunderers are the core of any Dawi stronghold, along with cannons and other marvels of modern science.

Modern firearms in the Old World are descended from there, either being reverse-engineered from guns traded with the Dawi or gifts due to the close bonds between the Empire and the Dawi, though they are seen as primitive mockeries of the superior Dwarf engineering, even the advancements of made in the University of Nuln, the foremost university in the Empire and one of the best places for development of technology in all the known world.

==By Faction==
===[[Albion]]===

Unsurprisingly the druid faction does not have fire arms nor do they fight people with firearms regularly.

===[[Amazon#Warhammer|Amazons]]===
Ditto as above, except Amazons are known for traveling all throughout the Warhammer Fantasy world in order to raid them (likely to look for for some..."[[RAPE|genetic diversity]]" given fluctuative parthenogenesis doesn't exactly result in stable asexual reproduction.)

Given the Amazons are a rather isolationist people who prefer not to interact with others, their likely only contact with firearms have been through Empire merchants who have sought them out, or the occasional male from the Old World looking for the paradise of women found in the continent, only to never be seen again.
===[[Araby]]===
Arabyan troops are known to use gunpowder for their Jezzails-a long-barreled arquebus designed to be used on the backs of [[Camel Riders|Camels]] and [[War Elephants]]. Araby is based largely on Arabian Nights, which was written in the 13th century by which guns had already been introduced, and although more associated with the Turks due to advancement, an army loosely based on a mixture of various Islamic sources does not seem like a stretch relatively.

===[[Beastmen]]===
As Beastmen [[RAGE|abhor]] all signs of civilization, gunpowder weapons are amongst the things they detest the most as it not only shows how cowardly one is by hiding behind a large weapon instead of charging into glorious melee combat, but embodies the weakness and decadence of man, and his conceit over dominating nature. Beastmen even detest bows, but allow ungors to use them as they are useful and relatively primitive.

In theory, books like Paradise Lost and Blood Meridian show characters making gunpowder getting wood to make charcoal, saltpeter from bat Guano and sulfur from volcanic ash, and then through urinating on it and leaving it out in the sun, are able to use it for weapons. Not only are the aforementioned examples meant to parallel daemonic creations, but is to show the characters who do this as downright satanic, using things like fire, bats, and volcanos to create something evil-which coincidentally are all also available to the Beastmen. So if you want to make a warband of [[your dudes]] which have access to some primitive forms of fireworks or similar, you are more than able to do so with technology already available to the Beastmen. Just expect some confusion from your opponent.

===[[Bretonnia]]===

Officially, guns are not allowed on the soil of Bretonnia, as they are seen as unchivalrous and unbecoming of a knight who seeks a fair and honorable fight, which missiles undermine. (And, because the actual reason, the Nobles don't want peasants having weapons capable of piercing through plate armor nor of equalizing themselves in terms of force with the Nobles, which is why there is a general ban on peasants who are not men-at-arms or archers owning weapons).
However, given Bretonnia is a corrupt land, it is likely smugglers and mercenaries (who often disguise themselves as shepherds to travel freely) will try to carry small arms in order to equalize the playing field a bit so long as they are outside the eyes of the law and are able to bribe any officer to look the other way.

The navy of Bretonnia, however, is packed to the brim with gunpowder because of a loophole of them never being on the soil of the nation, and so they have more cannons than they can carry. The Nobility generally don't mind because the merchantile class provides them with goods they desire and makes them incredibly wealthy, along with defending the shores of their nation from Chaos, and so they are tolerated.

===[[Chaos Dwarfs]]===

Unhindered by the curse of tradition, the Dawi'Zharr advance much more quickly technologically and experiment much more with a variety of things-including Gunpowder. Of every faction in the setting, they not only have the most access to sulfur through the large Volcanos that permeate the [[Darklands]], but the various other ingredients in abundance through intense mining operations and slavery. With such a brutal effort on efficiency and cold, ruthless expansionism, their weapons reflect this cruel and fiery mentally with blunderbusses, mortars, [[Dreadquake_Mortar|dreakquakes]], fireglaives, rocket launchers, bazukas...

More than any other faction, the Chaos Dwarfs are the ones who live and breathe gunpowder, almost literally.

===[[Daemons of Chaos]]===

While Daemons of Chaos do have their fair share of either magical or mechanical guns, they are constructs of the warp and so do not use gunpowder. However, Daemon armies still do struggle against bullets due to the fact the chaos gods like to get in close to your opponent. Nurgle and Tzeentch often can tank a shot, in fairness, but Slaanesh's favored prefer not to wear armor and when lead is being propelled at the speed of sound at you, that can end poorly.

===[[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]]===
Dark Elves, although more wiling to experiment with [[chaos|things]] [[slaanesh|they]] [[dhar|probably]] [[daemons|shouldn't]], they still retain their bows, albeit due to [[Malekith]]'s history with the dawi and his fondness for their crossbows, the Dark Elves tend to focus on use of [[repeaters]] and other similar weapons that utilize arrows. They tend to have more power than regular bows, and are more accurate than firearms, so work as an in-between.

Maybe some Black Ark Corsairs might experiment with them if they steal some. Alternatively, a particularly paranoid Dreadlord or political figure may have a small pistol or some other weapon in case of some entrepreneuring or overly ambitious individuals put him in a tight spot. However, he will make good care to hide this from his comrades. But these are still outliers.

===[[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]]===
As mentioned before, Dwarfs were a pioneering race in the invention and use of Gunpowder. Thunderers, although introduced long after Cathay and even longer after the fall of the Dawi Empire of old, have become a staple of Dwarf armies, along with the Organ Guns, cannons, and flame cannons which modern guns are based upon. Even Gyrocopters use them.

Although Dwarf Engineers are old and stubborn, their abilities at science and engineering are unmatched, and they should not be taken lightly. What limits their strength is also what empowers it as traditions reign and ensure the Dawi do not fall like their Eastern Kin.

===[[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire of Man]]===

As mentioned above, the Empire of Man is known for it's Steel, Faith and Gunpowder, and given the faction is on the verge of the industrial revolution post their current Renaissance aesthetic, it is likely correct. Most blackpowder innovations, including the innovative artillery pieces like the [[Hellstorm Rocket Battery]], [[Helblaster Volley Cannon]] and come from the [[Master Engineer]]s of [[Nuln]], who have improved their craft substantially, even compared to the masterpieces of the Dawi. Indeed, it is the [[Imperial Gunnery School]] which takes your average upstart soldier and trains them into one of many elite units including [[Handgunner]]s, a member of an [[Iron Company]], honored amongst [[Nuln Ironside]]s, or-if your parents are rich and want you to serve in the military without risking serious injury-an [[Empire Pistolier]].

Pretty much every army has a Empire Great Cannon or two, bombards are far from uncommon, Mortars litter the battlefield, and firearms have become so common that even [[Free Company Militia]] and the self-appointed members of the [[Witch Hunter]]s can afford them. If this is not enough [[dakka]] for you, a [[War Wagon]] or, if circumstances are dire, a [[Steam Tank]] may be issued.

As a great general once said, "there isn't a problem that can't be solved with more cannons."

The Empire even has non-blackpowder based weaponry in the form of the [[Luminary of Hysh]], but that's not for this page.

===[[Cathay | Grand Cathay]]===
Grand Cathay is said to be one of the oldest factions to know of and use gunpowder in the Warhammer World. This is partially based on our own history in which the Chinese were the first to invent and utilize gunpowder. Much like our own history as well, Cathay's use of gunpowder doesn't necessarily mean that they are the best at it, with most of their artillery and gunlines, while impressive, are not as advanced as the ones in the Empire or that the Dwarfs can bring forward. Of the areas, pretty much all of their war machines and cannons are produced in a city called Nan-Gau, which is basically the [[Nuln]] of Cathay with most of the armaments and technology happening within its industrial district. It is run by nine lords, one of which named Shi-Hong, aka the Blind Master, is the one to have first created the [[Sky-Junk]], a devastating lighter-than-air machine with a front-mounted gatling gun. Impractical, but [[awesome]].

===[[Orcs & Goblins|Greenskins]]===

Unfortunately, unlike their universally beloved [[Orks|alternate universe counterpart,]] there is no [[dakka]] that the Greenskins have. Part of this might be because Orks prefer melee, because the upper body strength of an Orc means their bows are built to have more power behind them than your average bullet, or because guns require constant upkeep and Orcs can't be arsed to give a damn about things like creating new ammo.

It's not known of Orcs from Warhammer Fantasy have the Psychic Gestalt field, but it's unlikely so they'd have to make actually functioning fire arms, and without their [[Oddboys]] like [[Big Mek]]s, they all essentially operate as [[Feral Orks]].

===[[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|High Elves]]===
High Elves don't use gunpowder for a variety of reasons. For one, it's noisy, inelegant, stinky and unreliable. Losing an eye, ear, or finger is more damaging to an Elf than it is to a short-lived man or dwarf, as they have to live with it for millennia. Longbows can be reloaded by an elf quicker and more efficiently, fired relatively simply, and used at longer ranges than a cannon or a rifle can. Magic is where Elves do more of their scholarly research in regards to magic, and consider technological advancement to be essentially "cope" from the lower races who cannot achieve the mastery over the winds or the forge as the elves do. Why have firearms when a dragon can spew fire in its stead or a mage can summon a flaming inferno at his or her finger tips? Seems superfluous compared to the heights of the High Elves

Additionally, the use of speed with Elves make firearms less viable simply because their longer reload times means they cannot efficiently lean into the speed and ferocity of their units most efficiently.

===[[Kislev]]===
Kislev got its gunpowder through trade with the empire. Being based on the peoples of the steppe, most of their guns are attached to make them mobile, such as [[little grom]] or [[war-sleds]] acting as both artillery pieces and chariots. [[Streltsi]] were the first unit in Kislev to use gunpowder, with [[Boyar]] Boydinov-an eccentric noble [[weeaboo|with an obsession with the empire]]-viewing what a regiment of Empire [[Handgunners]] did to some chaos hordes, and since then spent a good chunk of his fortune on a unique formation of [[Kossars]] to defend the city of [[Erengrad]], which is still held to this day, though Kislev, being poor even compared to the other old-world nations, their numbers are limited compared to their peers and they can only be seen in the southern near Erengrad.

The best cannons in the country defend the capital in Kislev, known as Great Cannons, they are literally built into the walls and rival the greatest cannons of the old world.

===[[Lizardmen]]===
Lizardmen don't use gunpowder because they have technology more powerful than it. Things like the Solar Engine or the Hands of the Gods mean the Lizards can shoot what is essentially [[Meme|the unmatched power of the sun]] onto the enemy. Old One tech, which if we count [[The End Times]] includes teleportation, multi-dimensional and spaceship technology, the Lizardmen have long out progressed their need for gunpowder-unsurpsing given a Saurus warrior will take multiple gunshots to the face and keep charging.

===[[Nippon]]===
[[File:Warhammer Ashigaru.jpg|thumb|300px| A Nipponese Ashigaru with a Arquebus, we'll just assume he just ate a really sour lemon]]
While we have little info to go on, the Nipponese do make use of matchlock guns and cannons. Bombardiers command these units, which typically help samurai to maintain their Firelock Pistols and Arquebuses, also well as their much more ornate cannons. Rocket Launchers and War Rockets are also known to be used, though little is known about them.

2nd Edition had the [[/pol/|very culturally insensitively named Kamikaze]] Suicide Squads which are [[Derp|trained Samurai]] who have become so fanatical that they [[Wat|strap gunpowder bandoliers and casks to themselves]]. [[Fail|Apparently up to 10% of Samurai become Kamikaze]]. Needless to say, although hilarious, they probably aren't making a return any time soon, much like all of the commanders named after cars or committing seppuku by standing on their head in a bucket of cold water.

===[[Norsca]]===
Norsca largely does not use gunpowder as they are trapped in the stone age, with only the southern tribes being able to get more advanced metallurgy and are civilized enough to trade with the Northern Empire-who already are less likely to use firearms as the Cult of Ulric views guns with disdain and Nordland being most known for its cunning woodsmen and navy, only one of which are known for its cannons. Instead, Norsca largely is a melee and monster-focused army, with poorly armored troops apart from its elites who can afford to trade with and/or kill Chaos Dwarfs and obtain their goods, most of wish are daemonic and possessed.

It is a known fact of the Warhammer World that the further North something is, the more Chaos influences it to become less and less civilized and more and more barbaric, until the people who are Northmost of Norsca live most like the savage and nomadic cavemen of yesteryear, with no farming or advanced working tools at all. Such is the way the Gods intend, and there is little difference between them and the Beastmen.

===[[Ogre Kingdoms]]===
Ogres don't make gunpowder themselves as much as they loot it from their latest "dinner" or from the remains of the Sky Titan's settlements, which is where they get their Ironblasters from. Maneaters have flintlocks from the cultures they have traveled to such as the Southern Realms, Sartosa, the Empire, etc., whereas Leadbelchers get their cannons from trade with the Chaos Dwarfs, which are used as the men from the Empire may use rifles, and are used in pretty much every Ogre tribe, though to call them black powder weapons may be a bit of a misnomer, as they will use handfuls of rusty nails, scrap iron, assorted bladed metals, etc. and only rarely use a cannonball or suitable rock to fire. Needless to say, most Iron Blasters are missing some teeth, an eye or two, multiple fingers, and are scarred all over their body from their guns exploding in their arms. An Iron Blaster view these as honors, and an ironblaster with Eyebrows, all their fingers, and some other manner of scorching or disfigurement would be viewed as a novice or with extreme skepticism as any good and proper Ogre would throw all caution to the wind in order to blast one of these weapons into a foe.
===[[Dogs of War|Southern Realms]]===
The [[Tilea|Tileans]] and [[Estalia|Estalians]] are some of the first races to get gunpowder in the Old World due to trade with Cathay along the Silk Road. (Because GW rip off a lot of their history from our own and Italy was the first country since the fall of the Roman Empire in the West to visit China due to the Silk Road opening from Pax Mongolica.) However, because Tilea is a plutocratic state, pikemen are still used primarily as many a paymaster will try to remain skimpy.

Estalia is more open with their firearms, with Estalian Bandolleros Gringos being famous units of Arquebuses, and their galleons holding many more cannonades than their peers, as they seek to colonize the world and set up a merchantile empire in their own right. Unfortunately, the places they seek to colonize are full of Lizardmen, Arabyans, and Tileans who do not view these attempts well.

Of the Dogs of War, cannons are used rarely due to constantly needing to be on the move. These are still easier than riflers however, they come with some risks.

===[[Skaven]]===
Skaven do use gunpowder, but primarily in conjunction with [[warpstone]] weapons. [[Clan Skyre]] especially uses long-range weapons like [[Ratling Guns]] and [[Warplock Jezzail]]s which use some black powder, but not as their primary ammunition source, as they like the nasty and dangerous irridated stone far more than the other races, to the point where they are basically synonymous with the stuff and anyone who has any quantity of it risks being targeted by the rest of Skavendom in order to acquire it.

===[[Tomb Kings]]===
As stated before, Tomb Kings technically have gunpowder through trade with Cathay, but this is not represented well on tabletop. Armies of [[Nehekhara#Devil.27s_Backbone|Lybaras]] are known throughout the land both in their time and in modernity for their scholarly wisdom and devotion to their patron god of knowledge, [[Thoth|Tahoth]], because GeeDubs is unoriginal. It is conceivable that these firearms were not unknown throughout the land, but due to how the Tomb Kings have their skeletons constantly die and be reborn. The only reason they haven't run out of arrows long ago is likely a blessing from the goddess Asap, who, [[Sotek|in stark similarity to a certain other serpentine god of vengeance]], allows the use of arrows as a catalyst for their power which is never used up or completely destroyed. Gunpowder weapons require constant maintenance, as well as ammo and arms. It may just be easier for the Tomb Kings, even if they have access to the guns, to use their overwhelming numbers of skeleton warriors and arrowmen, as the effort required for a few dragonstaves, despite their power, may not be worth it in the long run compared to their [[Bone Giant]]s and other larger and more powerful artillery pieces.

That or GW doesn't want to ruin the aesthetic of the New Kingdom Egyptians.

===[[Vampire Counts]]===
The general tactic for Vampire Count armies is to force enemies into melee and grind them down with brutal assaults before reviving all of your and the now dead enemy's forces in order to break their willpower and morale. Naturally, this will mean very few fire arms, especially as necromancers and vampires of the Old World seek out the dead who were buried before they received Morr's blessing. These barbarians were much more brutish and less civilized, more like the modern Norscans than those who lived in civilization after, though still capable of metallurgy and (presumably) were somewhat nomadic given they are risen with many horses. Von Caresteins, as aggressive as they are ambitious, are often found in Sylvania and so if they need fire arms, will call upon levies to fill their role. Unlike the Tomb Kings, the Vampire Counts use necromancy to completely puppet corpses and so making them manually aim, fire and reload requires much more effort than it would for other factions, and so if available, having humans to act in their stead would be preferable, especially as guns have to be constantly maintained, upkept and resupplied, which can be bothersome for Vampires.

Other vampiric blood lines employ similar tactics with the more bestial and monstrous vampires from the [[Strigoi]] Bloodline wishing to [[rip and tear]] through enemy infantry through rush tactics with [[Ghouls]]. [[Lahmian]]s prefer not to engage in conflict at all, and instead will rather have either puppets fight for them, or use diplomacy as an alternative-but if they must fight, will use primarily skeletons and thralls. [[Blood Knights]] are about closing the distance and charging in with calvary, and are much less likely to use firearms, being more about honor and chasing foes they perceive as worthy rather than fighting enemies. [[Necrarch]]s are all about experimentation, and trying to create Frankenstein abominations of undead necromancy and [[thousand sons|endlessly pursue knowledge]]. Of the bloodlines, they are the most likely to have some gun built into some hulking monstrosity. [[Jade Vampires]] and the Vampires of Ind we know basically nothing about but are in Cathay so are presumably like them, but like all their cousins, probably don't use guns.

Of course, this is ignoring the more obvious exception, which is...

===[[Zombie Pirates of the Vampire Coast|Vampire Coast]]===

[[Luthor Harkon]] is not a typical Vampire, especially given his lineage as a [[Blood Dragon]]. Unlike his [[Walach Harkon|cousin]], Luthor isn't the noble or honorable type. Instead, he decided that rather than deal with all the infighting, warring and (most importantly) competition, he decided it was instead better for him to go to a place where he wouldn't have to deal with: [[Lustria]]. (Though granted, he might not have had a choice, as the ship his coffin was on was raided by [[Norsca|Norscan]] marauders heading for the colony of [[Skeggi]], and who washed up on the Eastern Coast of Lustria).

Raising the dead into zombies, Harkon set out to establish his zombie empire on the hot and humid coasts of Lustria, as the dead fear not disease, nor the exhaustion of heat and dehydration. Unlike other vampires, the coast could really only make use of washed up sailors, and so little-to-no [[Skeleton Warrior#Warhammer Fantasy Battles|skeleton]]s could be found in their ranks, but what ship wrecks and dead sailors have in abundance tend to be cannons, blackpowder and flintlocks.

That's why out of all the factions, the one with arguably the most reliance on their black powder is the Vampire Coast, as without it, they'd be stuck fighting [[lizardmen|angry lizards]], [[Clan_Pestilens|diseased rats]], or the myriad other horrors found in the primeval continent with a bunch of rotting corpses with nothing but numbers, which matters little when your enemies have [[carnosaurs]].

===[[Warriors of Chaos]]===

The warriors of chaos do not use fire arms. Why? Because in the eyes of the gods, nothing is more glorious than melee combat (or spellcasting, if you're [[Tzeentch]]), as it draws the most emotions out of the enemy. Bullets kill the enemy too quickly, and you cannot savor their fear, rage, bitterness, etc. Sure, some Norscans will use throwing spears or javelins, but proper Chaos Warriors will never belittle themselves so low. Glory in the eyes of the Gods demands they come in and come in close to spread Nurgle's blessings, Slaanesh's gifts, or Khorne's fury.

Tzeentch is the only exception to this, being much more likely to reward trickery and cunning, and although some of Nurgle's units will like to spread his love from a distance, Tzeentch is the only faction with actual range due to the love of magic and magical projectiles of his [[Horrors]]. Otherwise, expect to want to close the distance and close the distance fast.

===[[Wood Elves]]===
Unsurprisingly, the faction that is about living in harmony with nature and trying to be eco-friendly, and who have a particular fondness for stealth and accuracy is not in favor of firearms.

Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)

2023-05-22T00:40:51Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922: /* History */

{{NeedsImages}}

Gunpowder-also called Black powder or Dragon powder-is a mixture of sulfur, carbon and potassium nitrate and is used by many races throughout the Warhammer World.

==History==

The first race known to have used gunpowder are the mysterious [[Giant#Giants_in_Warhammer_Fantasy.2FAge_of_Sigmar|Sky-Titans]], a race once known to occupy [[Mountains_of_Mourn|the Mountains of Mourn]], with their most populated area being within the [[Mountains_of_Mourn#Ancient_Giant_Lands|Ancient Giant Lands]]. By -2750 IC, the [[Great Migration]] kicked in caused by a warpstone meteorite crashing into the earth in an attempt by the [[Dragon Emperor]] to exterminate the Ogres...[[FAIL|Only to end up creating their new God, the Great Maw.]] At this time, [[Ironblaster]]s were used as pistols, and the Sky Titans lived in [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|huge, well defended cities in the mountains supporting huge populations and technological marvels.]] Unfortunately for everyone, Ogres set forth to raze down every capital in order to secure themselves food and a new home. (According to some legends, the Sky Titans are the ones who even cursed Ogres to always be hungry no matter how much food they ate as poetic justice... Not that it helped as it just made them fight more fiercely.)

The next faction to crack the Gunpowder mystery would be to the far east and in parallel to the origins of gunpowder in our own world-[[Grand Cathay]] had gunpowder sometime before -1741 IC as is record in the Nagash Trilogy, having traded with the Eastern Cities of Nehekhara. Although crude, these rifles were very effective in combat to the point they were crucial in the defeat of [[Nagash]] in [[Nehekhara#Charnel_Valley|Mahrak]] and the establishment of [[Nehekhara#Devil.27s_Backbone|Lahmia]]. It is fair to say after the establishment of Lahmia, the city of Lybaras probably had similar devices given they had more advanced devices such as flying machines, but it seemingly didn't stick around or these devices were lost to time, as the [[Tomb Kings]] are not shown using any materials in battle. Cathay, however, still maintains a large amount of gunpowder weapons including cannons and weapons akin to blunderbusses, but seemingly are not as advanced in terms of rifling as the Old World is.

From there, either the Dwarfs or their [[Chaos Dwarfs|cousins]] were the next to invent them, with dwarfs inventing them in -420 IC during the Times of Woe where they were of particular use against the Greenskins, and slowly, despite their trepidation, grew to encompass them in the dwarven traditions, to the point where Thunderers are the core of any Dawi stronghold, along with cannons and other marvels of modern science.

Modern firearms in the Old World are descended from there, either being reverse-engineered from guns traded with the Dawi or gifts due to the close bonds between the Empire and the Dawi, though they are seen as primitive mockeries of the superior Dwarf engineering, even the advancements of made in the University of Nuln, the foremost university in the Empire and one of the best places for development of technology in all the known world.

==By Faction==
===[[Albion]]===

Unsurprisingly the druid faction does not have fire arms nor do they fight people with firearms regularly.

===[[Amazon#Warhammer|Amazons]]===
Ditto as above, except Amazons are known for traveling all throughout the Warhammer Fantasy world in order to raid them (likely to look for for some..."[[RAPE|genetic diversity]]" given fluctuative parthenogenesis doesn't exactly result in stable asexual reproduction.)

Given the Amazons are a rather isolationist people who prefer not to interact with others, their likely only contact with firearms have been through Empire merchants who have sought them out, or the occasional male from the Old World looking for the paradise of women found in the continent, only to never be seen again.
===[[Araby]]===
Arabyan troops are known to use gunpowder for their Jezzails-a long-barreled arquebus designed to be used on the backs of [[Camel Riders|Camels]] and [[War Elephants]]. Araby is based largely on Arabian Nights, which was written in the 13th century by which guns had already been introduced, and although more associated with the Turks due to advancement, an army loosely based on a mixture of various Islamic sources does not seem like a stretch relatively.

===[[Beastmen]]===
As Beastmen [[RAGE|abhor]] all signs of civilization, gunpowder weapons are amongst the things they detest the most as it not only shows how cowardly one is by hiding behind a large weapon instead of charging into glorious melee combat, but embodies the weakness and decadence of man, and his conceit over dominating nature. Beastmen even detest bows, but allow ungors to use them as they are useful and relatively primitive.

In theory, books like Paradise Lost and Blood Meridian show characters making gunpowder getting wood to make charcoal, saltpeter from bat Guano and sulfur from volcanic ash, and then through urinating on it and leaving it out in the sun, are able to use it for weapons. Not only are the aforementioned examples meant to parallel daemonic creations, but is to show the characters who do this as downright satanic, using things like fire, bats, and volcanos to create something evil-which coincidentally are all also available to the Beastmen. So if you want to make a warband of [[your dudes]] which have access to some primitive forms of fireworks or similar, you are more than able to do so with technology already available to the Beastmen. Just expect some confusion from your opponent.

===[[Bretonnia]]===

Officially, guns are not allowed on the soil of Bretonnia, as they are seen as unchivalrous and unbecoming of a knight who seeks a fair and honorable fight, which missiles undermine. (And, because the actual reason, the Nobles don't want peasants having weapons capable of piercing through plate armor nor of equalizing themselves in terms of force with the Nobles, which is why there is a general ban on peasants who are not men-at-arms or archers owning weapons).
However, given Bretonnia is a corrupt land, it is likely smugglers and mercenaries (who often disguise themselves as shepherds to travel freely) will try to carry small arms in order to equalize the playing field a bit so long as they are outside the eyes of the law and are able to bribe any officer to look the other way.

The navy of Bretonnia, however, is packed to the brim with gunpowder because of a loophole of them never being on the soil of the nation, and so they have more cannons than they can carry. The Nobility generally don't mind because the merchantile class provides them with goods they desire and makes them incredibly wealthy, along with defending the shores of their nation from Chaos, and so they are tolerated.

===[[Chaos Dwarfs]]===

Unhindered by the curse of tradition, the Dawi'Zharr advance much more quickly technologically and experiment much more with a variety of things-including Gunpowder. Of every faction in the setting, they not only have the most access to sulfur through the large Volcanos that permeate the [[Darklands]], but the various other ingredients in abundance through intense mining operations and slavery. With such a brutal effort on efficiency and cold, ruthless expansionism, their weapons reflect this cruel and fiery mentally with blunderbusses, mortars, [[Dreadquake_Mortar|dreakquakes]], fireglaives, rocket launchers, bazukas...

More than any other faction, the Chaos Dwarfs are the ones who live and breathe gunpowder, almost literally.

===[[Daemons of Chaos]]===

While Daemons of Chaos do have their fair share of either magical or mechanical guns, they are constructs of the warp and so do not use gunpowder. However, Daemon armies still do struggle against bullets due to the fact the chaos gods like to get in close to your opponent. Nurgle and Tzeentch often can tank a shot, in fairness, but Slaanesh's favored prefer not to wear armor and when lead is being propelled at the speed of sound at you, that can end poorly.

===[[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]]===
Dark Elves, although more wiling to experiment with [[chaos|things]] [[slaanesh|they]] [[dhar|probably]] [[daemons|shouldn't]], they still retain their bows, albeit due to [[Malekith]]'s history with the dawi and his fondness for their crossbows, the Dark Elves tend to focus on use of [[repeaters]] and other similar weapons that utilize arrows. They tend to have more power than regular bows, and are more accurate than firearms, so work as an in-between.

Maybe some Black Ark Corsairs might experiment with them if they steal some. Alternatively, a particularly paranoid Dreadlord or political figure may have a small pistol or some other weapon in case of some entrepreneuring or overly ambitious individuals put him in a tight spot. However, he will make good care to hide this from his comrades. But these are still outliers.

===[[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]]===
As mentioned before, Dwarfs were a pioneering race in the invention and use of Gunpowder. Thunderers, although introduced long after Cathay and even longer after the fall of the Dawi Empire of old, have become a staple of Dwarf armies, along with the Organ Guns, cannons, and flame cannons which modern guns are based upon. Even Gyrocopters use them.

Although Dwarf Engineers are old and stubborn, their abilities at science and engineering are unmatched, and they should not be taken lightly. What limits their strength is also what empowers it as traditions reign and ensure the Dawi do not fall like their Eastern Kin.

===[[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire of Man]]===

As mentioned above, the Empire of Man is known for it's Steel, Faith and Gunpowder, and given the faction is on the verge of the industrial revolution post their current Renaissance aesthetic, it is likely correct. Most blackpowder innovations, including the innovative artillery pieces like the [[Hellstorm Rocket Battery]], [[Helblaster Volley Cannon]] and come from the [[Master Engineer]]s of [[Nuln]], who have improved their craft substantially, even compared to the masterpieces of the Dawi. Indeed, it is the [[Imperial Gunnery School]] which takes your average upstart soldier and trains them into one of many elite units including [[Handgunner]]s, a member of an [[Iron Company]], honored amongst [[Nuln Ironside]]s, or-if your parents are rich and want you to serve in the military without risking serious injury-an [[Empire Pistolier]].

Pretty much every army has a Empire Great Cannon or two, bombards are far from uncommon, Mortars litter the battlefield, and firearms have become so common that even [[Free Company Militia]] and the self-appointed members of the [[Witch Hunter]]s can afford them. If this is not enough [[dakka]] for you, a [[War Wagon]] or, if circumstances are dire, a [[Steam Tank]] may be issued.

As a great general once said, "there isn't a problem that can't be solved with more cannons."

The Empire even has non-blackpowder based weaponry in the form of the [[Luminary of Hysh]], but that's not for this page.

===[[Cathay | Grand Cathay]]===
Grand Cathay is said to be one of the oldest factions to know of and use gunpowder in the Warhammer World. This is partially based on our own history in which the Chinese were the first to invent and utilize gunpowder. Much like our own history as well, Cathay's use of gunpowder doesn't necessarily mean that they are the best at it, with most of their artillery and gunlines, while impressive, are not as advanced as the ones in the Empire or that the Dwarfs can bring forward. Of the areas, pretty much all of their war machines and cannons are produced in a city called Nan-Gau, which is basically the [[Nuln]] of Cathay with most of the armaments and technology happening within its industrial district. It is run by nine lords, one of which named Shi-Hong, aka the Blind Master, is the one to have first created the [[Sky-Junk]], a devastating lighter-than-air machine with a front-mounted gatling gun. Impractical, but [[awesome]].

===[[Orcs & Goblins|Greenskins]]===

Unfortunately, unlike their universally beloved [[Orks|alternate universe counterpart,]] there is no [[dakka]] that the Greenskins have. Part of this might be because Orks prefer melee, because the upper body strength of an Orc means their bows are built to have more power behind them than your average bullet, or because guns require constant upkeep and Orcs can't be arsed to give a damn about things like creating new ammo.

It's not known of Orcs from Warhammer Fantasy have the Psychic Gestalt field, but it's unlikely so they'd have to make actually functioning fire arms, and without their [[Oddboys]] like [[Big Mek]]s, they all essentially operate as [[Feral Orks]].

===[[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|High Elves]]===
High Elves don't use gunpowder for a variety of reasons. For one, it's noisy, inelegant, stinky and unreliable. Losing an eye, ear, or finger is more damaging to an Elf than it is to a short-lived man or dwarf, as they have to live with it for millennia. Longbows can be reloaded by an elf quicker and more efficiently, fired relatively simply, and used at longer ranges than a cannon or a rifle can. Magic is where Elves do more of their scholarly research in regards to magic, and consider technological advancement to be essentially "cope" from the lower races who cannot achieve the mastery over the winds or the forge as the elves do. Why have firearms when a dragon can spew fire in its stead or a mage can summon a flaming inferno at his or her finger tips? Seems superfluous compared to the heights of the High Elves

Additionally, the use of speed with Elves make firearms less viable simply because their longer reload times means they cannot efficiently lean into the speed and ferocity of their units most efficiently.

===[[Kislev]]===
Kislev got its gunpowder through trade with the empire. Being based on the peoples of the steppe, most of their guns are attached to make them mobile, such as [[little grom]] or [[war-sleds]] acting as both artillery pieces and chariots. [[Streltsi]] were the first unit in Kislev to use gunpowder, with [[Boyar]] Boydinov-an eccentric noble [[weeaboo|with an obsession with the empire]]-viewing what a regiment of Empire [[Handgunners]] did to some chaos hordes, and since then spent a good chunk of his fortune on a unique formation of [[Kossars]] to defend the city of [[Erengrad]], which is still held to this day, though Kislev, being poor even compared to the other old-world nations, their numbers are limited compared to their peers and they can only be seen in the southern near Erengrad.

The best cannons in the country defend the capital in Kislev, known as Great Cannons, they are literally built into the walls and rival the greatest cannons of the old world.

===[[Lizardmen]]===
Lizardmen don't use gunpowder because they have technology more powerful than it. Things like the Solar Engine or the Hands of the Gods mean the Lizards can shoot what is essentially [[Meme|the unmatched power of the sun]] onto the enemy. Old One tech, which if we count [[The End Times]] includes teleportation, multi-dimensional and spaceship technology, the Lizardmen have long out progressed their need for gunpowder-unsurpsing given a Saurus warrior will take multiple gunshots to the face and keep charging.

===[[Nippon]]===
[[File:Warhammer Ashigaru.jpg|thumb|300px| A Nipponese Ashigaru with a Arquebus, we'll just assume he just ate a really sour lemon]]
While we have little info to go on, the Nipponese do make use of matchlock guns and cannons. Bombardiers command these units, which typically help samurai to maintain their Firelock Pistols and Arquebuses, also well as their much more ornate cannons. Rocket Launchers and War Rockets are also known to be used, though little is known about them.

2nd Edition had the [[/pol/|very culturally insensitively named Kamikaze]] Suicide Squads which are [[Derp|trained Samurai]] who have become so fanatical that they [[Wat|strap gunpowder bandoliers and casks to themselves]]. [[Fail|Apparently up to 10% of Samurai become Kamikaze]]. Needless to say, although hilarious, they probably aren't making a return any time soon, much like all of the commanders named after cars or committing seppuku by standing on their head in a bucket of cold water.

===[[Norsca]]===
Norsca largely does not use gunpowder as they are trapped in the stone age, with only the southern tribes being able to get more advanced metallurgy and are civilized enough to trade with the Northern Empire-who already are less likely to use firearms as the Cult of Ulric views guns with disdain and Nordland being most known for its cunning woodsmen and navy, only one of which are known for its cannons. Instead, Norsca largely is a melee and monster-focused army, with poorly armored troops apart from its elites who can afford to trade with and/or kill Chaos Dwarfs and obtain their goods, most of wish are daemonic and possessed.

It is a known fact of the Warhammer World that the further North something is, the more Chaos influences it to become less and less civilized and more and more barbaric, until the people who are Northmost of Norsca live most like the savage and nomadic cavemen of yesteryear, with no farming or advanced working tools at all. Such is the way the Gods intend, and there is little difference between them and the Beastmen.

===[[Ogre Kingdoms]]===
Ogres don't make gunpowder themselves as much as they loot it from their latest "dinner" or from the remains of the Sky Titan's settlements, which is where they get their Ironblasters from. Maneaters have flintlocks from the cultures they have traveled to such as the Southern Realms, Sartosa, the Empire, etc., whereas Leadbelchers get their cannons from trade with the Chaos Dwarfs, which are used as the men from the Empire may use rifles, and are used in pretty much every Ogre tribe, though to call them black powder weapons may be a bit of a misnomer, as they will use handfuls of rusty nails, scrap iron, assorted bladed metals, etc. and only rarely use a cannonball or suitable rock to fire. Needless to say, most Iron Blasters are missing some teeth, an eye or two, multiple fingers, and are scarred all over their body from their guns exploding in their arms. An Iron Blaster view these as honors, and an ironblaster with Eyebrows, all their fingers, and some other manner of scorching or disfigurement would be viewed as a novice or with extreme skepticism as any good and proper Ogre would throw all caution to the wind in order to blast one of these weapons into a foe.
===[[Dogs of War|Southern Realms]]===
The [[Tilea|Tileans]] and [[Estalia|Estalians]] are some of the first races to get gunpowder in the Old World due to trade with Cathay along the Silk Road. (Because GW rip off a lot of their history from our own and Italy was the first country since the fall of the Roman Empire in the West to visit China due to the Silk Road opening from Pax Mongolica.) However, because Tilea is a plutocratic state, pikemen are still used primarily as many a paymaster will try to remain skimpy.

Estalia is more open with their firearms, with Estalian Bandolleros Gringos being famous units of Arquebuses, and their galleons holding many more cannonades than their peers, as they seek to colonize the world and set up a marchantile empire in their own right. Unfortunately, the places they seek to colonize are full of Lizardmen, Arabyans, and Tileans who do not view these attempts well.

Of the Dogs of War, cannons are used rarely due to constantly needing to be on the move. These are still easier than riflers however, they come with some risks.

===[[Skaven]]===
Skaven do use gunpowder, but primarily in conjunction with [[warpstone]] weapons. [[Clan Skyre]] especially uses long-range weapons like [[Ratling Guns]] and [[Warplock Jezzail]]s which use some black powder, but not as their primary ammunition source, as they like the nasty and dangerous irridated stone far more than the other races, to the point where they are basically synonymous with the stuff and anyone who has any quantity of it risks being targeted by the rest of Skavendom in order to acquire it.

===[[Tomb Kings]]===
As stated before, Tomb Kings technically have gunpowder through trade with Cathay, but this is not represented well on tabletop. Armies of [[Nehekhara#Devil.27s_Backbone|Lybaras]] are known throughout the land both in their time and in modernity for their scholarly wisdom and devotion to their patron god of knowledge, [[Thoth|Tahoth]], because GeeDubs is unoriginal. It is conceivable that these firearms were not unknown throughout the land, but due to how the Tomb Kings have their skeletons constantly die and be reborn. The only reason they haven't run out of arrows long ago is likely a blessing from the goddess Asap, who, [[Sotek|in stark similarity to a certain other serpentine god of vengeance]], allows the use of arrows as a catalyst for their power which is never used up or completely destroyed. Gunpowder weapons require constant maintenance, as well as ammo and arms. It may just be easier for the Tomb Kings, even if they have access to the guns, to use their overwhelming numbers of skeleton warriors and arrowmen, as the effort required for a few dragonstaves, despite their power, may not be worth it in the long run compared to their [[Bone Giant]]s and other larger and more powerful artillery pieces.

That or GW doesn't want to ruin the aesthetic of the New Kingdom Egyptians.

===[[Vampire Counts]]===
The general tactic for Vampire Count armies is to force enemies into melee and grind them down with brutal assaults before reviving all of your and the now dead enemy's forces in order to break their willpower and morale. Naturally, this will mean very few fire arms, especially as necromancers and vampires of the Old World seek out the dead who were buried before they received Morr's blessing. These barbarians were much more brutish and less civilized, more like the modern Norscans than those who lived in civilization after, though still capable of metallurgy and (presumably) were somewhat nomadic given they are risen with many horses. Von Caresteins, as aggressive as they are ambitious, are often found in Sylvania and so if they need fire arms, will call upon levies to fill their role. Unlike the Tomb Kings, the Vampire Counts use necromancy to completely puppet corpses and so making them manually aim, fire and reload requires much more effort than it would for other factions, and so if available, having humans to act in their stead would be preferable, especially as guns have to be constantly maintained, upkept and resupplied, which can be bothersome for Vampires.

Other vampiric blood lines employ similar tactics with the more bestial and monstrous vampires from the [[Strigoi]] Bloodline wishing to [[rip and tear]] through enemy infantry through rush tactics with [[Ghouls]]. [[Lahmian]]s prefer not to engage in conflict at all, and instead will rather have either puppets fight for them, or use diplomacy as an alternative-but if they must fight, will use primarily skeletons and thralls. [[Blood Knights]] are about closing the distance and charging in with calvary, and are much less likely to use firearms, being more about honor and chasing foes they perceive as worthy rather than fighting enemies. [[Necrarch]]s are all about experimentation, and trying to create Frankenstein abominations of undead necromancy and [[thousand sons|endlessly pursue knowledge]]. Of the bloodlines, they are the most likely to have some gun built into some hulking monstrosity. [[Jade Vampires]] and the Vampires of Ind we know basically nothing about but are in Cathay so are presumably like them, but like all their cousins, probably don't use guns.

Of course, this is ignoring the more obvious exception, which is...

===[[Zombie Pirates of the Vampire Coast|Vampire Coast]]===

[[Luthor Harkon]] is not a typical Vampire, especially given his lineage as a [[Blood Dragon]]. Unlike his [[Walach Harkon|cousin]], Luthor isn't the noble or honorable type. Instead, he decided that rather than deal with all the infighting, warring and (most importantly) competition, he decided it was instead better for him to go to a place where he wouldn't have to deal with: [[Lustria]]. (Though granted, he might not have had a choice, as the ship his coffin was on was raided by [[Norsca|Norscan]] marauders heading for the colony of [[Skeggi]], and who washed up on the Eastern Coast of Lustria).

Raising the dead into zombies, Harkon set out to establish his zombie empire on the hot and humid coasts of Lustria, as the dead fear not disease, nor the exhaustion of heat and dehydration. Unlike other vampires, the coast could really only make use of washed up sailors, and so little-to-no [[Skeleton Warrior#Warhammer Fantasy Battles|skeleton]]s could be found in their ranks, but what ship wrecks and dead sailors have in abundance tend to be cannons, blackpowder and flintlocks.

That's why out of all the factions, the one with arguably the most reliance on their black powder is the Vampire Coast, as without it, they'd be stuck fighting [[lizardmen|angry lizards]], [[Clan_Pestilens|diseased rats]], or the myriad other horrors found in the primeval continent with a bunch of rotting corpses with nothing but numbers, which matters little when your enemies have [[carnosaurs]].

===[[Warriors of Chaos]]===

The warriors of chaos do not use fire arms. Why? Because in the eyes of the gods, nothing is more glorious than melee combat (or spellcasting, if you're [[Tzeentch]]), as it draws the most emotions out of the enemy. Bullets kill the enemy too quickly, and you cannot savor their fear, rage, bitterness, etc. Sure, some Norscans will use throwing spears or javelins, but proper Chaos Warriors will never belittle themselves so low. Glory in the eyes of the Gods demands they come in and come in close to spread Nurgle's blessings, Slaanesh's gifts, or Khorne's fury.

Tzeentch is the only exception to this, being much more likely to reward trickery and cunning, and although some of Nurgle's units will like to spread his love from a distance, Tzeentch is the only faction with actual range due to the love of magic and magical projectiles of his [[Horrors]]. Otherwise, expect to want to close the distance and close the distance fast.

===[[Wood Elves]]===
Unsurprisingly, the faction that is about living in harmony with nature and trying to be eco-friendly, and who have a particular fondness for stealth and accuracy is not in favor of firearms.

Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Grand Cathay

2023-05-17T22:46:18Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922: /* Missiles */

This is the general tactics page on how to play [[Cathay]] in [[Total War: WARHAMMER]].

==Why Play Cathay==
*Because Total War: Three Kingdoms didn't go hard enough into fantasy for you.
*These guys are finally being fleshed out (with the full blessings of our [[Games Workshop|evil British overlords]] nonetheless) after years and you want to see what they come up with.
*You're into chinese history and mythology.
*You want to play a defensive gunline but don't want to play as the Totally Not Holy Roman Empire, short vengeful alcoholics, short vengeful alcoholics with funny hats or the bad guys from Pirates of the Caribbean
*You think it's extremely funny to watch Flamers of Tzeentch, Jezzails, and Artillery pieces nuke themselves when you use Mirror Missile on them.

===Pros===
*'''Designed for Total War''': One thing we can say as an advantage for Cathay is unlike the other factions they will be designed from the ground up to be in a Total War game rather than trying to transition from a tabletop game into total war. This gives them the potential to be one of the best-designed races and balanced since they're not trying to fit a square Warhammer peg into a round Total War hole.
*'''Numbers''': Cathay has the largest population of all the human nations, so they have bodies to spare. This is mainly reflected by Cathay's numerous and cost efficient peasant spearmen + archers. Cathay's rank and file infantry more closely resembles the empire in cost and model count.
*'''Range''': As the oldest Human nation to have gotten [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]], it makes sense it plays a big role in your army. You have access to a ton of gunpowder units and artillery to blast the enemy apart. You also got some elite crossbows to play around with. The harmony system ensures that your ranged units have some of the higest reload skill in the entire game, which means... Well, [[Dakka|you shoot a lot.]]
*'''Air Power''': With your Longma, War Balloons and your Dragons you will be decently scary in the air. You won't be fast, and any opposing faction with decent air cavalry will likely threaten you, but you have some potent options.
*'''Harmony''': Cathay has a solid combination of ranged and melee units that work together well in concert. Similarly, units can either be Yin or Yang aligned and having the two working together provides you with a bonus.
*'''Defensive''': Cathay is built to last. Between your faction mechanics and selection of magical lores, Grand Cathay is built to hold the line. If you crave a faction with a strong, staunch line of spears to keep your enemies at bay, Cathay's going to be the faction for you.
*'''Magic:''' Cathay is actually able to keep up with the best of them when it comes to magic. Sure, you don't have the variety that High Elves or Empire have but with 4 lores you do have the most of the game 3 factions. Plus, with Mastery of the Elemental Winds, your spells do more damage the more mages you have in your army. Especially in campaign, Miao and Zhao can carry the army with their spells alone.

===Cons===
*'''Synergy''': Due to the way Harmony works, you will NEED to keep units close to each other, otherwise individual units will underperform. As such, you will likely be locked into turtling in order to get your units close enough to get the buffs they might need in order to perform efficiently. On their own, your units actually have ''lower'' stats than their equivalent in other armies, only getting better when properly buffed.
*'''Slow''': Cathay won't be winning many foot races compared to other factions. Though not as plodding as nurgle or dwarfs, you don't have much in the way of cavalry and your war balloons are pretty susceptible to air cav and missile fire.
*'''Subpar Cavalry''': With Nurgle getting Chaos Knights and Marauder Horsemen in the Champions of Chaos DLC, you now have the worst cavalry of all the Warhammer 3 factions. Jade Lancers are on equal footing with Empire Knights, which doesn't seem bad until you realizes that your second best cavalry option is roughly on par with another faction's weakest heavy cav that tend to get flattened by more elite options. Peasant Horsemen are similar to Mounted Yeomen and while Longma aren't bad they are expensive while not having AP or anti large. Could be worse, you at least ''have'' cavalry, but most factions will out match you with their riders.
*'''Limited Skirmishers''': No vanguard deployment, stalk, or cheap fast movers other than peasant horsemen. Cathay sucks at harrying broken units off the map and hunting enemy skirmishers + war machines.
*'''AoE Susceptible''': A core mechanic of Cathay units is that they gain bonuses when in close proximity with each other. While this can be great for holding the line, it also makes your forces more vulnerable to vortex or wind spells. You'll have to keep an eye out for enemy wizards.
*'''No Melee Expert Non-Legendary Lords or Heroes''': None of your non-LL and Heroes are really that good in melee combat or can serve as a tank. I know what you're thinking "But the Dragon Siblings!" but they won't be leading all your armies in campaign and they are expensive in multiplayer. 3 out of 4 of your Lords and Heroes are Mages and the one that isn't, the Lord Magistrate, is a support buffing character rather than a melee duelist or a tank. Shugengan lords are stated to be decent in melee but trust me, that's only by Mage Lord standards. You won't have many characters that can be safely thrown into melee combat. Concept art was found for a "Gate Master" hero, which will likely serve as the Cathayan equivalent of the Empire Captain or High Elf Noble, so this issue will probably be fixed with DLC.
*'''Empty Campaign''': Cathay is MASSIVE in Immortal Empires with the addition of the Grand Canal and southern provinces that didn't exist in the Realm of Chaos campaign. While CA tried to spice the place up by moving Lokhir, Sniktch, and Nakai and adding NPC skaven/greenskin/vampire factions to the area, both Miao Ying and Zhao Ming face little resistance to expansion and can quickly snowball into economic juggernauts. Hopefully we get DLC for the Monkey King or Jade blooded vampires or Snakemen of Khuresh to give them more of a challenge.
*'''DLC''': There are three guarantees in life. Death, Taxes, and Core Races getting units withheld for DLC. There is already a notable lack of monkey in the Cathay roster. Sorry Cathay, don't expect to be different. (Though in this case, I guess it's less "units being held back" and more "CA and GW making up more shit later.")
**Note that we can generally predict 2-3 lord packs for Cathay. In Mythology china gave each of the 4 cardinal direction's there own set of associations, beast, element, god so on, and with two lords already claiming two of those directions, 2 more for the other two compass points and a possible 5th for the center seems likely.

==Faction traits==
*'''Battle Harmony''': Shared by all non-character Cathay units. Melee units are marked as "Yang", while ranged units are "Yin"; these units gain bonuses when near a unit of the opposite type: leadership and melee defence for melee Yang units, and leadership and reload speed for ranged Yin units. Characters multiply these bonuses for nearby units.
*'''Mastery of the Elemental Winds''': Shared by all Cathayan spellcasters, this ability enhances their spells for each spellcaster present in the army. This encourages taking multiple spellcasters, something not usually done in other factions.
*'''Formation Attack''': A trait that makes the unit try to stay in formation, even when in combat. Increases defense at the cost of DPS.

==Lords==
We finally got the names of the two legendary lords, and they turn out to be new characters. The children of the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress, they rule in his stead over the various provinces of Cathay.

===Legendary Lords===
Cathay has a tech unlockable banner that gives 20% ward save, use this on your legendary of choice, if you take the sword of Slaanesh from the chaos realm you'll get another 20% ward save and tons of damage. Finally the jeweled dagger arcane item gives 25% ward save.enjoy being the toughest/deadliest lord in WH 3. Even Skarbrand cant compete with 70-80% ward save dragons who also cast spells. Unfortunately as of patch 2.2 they can only cast their one basic spell while in dragon form and not use most abilities (Lame....). you can easily stay transformed all the time if your willing to use a hero caser instead. cathay has two items, The Luminark lens (gives 40% fire weakness to enemies map wide) from caravans, and Catalytic kiln (gives a weak mortis engine effect and 22% more fire weakness around lord) get flaming attacks on your lord from beating kostalyn or an item or something and enjoy 62% more damage on everything.
*'''[[Miao Ying]], the Storm Dragon, ruler of the Northern Provinces and Commander of the Great Bastion.''': Daughter of the Dragon Emperor. Miss Cold and Aloof. She is in the north and is daddy's favorite. Can transform between human form where she buffs harmony and a big dragon to melee it up in battle. She will be able to use a hybrid of Life and Yin Magic: Including Earth Blood, Storm of Shadows, Flesh to Stone, Missile Mirror, Regrowth and Talons of Night, with both Lore Traits of Lifebloom and Power of Yin, which means she has basically all the best spells from both lore of life and yin. She has the Wrath of the Storm ability, which increases melee attack, makes attacks magical, and makes those affected immune to psychology. She also has the Disdain of Dragons ability, which lowers enemy melee attacks in a constant radius. She also has access to the Mirror Missile spell which is easily one of the most trollish spells in the entire game, you will never tire of watching the enemy's elite ranged units delete themselves when they fire with the hex activated. She is the only lord cathay has with non-bound healing spells, and regrowth is amazing on herself and terracotta sentinels. no inherent access to regeneration as a skill though, the von carstein blade item from caravans is perfect for her. She gets -50% upkeep to missile units, so bringing a stack almost full of celestial dragon crossbows is probably your best endgame option. Maybe bring 4-6 terracotta sentinels to defend them and support with her healing/provide harmony and you should be good to go on top of her own significant power.

*'''[[Zhao Ming]], the Iron Dragon, ruler of the Western Provinces and Lord of Shang-Yang''': Son of the Dragon Emperor, and a mama's boy. His faction is stated to focus on and specialize in Alchemists and Astronomers. Can transform between human form where he buffs harmony and a big dragon to melee it up in battle. He uses a hybrid of Metal and Yang magic, unfortunately his spell selection is kinda terrible, his only really great spells are final transmutation and breath of the dragon, and I guess wall of fire isn’t bad either but the rest are pretty weak. It feels like they purposely picked only the weakest spells from the lore of Yang to give him, he would have been great with jade shield and stone stance. The biggest issue is that constellation, dragons breath and wall of fire are all chaff killing spells, and he really doesn’t need 3 variants of the same thing. He gets regeneration, an AOE ward save aura (includes him), and can cast final transmutation with a discount which is very powerful for taking out the mass soulgrinders you face in the final campaign battle. He has large army wide buffs to armor and weapon damage. He has -25% upkeep for all yang units, so a basic endgame army for him is him plus at least one alchemist and probably an astromancer (each providing extra winds intensity, and the compass mount gives some free bound spells), maybe optional 1-2 longma riders and/or sky junks (though neither is that necessary), and the rest terracotta sentinels. He gets 100% magic item drop chance so your basically guaranteed to be able to fuse or find all the best magic items in the game.

===Lords===
*'''Dragon-Blooded Shugengan Lord''': Descended from when a human pulled a Donkey from Shrek with Cathay's rulers. Your Mage lord, they come with the lores of Yang or Yin and their mounts are Warhorse or Jade Longma for extra mobility. While they are ''slightly'' better than most mage lords in melee don't expect them to last long if a dedicated melee character gets a hold of them. Yin and Yang variants each get to choose from 4 different options of bound spells from other lore’s usable 4 times each, I prefer Yang because they can get earthblood, which is Cathay’s only healing access or spirit leach is good for yin. the flying mount is a major reason they out preform the lord magistrate.

*'''Lord Magistrate''': Your cheap normal frontline general. His gimmick is being able to further improve the harmony mechanic of his army, so extra incentive to form up in a sexy turtle. He also comes with the ability to buff the defense, damage or range of units with his army abilities. His mounts are Warhorse or Sky Lantern. Sadly he's garbage in melee, his mounts suck and pretty much anything he can do a Shugengan can do better. As such no real reason to nab him unless you want to hear his gloriously hammy voice acting. He's also unfortunately the only lord that will ever lead your caravans. Also voiced by the amazing Shogun 2 battle advisor.

===Legendary Heroes===

===Generic Heroes===
*'''Alchemist''': Mages who fight with vials and magic that looks like Chinese calligraphy. Lore of Metal user with some extra bound buffs to armour, melee attack and magic damage with armour piecing. Can mount a warhorse. She has a battle skill buff that gives increased base damage and magic attacks with the ability to specialize in adding either Poison with the same bonus damage as the base version, Flaming which gives double the base damage increase, or a version which gives more AP damage and non AP as an aoe buff power. She can be good just to make sure that your units have other ways to fight the enemy. They boost army mobility, so make sure to put one in every army. remember even if they don't cast they provide winds mastery to your army.

*'''Astromancer''': Your lore of heavens caster. His mounts are a Warhorse for mobility or a Wu Xing War Compass which seems as though it will boost his magic output considerably. You pick this mage if you just want to blow shit up, as his War Compass mount gives him two free bound spells to rain upon the enemy. Also provides winds mastery.

==Units==

===Infantry===
*'''Peasant Long Spearmen''': Your early chaff unit that's literally expected to run away once things get hairy. The unexpected MVP of the MP roster (at least until DLCs give you something better). They come with Expendable ''and'' Expert Charge Defense, which is a rarity for tier 1 units. They are pretty good in campaign too but Jade Warriors with all the tech and ancillary buffs are a lot more efficient and auto resolve much better.
**Rather than treating them like Skavenslaves, they're a lot more like TK Skeleton Spearmen without the shields: a really good screen with lots of bodies, relatively high health compared to the rest of your infantry, and high model count that can absorb losses. They're still expendable chaff, and you take them to die in place of your Jade warriors or Celestial Guard.
*'''Jade Warriors''': Your mid-tier unit and your bread and butter until you can afford Celestial Dragon Guard, and you may prefer to run halberd Jade Warriors anyway for cheaper armies even after unlocking Dragon Guard. Have a unique mechanic where the longer they sit still and brace, the more bonuses they get, gaining higher charge resistance and armour. Make the Dragon Empire into the Turtle Empire with these guys. Just keep in mind that like turtles, they don't move very fast or hit very hard. Basically empire troops with worse offensive stats, but much better armor, and a greater focus on defense in general. all jade warriors can benefit from plus 3 recruit rank and -8% upkeep from very common ancillaries in campaign, an they have a lot of boosting techs in the tech tree. Stack red skill tree buffs, techs, harmony, and spells and jade warriors will be your reliable cost-effective workhorse units all game long, just like empire state troops. They are comparable to dwarf warriors in raw durability.
**The Sword and Shield combo, when combined with Harmony and their own innate stationary buff, they are very tough and can still find a use to tank hits for the Dragon Guard in the late-game. Excellent front line unit with ok missile block chance and dwarf warrior levels of armor. They have much worse melee attack than empire swordsmen but slightly better melee defense, which goes to much better when buffed with harmony.
**The Halberd has better melee attack and armor piercing, so they're like the Wardancers in that even when fighting against heavy infantry, its generally a lot more useful to take them to do some damage. Still more of a holding force than an aggressive force. Compared to empire halberds they have worse melee defense and melee attack (even with base harmony buffs), but much higher armor. As long as you aren't fighting lots of missile units these make for a generally superior front line than the sword and board variant, and they can easily have 100 or more armor in campaign so don't need to be that afraid of non-ap missiles. Dragon guard are definitely stronger than them but jade warriors are so much cheaper and easier to recruit.
*'''Celestial Dragon Guard''': Your elite, end-game unit, taking the best from both Jade Warriors since they're all armed with Halberds and Shields. They have expert charge defense, AP, and don't get bonuses/lose nothing from moving, meaning you could move them to where they're needed most, or even have them charge though Peasant chaff, foregoing the low charge bonus to keep models alive given the low-model count typical of Elite Infantry. Good unit but in campaign you may just prefer to use terracotta sentinels, backed up by cheaper jade warrior units instead, as generally Cathay doesn't rely on their melee infantry for damage.
**'''Dune Dragons''' - Dragon Guard with Magic Attacks, Magic Resist, Immune to Psych and Encourage. These guys are pretty much designed to be a middle finger to large Daemons as they can punch through physical resist and not get terror routed.

===Missiles===
*'''Peasant Archers''': Like your peasant infantry, but with a bow and arrow. Cheap and expendable, potentially valuable if you need a relatively disposable unit to provide a small amount of ranged support and trigger the harmony buff where needed. Has no AP, but that shouldn't be a problem in campaign where the majority of your chaos, norsca, and ogre enemies don't have much armor. Becomes obsolete for your main armies fairly quickly since you can get jade crossbowmen very early, but they make good emergency fodder since they can be recruited pretty much anywhere.
** Very cost effective, especially with the harmony buffs. Can put down a significant amount of fire with their reload skill buffs.

*'''Jade Warrior Crossbowmen''': Jade Warriors with crossbows (in case you couldn't have told from their name). Armoured and with a shielded variant, they sit in-between Empire Crossbowmen and Dwarf Quarrelers in terms of durability and power; they still have the same "hunker-down" ability as regular JW, so you'll probably want to move them in position behind Long Spears and refrain from moving them to keep those bonuses. Similar to jade warriors they have a lot of tech and ancillary buffs so remain useful all game long, eventually you'll consider switching these for celestial crossbows or crane gunners, at least for your more elite armies, defensive armies can probably stick with these. Harmony gives them very impressive reload speed.

*'''Jade Warrior Crossbowmen With shields''' You know the drill by now. silver shield and a plus 8 to melee defense. They are basically more expensive Dwarf Quarrelers with better unit sizes and better reload with harmony.
**They have become substantially more important in the Campaign after the WoC and Chorf updates: the shields let them tank Horror fire and Hobgoblin spam, at the cost of being more expensive and a slightly worse Global Recruitment than the non-shielded variant.
*'''Celestial Dragon Guard Crossbowmen''': Jade Warriors on steroids, once again. Shielded, heavily armoured and with armour-piercing bolts, they're durable archers that can trade shots with the enemy's best. Definitely a better upgrade to jade crossbows than regular dragon guard are to jade halberds, but remember that ap doesn't matter if your fighting most demons.
**On paper, their bolts have more strength than the Sisters of Avelorn, but it's mundane AP versus the Fire/Magic combo that lets the Sisters put in work against pretty much anything. Celestial Crossbowmen have better DPS when buffed, though.
**Desperate and in a pinch? Castle too tight for shooting? Well, they're still Celestial Guard, and so are decent in melee, minus the AP or anti-large bonus. They still give Harmony when in melee. As a pure ranged unit they do face competition from crane gunners who have much better range, but these can actually hold the line and tank some damage, plus the benefits of indirect fire. Generally a core of these with 2 crane gunners is a good mix for example, have the crane gunners snipe lords and high priority cav or fast targets, while these handle the infantry and slower enemies.

* '''Iron Hail Gunners''': A living version of the Zombie Handcannons from the Pirate coast, these ladies massacre armored infantry with their high-AP shotguns. With the Harmony system, being able to keep them closer to your melee units will make them into machinegunning shotgunners. Can fire in melee if the enemy makes contact without breaking through the first rank.
**Unlike your Crossbowmen or Crane gunners, they lack shields or armor, but are much more mobile. You can flank with them to outright delete elite infantry, but even having them shoot through gaps in your formation is also helpful, because they're Cathayan shotguns. Keep in mind they do worse than jade crossbowman in auto-resolve. lack of indirect fire is an issue so learn to use chevron formations. Replace these with crane gunners as soon as you can however. Frankly given that all your early game enemies tend to have poor armor in campaign, you should probably just use Jade warrior crossbows instead.
**Considering how quickly you can get these ladies in the Campaign, they're instrumental damage dealers from early to mid.
** Be cautious about using them against the ogres because they will literally just run through your front line, because hurr durr pull through. In campaign, best employed against all chaos factions other than Tzeentch, whose basic units will fucking slaughter the gunners with their ranged attacks, because fuck you I guess.

* '''Crane Gunners''': Human Skaven Jezzails. Much like their rat counterparts, these gunners excel at long-ranged sniping with their second-only-to-artillery range and will likely form a core part of your backline while you make the enemy come to you. They come with shields, which should give them some missile resistance to weather counter-fire and kill those jezzails. You're probably better off going for grand cannons in most match ups though. Grand cannons have better all around combat stats and the exact same movement speed; but with Patch 1.2, they are now shieldbreakers (reducing Missile Block Chance) and their missiles gain limited piercing, which makes them good at mowing down closely ranked. Better than cannons at sniping mobile targets and they can take cover + shoot out of forests when cannons can't. 1-2 of these in an army is a great way to snipe down high priority targets.

===Cavalry===
*'''Peasant Horseman''': The fastest thing in your army that can't fly. Probably based on the herdsmen levies that numerous Chinese dynasties employed as scouts and light cav. With an almost identical statline to Brettonian mounted yeomen, the only reason to get peasant horsemen is because Cathay has no alternatives other than Jade Lancers and Longmas who are simply too expensive to waste chasing down routing units + artillery crews. You'll want to grab a few of these guys in Multiplayer and early campaign, but hopefully we'll get better alternatives with future DLC.

*'''Jade Lancers''': Jade warriors on horseback. More defensive than other factions cavalry. More suited defending your flank than running in to attack the enemy. high armor but mediocre melee stats and speed. in camapign use them if you want a flanking unit, who will actually kill the units they are supposed to kill, or just peasant horsemen if you want to run down routing enemies. They can get the Slaanesh Devastating flanker ability from a campaign tech so they they will have over 90 charge bonus on the flank, they will do good work cycle charged, but replace with Longma riders asap.

*'''Great Jade Longma Riders''': Your versions of pegasus knights, except instead of a rich noble who sneers at peasants, you get a rich noble whose great-great-great-grandad/mom got busy with a dragon. Also comes with Fear, possibly making them an expensive option to spook away and chase routing units. Their true strength will be as a bodyguard unit for your squishy balloons/artillery against enemy air forces and flankers, and being a hammer to the rest of your rosters anvil. 1-2 of these is a great option for any of your armies.
**Stats wise, they're roughly between pegasus and royal pegasus knights that traded away their Anti-Large bonus in exchange for 30 more armour (110 total), higher weapon strength, and charge bonus. As such, they're better at dealing with multiple different types of opponents but aren't quite as good at dealing with large units and other cav.
**'''Righteous Lances of Wei-Jin''': Comes with good AP damage and the Guardian ability that decreases damage taken by nearby lords and heroes. If you want a bodyguard for your flying lords or just want air cavalry that fight armored targets these are the horse dragon things for you.

===Chariots===
*'''Wu-Xing War Compass''': A big ol' magical battery that boosts Harmony and counts towards Mastery of Elemental Winds increase the power of your spells. Can cast Urannons Thunderbolt and Comet of Casanodora; the Compass has been buffed in 1.2 to give you 2 free casts of each power without costing WoM, but their ''Celestial Comet'' is half as strong (but also twice as fast) to compensate. Better used as a mount for your spellcasters than an actual unit on it's own
**Also ok in melee as a ...cart. It moves as fast as infantry, literally anyone who gets run over by this thing deserves to die under the hooves of plain old cows dragging a heavy fucking magic compass.

===Monsters===
*'''Terracotta Sentinel''': Take the standard Terracotta soldier from China, make it really big and teach it kung fu and you have this thing. Possible doomstack material. They are unbreakable and hit like a truck, making them good at both clearing chaff and 1v1ing monsters. Don't leave them unsupported against missile units or anti-large elites, as they'll still break down to concentrated AP and missiles. Causes Terror for understandable reasons.
**If you've played Tomb Kings, you know what to expect: keep them away from Halberd tarpits and anti-large monstrous infantry, and if you can't, give them a screen, like Peasant spears or Jade cavalry.
**It's also the best monster in the entire game right now. Like seriously, this thing can beat a Necrosphinx or a Bloodthirster one on one. It's also incredibly affordable and only costs 100 gold more than giants despite fighting much better in combat. Yeah these things are a little bullshit. Given that Cathay as a faction is considered subpar it's nice that they have at least one unit that is unambiguously strong, but expect CA to whack these guys with the nerf bat eventually. Seriously with the blue tree you can get these for like 250 upkeep each, just spam doom stacks of these supported by magic and you’ll destroy everything. You don’t even need to support them with the harmony system, but can anyway by bringing a balloon or two. They can get an insane plus 15% replenishment buff from the tech tree as well as an ancillary that giives -10% upkeep and unlike most single entities they auto resolve very well due to high armor and health.
**'''The Jolly Green Guardian (Regiment of Renown):''' A Terracotta Sentinel with better missile resistance ''and'' a permanent missile mirror aura that applies to all enemies around it. The aura also renders him immune to many short ranged anti-large units like poison wind globardiers and norscan javelins. You'll need to use him aggressively as a bullet sponge in most matchups to get the most out of his abilities.

===Artillery===
* '''Grand Cannon''': Your basic artillery unit with surprising mobility thanks to being pulled by oxen. Comes with flaming attacks by default, making it slightly better at burning trees and mummies, and cutting through regeneration. It is roughly as fast as a standard infantry unit, which is actually a big deal because it will be able to keep up with your main army and rearrange itself much easier than a normal cannon.
** Extremely strong basic artillery unit and will likely be your main damage dealer and the focus of your army: with the harmony bonuses, it can and will kill large units very fucking quickly with their reload bonuses. Always nice to swat Fateweaver out of the sky even before the shit starts spamming searing doom/various fires over your lines.
** It's important to note that these boys are the most accurate cannons we've seen in Total war so far, extremely useful as they're actually capable of swatting tzeench's flying chariots out of mid-air.You can get to tier 3 extremely quickly in campaign and these boys WILL be your bread and butter in both campaign and multiplayer.

* '''Fire Rain Rocket''': Imagine a hellstorm rocket battery that fires even faster due to the Harmony mechanic. Terrifying. Aim for big blobs of enemies and watch as they become chunky salsa. Compared to the normal Hellstorm it does more missile damage, but the majority of it isn't actually AP. So while you still want to aim for blobs, those blobs should be of less armored infantry rather than heavily armored stuff. Do amazing in auto resolve just like empire hellblasters.

* '''Sky Lantern''': The smaller of the two airship units with Crane Gunners, and dedicated support. It provides a morale boost to your infantry on top of Harmony, so even your Peasants will hold the line for as long as they humanly can. As Cathayan Sky Balloons they grat vision on units that are hiding in foliage, which can help thwart ambushes. They don't reveal Stalk, though.
**It can fire while moving and line of sight isn't much of a problem, so as long as it doesn't get attacked, it can take potshots at the enemy. It's slow as balls though, so any flying unit that gets its hands on it will be able to tear it to pieces. And pretty much every chaos army has furies who will rip it to shreds
**Almost useless, if it wasn't for the harmony mechanic + its encouragement buff, you probably wouldn't ever take them. As a flying unit, it can provide a source of Harmony that the enemy cant touch unless they devote their other flyers or ranged units on it.
**Offensively, though, their crane guns are like the stormbolter on a Rhino: they just don't shoot enough to actually be dangerous, and don't have the bombs that would otherwise make them useful. You may as well take the Crane Guns on infantry if you want sniper fire, or the Sky Junk for Guns, Bombs, and Rockets.

* '''Sky-junks''': The heavier of the two airship units that [[Awesome|acts as a flying Helstorm Rocket Battery]]. Can also drop bombs gyrocopter style, and has high armour against missile units. Unlike most other flying units, it can't toggle landing, so try to protect it against flying cav with missile units. It is slow as fuck and will be pretty much useless once it runs out of ammo, but it will hopefully do some devastating damage before that happens.
**Tanky enough to take hits from Furies and other flying beasties that lack AP, they are a nice flying Distraction Carnifex until they run out of ammo. And even when they do, they're a nice flying anvil to hold flyers in place while your Longma riders hammer them.
**Much more effective when you fire very closely downwards, otherwise, just a shitty, inaccurate, single-entity fire rain launcher. Even in campaign, the SkyJunk Miao Ying starts with tends to autoresolve poorly, needing to be microed in siege battles because the balloon-based rocket-ship cant [[Derp|draw LOS through buildings]].
**Oddly enough, they can be healed mid-battle with Miao Ying or a dragon blooded lord with bound lore of life spells.

==Multiplayer Strategies==
You are what happens when the Empire, Dwarfs, and Skaven all have the world's weirdest threesome where lingering eye contact was held with the Vampire Coast; and they had a baby. Your themes revolve around plentiful, expendable infantry and strong missiles working in unison to bunker down an area and blast anything that comes at you straight to hell. Harmony is a double edge sword, as while it encourages you to pair units together and builds buffs, it also means units on their own aren't reaching their full potential. This is a quantity over quality faction with limited offensive options, as the closest thing you have to offensive infantry is sword and board Jade Warriors, and while they have cavalry, they're slow and limited compared to other factions.

Since the Cathayan army is so new, there's a massive lack of units for the army compared to all the other established factions, and in some ways, it almost feels unfinished. For example, your have no ranged cavalry options, which means your cavalry options won't be able to receive the Harmony benefit if they go too far (and the bubble is so small, you can lose Harmony just chasing after other cavalry). CA is definitely holding back options to make room for new DLC.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Beastmen| Beastmen]]''':

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Bretonnia| Bretonnia]]''': With more flavours of cavalry than you can comprehend, you'll need to set up extremely defensively and bring plenty of halberds to fend off all the armoured horse riders. Be sure to pepper them with your armour piecing missiles, and use peasant chaff to block charges and allow your actual hard hitters to stay in position to fire upon them. Don't bother bringing lanterns and longma riders, Bretonnias air forces are too scary and will easily win any aerial battle, and the lanterns and longma aren't going to be much help against cav and are wasted on peasant chaff.

*'''[[Total_War_Warhammer/Tactics/Chaos_Dwarves| Chaos Dwarfs]]''':

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Daemons of Chaos| Daemons of Chaos]]''':

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Warriors of Chaos| Warriors of Chaos]]''': <div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">Heavily armored barbarians are threatening Cathay's border, and it's up to hot dom dragon waifu and her warpdust snorting fuccboi brother to keep Cathay safe<div class="mw-collapsible-content">WoC wants to get into melee as soon as they can, and their elite infantry will fuck yours since all your AP is on anti-large; at least your dudes will fuck over any Dragon Ogres, though. Anything bigger than a Dragon Ogre can be handled by the Sentinel</br>You outclass them in ranged combat with actual archers, guns, and artillery, WoC players will send Manticores and Cavalry after them, so keep some Halberds next to them (which you should be doing anyway for the Harmony mechanic.) </br>That being said, their lack of ranged weapons means that your Sky-Junks will have grand old time, and may be a better investment than ground-based Fire Rockets. Manticores will die to Longma Riders, so keeping them protected will not be an issue. </div></div>

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves| Dark Elves]]''':

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dwarfs| Dwarfs]]''':
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
This will be tough for the same reason the Vampirates are bad in this matchup, they do your main tactic better than you do. They have a wider assortment of guns and artillery, and great ways to kill your large units. They have Catapults to fuck your formations, while your indirect artillery lacks AP to punch through thicc dwarf armor.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

You will need to play offence against the Dwarfs which isn't great as you have no armour-piercing infantry that isn't bonus versus large, and your units only hit their peak efficiency when they're stationary and next to someone of the opposite type. They're also slow, not dwarf-slow, but slow enough that you'll take losses from Dwarf artillery, so it's a good idea to have at least a few peasants in front off your dudes to die for the Greater G--Harmony.

Your shielded crossbowmen are decent with good AP, get better when they're stationary, reload quicker with the Harmony mechanic; so long as their shields are faced where the shots are coming from, you can bounce some missiles off, too; Iron Hail gunners are much quicker than Jade Warriors or Dwarfs, and their shotguns pack a mean punch, especially when they're quick-firing with Harmony. They can be very good flankers when you pair them with Peasant Long Spears to guard their flanks and provide Harmony. Crane Gunners are like Skaven jezzails, use them to shoot down Gyrocopters to clear the skies and give your airships the ability to shoot from afar without being shot down. Speaking of airships, the Skyjunk is a better investment than the Fire Rain rocket; their weapons are similar, but the Skyjunk is harder to hit by enemy artillery, has much better angling, and when it runs out of ammo, can drop bombs that will be much more disruptive than the non-AP Fire Rain rockets.

Jade Warriors with shields will likely by your best melee infantry bet as they might be able to survive salvos as they hold against the dwarven line, but try screening them with Peasant Long Spears; they'll break, but when they regroup you can use them as Harmony buffers with your Iron Hail or Crane Guns. In terms of how to break the line, Ox Cannons are quite mobile for an artillery piece, and Crane Guns can provide covering fire from afar.

Your best lord option is a dragon blooded lore of yin caster on a longma. She's highly disruptive to ranged heavy factions since she can summon fodder into the middle of the enemy gunline like a flying vampire lord and overcast missile mirror to shut down individual ranged units for 36 seconds at a time.
</div></div>
*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Empire| Empire]]''':
Remember what we said in Dwarfs and Vampirates? Yeah you're dealing with a faction that does your thing better than you again. Grand Cannons are better than Great Cannon thanks to Harmony buffs and better mobility, but that's about the only good thing in this particular matchup. Luminarks hard counter Sky Junks and Imperial rocketry has ''significantly'' greater range than your own, while the constant threat of Demigryph up the ass keep you from rushing in without a plan.

*'''Grand Cathay''':
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">There is no war in Grand Cathay
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
This game is still too new for a meta, and most games you have on MP will just be people trying shit out. That being said, take Skyjunks and Fire Rockets and shoot the shit out of the enemy castle. Exploit the Grand Cannons mobility and provide harmony with cheap Peasants that you wont mind losing. Pop airships with Longma or Sky Lanterns, and save the Crane Gunners for their Longma. Take a sentinel and if your opponent takes one too, they can practice their kung fu

</div></div>

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Greenskins| Greenskins]]''': Greenskins shred dwarfs. but you have the great ability of actually having mobile options and magic. a positive matchup in your favor. bring one or two iron hail gunners to melt greenskin monsters and a lore of yang caster for the fire-wall. jade warriors should be able to hold off even black orks buying time for your missiles to bring the pain.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/High Elves| High Elves]]''': Your biggest threat will be dragons or an arcane phoenix and magic. Any sort of mass-AOE will rip apart your packed formations and the helves have a lot of options. bring grand cannons and use their accuracy to snipe their mages and dragons. otherwise your missile line is better than the helves and your frontline is better. a balanced matchup

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Khorne|Khorne]]''': One of your better matchups. Elite armies really don't like wading through gunfire to get to the enemy lines. Khorne will bring hounds, furies, and a bloodletter summoning cultist or two to disrupt you, peasant spearsmen and maybe a longma squad should suffice to tie them up. A terracotta sentinel is highly recommended as an emergency responder to Khorne's monsters along with a lore of yin caster to snare enemies with storm of shadows and block their movement with summoned fodder.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Kislev|Kislev]]''': This is a faction that either relies on subpar ranged power or lots of heavy cavalry. pretty much all your infantry is anti-large and you outrange kislev massively. a very positive matchup in your favour as kislev's 'jack of all trades master of none' once again fails against a more specialised faction

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen| Lizardmen]]''': This will theoretically be a tricky match up, but ultimately one in your favor. Your plentiful AP gunpowder units will make quick work of the sluggish Saurus and, when coupled with your multitude of halberd units, can do some serious damage to their bigger beasties, but they're likely not going to be the forces a competent Lizardmen army will bring. Instead, Skinks will be your bane. Fast skirmishers and Chameleons will hassle you from all angles with their poisonous darts while their cavalry (flying or otherwise) disrupts your formations with fear/terror-inducing charges. If they're bringing a Slann, you will NEED to keep on top of your positioning; positioning your forces too close makes them prime candidates for the myriad of vortex and wind spells at their beck and call. Deal with them first, followed by any cavalry/skirmishers and clean up what's left with your plentiful gunpowder.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Norsca| Norsca]]''':

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Nurgle| Nurgle]]''': Nurgle hates ranged units, enemy large units, an abundance of anti-large, fire damage, and enemies that can hold out in a grindfest against them. You are all of these things and Nurgle has vanishingly few options against you. Long Ma riders take a huge dump all over any of Nurgle's fliers and the fire damage of your artillery, magic, and more will make Nurgle weep with sorrow as you delete his slow moving and utterly unshielded units off the table one after the other. And as Nurgle has extremely anemic charges he can't even reliably break your formations without lucky spell casts; which of course relies on the Nurglites even getting a spellcaster in range through your numerous means to snipe them off the field. You can basically win this matchup while AFK, but something to watch out for is nurgles Army Ability, which can jump from one nearby unit to another, and Harmony forces your units together, so keep an eye out for the plauges.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Ogre Kingdoms| Ogre Kingdoms]]''': High mass charging units will ruin your day. ogres are cathay's worst matchup bar none in warhammer 3. your frontline will get pushed around like paper as while halberds CAN deal a lot of damage and hold off ogres the ogres can bring a lot more ogre bulls for the price than you can bring halberds. It's worth having no magic and getting a cheap lord as your units are a lot more useful than the lores available for once,

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Skaven| Skaven]]''': From the looks of it, this seems to be your hardest matchup by far. Your harmony mechanic relies heavily on having a solid plan for most stages of the game and Skaven excel at disruption, be it through summons, skirmishing Eshin troops or just raw balls-to-the-wall firepower of Clan Skryre. Mirror Missile is your friend in this match-up and for its relatively low winds of magic cost is one of the single most brutal anti-ranged unit spells in the entire game, forcing the Skaven commander to either force their ranged unit into inactivity for twenty seconds or watch their prized shooters wipe themselves out.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Slaanesh| Slaanesh]]''': What's this, a speedy flanking faction designed to dive backlines? This could spell trouble for you. Fortunately, you theoretically have one way to banish Slaanesh's creeps back to the warp, and that's "Invest in flying units and box up with halberds." Slaanesh has no ranged units and only Furies as fliers, so as long as you have a Longma unit or cheap missiles to protect them, your Sky Lanterns and Sky Junks will be pretty much untouchable as they blast apart Slaanesh's ranks. Due to the amount of AP on their roster, Celestial Dragon Guard are a risky choice so invest either in Peasent spears or Jade Warriors with Halberds. You won't win the melee fight so don't bother investing in it. Have your infantry hold while your War Ballons shoot, your flying casters cast (Grab either the Dragon Siblings or a Shugangen in the air to keep them safe) and your Longma use their speed to flank and rear charge. Your balloons will run out of ammo eventually though, so make every shot count. Or just bring crossbows/archers, and shoot the living shit out of the exhibitionists.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Tomb Kings| Tomb Kings]]''': Lore of yang fire wall. 'nuff said

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Tzeentch| Tzeentch]]''':

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Vampire Coast| Vampire Coast]]''': If the Coast thinks they can outshoot you they have another thing coming. Rocket artillery devastates Vampirate formations and while they can swat your Sky lanterns out of the sky if they bring terrorgheists, Long Ma riders and your Legendary Lords can swat those out of the air in turn and curbstomp any deck droppers they bring. You have well armoured and shielded ranged units who will tear straight through the fragile ranks of the Coast and can stop any monsters they field cold; while your artillery is able to out-trade Vampirate cannons with a better rate of fire as long as harmony is active. Also Missile Mirror was basically created to troll the Vampire Coast specifically.

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Vampire Counts| Vampire Counts]]''':

*'''[[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Wood Elves| Wood Elves]]''':

===Domination===
General Tier Rank: '''D'''

You know how Harmony encourages you to stick your units together and to hold down a single point while not getting too aggressive? In Domination you win by doing the exact opposite of that. Since you have to spread out your forces and go on the offensive it's really hard for you to actually keep your Harmony active meaning a good chunk of your units won't be fighting at their price range. What's more, since you're out maneuvered by most factions, odds are you will not being getting to most points first and will have to fight off your enemies to secure them. Good news is that with your high armor, Terrocottas and range once you do have a point it's decently hard to kick you off. It would really help if you had some kind of decent, inexpensive mobile threat or just a fast ranged unit that can help keep harmony on all your infantry, So keep an eye open for DLC that gives you any of that. You're way better in normal land battles though, as it's significantly easier to play your game and keep Harmony up.

==Campaign Mechanics and Tactics==

Unlike Kislev, which devolves into a Daemon fuckfest around the third or fourth wave of Rifts, Cathay is so easily-defendable that it's just begging for a rework, or at least a nerfbat. You gained a new biggish threat in the form of Azazel but it doesn't change the long term easiness of the campaign, prioritize wiping him out asap or he'll spam stacks at you constantly. you early game crossbows wont do shit to chaos warriors so you'll need to rely more on jade halberds and great cannons/ iron hail gunners, but beware his Slaanesh chariots and or manticores, he makes for a potentially tough fight. Your cannons can quickly snipe him out of the air thankfully.

'''Bastion:''' You have no real enemies outside the invaders in the Steppes beyond the Bastion, or the Ogres/Chaos Warriors in the Mountains to the South. The Bastion has a unique "Chaos Invasion" mechanic where Kurgans get spawned every so often to lay siege to the Bastion. They are Norscans rather than WoC, though, so have absolutely no artillery or siege ability outside of throwing trolls or mammoths at you, and the Bastion Gates practically pay for themselves once you invest in the Upkeep Lowering building chain, (which can go as far as 90% upkeep reduction for garrisoned armies), and get the settlement to level 4 to build Terracotta Sentinels. The Kurgans pretty much only exist to die against your garrisons and give them free experience. Funnily enough, should an AI Cathayan faction own all the gates, the stacks will do absolutely nothing but wait outside the gates. if you play as the western provinces your sister in the north can just hold the bastion for you without ever getting attacked pretty much while you conquer or confederate all the other territory in Cathay. Hence how crazy easy the western provinces are.

'''Trade and Treaties:'''Speaking of Cathayan Factions, there are four hostile rebels (two for each Legendary Lord) and two Loyalist ones, who will be pretty easily confederated once you beat the rebels. Do this as quickly as you can, because your income will rise substantially with their provinces and stability. Cathayan income is comparable to High Elves, without the expensive upkeep. You will actually have enough passive income to station a hero in each province to close rifts as they come up, and the gold needed for each action. You can now just use defense building to stop rifts spawning at all.

You'll also have lots of potential trade partners; by sending Caravans westwards, you can establish diplomatic relations with factions they pass through, and trade treaties can be established with those on the route. These trade relationships can be turned into military treaties, which can eventually lead to Outposts, a new mechanic in Campaign that lets you build military outposts in major settlements (Provincial Capitals with 4+ slots). If you both have an outpost in each other's territories, both factions get to purchase infantry from each other's respective recruitment pools. Cathayan Castles with Kislev Tzar Guard? Na, think Jade Warriors backed by Kroxigors, or Hawk Riders screening for your airships!

'''Harmony and the Compass:''' Harmony is pretty tedious. Your economic/defense buildings, technology, and characters (+1 for heroes, +3 for lords) all have a corresponding Yin-Yang cost. Going too far towards one way will lead to inefficiency at the least, and provincial instability at the worst. Yin and Yang balance will fluctuate as you lose heroes and research tech, and certain buildings will wax and wane in usefulness as your empire expands/contracts: One Yin building, for example, provides better casualty replenishment, while its Yang counterpart ranks up your Peasants; one is more useful when you're trying to replenish losses after capturing a territory, the other is better for giving you quality levies, but both are mutually exclusive per settlement. Since you only need to build the first tier for the yin-yang point, it is sometimes helpful to leave a building slot open for quick rebalancing, or demolishing the ones you don't need anymore. Quick recruiting and disbanding hero's is a good way to keep it balanced easily.

The Celestial Compass on the other hand provides campaign bonuses depending on which way the winds of magic is directed: corruption cleansing, casualty replenishment, control, or growth ; as it stays pointed in one direction, a meter fills up, providing grander effects, like increased income, attrition on enemies (but only the regions beyond the Bastion, its also useless since the AI is mostly immune to attrition), or a comet like spell on the battlefield.
===Realms of Chaos===
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
As mentioned above, uniting Cathay is your top priority, because the potential income you can get by having so many peaceful provinces under your direct control. And there's honestly not a lot of directions for you to expand to: The Steppes outside the bastion is simply too chaotic to be worth it, and the Mountains of Mourn are filled with Ogres and Chaos Warriors who will happily take a break from killing each other to kill you instead. Until the late game, your contact with the Old World will be limited to Caravans, which is fine, since they still provide line of sight and diplomacy options in the mountains and beyond in the Old World.

The Rifts will start out delivering only small amounts of corruption, but will get more severe as the campaign drags on, to the point that they can bring a province to 100 corruption in only a few turns. put one of the tier 3 defense building in every province and rifts will no longer spawn in your territory, just have a lord walk to a rift outside your territory instead or leave one province open to rifts. Only your faction leader can enter the Warp or traverse the rifts to fast travel to another place on the map, and when closing a rift with an army will only cause a battle, whereas using a hero only costs gold.

You need to collect four Daemon Prince souls, one from each Realm, to lead to the final battle.

*Slaanesh takes a minimum of 6 turns, as you need to go past each of the six circles and deny all the gifts presented at each exit. You can, however avoid pointless battles the easiest here by simply going straight to each rings portal and avoiding the Slaanesh daemons. If you can deal with missed chance at a soul getting the sword of Slaanesh and personal Sycophant follower is extremely strong.
*Tzeentch's realm is like a pokemon gym, where you go from island to island via teleporter until you arrive at his palace. The islands only really have 2 portals, the one you came from, and the one you need to reach, so as long as you just go from one to the next, you'll be fine. What makes this difficult, though, is that you spend the rest of your movement teleporting, no matter how much you had left. Some islands have Daemons waiting to jump you outside of the teleportation portal, sometimes one stack, others, two. Never march through a portal, since that will leave you exhausted, or worse, with no retreat option. If youre afraid of being jumped on arrival, in TW3 you can still move in the encampment stance(but at 50% range), so this not only prevents attrition but gives you an advantage on the defense.
*Khorne wants to watch you fight. His realm is full of rogue armies that you must defeat, and for each kill you get, you fill up a meter. Fill this meter and he will grant you the honor of fighting the Daemon Prince at the Brass Citadel. Pick a fight against the undead or daemons, because rather than run away, they will fight on until the entire unit is wiped. This will fill the bar quickly, and its not like you had lots of ways to chase after routing ememies.
*Nurgle grinds you down with attrition, but thankfully unless Ku'gath is there too, you won't actually catch a "real" plague. The best way to move through his realm is encamped, but doing so cuts movement in half. You can also visit landmarks for some replenishment, because Nurgle is nothing but generous. That being said, his daemons will block your path and respawn right away.
*The Shadow Legion: After collecting all 4 souls, the road to the Forge of Souls is unlocked. Once more, portals will open all throughout the world, but this time Belakors forces will erupt and lay siege to your cities. The amount looks to be variable, amd by this point in the game, you are probably at war with more than just Chaos. If you have any spare heroes, close the portals right away to prevent reinforcements. Since this happens right after collecting the fourth soul, you can time it to happen right after clearing the latest wave of Kurgans, so that at the very least, you're not dealing with a Bastion invasion at the same time you're dealing with literal hell gates erupting all over your empire.
*The Final Battle: Belakor controls the Forge of Souls. It is a survival battle, so you will face three waves while also fighting through the forge. The first wave is nothing difficult, and can be won solely through Sky Junks and Celestial Crossbows, but the 2nd and 3rd will be tedious, since you're in the Forge of Souls, you will be facing a whole bunch of Soul Grinders. Take Celestial Halberds, Celestial Crossbows, and multiple Sentinels. The Halberds are self explanatory, since you will need some tough holding units to hold against the waves of Daemons, and their expert charge defence means that while fighting Bloodletters is inefficient, they wont give up without a fight; Crossbows are quite dangerous when focus firing in volleys, but the two artillery Soul Grinders (Nurgle and Tzeentch) are both also the tankiest. Take out Tzeentch first, because Barrier recharges, and it will recharge once you stop shooting it. When teched up, Sentinels are a good match for Soul Grinders, but are very slow in movement and attacking without support, so you will want to have someone fight the Daemons while the Sentinels fight the Daemon Engines.
**This is where a military alliance really comes in handy. Bloodletters are pretty good against your infantry, and are still pretty dangerous when they mob a sentinel. Tzar Guard or Armored Kossars provide some offensive oomph that your Celestials and Jade Warriors otherwise lack.
**One tricky part about Survival is that even after a wave is "over," you will continue to be harassed until the next wave begins. After the first wave ends, Chaos Hounds wil harass your troops until they capture the secont point, so you will need to leave a rear guard behind to deal with them, otherwise your heavy infantry, or worse, your slow, slow, Sentinels wil get stuck behind swatting them. After the second wave, Belakor spawns endless Daemons. Daemonettes and Bloodletters will rush you, while Pink Horrors will pepper you with magic while taking no damage in return from barrier.
**The Final Wave wont end until Belakor is slain. Belakor summons even more Soul grinders, as well as a bunch of heavier hitters, like Minotaurs of Khorne and Doom Knights. They will be teleporting in from all over the throne room, so you will need to keep an eye out for when a portal opens and for what comes out of it. The only thing that prevents this from being utter Bullshit is that they give you a shit ton of Sentinels (7??) in the final wave of reinforcements, and you will be legitimately retarded if you take anything else besides them. In fact, because of how many Sentinels you get for the final battle, you may be able getting away only three or four in your army, and filling the rest with heavy infantry or crossbows. The final battle is chaotic and all over the place, and warm bodies to hold back the reinforcements might be more helpful than 15 sentinels all trying to gangbang Belakor.
</div>
===Immortal Empires===
Aside from the part about rifts and the race for the souls, Cathay plays almost exactly the same in Immortal Empires as they do in Realms of Chaos. If you wipe out/ally with Nakai the Wanderer and/or Deathmaster Snikch, you can sit behind the walls of the Great Bastion and have no problems.

[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}

Marius Leitdorf

2023-05-17T22:43:15Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922:

{{Whfb-stub}}
[[Category:The Empire]][[Category:Elector Count]]
'''Marius Leitdorf''' <s>is</s> was the [[Elector Count]] of [[Averland]]. He was also insane. Like, seriously, standards for sanity in Warhammer Fantasy are a bit lower than your average setting's, but Marius was still kooky enough to be publicly known as the Mad Count of Averland. He routinely relied on the advice of his warhorse, Daisy Kurt von Helboring II, as equal to or superior than the insights of his advisors, was a highly mercurial ruler, and was known for alternating between periods of intense melancholy and bouts of screaming rage. At his command, the armies of Averland waged wars against forests, swarms of bees and armies of fish... and for once we actually don't mean aquatic [[beastmen]], even though those are presumably a thing in the Warhammer world. Also, he had a lifelong rivalry with the grim and humorless Reichsmarschall [[Kurt Helborg]], who was deployed to Averland after the Halfling Rebellion to prevent any more embarrassing episodes.

Despite being mad as a sackful of wet [[skaven]], Marius was a valuable asset to the Empire when he could stay sane for a few days at a time. He was an accomplished poet, an inventor of some standing, an exceptional swordsman, a brilliant military tactitian, an inspiring leader of men who always led his armies from the front and actually won many great victories through his unique blend of uncanny insights and insane courage. He was also an incredibly successful lady's man, seducing noblewomen and adding their husbands to his ever-growing list of enemies. Despite his erratic nature, Emperor [[Karl Franz]] considered him to be one of his greatest allies, perhaps in part because Marius both was the first person to vote for Karl's appointment as the Emperor over [[Boris Todbringer]] and because Marius saved Karl's life when they were attacked by [[Middenland]]er thugs after securing the vote of [[Hisme Stout]], the Elector of the [[Halflings (Warhammer)|Halfling Moot]], as recounted in the short story "The Prince of Altdorf".

He was ultimately killed fighting [[Orcs & Goblins]] in the Third Battle of [[Black Fire Pass]], holding the line with the remnants of a regiment of greatswords against a personal assault by Orc warlord Vorbad Ironjaw. While the ultimate Imperial victory in that battle helped to secure Karl Franz's position, Marius died without establishing a direct line of succession, beginning a fight between the nobles of Averheim to decide who will next rule both the city and the province.

According to Sword of Vengeance and Sword of Justice by Chris Wraight, a good chunk of his insanity can be attributed to fighting off the influence of a Slaaneshi cult and sorceress that had been trying to turn him to Chaos.

Rules for fielding Marius in your Empire armies in 6e appeared in [[White Dwarf]] #314, where he was a Lord choice costing 259 points. He has Movement 4, Weapon Skill 5, Ballistic Skill 5, Strength 4, Toughness 4, Wounds 3, Initiative 5, Attacks 3 and Leadership 9. He wears Full Plate Armor and carries a Runefang and a dagger, which gives him a bonus attack. He can ride a Barded Warhorse for +21 points. He has the special rules Elector Count (if you field Marius, a single unit of State Troops - halberdiers, spearmen, swordsmen or handgunners - can carry a Magic Banner worth up to 50 points) and Frenzy - yes, he does get a total of 5 attacks for having two hand weapons plus being Frenzied, with the 5th attack lacking the bonuses of his Runefang.

<gallery>
Marius 1.jpg
Marius 2.jpg
Marius model 1.jpg
Marius model 2.jpg
</gallery>

Gnoblar Horde: The Unwashed Masses

2023-05-15T22:33:54Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922:

[[File:Gnoblar Horde.jpeg|thumb|right|400px]]
Gnoblar Horde is an optional army for [[Warhammer Fantasy]], not entirely dissimilar to factions such as [[Farsight Enclaves]] and [[Harlequins]] becoming their own army in [[Warhammer 40000]].
Only this happened in [[White Dwarf]] #303, in March 2005 rather than in 2016.
It is made up of [[Gnoblar]] who have declared independence from [[Ogre Kingdoms|their Ogre masters.]]

It contains not only its own army, but also options for [[Dogs of War]], [[Chaos Dwarfs]], and [[Orcs & Goblins]].

Thematically similar to the [[Gretchin Revolutionary Committee]].

==Fluff==
The Unwashed Masses are Gnoblars that have become independant of Ogres and banded together. Lead by Honchos, who in turn follow a Head Honcho, they roam the Mountains Of Mourn and Badlands seeking things to collect and things to kill.
Their belief magic is comparable to that of [[Orks]] but goes far beyond even "clap your hands and believe a ball of metal to be a working engine". Just having a polished red rock and not letting others steal it grants supernatural aura like that of a Daemon, a single Gnoblar eating an Ogre's tooth makes a mob believe they are supermen, rolling loaded dice to prove their own fortune make them temporarily indestructible, and their "luck" warps reality into going their way.

Head Honchos love hats and often try to tame and ride Rhinoxen, a horse-sized creature that resemble a mix between a Rhino and a Wooly Mammoth. Usually this results in the death of the Head Honcho. The rare Rhinoxen that dies becomes a great source of trinkets.

Manbiters who are particularly successful sometimes forsake Ogres and band together in warbands, joining their Gnoblar kin before leaving for random destinations, telling stories of their exploits in places that don't exist that never actually happened to anybody the entire way.

Some independant Gnoblar have even more ludicrously good luck than their fellows. These Lucky Gits cover themselves in blue, which all greenskins believe to be lucky in and of itself, and carry an assortment of trinkets and treasures.

Like Orcs, Gnoblars are fond of porcine creatures. Rather than goading giant boars into battle however, they ride ordinary domestic pigs as knights would a horse. But pigs are rare for Gnoblar, so skilled Pig cavalry instead ride another Gnoblar piggyback style.

Blood-Gnoblar are the Gnoblar of the highest mountains. Wise rangers by Gnoblar standards, they teach lesser Gnoblar that survive their ludicrously dangerous gauntlet of traps survival skills. They have larger and more sensitive ears and are a red or brown color. Of course Gnoblar are greenskins and as a result attach special importance on color; thus, any Gnoblar who wants to be a survival trapper may just kill something and cover themselves in its blood.

Boglars/Marsh-Gnoblars/Bog Goblins have a more gray/blue skin tone and yellow eyes, living in wetlands where they torture and eat aquatic and amphibian life. They share the sensitivity to light that [[Night Goblins]] possess, but not to the same painful degree. A specific tribe of Boglars in the Marsh Of Madness have befriended [[Fimir]].

Toad-Gnoblars are extremely rare (somehow), considered mythical by other races. When in water they asexually reproduce at a rapid rate, like Gremlins from the movie...well, Gremlins.

==Crunch==
===Army Rules===
* '''Lucky Little Gits:''' Gnoblar Horde players get D6 rerolls at the beginning of the game. These rerolls can be spent on any D6 roll during the game, although the second result must always be accepted.
* '''Greenskins:''' All Gnoblar Horde models are Greenskins.
* '''Largely Insignificant:''' Gnoblars do not cause Panic if they Flee, Break, or are destroyed.
* '''Bicker:''' Every Unit of Gnoblars not in Combat, Fleeing, or making Compulsory Movememt rolls a D6 at the start of the turn. On a result of 1, they do nothing.
* '''Dogs Of War:''' Gnoblar Horde may only take Greenskins (Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Gnoblars) from Dogs Of War and are always treated as a Rare choice. Ordinary Goblins and Goblin Wolf Riders from the [[Orcs & Goblins]] army may also be taken as Rare choices, which will Charge or Shoot the nearest Gnoblar Unit with Bicker if they fail an Animosity test and roll "Get 'em" as a result.
* '''Sharp Stuff:''' Ranged Weapon. Range 8, 2x Multiple Shots, Thrown Weapon.

===Army List===
====Lords====
'''Gnoblar Head Honcho'''
[[File:Gnoblar Head Honcho Rhinox.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Gnoblar Head Honcho || 4 || 4 ||4 || 3 || 4 || 3 || 5 || 3 || 7 || 45 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
| Rhinox || 6 || 3 || 0 || 5 || 5 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 5 || Included || None || None
|}
</center>

Rhinox Rules: Cause Fear, Thick Hide (Armor Save 5+), Bad Tempered (if an enemy is in Charge distance of at least one enemy, roll three dice and use the two lowest for a Leadership Test. If failed, Rhinox Charges an enemy of the controlling player's choice rather than just the nearest). Rhinox Head Honchos ignore Bicker.

* May ride a Rhinox for 55 points.
* May take an Additional Hand Weapon for 4 points, a Flail for 4 points, or a Spear if mounted for 2 points. Can take a Sling for 6 points.
* May wear Light Armor for 2 points.
* May take a Shield for 2 points.
* May take Gnoblar or Core Magic Items up to 100 points.

====Heroes====
'''Gnoblar Honcho'''

One Honcho can carry the Battle Standard for +25 points, who regardless of Leadership can never be the General. BSB Honchos cannot take any non-magical equipment other than Light Armor. If they take a Magic Standard (no points limit) they may not take magic items.
[[File:Gnoblar Honcho.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| 4 || 3 ||4 || 3 || 3 || 2 || 4 || 3 || 6 || 20 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
|}
</center>

* May take an Additional Hand Weapon for 4 points or a Flail for 4 points. Can take a Sling for 4 points.
* May wear Light Armor for 4 points.
* May take a Shield for 2 points.
* May take Gnoblar or Core Magic Items up to 50 points.

====Core====
You may only have one Unit of Flingers, Manbiters, and Trappers each per Unit of Fighters (for example, taking three Units of Fighters allows a maximum of three Units of Flingers, three Units of Manbiters, and three Units of Trappers).

'''Gnoblar Fighters'''
[[File:Gnoblar Fighters.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Gnoblar || 4 || 2 ||3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5 || 2 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
| Groinbiter || 4 || 2 ||3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 2 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
|}
</center>

Unit Size: 20+

Rules: Largely Insignificant, Bicker, Greenskins

* May either have Shields OR Additional Hand Weapons for +1 points per model.
* May take Light Armor for +1 points per model.
* Can take a Musician for 4 points, Standard Bearer for 8, points, Groinbiter 4 points.

'''Flingers'''
[[File:Flingers.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Flinger || 4 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5 || 3 || Hand Weapon, Sling || None
|-
| Skullflinger || 4 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5 || 3 || Hand Weapon, Sling || None
|-
|}
</center>

Unit Size: 10+

* May take a Skullflinger for 3 points.

'''Manbiters'''
[[File:Manbiters.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Manbiter || 4 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 6 || 5 || Hand Weapon, Flail || Light Armor
|-
| Ogrebiter || 4 || 2 || 3 || 3 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 2 || 6 || 5 || Hand Weapon, Flail || Light Armor
|-
|}
</center>

Unit Size 20+

Rules: Dogs Of War (Can be taken as a Dogs Of War Unit in any Dogs Of War, Orcs & Goblins, or Chaos Dwarf army)

* Can take a Musician for 5 points, Standard Bearer for 10 points, Ogrebiter for 5 points.
* May take Shields for +1 points per model.
* May take a Magic Banner worth up to 50 points.

'''Pigback Riders'''
[[File:Pig Knights.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Pigback Rider || 4 || 2 ||3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 4 || Hand Weapon, Spear || None
|-
| Pig Knight || 4 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 3 || 5 || 4 || Hand Weapon, Spear || None
|-
|}
</center>

Unit Size: 10+

Rules: Piggy-back (Both Gnoblar use the same profile, counts as a single man-sized creature with a Unit Strength of 2. Get a +1 Armor Save like Cavalry, may use Spears as Infantry and Cavalry (+1 S on the Charge, fight in two ranks when Charged and in subsequent Combat)).

* May take a Musician for 4 points, a Standard Bearer for 8 points, Pig Knight for 4 points.

'''Gnoblar Trappers'''

(As in the Ogre Kingdoms army)

====Special====
'''Gnoblar Scraplauncher'''

(As in the Ogre Kingdoms army)

'''Yhetee Pack'''

(As in the Ogre Kingdoms army)

'''Lucky Gits'''
[[File:Lucky Gits.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Lucky Git || 4 || 2 || 3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5 || 5 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || Light Armor
|-
| Very Lucky Git || 4 || 2 ||3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 5 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || Light Armor
|-
|}
</center>

Unit Size: 20+

Rules: Lucky (May re-roll ANY dice roll they desire (so it must involve them somehow), the second result must always be accepted. Also have Magic Resistance (2), and a 6+ Ward Save (increases to 5+ for Very Lucky Gits)).

* May take a Musician for 4 points, a Standard Bearer for 8 points, a Very Lucky Git for 8 points.
* May take Shields for +1 point per model.

'''Blood-Gnoblars''' (NOTE: Blood-Gnoblars are listed in the beginning of the section as a Special choice, later as a Rare choice; its up to the players to decide which they are.)
[[File:Blood Gnoblar.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
! A
! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Blood-Gnoblar || 4 || 2 || 4 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5 || 6 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
| Gorespittle || 4 || 2 || 5 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5 || 6 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
|}
</center>

Unit Size: 10+

Rules: Skirmishers, Cunning Traps (A Unit of 5 or more Gnoblars that spend the entire Movement phase entirely inside an unoccupied piece of Difficult Terrain and does not engage in Combat or Shooting that turn "traps" the Terrain, causing a Strength 3 Hit to any non-Blood-Gnoblar Unit that enters it for the rest of the game.)

* May take a Gorespittle for 6 points

====Rare====
'''Slavegiant'''
[[File:Slave Giant.png|thumb|center|200px]]
(As the Ogre Kingdoms army Giant)

'''Boglars'''
[[File:Boglar.jpeg|thumb|center|200px]]
<center>
{|border=1 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0
|- align=left
! Model Part
! M
! WS
! BS
! S
! T
! W
! I
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! LD
! Points
! Weapons
! Armor
|-
| Boglar || 4 || 2 ||3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5 || 3 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
| Sludgesucker || 4 || 2 ||3 || 2 || 3 || 1 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 3 || Hand Weapon, Sharp Stuff || None
|-
|}
</center>

Unit Size: 10+

Rules: Skirmishers, Aquatic (Strider (Water))

* May upgrade all Boglars to Toad-Gnoblars for 2 points per model (gain Waterbirth rule, a Unit of Toad-Gnoblars that spend at least part of the turn in water Terrain add D6 models to the Unit at the end of the turn).
* May take a Sludgesucker for 5 points.

====Trinkets & Treasures====
* '''Honcho Helm''': 45 point Talisman, bearer gains Ward Save 4+.
* '''Funny Trinket''': 30 point Enchanted Item, bearer may re-roll any failed Armor and Ward Saves with the second result always being taken.
* '''Rhinox Horn''': 30 point Enchanted Item, one-use, can be used at the beginning of any Gnoblar turn. Grants all Greenskins on the battlefield +2 Leadership to a maximum of 10.
* '''Red Stone''': 30 point Talisman, bearer gains Ward Save 5+ and Magic Resistance (1).
* '''Grubbi's Dice Bag''': 25 point Talisman, one-use. When the bearer suffers a Wound roll a D6, on 2-6 the result is ignored as well as all Wounds the model suffers that turn. On a result of 1 the model is killed outright.
* '''Ogre Tooth''': 20 point Enchanted Item, one-use. At the start of any turn roll a D6, on a result of 1 the model is killed outright. On a result of 2+, the model and all Units with a model within 6 inches gain Immune To Psychology until the beginning of the next turn.
* '''The Purple Rock''': 40 point Talisman, may be used once in every enemy Magic Phase. When the enemy casts a spell successfully, instead of attempting to dispel the Gnoblar rolls a D6. On a result of 4+ the spell is dispelled, on 1-3 the spell works as normal and the bearer of The Purple Rock takes a Strength 3 Hit. Cannot be used on a spell cast with Irresistible Force.
* '''Gnoblar Thiefstone''': 15 point Talisman, bearer and their Unit gain Magic Resistance (1). Characters can take multiple Thiefstones to a maximum of 3, and any Character can take Thiefstones regardless of another Character taking them.
* '''Ogre-Head Standard''': 20 point Magic Standard, Unit with the Standard ignores Bicker and enemy Ogres gain Hatred against it.

[[Category: Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Ogre Kingdoms]][[Category: Dogs of War]][[Category: Orcs & Goblins]]

Eeza Ugezod's Mother Crushers

2023-05-15T22:30:55Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922:

[[File:Mothercrushers Art.gif|thumb|right|400px|EEZA UGEZOD, [[Meme|TAKTIKAL GENEEUS.]]]]
Eeza Ugezod's Mother Crushers is a [[Dogs of War|Regiments Of Renown]] faction for [[Warhammer Fantasy]] in 1985 for second edition, and is made up of the [[Black Orc|Black]] variant of [[Orcs & Goblins|Orcs]]. They were created by [[Nick Lund]], who reused his character of Ugezod from [[Mighty Ugezods's Death Commandos]] which he had published for [[Chronicle Miniatures]] prior to their purchase by [[Citadel Miniatures]].

==Da Legend==
The Mother Crusher tribe of the mountains in the [[Old World]] is the single most hated and feared group of greenskins the Warhammer World has ever known. For 42 years they've rampaged, without ever once forming or joining a WAAAGH! They march and kill mainly when hungry, and destroy every enemy they come across.

Their success primarily stems both from their elite Juggernaut troops (unrelated to the [[Juggernaut|Chaos Juggernaut]]) and the [[Creed|Tactical Genius]] of their leader Eeza who is both [[Mork|cunning]] and [[Gork|brutal]] in equal degree, not to mention physically massive on top of that. They also utilize Arrer Boyz and Wolf Riders, and rarely Wolf Chariots or mercenary [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogres]] to support the flanks of the large and slowly advancing column which ignores any artillery or magic until they reach close combat as one.

Like most greenskins they use individual battle cries as they charge into a fight, but instead of every Orc shouting whatever they feel like as they plunge into battle the Mother Crushers actually synchronize their voices into a single chant of "'''Stomp the stunties - stomp the stunties - stunty stompings fun!'''" when faced with a [[Dwarfs|Dwarf]] foe.

The Mother Crushers are highly unusual for even the more intelligent and disciplined Black Orcs, as well as being large enough as individuals to be termed "Giant Black Orcs". Eeza's legend is known far and wide to greenskins, which are generally uninterested in the past other than for descriptions of battle to imagine participating in, or in the present unless the story is about a still-living Boss they can join. Eeza's deeds stand on their own merit without need for embellishment, causing greenskins to remember his name despite having never come across him or any under his command. This is partially due to the highly uncharacteristic trait of the Mother Crushers to read, write, and record information. The following excerpt comes from the story of the Mother Crushers, the "Volees Adgitz", about a battle at Great Crossing where the farmland of the [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Empire]] leads into the mountains between Eeza's Boyz and an army of Dwarfs and their Giant:

"''We goes miles this day. Last dark we kills many wittering souls, poking and cutting them - but not having times to make it slow and get them good and screechy. We gets on the Great Crossing and suddenly all around there'. Stunty Long Beards (Dwarfs) -trapping us boys and making pain threats. Then they goes all grinning silent, and crashing through the crowd comes a Great One, all drunk up, with great iron boots sparking as it steps, and long spikes and jags hanging off them, all dressed up for Orc stomping. It comes roaring and swaying towards us, swinging its club and making us boys windy and tearful. And the stunties are laughing, saying at last they'll have our pretty fangs to make their stunty women grin and dance. And us bold boys - we bunch up close, but cannot help a little wimpering. But Eeza Ugezod's got no wimper. He waves his axe and swears he's going to cut Great One's feet off and pop them in its face. With this he goes off fast forward and sharp hacks the Great One. Its knees goes one way, its great screaming whiskers goes another. The stunties has one look and go all quiet and shuffly. Then Guted - our champion - he gives an honest war shout and we goes off at them cutting up their little bodies, this way and that, and we collects much headskin with hair on it and ties it to our belts. We paints their juices all over the Great Crossing and we calls it the Red Span. We push all the stunties off it, but keeping a few for screarnings later and food for the march. We leaves not too many boys deadstiff and continues our way to make our dearest war and raidings.''"

Some time later the Mother Crushers suffered their first real defeat with the loss of an unknown quantity of plural hundreds at the hands of a Chaos Necromancer named Edis Edis. Whether Eeza survived or not is unknown although the Mother Crushers remain active despite the dip in numbers.

==On The Tabletop==
* +1 to Animosity for Mother Crushers
* Eeza Ugezod, Black Orc Major Hero: M4 WS6 BS6 S5 T5 W3 I6 A3 LD9 INT7 CL9 WP9
* Black Orc Champion: M4 WS4 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I4 A1 LD7 INT5 CL7 WP7
* Black Orc Warrior: M4 WS3 BS3 S4 T4 W1 I3 A1 LD7 INT7 CL7 WP7

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Mothercrushers Model Ad.jpg
Image:Mothercrushers Painted.JPG
File:Mother Crusher black.jpg
File:Muther Crusher green.jpg
</gallery>
[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Orcs & Goblins]][[Category:Dogs of War]][[Category:Regiments of Renown]]

Dogs of War

2023-05-15T22:29:22Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922:

{{oldschool}}
{{whfb-stub}}
[[File:dogs of war.png|thumb]]
The '''Dogs of War''' are a minor faction in [[Warhammer Fantasy]] representing the various [[mercenary]] forces of the Warhammer world. The concept is quite ancient; the existence of mercenaries goes back to 1st edition in terms of lore, but the specifically ''named'' faction (which takes its name from the famous quote "cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war!") has a very short life in Warhammer history, having debuted in 5th edition before receiving its first and last update in 6th edition, after which it faded from the game.

=1st Edition=
Mercenaries appear only to a limited degree in the earliest edition of Warhammer Fantasy; in the corebook, it is mentioned that one of the activities an adventurer may undertake during the downtime is acting as a mercenary captain, whilst the first rules for mercenaries appear in ''Forces of Fantasy''. In this edition, generic mercenaries can be [[dwarf]]s, [[gnome]]s, [[human]]s (Westerners - what would later be called "Old Worlders", [[Norse]], [[Araby|Arabians]] and [[Nippon]]ese), [[Slann]], [[Ogre]]s, [[Lizardmen]] and [[Giant]]s.

This was, however, the debut of the [[Regiments of Renown]]; Bugman's Dwarf Rangers, the Knights of Origo, Grom's Goblin Guard, Mengil Manhide's Company of Dark Elves, Harboth and the Black Mountain Boys, Mad Mullah Aklan'd's Death Commandos, The Bowmen of Oreon, and Golgfag's Regiment of Mercenary Ogres. See if you can spot some future famous names there!

=2nd Edition=
Mercenaries continued into 2e much as they had in 1e. The nascent lore for the Warhammer World, which first truly took shape in this edition's version of the corebook, establishes that mercenaries are plentiful without talking too much about them overall. ''Ravening Hordes'' features full rules for hiring mercenaries, and breaks them into several races/origins/affinities.

'''Imperial Mercenaries''' are, well, the mercenary bands of the Empire! Aside from generic champions and heroes, which ''all'' mercenary groups can debut, specific mercenary troopers are Lancers, Mounted Crossbowmen, Pikemen, Halberdiers, Axemen, Crossbowmen, Arquebusiers, and Foresters.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]''' warriors and archers can be taken as mercenaries.

'''[[Kislev]]''' makes its debut as a part of the Warhammer World in this edition. They offer the general Mercenary Knights, Cavalry Archers, Halberdiers, Axemen and Crossbowmen.

'''[[Norsca]]ns''', here called "The Norse", appear. Their available troopers are Huscarls, Bondi, Archers, Slingers and Berserkers.

'''[[Ogre]]s''' made their debut as mercenary troopers in 1st edition, and they'll continue it from there. Only generic and character-tier ogres for hire in this edition.

'''[[Orc]]s''' are the last of the available mercenary forces in this edition, hiring out Warriors, Archers and Boar Riders.

=3rd Edition=
With the lore of the Warhammer World now fully formed, at least in its first draft before the revisions that were to come to make it less [[Dungeons & Dragons]]-flavored, mercenaries continue in their place of pride, building upon the rules established back in 2e. These mechanics appear in '''Warhammer Armies''', which is where the specific fighting forces of this edition are listed.

Using the rules for mercenary contingents, a general can hire from an expanded list of races compared to the previous edition:

'''[[Dwarf]]s:''' Yes, [[Dwarf (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]] are willing to hire out as mercenaries in this edition! You an hire a Dwarf Mercenary Commander, dwarf warriors, dwarf sappers, and dwarf bombadiers manning cannons.

'''[[Giant]]s:''' What's to say? It's a big, big boy!

'''[[Ogre]]s:''' Come in commander and regular ol' ogre variety here.

'''[[Half-Orc]]s:''' A reminder that [[Warhammer Fantasy]] began when [[Games Workshop]] decided to go their own way with the various Historical Wargaming and [[Dungeons & Dragons]] miniatures trhey had originally produced for other companies. Commanders, Shamans, Henchmen, Bushwackers adn Warriors are all for hire.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]s:''' This is when the Hobgoblins were in their [[Mongol]]-expy lore set. Khans, Shamans, Standard Bearers, Mourngul Renegades, Hobyars and Hobhound Handlers are your options here.

'''[[Nippon]]ese:''' One of the first and last times that Warhammer's [[Japan]] analogue will actually see a mechanical basis. Samurai Lord, Samurai, [[Ninja]]s, and Ashigaru.

'''[[Orc]]s:''' It's interesting to note that the minimalistic lore given for orc mercenaries is that most of them are outcasts or renegades from their own tribes, which serves as an odd little glimpse in hindsight of the orcs moving away from being capable of such socializing. Orc Commanders, Renegades and Renegade Arrer Boyz can be hired.

'''[[Norsca]]ns:''' Still called the Norse here, this continigent is unusual in that it's actually a mixture of Norsca-dwelling humans (Commander, Warriors, Standard Bearers, Berserkers, and [[Werewolf|Ulfwerenar]]) and [[dwarf]]s (Norse Dwarf Warriors, Berserkers, [[Troll]] [[Slayer]]s).

'''Old Worlders:''' Here we see the seeds for the actual Dogs of War faction being laid, as this contingent covers human mercenaries from across Warhammer's version of Europe; aside from the obligatory Mercenary Leader, you've got Tilean Condottieri and Crossbowmen, Estalian Caballeros, Hombres Villanos and Bandolleros Gringos, Bretonnian Brigands, Nulner Landsknechtes, Kislevite Druzhina and Freiforstjaegers.

=4th Edition=
The star of the mercenaries waned here in 4th edition, when the first dedicated army books began to deploy. There were no rules for them in the corebook, they didn't get a dedicated army book of their own, the Empire book doesn't mention them (although it ''is'' able to field [[halfling]], [[ogre]] and [[Kislev]] troops - this is actually the debut of the famous Ice Queen of Kislev, [[Tzarina Katarin]]!), and there's not even any mention of mercenaries in the Battle Bestiary.

=5th Edition=
'''Here''' is where things finally get interesting for Dogs of War players, because ''this'' is the edition where they debut!

''Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War'' is the first every army book to represent the mercenary troopers of the Old World. With a cover art depicting a mixed force of [[human]]s, [[dwarf]]s, [[ogre]]s and [[goblin]]s, this book also doubles as the first ever major sourcebook on [[Tilea]], the Italy analogue of the Warhammer world, which has since languished in obscurity. This edition also saw the debut of the finalized iteration of the [[Regiments of Renown]], as well as the special characters of the Dogs of War army.

In fact, ''this'' iteration of the Dogs of War actually doesn't have rules for generic mercenaries at all! Instead, it consists of two halves; generic mercenary characters, in the form of a Mercenary General, Paymaster, Mercenary Hero, and Hireling Wizards, and then the Regiments of Renown. It promises the reader that future army books and articles in [[White Dwarf]] will expand the Regiments of Renown.

One other oddity of this iteration is that it is surprisingly humanocentric compared to the past array of mercenary forces, especially the 3rd edition one! Aside from Golgfag's ogres, Long Drong's [[Dwarf]] [[Slayer]] [[pirate]]s, and [[Asarnil the Dragonlord]], all your options are humans.

=6th Edition=
The Dogs of War received their last army book in 6th edition... well, "army book". In fact, it was part of an informal project on the part of [[Games Workshop]] called "Ravening Hordes" (in homage to the 2nd edition bestiary). This version of the Dogs of War started with the 5e version, and fleshed it out into a proper army by adding generic mercenary troops; specifically Pikemen, Crossbowmen, Duellists, Heavy Cavalry and Light Cavalry as Core, Ogres, Dwarfs, Norse Marauders and Halflings as Special, and Cannons and the Halfling Hotpot as Rare.

This article was compiled into a PDF by the fans and can usually be found on /tg/ if you know where to look.

=Why'd They Die?=
You're probably wondering what happened to the Dogs of War; why, after two editions in the sun, were they left to rot a full two editions before [[Warhammer Fantasy]] itself went kablooie and gave way to [[Warhammer: Age of Sigmar]]?

Well, we'll probably never know the answer, but we can speculate, and the most likely speculated answer is... "Money".

See, if you've paid attention to this article, you'll know that the Dogs of War as an army leaned heavily into the [[Low Fantasy]] angle of Warhammer and focused purely on human troops, essentially trying to market itself as the "Generic Human Army". This meant it was running into the same problem as the "Ethnic Human" factions like [[Araby]], [[Nippon]] or [[Cathay]] - namely, how is the faction distinctive enough to stand out and attract fans who will buy all of its army books and models? Warhammer Fantasy fans usually aren't here for historical accuracy (not unless they're ''really'' fucking lost), and the Dogs of War run into a second problem: Warhammer already ''has'' as a Generic Human Army. It's called the Empire!

The Dogs of War, ignoring their Regiments of Renown portion, literally offer nothing that you couldn't already get with an Empire army. Fans were, as a consequence, never going to be particularly numerous, so there was never going to be much profit in the army.

Add to it that the [[ogre]]s, the most consistently presented mercenary race of the Warhammer world, were spun off into their own faction - the [[Ogre Kingdoms]] - which was ''also'' largely made up of units you could hire as mercenaries, and that was pretty much the death knell of the Dogs of War.

Could it have been avoided? Well, probably! Total War showed that Ethnic Human Armies ''could'' be made interesting and profitable by turning [[Cathay]] from a one-note [[China]] ripoff into a crazy and unique [[High Fantasy]] faction in its own right, one that fits right in with the bizarre world of Warhammer Fantasy! Giving the Dogs of War a similarly High Fantasy makeover could have saved the faction.

Think about it; the Warhammer world has always been full of strange races and weird civilizations in a vast, largely undocumented map. A Dogs of War army would have been a ''perfect'' showcase for minor races and exotic mini-factions; groups too small to carry their own army book, but which could have fleshed out the world and made excellent spice for existing armies, or been brought together in the ultimate unifer in the grim darkness of the Old World: the pursuit of bloodshed for profit. Seriously; if you can't look at the motley array of humanoids and monstrous humanoids in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and come up with a crazy fantastical mercenary army from that list, you aren't trying very hard. There is no reason Games Workshop couldn't have done the same for their own fantasy world.

But what can you do?

=Warhammer Army Project=
Naturally, the [[Warhammer Army Project]] has gotten fans of the Dogs of War together to try and bring them back, at least for 9th edition. THis version takes its cue from the 6e version, and doubles down on it, separating the [[Regiments of Renown]] off into their own army book and instead focusing on generic mercenary units/characters as well as Dogs of War-specific special characters. Like its 5e ancestor, though, it also pulls double duty as a Warhammers: [[Tilea]] book, whilst [[Estalia]] gets its own completely separate splatbook.

The biggest changeup from 6e is the increased focus on [[demihuman]] mercenaries; now you can take elf, ogre, orc and hobgoblin troops, and even take demihuman characters! Almost all your nonhuman mercs are Special or even Rare choices, but hey, at least it's not trying to compete for the Generic Human Army niche with the Empire anymore! ...Well, not as much, anyway. You can also take [[pegasus]] and [[griffon]] steeds, and your characters and even some of your units can take "Quirks of Character" that give them special buffs.

* '''Lords:''' 0-1 Merchant Prince (if you include Borgio, Lucrezzia, Lorenzo, or Marco, you can't have a generic Merchant Prince, or one of the other MP characters), Mercenary General, Hireling Wizard Lord.
* '''Heroes:''' Mercenary Captain (in Human, Dwarf, Elf, Hobgoblin, Orc, or Ogre varieties), 1 Paymaster ('''Mandatory'''; you '''have''' to take one), Assassin, Hireling Wizard.
* '''Core Units:''' Pikemen, Crossbowmen, Sellswords, Duellists, Freelancers, Stradiots.
* '''Special Units:''' 0-1 Paymaster's Bodyguard, Gladiators, Mercenary Dwarfs, Norse Marauders, Halflings, Mercenary Orcs (you don't have to worry about Animosity making them attack your own troops, at least), Hobgoblin Wolf Riders, Mercenary Ogres, Ballista, Scorpion, Mercenary Elves, Ogre Maneaters.
* '''Rare Units:''' Onager, Cannon, Ribault, Halfling Hot Pot, Giant.
* '''Special Characters:''' [[Borgio the Besieger]], [[Lucrezzia Belladonna]], [[Lorenzo Lupo]], [[Marco Columbo]], [[Ghazak Khan]], [[Leitpold the Black]], [[Leonardo da Miragliano]], [[Mydas the Mean]].

=Total War=
[[Total War: Warhammer]] players regularly speculate if they'll appear in that game in some capacity, though aside from when [https://clips.twitch.tv/CuriousEnjoyableGnatMikeHogu a Creative Assembly mistakenly namedropped them on stream] (he was actually referring to the prize including a DLC for Total War: Rome II named Beasts of War), there hasn't been any true indication of it ever happening yet.

=Models=
[[Games Workshop]] still sells some of the regiment of renown models although the prices are worse than [[Forge World]].

=See Also=
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Dogs_of_War|Mercenary tactics for the glorious 6th edition]].

=Links=
*Old GW rules for Dogs of War [http://web.archive.org/web/20160307180210/http://www.innercirclegamingclub.com/uploads/dogs-of-war.pdf]
*Classic Regiments of Renown (basically older ones from past editions updated) [http://issuu.com/m4cr1ii3n/docs/warhammer_expansion_-_classic_regiments_of_renown]
*Models for sale [http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat1620224]

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dogs of War]]

Dogs of War

2023-05-15T22:28:28Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922:

{{oldschool}}
{{whfb-stub}}
[[File:dogs of war.png|thumb]]
The '''Dogs of War''' are a minor faction in [[Warhammer Fantasy]] representing the various [[mercenary]] forces of the Warhammer world. The concept is quite ancient; the existence of mercenaries goes back to 1st edition in terms of lore, but the specifically ''named'' faction (which takes its name from the famous quote "cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war!") has a very short life in Warhammer history, having debuted in 5th edition before receiving its first and last update in 6th edition, after which it faded from the game.

=1st Edition=
Mercenaries appear only to a limited degree in the earliest edition of Warhammer Fantasy; in the corebook, it is mentioned that one of the activities an adventurer may undertake during the downtime is acting as a mercenary captain, whilst the first rules for mercenaries appear in ''Forces of Fantasy''. In this edition, generic mercenaries can be [[dwarf]]s, [[gnome]]s, [[human]]s (Westerners - what would later be called "Old Worlders", [[Norse]], [[Araby|Arabians]] and [[Nippon]]ese), [[Slann]], [[Ogre]]s, [[Lizardmen]] and [[Giant]]s.

This was, however, the debut of the [[Regiments of Renown]]; Bugman's Dwarf Rangers, the Knights of Origo, Grom's Goblin Guard, Mengil Manhide's Company of Dark Elves, Harboth and the Black Mountain Boys, Mad Mullah Aklan'd's Death Commandos, The Bowmen of Oreon, and Golgfag's Regiment of Mercenary Ogres. See if you can spot some future famous names there!

=2nd Edition=
Mercenaries continued into 2e much as they had in 1e. The nascent lore for the Warhammer World, which first truly took shape in this edition's version of the corebook, establishes that mercenaries are plentiful without talking too much about them overall. ''Ravening Hordes'' features full rules for hiring mercenaries, and breaks them into several races/origins/affinities.

'''Imperial Mercenaries''' are, well, the mercenary bands of the Empire! Aside from generic champions and heroes, which ''all'' mercenary groups can debut, specific mercenary troopers are Lancers, Mounted Crossbowmen, Pikemen, Halberdiers, Axemen, Crossbowmen, Arquebusiers, and Foresters.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]''' warriors and archers can be taken as mercenaries.

'''[[Kislev]]''' makes its debut as a part of the Warhammer World in this edition. They offer the general Mercenary Knights, Cavalry Archers, Halberdiers, Axemen and Crossbowmen.

'''[[Norsca]]ns''', here called "The Norse", appear. Their available troopers are Huscarls, Bondi, Archers, Slingers and Berserkers.

'''[[Ogre]]s''' made their debut as mercenary troopers in 1st edition, and they'll continue it from there. Only generic and character-tier ogres for hire in this edition.

'''[[Orc]]s''' are the last of the available mercenary forces in this edition, hiring out Warriors, Archers and Boar Riders.

=3rd Edition=
With the lore of the Warhammer World now fully formed, at least in its first draft before the revisions that were to come to make it less [[Dungeons & Dragons]]-flavored, mercenaries continue in their place of pride, building upon the rules established back in 2e. These mechanics appear in '''Warhammer Armies''', which is where the specific fighting forces of this edition are listed.

Using the rules for mercenary contingents, a general can hire from an expanded list of races compared to the previous edition:

'''[[Dwarf]]s:''' Yes, [[Dwarf (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]] are willing to hire out as mercenaries in this edition! You an hire a Dwarf Mercenary Commander, dwarf warriors, dwarf sappers, and dwarf bombadiers manning cannons.

'''[[Giant]]s:''' What's to say? It's a big, big boy!

'''[[Ogre]]s:''' Come in commander and regular ol' ogre variety here.

'''[[Half-Orc]]s:''' A reminder that [[Warhammer Fantasy]] began when [[Games Workshop]] decided to go their own way with the various Historical Wargaming and [[Dungeons & Dragons]] miniatures trhey had originally produced for other companies. Commanders, Shamans, Henchmen, Bushwackers adn Warriors are all for hire.

'''[[Hobgoblin]]s:''' This is when the Hobgoblins were in their [[Mongol]]-expy lore set. Khans, Shamans, Standard Bearers, Mourngul Renegades, Hobyars and Hobhound Handlers are your options here.

'''[[Nippon]]ese:''' One of the first and last times that Warhammer's [[Japan]] analogue will actually see a mechanical basis. Samurai Lord, Samurai, [[Ninja]]s, and Ashigaru.

'''[[Orc]]s:''' It's interesting to note that the minimalistic lore given for orc mercenaries is that most of them are outcasts or renegades from their own tribes, which serves as an odd little glimpse in hindsight of the orcs moving away from being capable of such socializing. Orc Commanders, Renegades and Renegade Arrer Boyz can be hired.

'''[[Norsca]]ns:''' Still called the Norse here, this continigent is unusual in that it's actually a mixture of Norsca-dwelling humans (Commander, Warriors, Standard Bearers, Berserkers, and [[Werewolf|Ulfwerenar]]) and [[dwarf]]s (Norse Dwarf Warriors, Berserkers, [[Troll]] [[Slayer]]s).

'''Old Worlders:''' Here we see the seeds for the actual Dogs of War faction being laid, as this contingent covers human mercenaries from across Warhammer's version of Europe; aside from the obligatory Mercenary Leader, you've got Tilean Condottieri and Crossbowmen, Estalian Caballeros, Hombres Villanos and Bandolleros Gringos, Bretonnian Brigands, Nulner Landsknechtes, Kislevite Druzhina and Freiforstjaegers.

=4th Edition=
The star of the mercenaries waned here in 4th edition, when the first dedicated army books began to deploy. There were no rules for them in the corebook, they didn't get a dedicated army book of their own, the Empire book doesn't mention them (although it ''is'' able to field [[halfling]], [[ogre]] and [[Kislev]] troops - this is actually the debut of the famous Ice Queen of Kislev, [[Tzarina Katarin]]!), and there's not even any mention of mercenaries in the Battle Bestiary.

=5th Edition=
'''Here''' is where things finally get interesting for Dogs of War players, because ''this'' is the edition where they debut!

''Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War'' is the first every army book to represent the mercenary troopers of the Old World. With a cover art depicting a mixed force of [[human]]s, [[dwarf]]s, [[ogre]]s and [[goblin]]s, this book also doubles as the first ever major sourcebook on [[Tilea]], the Italy analogue of the Warhammer world, which has since languished in obscurity. This edition also saw the debut of the finalized iteration of the [[Regiments of Renown]], as well as the special characters of the Dogs of War army.

In fact, ''this'' iteration of the Dogs of War actually doesn't have rules for generic mercenaries at all! Instead, it consists of two halves; generic mercenary characters, in the form of a Mercenary General, Paymaster, Mercenary Hero, and Hireling Wizards, and then the Regiments of Renown. It promises the reader that future army books and articles in [[White Dwarf]] will expand the Regiments of Renown.

One other oddity of this iteration is that it is surprisingly humanocentric compared to the past array of mercenary forces, especially the 3rd edition one! Aside from Golgfag's ogres, Long Drong's [[Dwarf]] [[Slayer]] [[pirate]]s, and [[Asarnil the Dragonlord]], all your options are humans.

=6th Edition=
The Dogs of War received their last army book in 6th edition... well, "army book". In fact, it was part of an informal project on the part of [[Games Workshop]] called "Ravening Hordes" (in homage to the 2nd edition bestiary). This version of the Dogs of War started with the 5e version, and fleshed it out into a proper army by adding generic mercenary troops; specifically Pikemen, Crossbowmen, Duellists, Heavy Cavalry and Light Cavalry as Core, Ogres, Dwarfs, Norse Marauders and Halflings as Special, and Cannons and the Halfling Hotpot as Rare.

This article was compiled into a PDF by the fans and can usually be found on /tg/ if you know where to look.

=Why'd They Die?=
You're probably wondering what happened to the Dogs of War; why, after two editions in the sun, were they left to rot a full two editions before [[Warhammer Fantasy]] itself went kablooie and gave way to [[Warhammer: Age of Sigmar]]?

Well, we'll probably never know the answer, but we can speculate, and the most likely speculated answer is... "Money".

See, if you've paid attention to this article, you'll know that the Dogs of War as an army leaned heavily into the [[Low Fantasy]] angle of Warhammer and focused purely on human troops, essentially trying to market itself as the "Generic Human Army". This meant it was running into the same problem as the "Ethnic Human" factions like [[Araby]], [[Nippon]] or [[Cathay]] - namely, how is the faction distinctive enough to stand out and attract fans who will buy all of its army books and models? Warhammer Fantasy fans usually aren't here for historical accuracy (not unless they're ''really'' fucking lost), and the Dogs of War run into a second problem: Warhammer already ''has'' as a Generic Human Army. It's called the Empire!

The Dogs of War, ignoring their Regiments of Renown portion, literally offer nothing that you couldn't already get with an Empire army. Fans were, as a consequence, never going to be particularly numerous, so there was never going to be much profit in the army.

Add to it that the [[ogre]]s, the most consistently presented mercenary race of the Warhammer world, were spun off into their own faction - the [[Ogre Kingdoms]] - which was ''also'' largely made up of units you could hire as mercenaries, and that was pretty much the death knell of the Dogs of War.

Could it have been avoided? Well, probably! Total War showed that Ethnic Human Armies ''could'' be made interesting and profitable by turning [[Cathay]] from a one-note [[China]] ripoff into a crazy and unique [[High Fantasy]] faction in its own right, one that fits right in with the bizarre world of Warhammer Fantasy! Giving the Dogs of War a similarly High Fantasy makeover could have saved the faction.

Think about it; the Warhammer world has always been full of strange races and weird civilizations in a vast, largely undocumented map. A Dogs of War army would have been a ''perfect'' showcase for minor races and exotic mini-factions; groups too small to carry their own army book, but which could have fleshed out the world and made excellent spice for existing armies, or been brought together in the ultimate unifer in the grim darkness of the Old World: the pursuit of bloodshed for profit. Seriously; if you can't look at the motley array of humanoids and monstrous humanoids in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and come up with a crazy fantastical mercenary army from that list, you aren't trying very hard. There is no reason Games Workshop couldn't have done the same for their own fantasy world.

But what can you do?

=Warhammer Army Project=
Naturally, the [[Warhammer Army Project]] has gotten fans of the Dogs of War together to try and bring them back, at least for 9th edition. THis version takes its cue from the 6e version, and doubles down on it, separating the [[Regiments of Renown]] off into their own army book and instead focusing on generic mercenary units/characters as well as Dogs of War-specific special characters. Like its 5e ancestor, though, it also pulls double duty as a Warhammers: [[Tilea]] book, whilst [[Estalia]] gets its own completely separate splatbook.

The biggest changeup from 6e is the increased focus on [[demihuman]] mercenaries; now you can take elf, ogre, orc and hobgoblin troops, and even take demihuman characters! Almost all your nonhuman mercs are Special or even Rare choices, but hey, at least it's not trying to compete for the Generic Human Army niche with the Empire anymore! ...Well, not as much, anyway. You can also take [[pegasus]] and [[griffon]] steeds, and your characters and even some of your units can take "Quirks of Character" that give them special buffs.

* '''Lords:''' 0-1 Merchant Prince (if you include Borgio, Lucrezzia, Lorenzo, or Marco, you can't have a generic Merchant Prince, or one of the other MP characters), Mercenary General, Hireling Wizard Lord
* '''Heroes:''' Mercenary Captain (in Human, Dwarf, Elf, Hobgoblin, Orc, or Ogre varieties), 1 Paymaster ('''Mandatory'''; you '''have''' to take one), Assassin, Hireling Wizard
* '''Core Units:''' Pikemen, Crossbowmen, Sellswords, Duellists, Freelancers, Stradiots
* '''Special Units:''' 0-1 Paymaster's Bodyguard, Gladiators, Mercenary Dwarfs, Norse Marauders, Halflings, Mercenary Orcs (you don't have to worry about Animosity making them attack your own troops, at least), Hobgoblin Wolf Riders, Mercenary Ogres, Ballista, Scorpion, Mercenary Elves, Ogre Maneaters
* '''Rare Units:''' Onager, Cannon, Ribault, Halfling Hot Pot, Giant
* '''Special Characters:''' [[Borgio the Besieger]], [[Lucrezzia Belladonna]], [[Lorenzo Lupo]], [[Marco Columbo]], [[Ghazak Khan]], [[Leitpold the Black]], [[Leonardo da Miragliano]], [[Mydas the Mean]]

=Total War=
[[Total War: Warhammer]] players regularly speculate if they'll appear in that game in some capacity, though aside from when [https://clips.twitch.tv/CuriousEnjoyableGnatMikeHogu a Creative Assembly mistakenly namedropped them on stream] (he was actually referring to the prize including a DLC for Total War: Rome II named Beasts of War), there hasn't been any true indication of it ever happening yet.

=Models=
[[Games Workshop]] still sells some of the regiment of renown models although the prices are worse than [[Forge World]]

=See Also=
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Dogs_of_War|Mercenary tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]

=Links=
*Old GW rules for Dogs of War [http://web.archive.org/web/20160307180210/http://www.innercirclegamingclub.com/uploads/dogs-of-war.pdf]
*Classic Regiments of Renown (basically older ones from past editions updated) [http://issuu.com/m4cr1ii3n/docs/warhammer_expansion_-_classic_regiments_of_renown]
*Models for sale [http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat1620224]

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dogs of War]]

Aranessa Saltspite

2023-05-15T22:26:08Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922:

[[File:Saltspite Portrait.jpeg|thumb|right|500px|A spiky viking pirate with crabs, Poseidon for a father, and an army of the undead without being evil (by Warhammer standards anyway).]]
{{Topquote|We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.|John F. Kennedy}}
{{Topquote|I heard, I heard, across a moonlit sea, The old voice warning me, 'Beware, beware the Daughter of the Sea, Beware, beware... of me.'|Jaina Proudmoore}}
{{Topquote|Fathers, be good to your daughters. You are the god and the weight of her world.|John Mayor}}
{{Topquote|The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs, Upon the slimy sea.|Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"}}

Originating in [[Dreadfleet]], Saltspite is a [[Warhammer Fantasy]] pirate character. Having only come from a boardgame from 2011 she had no place in the actual Warhammer Fantasy game, but still found herself in [[Total War: WARHAMMER]] in 2018.

[[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] gave her the name "Aranessa Anja Saltspite" in the Dreadfleet Captains expansion from [[Fantasy Flight Games]], although we don't know if Anja is her human surname or something else, and the Dreadfleet novel gave her the nickname "Queen Of Tides".

==The Legend==
Saltspire almost never speaks beyond orders to her crew, so in-universe there's many theories to who she is ranging from being a mermaid who cut off her own tail to a [[Chaos Mutant]] psychopath to the literal daughter of the god [[Manaan]]. The truth is...all of the above.

Born to a [[Norsca|Norscan]] chieftain from a group which, strangely for a race of [[Chaos]]-worshipers, killed their mutants rather than see them as blessed like most Chaos vikings or simply leave them for the Beastmen like basically everyone else. Already disappointed to have a daughter rather than a son, the fact his daughter had spines all over her body and a mermaid tail below the knees resulted in her being chucked straight into the ocean without remorse. The story gets even stranger, since despite being a Chaos Mutant the decidedly NOT Chaos god of the seas named Manaan (who may or may not be the [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Elf]] god [[Mathlann]] by a human name) spirited her away safely via a school of daggerfish (presumably small swordfish) to a small island cove where three Sea Nymphs lived, who cared for her and raised her on a diet of crab, kelp, and algae until in her youth she began spearfishing for sharks and [[Manticore|Mer-Manticores]]. So yeah, badass. Every day Manaan sent treasure and beautiful shells to her home, either washing ashore or aboard entire empty shipwrecks that drifted to her island. From these shipwrecks she learned much about the life of a sailor and the skills required for land-dwellers to survive on his oceans. Eventually she decided to rejoin her race, but knowing that her mermaid tail was not only a hindrance to a life on the land but also how even among the lowest of the human race having a Chaos mutation was a death sentence, she prepared a pair of replacement legs made from sawfish (a type of shark) skulls then drank enough rum to numb herself, cut off her tail with a cutlass which freed her upper legs, cauterized the stumps, and continued to treat them with saltwater to keep them from infection, then used the belts of captains from her shipwreck gifts to attach the blades from the swordfish skulls to her legs, and after a week of recuperation learned to walk. She used a functional rowboat, another gift from her adopted father, to sail the sea for three days until she was picked up by a pirate vessel called the ''Swordfysh'' which gave her shelter (and despite lopping off her tail to look human, she still had fish scale legs and arms as well as webbed hands and spikes all over her body but apparently nobody cared). She refused to speak and killed any man who tried to touch her, but every day she took duty as the lookout in the crow's nest. For ten years she was a member of the crew, eventually breaking her silence (to swear) and proving herself vicious in battle as well as effective at any role she was assigned. She went from mascot to first mate, becoming captain after the original captain of the Swordfysh was eaten by a Sea Gargoyle (we have no idea what that is, it only exists in this backstory).
As the commander of the Swordfysh she gained a reputation as one of the greatest pirates who ever lived, earning the nickname "Saltspite". Even her crew was afraid of her and prayed to Manaan to protect them from her, despite never having harmed one of them unless given reason. She flew only Manaan's symbols on her flags, and attacked whoever she came across. Despite having no love for the forces of Chaos she refused the Letters Of Marque offered by [[The Empire]] by opening fire on their ships, refusing to serve any man other than her adoptive father. Eventually she began receiving dreams from Manaan, who wanted the "empire" of [[Count Noctilus]] removed from his domain. Not long after she was approached in a pirate gambling den by an old pirate of [[Sartosa]] named [[Jaego Roth]]. Roth was looking for ships to join him in his pursuit of vengeance against Noctilus, and offered Aranessa the gold and independence she required. After a bottle of fine [[Tilean]] rum she became the first captain to join what would become the Grand Alliance.

What follows is the events of the game Dreadfleet. In one scenario she is turned into a vampire by Noctilus and every match she has a chance for her willpower to break and switch sides, and in the novel she regrows her fish tail but in a battle with the [[Chaos Dwarf]] ship she wedges it in the escape path of her enemy, who is boiled alive inside and mockingly makes the sign of Manaan (three fingers like a trident) at the ship captain as they all sink and drown together.

===Total War: WARHAMMER===
Aranessa returned in the Vampire Coast expansion for Total War: WARHAMMER, retconning her death. She wants the death of Noctilus (who also came back), as well as treasure because...well, its fucking treasure and she's a fucking pirate. Although not a vampire herself, she recruited vampires among her crew who in turn bolstered her forces into an armada of her own by raising the dead as zombies thanks to her god-daddy still bringing her presents in the form of corpses washing up against her ship hulls. She still has a living crew however, being the only member of the faction with such. In the lore she's not very fond of anyone, but hates Norscans more than anything else. She has no real grudge against vampires other than Noctilus and only sided against him because Manaan wanted it and Roth threw a fuckton of gold her way for it, so siding with all the non-Noctilus vampires isn't breaking her lore.

Her army is the same as that of [[Zombie Pirates|Luthor Harkon's Zombie Pirates]], only she can take the Sartosa Free Company as her living crew (there is a mod to give her more human units). She's the treasure-hunter Lord, which factors more into the campaign than multiplayer. She herself fights like what was a traditional "blender lord" vampire from the [[Vampire Counts]] army, which is to say that she wants to basically wipe out units of squishies by herself or take on single entities that are WAAAAAAAY bigger and stronger than her and utterly destroy them. She struggles when she engages multiple elite troops or character duelists; although, the fact she buffs nearby ally melee troops can help mitigate this greatly. She also gets to throw nets, and can ride a [[Meme|giant undead crab]] called a [[Promethean (Warhammer Fantasy)|Rotting Promethean]]. Her army itself favors giant crabs as well, has perfect vigour and is thus immune to fatigue, and her artillery has more ammunition. In a faction full of godlike pirates she also is the only one to get a bonus to treasure earned from fighting at sea, so she may in fact be the best pirate in the lot. Her start location sits in Sartosa between [[Tilea]] and [[Estalia]] (Italy and Spain analogues), but in the Eye of the Vortex campaign map, Sartosa is smushed a little closer to Ulthuan. They also gave some lore behind the trident-like weapon she's seen holding in her only preexisting artwork, seen at the top of the page, calling it "Kraken's Bane" and counting it as a halberd. It has really high armour-piercing damage and absolutely annihilates high armour lords like Lokhir Fellheart.

So, why would such an obscure character only present in a failed boardgame project that didn't have enough time to become beloved find her way into a faction she doesn't really have a precedent for belonging in? Well, the lead narrative director for Total War: WARHAMMER is one of the writers of the Dreadfleet lore of course! (So, favoritism, basically) Not that it stopped the massive speculation and butthurt from some fans as soon as someone spotted a female human behind Harkon in the artwork for the DLC then her impossible to disguise silhouette appeared in the roster before the reveal, after all her being there is still nonsensical.

She generally is considered the worst Legendary Lord for the Vampire Coast in multiplayer, as she still routes like a normal living lord rather than fight to the bitter end. Her mount is considered a handicap depending on your army build, as it slows her down and doesn't provide enough defense to excuse her riding one for the cost. She does fulfill some niches and can [[Rip and tear|take a large armoured lord to town]] and stall any elite unit with her net.

She does not like being called a Mermaid.

==Crunch==
She never was actually in Warhammer Fantasy, but she appears in fan expansions of the [[Dogs Of War]] army often where she is usually a hybrid character, using magic and magic items showing her favor with Manaan but also having melee prowess and rules that make her a glass cannon; so the Total War team didn't exactly come up with something new with how she herself fights. Even though she is carrying a rifle in her original artwork, nobody seems to give her a ranged weapon.
She also appears in the [[Warhammer Army Project]] as a very offensively minded legendary lord for the Pirates of Sartosa (she has a ranged weapon but it's a magic harpoon instead of a rifle.)

If you want a model for her, you can find one from [[Reaper Miniatures]] [https://www.reapermini.com/search/skull/latest/60146 here] which when given a legswap (meaning cutting off the legs and replacing them with [[Chainsword|Chainswords]], regular swords with some notches cut into them, or the chainsaw off two of [https://www.reapermini.com/search/chainsaw/latest/80022 these] cheap models) and a trident (a cheap Reaper one can be found off [https://www.reapermini.com/search/trident/latest/77277 this] model) is pretty much exactly Aranessa (if you're following the Reaper mini modding guide here she'll cost you about $12, plus shipping unless you get whatever amount of other stuff you need to get free shipping). Add some greenstuff along her chinline as her sharkbone jaw chinstrap as per your sculpting skill allows, or just paint it on.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Total War Saltspite.png|Saltspite's model in Total War: WARHAMMER.
Image:The Swordfysh.JPG|The Swordfysh.
Image:Swordfysh.jpg|The Swordfysh model (good luck finding one that isn't broken for a fair price).
Image:Aranessa New Friend.webp|Even someone as ruthless as her has a soft side.
</gallery>

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dogs of War]]
[[Category:Dreadfleet]]

Vashtorr

2023-05-15T21:32:09Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922:

{{Wh40k-stub}}
{{Heresy}}
{{topquote|[[Meme|The future is now, old man]].|Vashtorr, trading barbs with [[Hashut|his predecessor]]}}
[[File:Vashtorr against some unlucky primaris.jpg|420px|thumb|right|We've been trying to reach you about your [[METAL BOXES|car]]'s extended warranty.]]
'''Vashtorr the Arkifane''' is a [[daemon]] unaligned to any of the [[Chaos Gods]] who holds dominion over the Forge of Souls; though he has no loyalty to any of the four major Chaos Gods, he has established himself as a demigod by acting as their shared [[Soul Grinder|arms dealer]], thus making him important enough to deter any of them from trying to attack him. A being born from humanity's drive to create and invent, his technological skills have made him not only a figure of adoration among the [[Dark Mechanicus]] and [[Warpsmiths]] among the dark powers, but also the mastermind behind the newfangled [[Arks of Omen]], weaponized [[Space Hulk]]s molded by his own flesh that are part of [[Abaddon]]'s renewed offensive on the Nachmund Gauntlet. The two of them now seek the fragments of an ancient relic known only as "The Key", which if reassembled would give its wielder the power to define the fate of the galaxy itself. This is because the Key would allow its wielder to open a portal to anywhere in existence, including to a secret vault hidden in the [[Webway]] which is apparently jam full of all kinds of weapons and knowledge left behind by the [[Old Ones]] during the [[War in Heaven]].

Curiously enough, Vashtorr might actually be more along the lines of [[Lawful Evil]] rather than whatever spectrum the big 4 decide to be on any given day. While the contracts he brokers with daemons willing to become Soul Grinders are never exactly fair, he's a stickler for the exact terms of each contract and will always uphold them. Often, it's the contracted daemons who grow too greedy and thus break the terms of their own accord.

In any event, despite the best efforts of the [[Imperium of Man]], [[Farsight Enclaves]], or his demonic rival [[Be'lakor]] to stop him he ultimately managed to get all the artifact pieces he needs. So at the end of the Arks of Omen narrative, he is able to form the Key or “dissonance engine” as it’s also known by rebuilding the shattered remnants of the [[Dark Angels]] homeworld of [[Caliban (Warhammer 40,000) |Caliban]] and turning it into a [[Daemon World]] which Vashtorr rechristened as Wyrmwood. As it turns out the whole damn planet was the key the whole time. The Dark Angels were as you can well imagine rightly pissed off by this revelation and the fact their home world was now fully a demonic hellhole. However before the Dark Angels or their newly returned Primarch [[Lion El'Jonson]] could try and kill Vashtorr or his Chaos allies for this offense, Vashtorr activated the Dissonance Engine and opened a new portal into the Webway that absorbed Wyrmwood and thus allowed him and his allies to escape. Now the rest of the galaxy can only hope and pray that someone amongst them can track Vashtorr down and stop him before he can locate the Webway vault and uses it to ascend to godhood.

Notably, there's been no word about his presence in the [[Age of Sigmar|Mortal Realms]]. On one hand, his presence is so recent that there was likely no chance for him to even appear in the most recent Chaos Battletomes, meaning that GW has plenty of time to write up some sort of plot hook to add him in and preserve the pan-universal theming of daemons. However, it's also likely that he just won't show up there as the forces of Chaos in that setting don't really have much on the tech angle - but c'mon, there's no way you wouldn't want Warp-corrupted [[Kharadron Overlords|steampunk dwarf zepplins]]. <strike>Also, [[Hashut]] is the one filling his niche of "evil god of industry" for fantasy/AoS.</strike> Not necessarily. Hashut in both Fantasy and Age of Sigmar is the Chaos God of Tyranny, whereas Vashtorr seems to be more of the embodiment of the innovative spirit. For Hashut, it is not the Dawi Zarr's use of technology that feeds him, but the subjugation and suffering that they use to fuel their infernal forges and their binding of technology with souls of the damned and daemons forever bound within Daemon Engines. Vashtorr does not operate in the same way, as he does not deceive or manipulate, but instead seeks to innovate, modify and grow as people are pushed to ever more dangerous extremes of development. In that sense, Hashut and Vashtorr are just complimentary in that tyranny does not necessitate the harsh conditions of the forge, but in the grim darkness of the far future where technological innovation is dying, the two may overlap more than one would hope.

While holding considerable power in the [[Warp]], his efforts to become a [[malal|fifth Chaos God]] have so far been stymied by a lack of influence over the Materium, and so he sees his alliance with Abaddon as an opportunity to establish himself in realspace. Thus far, the only real opposition he faces is from [[Be'lakor]], who undoubtedly does not like the competition for his own attempts in ascending to godhood. However, like his parents, even he hesitates at making a direct offensive lest he find himself thrown into a pit of thousands of daemon engines.

==Crunch==
[[File:VashtorrArkifane.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Ooooo, pointy!]]
As you might expect from the lord of the Forge of Souls, Vashtorr's abilities excel in both empowering allied Daemon Engines and crippling the machines of his enemies. His main ability, ''Will of the Arkifane'', has one of three modes that can be chosen from in each Command Phase. The first one adds +1 to hit to all Chaos Space Marine Daemon Engines (other than aircraft, Characters, and superheavies) within 3" of him, the second causes an enemy unit within 18" to have their guns' range get cut in half, and the last one halves the movement and Attacks of an enemy vehicle within 18".

He's fairly good in a fight himself, with plenty of Wounds, the {{W40kKeyword|FLY}} keyword, Warp Strike, a 4++ invulnerable save, and the ability to reduce incoming damage by 1. His weapons are his claws (a 12" S5 AP-2 flamer) and his hammer (an AP-2 power fist that deals 4 mortal wounds to a targeted vehicle on a 5+). As an Agent of Chaos he can join any Legion or Chaos faction without breaking their mono-faction bonuses, making him a good way of supplementing any army that could use a little extra mechanized oomph (particularly when supplemented by his Army of Renown rules).

{{Template:Daemons-Characters}}
[[Category:Dark Mechanicus]]

Vashtorr

2023-05-15T21:31:38Z

2A01:CB19:7C8:DB00:7912:B57E:6C08:A922: /* Crunch */