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==Factions== ===Total War: WARHAMMER 1=== <div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> *'''Nine playable factions, [[Rage|one of them day-one DLC]], and eight sub-factions. Each faction has unique gameplay mechanics and goals to fulfill on the campaign map.''' <div class="mw-collapsible-content"> ====[[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Empire]]==== [[File:Empirewallpaper.jpg|800px|center|thumb|'''SUMMON THE ELECTOR COUNTS!''']] The good ol' Empire: the pike, shot, and griffins faction we all know and love, the faction that works most like the old factions of other [[Total War]] games, being puny 'umies an' all. Led by Karl Franz as the faction leader, with [[Balthasar Gelt]], and Volkmar the Grim as additional playable legendary Lords. [[Markus Wulfhart]] was added in TWW2 "Hunter and the Beast" DLC, making the Empire the first faction to gain a lord and new units in another game of the series they were introduced in. The Empire <s> is about as vanilla as you can get, with their only unique mechanic being their ability to appoint lords to offices (which isn't even unique anymore since the Wood Elves have something similar, and arguably does it better). Other than that, the Empire tech tree is locked behind buildings, with military and military support buildings like barracks, stables and blacksmiths unlocking technologies as well as the ability to recruit more powerful units. It - like the rest of the campaign is fairly lackluster, and some of the arguably better research abilities come in far too late to be useful</s> has received a sizeable rework that's changed how their campaign works significantly (if you play them in Mortal Empires; game 1 still has the old system): the old office system has been replaced by a new Elector Count system, which allows you to appoint your generals as the elector count of a province for several bonuses, the province's Runefang, and a unique elector count unit (that range from mortars that don't damage your own troops to unbreakable greatswords to the Knights of Morr). Likewise, there is a new fealty mechanic that allows you to automatically confederate with another province when high enough (or result in their secession if their fealty is too low), with ways to raise it ranging from simply building up good relations with them to sending reinforcements for mini-battles against Skaven, Beastmen, and Orc aggressors. This is kept in check by your faction's imperial authority, which increases via spending prestige (a new resource similar to the High Elves influence) during political events or reinstating elector counts and is lost when confederating, letting fellow elector counts get defeated, or declaring war on other Empire factions (so you can't go bash everyone's heads in unless you want to take some huge penalties and eventually end up in a civil war vs every other elector count). As before though, the main focus of an Empire campaign is still to get all of the fragmented provinces under one banner, be it through alliances, confederation, or conquest, the new mechanics adding further depth to these play-styles (though it can lead to some interesting moments such as [[what| the Empire seceding from the Empire]]). While it lacks the diverse flavor of later races, the Empire campaign is arguably best for the traditional Total War "sandbox" sort of experience. While you are encouraged to ally with the Dwarfs or Bretonnia, it is really up to you how you want your campaign to go. Later in game one's life cycle the Empire got a few additional touches, in the form of new skill trees for Karl Franz and Gelt, along with additional army bonuses. All in all, it's a good introductory campaign to get used to the basics of the game or for [[Skub|"Fun"]] gameplay. It is also worth noting that as more content was added to the game, most notably with the [[Beastmen]] DLC, the Empire AI became noticeably liable to [[Fail|get fucking punked early on in campaigns]]. Players will probably notice this difference even while playing as them with Orc or Beastmen hordes coming by soon after securing Altdorf (or even during) to fuck with their shit. The Foundation Update tried to amend this by giving the AI controlled Empire a full province from the get go. Which means it can actually survive for a while without getting absolutely stomped by all the enemies that knock on its door at the beginning. In battle, the Empire is a little weaker than most armies off the bat, just like in the tabletop, but has access to a lot of different shit to compensate and their soldiers aren't exactly expensive. Artillery is still powerful, as are wizards, and there's elite stuff like the Luminark of Hysh and the Demigryph Knights to tear up the really big stuff the enemy can throw at you. Much like everything else about the Empire in this game, it's rather straightforward but effective nonetheless. If you happen to beat the Beastmen mini-campaign, then you gain access to a playable Boris Todbringer in multiplayer, and in campaign should you confederate Middenland. As of the Beast and the Hunter DLC for TTW2, they now get forts. Helmgart is an example of this change, and in its place comes Ubersreik (which can [[Vermintide|have a unique building, the Red Moon Inn]] that can be built there). Furthermore, Gelt now leads his own faction called the Golden Order based in Solland, giving the Empire much more starting position variation than before. Their base game Legendary Lords are Karl Franz and Balthasar Gelt. Later joined by Volkmar the Grim (Grim & the Grave DLC) and Markus Wulfheart (Hunter & the Beast DLC). :: Emperor [[Karl Franz]] leads the primary Empire subfaction of '''Reikland''', starting in good old Altdorf. Big dick Franz' faction effect gives an upkeep reduction to Reiksguard and Greatswords, a bonus to relations with other Empire factions, a boost to Lord recruit ranks, and a bonus to campaign movement range for all characters. His sole Lord effect is a bonus to leadership to all units in his army. It's a surprisingly slow start, since after you beat up the secessionists you will spend much of your time reunifying The Empire through confederation. In the meantime you can take back Marienburg, invade the Vampire Counts or just fuck with the Bretonnians or Dwarfs if you want to give the lore a middle finger. With his magic items giving him more AP, Bonus vs Large, and giving him more attack and leadership, his main job in battle is to beat the shit out of whatever you point him at! He shines in the late game where his buffs to elite Empire troops allows him to rofl stomp all of Chaos. Slow start, but well worth the wait. Quest items include Ghal Maraz, The Silver Seal, and The Drakwald Runefang Beast Slayer. He also rides his trusty Griffon Deathclaw as his unique mount. :: [[Balthasar Gelt]] leads the subfaction '''The Golden Order''' after the Empire Undivided update, starting in the once ruined province of Solland. Unique faction effects include a whopping +10 boost to armor for all units, a boost to hero capacity and a reduction to upkeep for Battle Wizards. Lord effect wise he has a 20% reduction to Lore of Metal Spell costs, grants a boost to missile damage to all artillery units in his army, and boost hero recruit rank for Battle Wizards. All these bonuses means he has a much easier start than Franz, since his bonus to armor, cheap spells and starting mortars can carry you through a lot of early game fights. Gelt also has natural terrain in the mountains, making it easier to fuck with the Dwarfs and get grudgins under your belt. He is the primary spell caster of The Empire, and their only access to the Lore of Metal so far. Along with his new start in Solland, he has access to the Solland Runefang Grudgesettler, and owns a Fort right off the bat. His Quest items include the Cloak of Molten Metal, Amulet of Sea Gold, and the Staff of Volans. He also has access to a unique Pegasus named Quicksilver. :: [[Volkmar the Grim]] is chilling alongside Franz in '''Reikland''' if you bought The Grim and the Grave, while Immortal Empires lets him assume proper leadership over the '''Cult of Sigmar'''. His unique faction effects include an increased Magic item drop chance, a boost to recruit rank for Warrior Priests, and lastly bonus weapon strength and upkeep reduction to Flagellants. Lord effect wise he gets a big boost to casualty replenishment rate, melee defense, and physical resistance to all Flagellants in his army. Since the lords in G&G didn't get unique start positions, they play very similarly to the main leaders of said faction campaign wise. In this case, you play Volkmar more or less like you play Karl, only you use the lulzy unbreakable Flagellants as your main line infantry early on instead of Swordsmen. CA fortunately saw how this could be boring and gave future DLC lords unique start areas, though Volkmar and his buddy Ghorst sadly have a harder time standing out compared to their big bosses. In battle he's primarily a support lord who buffs up the front line troops while still doing decent damage, with his regen and being able to become unbreakable making him damn hard to get rid of. His Quest items include the Jade Griffon and the Staff of Command. He also has access to the War Altar of Sigmar as a unique mount, making him unbreakable on his popemobile. :: In the hot jungles of Lustria is [[Markus Wulfhart]] and his '''Huntsmarshal's Expedition''' in his home base of the occupied Temple of Tenclan. Evidently Franz told him to take a break from slaughtering Beastmen and other horrid creatures in The Drakwald to slaughter Lizardmen and other horrible creatures in Lustria to help Imperial colonists. His unique faction mechanic is The Emperor's Mandate, instead of unlocking units normally you get reinforcements from back home the more you advance the Emperor's cause in Lustria. The more you pillage the land in the Empire's name, the better quality units are sent your way. He also gets a recruit rank buff to Huntsman Generals in his faction. Lord effect wise he has a bonus to his army's ambush defence chance, an increase to his own chance at ambushing, and a hefty upkeep reduction for Archers and Huntsmen in his army. Lastly he gets a malus to diplomatic relations with all Lizardmen. In your adventure to bring civilization to these Jungle filled lands and totally not plunder them for all their worth, you will focus on ranged combat and skirmishing, as his buffs to the half upkeep Archers and Huntsmen makes them better at killing things than Handgunners! His natural snare ability, long ranges focused shot and ADDITIONAL long ranged Anti Large focus shot after getting his quest item means large units won't be on the field for long. Campaign wise, you are locked out of most of the higher tier Empire troops early on, instead needing to rely on The Emperor's Mandate to get good stuff early on. If you make the homeland happy they will give you a selection of new, higher tier units to recruit to help you out, meaning you actually get the good, elite stuff faster than most other Empire factions. You also get access to unique heroes who totally aren't the Vermintide gang. The thing is though, YOU FUCKING NEED IT, as you are in the Royal Rumble that is Lustria and everything there that isn't Teclis wants to kill you and turn your face into underwear! The Hostility bar also makes it so the Lizardmen send armies to sodomize your hopes of expansion if you fill it too high. This is one of the most difficult, but at the same time most fun campaigns, and really gives you a good challenge. His sole unique Quest item is the Amber Bow. Their Army Roster can be found [[http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/The_Empire_Army_Roster here]], and their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epK0ouN0l7U&list=PL7l8yJHLU_BGRyo1NkkhRWG69pfgSnmVS&index=19&t=0s trailer]]. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Empire| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Reikland.png|Reikland File:Golden_Order.png|The Golden Order File:Huntsmarshals_Expedition.png|The Huntsmarshal's Expedition File:The Cult of Sigmar.PNG|The Cult of Sigmar </gallery> ====[[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]]==== [[File:Dwarf_Wallpaper.jpg|800px|center|thumb|'''THAT'S A GRUDGIN!''']] Angry stunties out to right every wrong in their Tab of Fuck-ups with copious amounts of axes, artillery, and not to forget, beards. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately if you're a Slayer), [[Meme|the Book of Grudges remains full]]. All the beards. After decades of hiding and defending their borders, the High King has decided to go and gain the additional title of Bitchslapper and get the Greenskins the hell out of their Karaks. Dwarfs do not conquer in the same way most other factions do and don't want cities or plunder in general; rather, they're going for underground holds and other Dwarfen areas of the game (unless you're playing Mortal Empires, where they just prefer to have mountainous regions). They are also very good at using the Underway, naturally, and are one of three factions, the other being the Greenskins and Skaven that can use it. The Dwarf unique gimmick in the campaign is the Book of Grudges. Every time something 'bad' happens (losing a city, getting raided, assassination attempts on your characters...) you get a new grudge in the book. Unlike most missions, which have time limits, grudges just sit around waiting for you to do them. Avenge a grudge and you get a bonus; however, have too many unfulfilled grudges and the Longbeards will start grumbling, dropping your morale and diplomatic relations with other Dwarf factions like a rock. From turn one with no grudges you have very good relations with the other Dwarf kingdoms (with a few exceptions) meaning you can more easily confederate with them; giving an edge over other races in terms of consolidating your political power. On the other hand, if the grudges stack up you can easily lose that advantage. It's a system that seems to favor winners - ending grudges gives gold to keep new ones from happening and to further avenge old ones, but let them accumulate and it will become harder and harder to remove them. By dint of game induced randomness, some can be utterly crippling to your long term success, like forcing you to do things you really don't want to do and then creating chain reactions of negative results that then create more grudges - like acting against a human faction and then having the rest of them dogpile on you as a result or, most enjoyably, having to conquer undead lands when only Mousillon is available and between a fuckton of enemies. Whilst comparatively rare, some grudges can happen for purely narrative reasons, like having to attack an Empire faction who technically did nothing to you in game but who narratively underpaid some contractors by a single coin. Naturally their whole faction must die. Fun times. After the Tomb Kings released and had their Mortuary Cult crafting mechanic showed off, everyone scratched their head and went "wouldn't that mechanic make more sense for the Dwarfs?" Evidently CA agreed, and alongside the Queen & the Crone DLC they added the Dwarf Forge to all Dwarf factions. Giving them a unique currency called Oathgold that lets them craft a variety of items, as well as letting you recycle any items you have to gain more Oathgold. The Dwarf "tech tree" unsurprisingly has a lot more to do with their society and its slow pace of accepting change in everything. There are a huge amount of unlockable techs, and they ALL revolve around making tiny decisions from the top down instead of any meaningful technological breakthrough. Your Dwarfs already know how to do mass production and use advanced mining drills. They just don't want to use them because the old ways are the best and you have to spend turns to convince them to actually use the better technology that they have kept gathering dust. In terms of the actual battlefield, Dwarfs are the slowest faction in the game with literally no Cavalry and the only fast thing being the Gyrocopters (and Slayers if you count them) which are high up the tech tree, but they are also by far the best at turtling and defending. Even ranged units can pack a wallop in close combat, and all units are armored to the tip of their beards; sometimes literally (taken especially with the Irondrakes and their [[Awesome|BEARD ARMOUR]]). This, combined with an almost insane amounts of dangerous ranged weapons to compensate for not being able to run people down such as the Organ Gun, Cannon, the Quarrelers and fukken' ''flamethrowers'' means that you don't want to take on Dwarfs head on if you can help it... unless you have artillery superiority (Read: unless you're the Empire. Then again, if you're the Empire and dont have Dwarfs as allies, then you're kinda retarded). See, artillery fucks Dwarfs up like nothing else because it bypasses Armor, shields, and Melee Defense, their primary methods of holding a battle line, and since they’re slow as hell a Dwarf army has to rely on either Gyrocopters or their own artillery to deal with enemy fire support. Doomdivers, Plagueclaw Catapults, Steam Tanks... all of them make Dwarfs shit their chainmail boxers, because they can’t do shit about it except outshooting them, seizing air superiority, or just gritting their teeth and powering through. :: [[Thorgrim Grudgebearer]] sits on his throne as he leads the main subfaction '''Karaz-a-Karak''' and aims to right the wrongs in the book of grudges. His unique faction mechanics include a boost to diplomatic relations with other Dwarfs, a reduction for military recruitment buildings, upkeep reductions for Longbeards and Hammerers, and bonuses to recruit rank for the latter. His Lord Effects include a big boost to his Leadership aura size, and a bonus to his leadership aura effect. What was at first thought to be one of the easiest campaigns, it actually got a bit harder due to increased threats to the south in Mortal Empires and reforms to the campaign itself. You do start out filthy fucking rich, so it's still hardly the hardest campaign in the world. In turns of battle, Thorgrim is the closest thing to a mage the Dwarfs have, focusing on buffing support and debuff runes to keep his army trucking. He's also the only one with a mount, though unlike most mounts it actually makes him SLOWER than Dwarf foot lords, a race already not known for his speed. Needless to say the man is a pulsing bulls eye to any ranged army with a brain, so make sure to protect him and he'll work his wonders. He has a whopping four Quest items including The Axe of Grimnir, The Armour of Skaldour, The Dragon Crown of Karaz, and lastly The Great Book of Grudges. :: Further north is [[Ungrim Ironfist]] leading his slayers in '''Karak Kadrin.''' His faction effects include a massive reduction in construction cost for Slayer buildings, reduction in recruit cost for Slayer units, and a bonus to speed for all infantry units. His Lord effects include a boost to casualty replenishment rate, upkeep reduction, and an increase to melee attack for all Slayer units in his army. As you'd expect from the Slayer king, his playstyle focuses entirely around Slayers, giving discounts and buffs that turn them into your go to in most army compositions. Karak Kadrin also starts with a unique building that lets you recruit them far earlier than most factions. This means you are a nightmare for factions that rely on large units, though you had best watch out for ranged focus races like elves. His preference for colder climates encourages you to expand northward, bringing you into contact to the Vampires, Skaven, Empire and Norscans you may not normally run into in a normal Dwarf campaign. In battle Ungrim acts as your monster slayer and DPS machine who can kill more or less any large creature you run into. Being unbreakable also means he'll never run away and will fight to the end. That being said, he's still slow as balls (like all Dwarf lords) and can easily be out maneuvered by anyone paying attention. His Quest items include The Slayer Crown, the Dragon Cloak of Fyrskar, and the Axe of Dargo. :: [[Grombrindal]] - The White Dwarf is rooming with Thorgrim in '''Karaz-a-Karak''' if you download his FLC, while '''The Ancestral Throng''' is mustered in the third game. His faction effects include a bonus to Underway evasion chance for all characters, increase to weapon strength when fighting against Elves for all armies, and he has the unique Ancestor God dilemma. Which lets him choose bonuses from the different Ancestor Gods from time to time. These include fucking over enemy mages, cost decreases and research buffs, turning Grombrindal into a one man killing machine or just buffing your army in general. His lord effects include a boost to reinforcement range for his army, as well as an increase to leadership for all units in his army. This makes his campaign a bit easier than Thorgrim as you usually have some kind of buff active. In battle Gromby is a generalist fighter who has more versatility than Ungrim but isn't as good at killing big monsters. His smoke bomb also makes him better at locking down pesky cav and chariots. His quest items include the Armour of Glimril Scales, the Rune Axe of Grombrindal, the Cloak of Valaya, and the Rune Helm of Zhufbar. :: [[Belegar Ironhammer]] leads the subfaction '''Clan Angrund''', starting in the Vaults over boarding Tilea and close to Welf country. His unique faction includes a leadership bonus when sieging a settlement, and starts with four ethereal Ancestor heroes. Lord effect wise he has the Siege Attacker attribute, vanguard deploys all armies faction wide during Underway Battles, and he gets a bonus to leadership for all units in his army when fighting Greenskins and Skaven. This faction plays quite a bit differently from the vanilla Dwarf campaign though it shares the same core mechanics. The goal of the campaign is to reach and gain control of Karak Eight Peaks, which is also being sought after by the Crooked Moon faction led by Skarsnik, and Clan Mors led by Queek Headtaker (if you're playing Mortal Empires). Until you obtain the Eight Peaks you suffer from a pretty massive upkeep penalty. Other than that the main campaign differences from regular stunties is that you start with some spooky hero units (two Thanes, a Runesmith and a Engineer who all have the Ethereal Trait that make all weapons but Magical ones do jack to them), and a slightly altered tech tree that lets you get Rangers faster. Due to the aforementioned upkeep burdens, this campaign is notably more challenging than your standard Dwarf campaign (yet at the same time the satisfaction is great when you do regain Eight Peaks). In battle Belegar is a tank who can survive anything the enemy can throw at him, but doesn't offer much outside of that. His quest items include the Shield of Defiance and the Hammer of Angrund. :: [[Thorek Ironbrow]] is a Legendary Lord added for free to the second game as part of its last DLC. He leads the subfaction '''Ironbrown's Expedition''' starting in the Spine of Sotek in Lustria on the Vortex Campaign and Karak Zorn in Mortal Empires. His unique faction gives a bonus to Oathgold produced as well as a reduction to the amount required to forge Runes, habitability in Jungle climate, and increased ranks for Runesmiths heroes. It also comes with a unique set of artifacts to craft, each of them giving powerful campaign-wide boni. As of Thorek himself, he's basically a souped-up version of a Runelord, but also gives a slight increase in armour and AP damage to his entire army, plus a reduction in reload time for Bolt Throwers, Grudge Trowers and Quarellers. Their Army Roster an be found [[http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Dwarf_Army_Roster here]] and their [[https://youtu.be/lL7pBMxdX6o trailer here]]. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dwarfs| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Karak-A-Karaz.png|Karaz-a-Karak File:Kadrak_Kadrin.png|Karak Kadrin File:Clan_Angrund.png|Clan Angrund File:Ironbrow's Expedition.png|Ironbrow's Expedition File:The Ancestral Throng.png|The Ancestral Throng </gallery> ====[[Orcs & Goblins|Greenskins]]==== [[File:Greenskins_Wallpaper.jpeg|800px|center|thumb|'''WAAAGH!''']] Oh, what kind of game would we have if we didn't have Orcs and Goblins? A real boring one, that's what. There are five playable factions as of the latest patch in the second game, with five Legendary Lords between them. The resident barbaric faction of the Old World (and parts of the new one), the Green Tide are most concerned with two things: a) Fighting and b) WINNING! But you probably already knew that. In the first game, the Greenskins' signature mechanic was "Fightiness." If an army isn't raiding or fighting, its Fightiness falls until the boyz start fighting each other, causing attrition. Keep your Fightiness high and your army big, and the sheer mass of fighting will attract a WAAAGH!!!, a free army that you indirectly control until it's either wiped out or the army that attracted it loses Fightiness. The Total Waaagh! update in the second game changed this. Instead, Greenskins have two unique mechanics: Reputation and Scrap. Reputation is earned by fighting tough battles and either winning or losing valiantly. It makes organising and maintaining armies easier and allows for an event known as Call to Waaagh!, where you direct your forces against an enemy faction and raze or occupy their capital for loot and special rewards. Scrap is earned from battles, raiding and so forth, and is used to research certain things in the new tech tree and upgrade units in certain specific ways. In general, Greenskins are a varied horde army who likes themselves a bit of a scrap, as you'd expect. A Greenskin army is generally more mobile than most armies, but are also more vulnerable to ranged damage and artillery. Goblins are way cheaper to get into an army than Orcs, but they're generally pretty weak unless helped. Greenskins also have way more monsters than most other races - Squigs for infantry shredding, Trolls for armour-crunching and flanking, Giants for chaff crunching and Arachnarok Spiders for monster duels, plus Wyverns for lucky Warbosses. The Total Waaagh! patch gave them an army-wide ability to declare a Waaagh!, granting major buffs for a short time to every unit in the army; its meter is charged up by units fighting in melee. :: [[Grimgor Ironhide]] leads the main Greenskin faction, called '''Grimgor's 'Ardboyz'''. He's based out of the settlement of Black Crag, which he took off the hands of its owner in the main universe ([[Gorfang Rotgut]]) because Gorfang [[What|decided that slagging off the most violent, hate-filled Orc in the Old World was somehow a good idea]] and Grimgor decided to correct him. His faction effects include a bonus to campaign movement range for all characters, and a reduction to upkeep for all Black Orcs and Big 'Uns units. Lord effect wise he buffs Black Orc leadership and armour in his army, and gets bonus post-battle loot income. Grimgor himself is a close-combat beatstick who can dish out a lot of hurt in short order, and his personal skill tree allows him to cause Terror and get Frenzy, and even boost the anti-Large damage bonus of Big 'Uns and Black Orcs in his army. Needless to say he tears through armoured units like tin cans as well. Unfortunately, he has no mount, and in this game that can make a huge difference. Grimgor also got a serious rework in the second game with the Warden & the Paunch update. Now Grimgor is [[Rape|Murder]]. Grimgor has been reworked from a beat-stick into a dueling lord capable of taking on almost anyone and everyone in single combat and winning due to his new abilities. With his version of the Waaaagh! in battle essentially doubling the effect you would get from a regular one. With a chance to get Black Orcs as units in your Waaagh! armies. Last but not least his Da Immortulz banner got a big rework, functioning much like the Cohort of Sotek RoR for Lizardmen. Meaning that they won't lose models as long as they are above 50% leadership; finally living up to the name. His Quest items include Gitsnik and the Blood-Forged Armour. :: [[Azhag the Slaughterer]] is the other Legendary Lord who was available at launch and as of the Warden & the Paunch Lord pack he now leads the '''Bonerattlaz''' faction. Azhag was in a weird place in Warhammer I, being more expensive than a vanilla warboss but not as killy, and his starting buffs - boosts to Research rates and Diplomacy with Undead factions - hampered by the fact that a) Greenskins need Tier III/IV building to do Research and b) you are far away from your prospective allies in both [[Vampire Counts|the north]] and [[Tomb Kings|the south]] of the map, who can't do much to help you in the initial battles. But with the Greenskins rework in Game II, he has never been better. Being given his own subfaction up in the Red Eye Mountains. Meaning his faction bonuses towards Vampire Counts diplomacy actually have some use now that he is relatively nearby Sylvania, and his research boost is useful now that the Greenskins research isn't arbitrarily locked off by buildings. His skill tree was reworked so that he can use the first few spells in the Lore of Death prior to doing the Crown of Sorcery Quest line, unlike prior where he required the item to use any spells whatsoever. And he can even use the Wind of Death as a bound ability. His unique Waaagh! in battle gives his troops Fear and Terror, his unique scrap upgrade boosts armor-piercing damage, and lastly he has a chance to get Feral Wyverns to join his Waaagh! campaign armies. His Quest Items include the Crown of Sorcery, Azhag's 'Ard Armour, and Slagga's Slashas. He also has a unique Wyvern mount named Skullmuncha. :: [[Skarsnik]], Warlord of the Eight Peaks is the third Greenskin Legendary Lord leading the '''Crooked Moon''' subfaction. He starts in a Dwarfen Hold near Karak Norn, having gone Squig hunting for a while only to have an Orc Warboss called Morglum Backstabba (''cute'', CA) take control of Karak Eight Peaks while he was out, with what was once the Crooked Moon now being Crooked Moon Mutinous Gits. He needs to fight his way back there and reclaim his throne, while fending off Belegar and the various other have-a-go heroes amongst the Empire and Dwarf subfactions. Until he does, he suffers a -2 to Public Order in all provinces and can't recruit basic Orc infantry or cavalry units. (An interesting loophole is that this doesn't apply to Savage Orc units, which have their own building chain in the tech tree.) To compensate, Skarsnik and other Night Goblin Warbosses can give all units in their army Poison Attacks (really) and he receives a 40% reduction to recruitment cost and upkeep for all Goblin units. Plus heroes have a 50% discount on hero actions and receive twice as much experience for it, letting him spam hero actions and rig every fight in his favour much more than other Greenskin leaders. Skarsnik himself is also a competent combatant with an anti large focus. And was given an interesting ability added in the second game that lets him make himself and units within a certain radius around him invisible to the enemy for a time (yes, including Giants and Arachnaroks). Who says Vlad has the monopoly on Creed-esque shenanigans? On top of that the Total Waaagh! update gave him two new abilities, Spite of da Bad Moon (which give allies around him anti-large, and boost to AP and base weapon damage, and Fermented Fungi that lowers enemy melee defense and causes them to rampage if they are at low health. His unique Waaagh! increases general damage along with a focus on AP missile damage, and gives the army immune to psychology during its duration. His Waaagh! army has an increased likelihood of containing Doom Diver Catapults. His sole Quest Item is Skarsnik's Prodder. :: [[Wurrzag]] da Great Green Prophet is the FLC Legendary Lord added in the same patch as Skarsnik. He leads the '''Bloody Handz''' tribe of Savage Orcs, who are based out of the Western Badlands across from Grimgor in the east. He showed up after Grimgor beat up and kicked out Rotgut to declare him favoured by Gork and Mork, but while Grimgor enjoyed Wurrzag's ringing endorsement, he found the shaman's wacky antics annoying so he sent him off to help out the Bloody Handz. His faction effects decrease Enemy Hero action success chance, and gives a bonus to Savage Orc units factionwise. Lord effect wise Wurrzag gives a hefty physical resistance to all Savage Orc units in his army, as well as a 50% reduction in their recruitment cost and upkeep. Wurrzag is a caster lord, and as such isn't made for direct combat much even if you mount him on his Warboar Spleenrippa, but compensates for it as an excellent supporter and caster. The Lore of da Big Waaagh! is a subtly excellent lore, with powerful buffs and a potent AoE that hide amongst three other underwhelming spells but should never be overlooked. His Wurrzag's Revenge ability is in the game as well, giving enemy Wizards a +50% chance of a miscast, and his Effigy of Da Git! ability can pin a unit down, making them highly vulnerable to charges and counter-charges. With the Total Waaagh! update, he also got an to his unique skill line. Having the expected boost to Savage Orc combat stats, and his ability to give all units in his army magical attacks. But on top of that he also removes all magic resistance from local enemy armies, gives physical resistance to all the big beasties in the Greenskin roster, and can spam Foot of Gork like there's no tomorrow with his "Titantic Beat!" skill. His unique Waaagh! gives the usual stat buffs, but also gives some physical resistance and immune to psych. His Quest Items include the Baleful Mask, Squiggly Beast, and the Bonewood Staff. He also has a unique Warboar mount named Spleenrippa. :: [[Grom the Paunch]] is the fifth Greenskin Legendary Lord leading the '''Broken Axe''' subfaction, starting in Karrak Orrud in Vortex, and Massif Orcal in Mortal Empires. He is Da big boss of the Greenskins in the Vortex Campaign and intends to finish what he started in Ulthuan by first burning Tor Yvresse to the ground and kill Eltharion the Grim for mucking up da WAAAGH TO END ALL WAAAGHS!!!!! His faction effects are a global recruit time reduction for Goblin units and a -80 diplomatic malus with High Elf factions. His Lord effects include a boost to leadership when fighting against Elves, physical resistance for Goblin units in his armies, and a hefty decrease in upkeep for Chariot and Pump Wagon units in his army. His special mechanic for the campaign is "Grom's Cauldron" which lets him cook various foods for his army and himself to buff up and continue his massive invasion on Da Pointy-eared gits dat need krumpin'. Grom. Never. Walks. He rides his chariot made from the roof of Middenheim's Church of Ulric and is constantly bothered by the head of the mad Shaman Blacktooth, who was reduced to an annoying head after it was cut off by the Grim. Did I mention he gets BIG ORKY ST- NO MATTA DA STUFF USED FOR DA PROCESS, DA FING HAZ GOT TO LOOK LIKE GORK/MORK. It AIN'T ORKY OTHERWISE. His unique Waaagh! heals his troops and gives immune to psych on top of the usual melee stat bonuses. During his campaign Waaagh! armies have a higher chance of getting Pump Wagon units. Quest Items include the Axe of Grom and the Lucky Banner, while he can also get Blacktoof's Head as a talisman through a quest. Their Army Roster can be found [[http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Greenskin_Roster here]] [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Greenskins| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Grimgor's 'Ardboyz.png|Grimgor's 'Ardboyz File:Bonerattlaz.png|Bonerattlaz File:Crooked_Moon.png|Crooked Moon File:The_Bloody_Handz.png|Bloody Handz File:Broken_Axe.png|Broken Axe </gallery> ====[[Vampire Counts]]==== [[File:Vampire Counts Wallpaper.jpg|800px|center|thumb|'''Look what daddy issues will do to you.''']] While in terms of number of factions they are outnumbered, four compared to the 12 Empire factions (plus the Empire clones), the counts are surely not a force to be trifled with. Led by [[Mannfred von Carstein]] as the faction leader with [[Heinrich Kemmler]] (<s>seemingly without Krell</s> who can now summon Krell) and [[Helman Ghorst]] as additional Legendary Lords. With the Old World Edition update, [[Vlad von Carstein]] and his wife [[Isabella von Carstein]] now lead their own sub-faction instead of putting up with Manny's bullcrap. Unlike the Dwarfs and Greenskins who will be fighting up in the mountains for control over the Dwarf Holds, the Counts can control and manage human settlements driving them into conflict with the other human factions, when the vampires take an area they won't just loot it, they are there to stay. Their main unique mechanic on the campaign as of Warhammer II is the Vampire Bloodlines. Using their unique Blood Kiss currency (gained by killing faction leaders, or assassinating characters), you can recruit Lords from the five Vampire Bloodlines. Lahmian, Von Carstein, Blood Dragon, Necrarch, or Strigoi. These generic bloodline lords put some Legendary Lords to shame, with some pretty powerful skills in both campaign and battle. Investing enough Blood Kisses in specific Bloodlines grants you a swath of bonuses. From high research rate from Necrachs, hefty Calv bonuses from the Blood Dragons, to being able to recruit Sylvanian Crossbowmen from the Von Carsteins. Their other campaign ability is Raise Dead, with it you can immediately recruit units if you have sufficient money and space in your army for it. There will always be low level undead around on the map, but if there has been a big battle, and you have already unlocked them, you can raise high level undead units. They also have Vampiric Corruption, which is a statistic that a province akin to religion you find in older Total War games. Vampire armies traveling though untainted terrain suffer attrition, while enemy armies in corrupted turf also suffer attrition. It can spread and cause undead rebellions in nearby settlements so it's best you use corruption and make those Witch Hunters earn their pay even in places where you're not going to immediately invade. In occupied settlements you'll face Public Order problems if you don't get it high enough. Vampires spread corruption with heroes and some buildings in settlements. On the battlefield the Vampire Counts are arguably the most unique of the launch game I races. Unlike the other factions the Vampire Counts have no ranged units, but make it up by having tough infantry, immunity to panic and very good flying units. As well as a good amount of monstrous units that usually have fear or terror effects to quickly break the enemy's morale. Fittingly they also have a decent amount of options to summon additional units to the field, along with a lot of regeneration potential from their support units. However, their major weakness is that the entire army will crumble away should your Lord get taken out. So while they can certainly hold their own in combat, it is best not to be reckless with them. Additionally, beating the wood elf mini-campaign nets you the Red <s>Duck</s> Duke for multiplayer or if you somehow manage to confederate with Mousillon in the campaign. Their Army Roster can be found [[http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Vampire_Counts_Army_Roster here]]. Their base game legendary lords are Mannfred von Carstein and Heinrich Kemmler. Later joined by Helman Ghorst (Grim & the Grave DLC), Vlad von Carstein (FLC), and Isabella von Carstein (FLC). :: [[Mannfred von Carstein]] leads the main Vampire Counts faction, called '''Sylvania''', or the '''Drakenhof Conclave''' in Immortal Empires, starting in Castle Drakenhof. It's a pretty good start overall, having access to a goldmine right off the bat, the Von Carstein's acting as a decent meat shield against Dwarfen and Empire aggression, and picking apart Tempelhof is an easy affair with some Raise Dead abuse. Mannfred himself is pretty damn powerful, being the only character with two full Lores of Magic at this disposal (Lore of Vampires and Lore of Death), and his items give him an absurd pool and recharge rate of Winds of Magic. Meaning he will be spamming his spells pretty much all battle long. CA even gave him a Zombie Dragon, a mount option he didn't have on Tabletop. Presumably more because they didn't add Abyssal Terrors as a mount, rather than actually fitting Mannfred to ride a Zombie Dragon though. His Quest Items include the Sword of Unholy Power and the Armour of Templehof. :: [[Heinrich Kemmler]] as of the Aye Aye! Patch now leads his own subfaction called '''The Barrow Legion''' situated in Blackstone Post; which has the honor of housing Castle Drachenfels as a unique landmark. His faction effects include a bonus in diplomatic relations with Chaos races and a 50% reduction to Necromancer Heroes. Lore effect wise all units in Kemmler's army are immune to attrition from being in territories with low Vampire corruption, has a boost to Necromancer recruit rank, and has access to [[Krell]] as a summonable hero. Kemmler was once a joke of an LL when Warhammer I first came out, but no longer. The OG Special Character is now quite a force to be reckoned with. With a number of skills in his tree to boost his casting potential, and his unique skill line is dedicated to buffing Krell. His Quest Items include the Chaos Tomb Blade, the Cloak of Mists & Shadows, and the Skull Staff. He also has access to a Barded Nightmare as a mount. :: [[Helman Ghorst]] hangs out with Mannfred in the main Vampire Counts faction, breaking away in the third game to steer the '''Caravan of Blue Roses'''. His faction effects include a boost Corpse Cart charge bonus and recruit rank, increased casualty replenishment rate, and an increase in research rate. Lord effect wise all units in his army receive a watered down version of poison. Oddly enough he actually does have a dedicated skill line, that focuses on buffing his own stats, and later boosts his ability to cast Vanhel's Danse Macabre by a substantial amount. Has access to a unique variation of Raise Dead called "Awaken from the Grave" that summons Grave Guard, and will instead summon a Wight King when overcasted. His sole Quest Item is the Liber Noctus. He also has access to a unique Corpse Cart mount called The Brothers Ghorst Corpse Cart. :: [[Vlad von Carstein]] leads the creatively named subfaction called '''Von Carstein''', now properly called '''Sylvania''', starting next door to Mannfred in Schwarzhafen. His faction effects include a boost to campaign movement range for all characters, access to a unique building in Castle Drakenhof, and starts with 1 Blood Kiss right off the bat. His lord effects gives vanguard deployment to all units in his army, and he gets a boost to melee attack and defense when fighting alongside Isabella. While he does not have a dedicated unique skill line like other LLs, he has a few notable unique skills. With Coven of Undeath boosting experience gained per turn for units ''factionwide''. Vlad's main niche is to be that one LL that just never dies. Being one of the tankiest characters in the game to this day through his items, and his natural regeneration skills. His Quest Items include his sword Blood Drinker, and The Carstein Ring. :: [[Isabella von Carstein]] hangs out with her sugar Vladdy in the same subfaction of '''Von Carstein'''/'''Sylvania'''. Her faction effects include a bonus to Vampire Hero capacity, a boost to their weapon strength, access to a unique building in Castle Drakenhof, and she starts with 1 Blood Kiss straight away. While Lord effect wise she has increased melee attack and melee defense for embedded Vampire heroes, and gets a stat boost when reinforced by Vlad. Much like her husband, she doesn't have a dedicated unique skill line, but does have a few nifty skills. With each one boosting leadership and melee attack for the various beasties in the Vampire Count roster. Her sole Quest Item is the Blood Chalice of Bathori. She also has access to a Barded Nightmare and a Hellsteed as mounts. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Vampire Counts| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Sylvania.png|The Drakenhof Conclave File:The_Barrow_Legion.png|The Barrow Legion File:Von_Carstein.png|Sylvania File:Caravan of Blue Roses.png|Caravan of Blue Roses </gallery> ====[[Warriors of Chaos]]==== [[File:124151.815xp.jpg|center|800px|thumb|Dangerously [[Slaanesh|horny]].]] One of the defining aspects of Warhammer, the Warriors of Chaos had to be in a Total War game, and they do not disappoint (much...). In a lot of ways, Chaos is similar to the Vampires; their only ranged units are missile cavalry and artillery, and they are not even particularly good missile cav. The Warriors of Chaos are all about heavy infantry backed up with the occasional slavering monsters like Chaos Trolls, Dragon Ogres, and Chaos Spawn. The Warriors of Chaos are a lot more complex then the other factions. For one, like the Vampire Counts, they have a corruption mechanic they can infect provinces with using their heroes. But rather than make the ground safe for their troops to travel through, it inspires Chaos uprisings and rebellions. Secondly, they don't occupy cities but instead each army has self contained buildings, even when taking a fellow Norsemen tribe you can only sack it (for gold), raze (for pop growth to get buildings), or awaken it (more on that later). This means that when a Chaos army stops moving it can get units back even in foreign ground, because in a sense all ground is foreign to it. Due to this if an army is wiped out a lot more is lost. They also have weak economic buildings; your main source of cash will be sacking the shit out of people. Do note that nothing stops you from sacking a place, then razing it for money and pop growth. Thirdly, they can awaken Norse tribes making them your vassals and giving you increased unit replenishment in their territory. Fourthly, if multiple Chaos stacks are next to one another on the campaign map the Norscan units within will suffer attrition; making combined attacks against large cities a bit dicey if planned poorly. Finally: even if you are not playing with the DLC to make them playable they will come from the north as a boss faction you have to deal with at some point no matter who you are, even if you are the Everchosen himself. In that case, they'll also have an extra legendary lord: the Everwatcher. Their available legendary lords are [[Archaon]], [[Sigvald]] the Magnificent, and Kholek Suneater. Of course that was the sticking point at Chaos' release, that to play as them you had to pre-order the game, or else buy a piece of DLC for what is seen as a "core" faction. The reveal that Chaos was going to be DLC opened a can of rage massive enough to mildly impress an Angry Marine. A blog post made by the chief producer argues that chaos had to be DLC or not be in the game at all, which if you think about the number of unique animation rigs between the factions it's not like you need to animate one spearman and then can dress him up in 50 different cultures, may be true but it is still a bitter pill for us fans. Fortunately, CA finally seemed to have noticed the horde of raging neckbeards banging on their door and decided to tone down the money grubbing asshole levels a notch; the Chaos Warriors DLC was made available for free if you purchased within the first week of the game's launch; so you had the option to wait a few days and see how many people lose their shit over the game for better or worse before blowing $60 on it. http://store.steampowered.com/app/404010/ - Their steam page which tries to sell them and has their army roster. While the faction could appear as a non-playable faction for some bizarre ass reason CA made some units exclusive to the DLC including Sigvald, the Dragon Ogres (including shaggoths and Kholek), armored variations of Chaos Trolls, Chaos Sorcerer Lords, Manticores, Chaos Dragons, Forsaken, and Gorebeast chariots. Likely because otherwise people would just [[Troll|use a mod to unlock the faction without paying]]. They later got a pretty welcome boost with three new free units released at the same time as the King and the Warlord. Feral Manticores may not be able to really stack up to Vargheists and Pegasus Knights in terms of controlling the skies, but they can give the Chaos Warriors a lot of needed flexibility. Aspiring Champions are pretty thoroughly badass and can both bolster your cheaper units' shitty morale and carve up enemy trash units like butter while being pretty cheap themselves (just don't get them into fights with units that have AP damage), and Marauder Horsemasters aren't exactly what the Chaos Warriors needed more of but they're decently cheap and flexible cavalry who can both harass the enemy at range as well as deal some decently harsh pummeling in melee. Furthermore, Sarthorael was made available to play for anyone who beat the campaign with the release of the Call of the Beastmen, and while the Lore of Metal isn't exactly the best lore in the game, he is a pretty hefty beat-stick lord. Thankfully, the addition of Norsca also gave the Warriors of Chaos some very much needed quality of life improvements. Some very nice Regiments of Renown (including Sigvald's <s>groupies</s> Mirror Guard), a boost to unit replenishment attached to their core technologies, Marauder units were given a notable buff, your armies no longer murder each other for being too close if they don't contain any Marauders (and lets be honest, they wont by the time it becomes a problem), and perhaps most notably, the Norscan tribes you awaken are automatically vassals. This means that infighting will be much less common and you no longer have to send an army north to smack them back into line. :: [[Archaon]] the Everchosen is the primary Legendary Lord for the '''Warhost of the Apocalypse'''. His faction effects include a boost to leadership for Chaos Warriors, as well as decreasing their recruitment cost; he also has a diplomatic malus of 30 with all other factions. Lord effect wise he gives a ward save to all units in his army, and gets a boost to income from razing settlements. His unique skill line focuses on funding the various flavors of Chaos Warriors, and finishes off with boosting his own stats. He is a hybrid lord with a focus on his melee prowess, but does have the ability to use the Lore of Fire (though has no access to Arcane Conduit for some reason). His Quest Items include The Slayer of Kings, The Armour of Morkar, The Eye of Sheerian, and The Crown of Domination. He also has access to a unique mount named Dorghar (who looks like a pony when Archaon rides him). :: [[Kholek Suneater]] was once in the same Warriors of Chaos boat as Archaon, but now leads the '''Heralds of the Tempest'''. His faction effects give a bonus to spreading Chaos Corruption to all characters, a reduction in ambush defence chance, and a heft 60% reduction in recruitment cost for Dragon Ogre units. Lord effect wise he gets a decrease in Dragon Ogre unit upkeep, and increases the melee attack for Dragon Ogre Shaggoths. His unit stat line focuses on buffing his own combat abilities (topping off with giving him Frenzy) and buffing up Dragon Ogre units. He also has access to a unique ability called Lord of the Storm that drops some lightning bolts on some poor ants by him. His sole Quest Item is Starcrusher. :: Prince [[Sigvald]] the Magnificent was also crashing in with Archaon's lot, now striding at the head of '''The Decadent Host''' in Immortal Empires. His faction effects include a boost to diplomatic relations with Norscan factions, a boost to leadership when fighting Men, and increases the armour of Lords and embedded Heroes. Lord effect wise he boosts Marauder recruit rank, boosts horde growth for his army, and reduces the upkeep for all Marauder units in his army. His unique skill tree line has the unusual "honor" of starting with a skill that ''increases'' Lord upkeep, and the bonus making up for that is a small increase in leadership. Other than that he gets some nifty buffs with the ability to gain Terror, but nothing too special. Role wise he is meant to be the dedicated duelist character, but can struggle with it due to his relatively low armour-piercing damage. His Quest Items include Sliverslash, and the Auric Armour. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Warriors of Chaos| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Warriors_of_Chaos.png|Warhost of the Apocalypse File:Heralds of the Tempests.png|Heralds of the Tempest File:The Decadent Host.png|The Decadent Host File:Shadow Legion WOC.png|Shadow Legion File:The Estatic Legion.png|The Estatic Legion File:Fecundites.png|The Fecundites File:Legion of the Gorequeen.PNG|Legion of the Gorequeen File:Puppets of Misrule.png|Puppets of Misrule </gallery> ====[[Bretonnia]]==== [[File:Bretonnia_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|HON HON HON TUER ÉCUME DE CHAOS POUR LA DAME]] They were confirmed to be released as free-LC on the 28th February. Their Legendary Lords, and a Lady, were confirmed to be King Louen Leoncoeur (as expected), the Fay Enchantress, and... Duke Alberic of... Bordeleaux... oh god, it's [[Helman Ghorst]] all over again. *Ahem*. Some speculated that Alberic was chosen because he would give CA a chance to be creative with their character since he had just about two paragraphs of lore; this was evidently not the case and they somehow [[Fail|couldn't even make him accurate to said two paragraphs]]. The Mortal Empires update provided Alberic with a much better layer of uniqueness (getting a model update, new weapon, new mount, and new gameplay niche) and characterization. At launch, they were only playable (with a limited roster) in custom battles (be it single or multiplayer), though they fairly quickly got a stop gap mod to let them be played till the FLC came out. They seem, like their tabletop counterparts, to focus heavily on cavalry, having at least one unit of each variety of cavalry, including flying cavalry. However, as people who played Warhammer know, the race was poorly supported with a pretty limited roster, made worse by a decent number being left out at launch. So to make them competitive at the time, CA gave them ridiculously cost-effective infantry and archers. As in, Bretonnian Men-at-Arms are better warriors than Empire State Troops. This led to the Bretonnian netlists containing little to no cavalry, and instead being peasant hordes and flying rape squads. Disappointingly, Grail Knights were *substantially* inferior to the hilariously OP Demigryph Knights (especially with Halberds) who are, to add insult to injury, a fair bit cheaper and get crushed by Blood Knights. Ironically, with the release of Wood Elves, the peasant bowmen were able to 1v1 the Wood Elves' Glade Guards and win. This was hilarious and skub worthy at the same time, but seeing that CA had to buff Bretonnia due to their lack of units, it was somewhat understandable, not to mention many players forget that the Wood Elves are one of the harder armies to play, and their archers are not trading-blow style like the Dwarf's or the Empire's ranged units. With Bretonnia finally becoming a proper faction, all of this was changed. Men-at-arms have been nerfed back down to peasant levels (so you'll probably need a Grail Reliquae if you want to depend on men-at-arms at all later in the campaign). Instead, Bretonnia has gotten all three of the units they were previously missing, plus entirely new units they never had in tabletop, such as [[Awesome | hippogryph knights, foot squires and trebuchets loaded with holy water]]. Their existing roster also got several buffs - all Bretonnian knights can now adopt a lance formation, and Grail Knights specifically are now protected by the Lady's blessing and never tire in battle. Which hilariously makes them more tireless than the undead. Furthermore, Grail Knights can now take on Demigryph Knights or Blood Knights and win. Unfortunately, because peasants are garbage tier in battle next to mid to high tier Wood Elves, this tends to result in said elves [[rape | tearing Bretonnia a new hole.]] Especially if you've sent your lords questing far and wide to get those sweet vows. They have two and a half campaign mechanics. The first one is Chivalry, a meter which measures how great of a knight you are. Winning great victories and protecting your allies increases Chivalry, while raiding and backstabbing lowers it. With higher levels of Chivalry, you get better relations with other factions, better public order, more experienced knight recruits, and the ability to temporarily call upon the Green Knight as a Legendary Hero. The Bretonnian endgame goal is to reach the highest level of Chivalry, then go off on a crusade to completely fuck over either Chaos in the Chaos Wastes or the Greenskins in the Badlands. The second mechanic is the peasant economy. If you have too many units of peasants in your army and not, you know, farming, you suffer economic problems with your farming economic buildings, making them perform worse compared to the industrial buildings which aren't affected by insufficient peasants. With the trade off being that they don't give quite as much money... So if you want to drown your enemy in filthy peasants, switch to an industrial income source. Lastly your "half" a mechanic is that rather then public order you have 'control'. It's basically the same as other factions' public order except, due to the fact your average Bretonnian peasant is more loyal to his lord than your average North Korean, rather then facing rebellions of your own factions you have incursions of Orcs and other bad guys. They also have the unique capacity to have a chance to remove negative traits from characters garrisoned in a town with a religious building, because no one likes it when [[What | they suddenly find Leoncoeur]] [[Heresy | likes Chaos]]. Their base Legendary Lords are Louen Leoncoeur, The Fay Enchantress, and Alberic de Bordeleaux. Later joined by Repanse de Lyonesse (FLC). :: [[Louen Leoncoeur]] leads the main Bretonnian faction named '''Couronne''' and starts in that territory in Mortal Empires. His faction effects include a boost to campaign movement range for all characters, and boost to leadership aura for Lords factionwide when attacking. Lord effect wise Louen starts with all Knightly Vows unlocked, and has increased melee attack and leadership when fighting against Undead, Greenskins, and all Chaos factions. Lastly he starts with the passive ability "The Blessing of the Lady. His unique skill line has a focus on boosting the campaign side of things, reducing upkeep on Knights of the Realm, and his other unique skills give him regeneration and the passive "Beloved Son of Bretonnia." Which gives a massive boost in stats and immune to psych to all units map wide when his hit points are below 50%. Role wise Louen is the melee monster of the Bretonnian LLs, and there are not many units or characters in the game that can give him trouble once fully kitted out. His Quest Items include the Armour of Brilliance and the Sword of Couronne. He also has access to a unique Hippogryph mount named Beaquis. :: Alberic de Bordeleaux leads the subfaction named '''Bordeleaux''' and starts in that territory in the first game and in the second's Mortal Empires. His faction is named '''Bordeleaux Errant''' and starts in a Bretonnian Lustrian colony in the third games ''Immortal Empires''. His faction effects include a boost to trade income, an increase in recruit rank for Bretonnian Knight units, as well as a recruitment duration decrease for those same units (the third game adds melee defense to all his units). Lord effect wise Alberic starts with the Knight's Vow unlocked, a boost of Chivalry per turn, and grants additional melee defence of all Knights of the Realm units in his army. His unique skill line focuses largely on the administrative side of things, but he does also get a hefty physical resistance and leadership boost to his army as well. Role rise Alberic used to be in a very odd spot in Warhammer I. Being a naval combat focused lore in a game that had only auto-resolve water battles at that time; and his main use was to sit in Marienburg to milk money. With the Bretonnia rework in game II Alberic has come a long way from his time as “le Generic" and has his own niche as an LL. Now actually having his trident modeled rather than a sword, with a focus on anti-large to the point where he can actually give units around him that bonus. His Quest Items include the Trident of Manann and the Braid of Bordeleaux. He also has access to a unique Hippogryph named Tempete. :: [[Morgiana le Fay|The Fay Enchantress]] leads the subfaction named '''Carcassonne''' and starts in that territory in Mortal Empires. Her faction effects include a boost to casualty replenishment rate, and an increase to the number of peasant units available to the faction. Lord effect wise she has an upkeep reduction for Grail Guardian units, has the passive ability "The Blessing of the Lady" and starts with Fear right off the bat. Her unique skill line buffs up Grail Knights and Grail Guardians, has some reductions in cost and time for constructing worship buildings, and boosting casting capabilities for characters. Role wise Morgiana is the primary Caster of the roster, but she can actually do some good work in the middle of combat too. With his ability to cause fear, and having an aura not unlike that of a Mortis Engine with her Mist of the Lady passive. With the lore of life in hand, she makes for a fantastic support character that can be a menace on the battlefield. Her Quest Items include Morgiana's Mirror, and the Chalice of Potions. She also has access to a unique Unicorn Mount named Silvaron. :: [[Repanse de Lyonesse]] leads the subfaction named '''Chevaliers de Lyonesse'''. She starts in Araby, fighting the Tomb Kings. Her entire faction is geared toward fighting Undead in general. Her faction effects include a boost to control in all provinces, a decrease in hero upkeep, melee defence boost for Questing Knights, and hefty diplomatic malus with all undead factions. Lord effect wise she starts with the Questing Vow unlocked, gives leadership and physical resistance to all peasant units, and starts with a unique ability "Halo of Maidenly Wrath." Her skills leans more toward buffing your infantry units, having almost no buff to cavalry. Her campaign consists of purging Araby in the name of the Lady, before getting enough Chivalry to go on a Errantry War to purge the Tomb Kings or the Vampire Coast for good. Also accompanied by her bodyguard/companion '''Henri le Massif''' (seriously, this boy's so big he counts as a large unit while on foot), a Legendary Hero, who will absolutely wreck anyone's shit and can ride a griffon in battle. Her sole Quest Item is the Sword of Lyonesse. She also has access to a unique warhorse named Suleman. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Bretonnia| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Couronne.png|Couronne File:Bordeleaux.png|Bordeleaux Errant File:Carcassonne.png|Carcassonne File:Chevaliers_de_Lyonesse.png|Chevaliers de Lyonesse </gallery> ====[[Beastmen]]==== [[File:Call_of_the_Beastmen.jpg|800px|center|thumb|'''TIME TO FUCK UP YOUR SHIT BORIS!!''']] The first post-release DLC faction, with the release date of 28th of July. The chaos furries are, like Archaon's spiky boys, a horde faction. Unlike the Warriors of Chaos, however, Beastmen have a passive ability called Resilience, which prevents attrition from having too many hordes together. Another mechanic borrowed from their furless friends is Chaos corruption, that will cause no end of trouble for whomever's land you sack. Beastmen armies also have a meter that is identical to the Greenskin's fightiness one, called Bestial Rage, rather than spawn an allied army as it used to do, once filled it will now increase your growth as well as give you some charge bonus buff to your army. One of their truly unique features is their modified stances, first being the ambush stance, that allows them full movement and still lets them ambush (but now on the move). Their hidden encampment stance conceals the army much like ambush, but instead of surprise attacks you can build and recruit in relative safety instead. Beast-paths stance allows them to ignore impassable terrain much like the underway, but battles take place in a different (very foresty and narrow) kind of map. Of course, they can also raid like everyone else. Their post-battle options are also geared for their horde gameplay: Raze and Loot will get you income and destroy the settlement, while Raze and Defile will still raze it but erect a "blasphemous monument" there instead of gaining loot; this monument will not only constantly generate large quantities of corruption, but also give you a population boost. Beastmen players will also get a periodic Chaos Moon event where you can pay specific prices for specific bonuses. Their start location is actually different based on which lord is picked, which while standard now was unique at the time of their release. The Legendary Lord options are Khazrak the One Eye, starting in Tobaro (in Estalia), Malagor the Dark Omen, starting in the Marshes of Madness (in the Badlands), and Morghur the Shadowgave, starting in Nordland. The new DLC adds Taurox who will start in Naggaroth near Clarond Kar in Naggaroth. Beastmen also have access to their own lore of magic, the Lore of the Wild, and ‹s›two‹/s› three (with the silence and the fury DLC) types of heroes: the Gorebull (that can send Trolls flying when charged or knocking down Vargulfs) and the Bray-Shaman who can use the lore of the wild, lore of death, and the free-LC-added lore of beasts as well as the Wargor a melee hero that can also work as a support character. Not only that, but most of their units are fast and get vanguard deployment, allowing for some powerful misdirection. Morghur and harpies were added for free when the Wood Elves were released. CA has confirmed they will appear in the campaign regardless of your ownership of them (which is now standard for all DLC for these games), which is [[awesome]]. Amusingly, this had a rather dire effect on the AI Human kingdoms if you aren't actively pruning brayherds as they pop up. The early armies of the Empire and Bretonnia did not do well against them and frequently by turn 50, much of the human lands are corrupted, ruin littered wastes, long before the actual Chaos Warriors even show up! Sadly, this eventually went in the opposite direction as the sequel was released and factions received a variety of reworks and new lords -‹s›''now'' it's basically a meme (and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejfQQUUjuK4 one YouTube memer's running joke]) that pretty much every Beastmen faction is going to be destroyed in a few turns after appearing (or even the same turn) due to poor campaign factors (bad early-game units, low replenishment, growth and income, still having the mostly-useless Brayherd faction mechanic that the Greenskins understandably got reworked out of).</s> NOT ANYMORE! With the new rework the Beastmen have become one of the strongest horde factions in the game if not the strongest. While AI Beastmen will still not survive long in campaign, player led Beastmen are a force to be reckoned with http://store.steampowered.com/app/404012/ - the Steam page with their roster Their base Legendary Lords are Khazrak the One Eye, and Malagor the Dark Omen. Later joined by Morghur the Shadowgave (FLC), and Taurox in game 2 (DLC). :: [[Khazrak The One-Eye]] is the primary Beastmen Legendary Lord leading the '''Warherd of the One-Eye''', and starts in Estalia (swapping positions with Morghur in ''Immortal Empires''). His faction effects include a bonus to leadership when fighting against Men, increase in raiding income, and a boost to Bestigor charge bonus. His Lord effects are a decrease in Bestigor upkeep, recruitment cost, and their recruitment duration. While also increasing their recruit rank. Role wise Khazrak is supposed to be the main melee combatant in the Beastmen roster, but there isn't really much special about him. Being basically a slightly buffed up Beastlord, with some poison attacks when he gets his unique weapon. Unfortunately does not have his own dedicated skill line at the moment, so there isn't much to differentiate him sadly. His Quest Items include his whip Scourge and The Dark Mail. He also has access to a Razorgor Chariot as a mount. :: Malagor the Dark Omen is the second LL chilling out with Khazrak in the Beastmen faction (in the first game, in the second one he was given his own faction, '''Harbinger of Disaster''') and starts over in the Southern Badlands. His faction effects include a boost in campaign movement range factionwide, increase in Bray-Shaman Hero capacity, a boost to horde growth in all armies, and has a bonus to diplomatic relations with all Beastmen warherds. Lord effect wise he debuffs enemy leadership and casualty replenishment for local enemy armies, and increases the hero recruit rank for Bray-Shamans. Role wise he is the dedicated caster LL in the Beastmen roster, utilizing a mix of various Lores (Beasts, Wild and Shadows), with his personal skill line added to the second game greatly boosting his magical capabilities. His sole Quest Item is the Icons of Vilification. :: [[Morghur the Shadowgave]] brings forth his mutating masses in the '''Warherd of the Shadowgave''' as the third Beastmen LL option, starting in Nordland (swapping positions with Khazrak in ''Immortal Empires''). His faction effects include a boost to Chaos corruption spread for all characters, an increase in Minotaur upkeep, whilst having a decrease in Chaos Spawn upkeep. Lord effect wise Morghur causes additional casualties suffered from Chaos attrition to local armies, gives missile resistance and melee defence to all Chaos Spawn in his army, and Morghur will only be wounded for 1 turn if killed in battle. Oddly enough Morghur is still in the main Beastmen faction despite having his own Warherd in both the Wood Elves mini-campaign, and the custom battle screen. And his starting position seems like it should be swapped with Khazrak's, considering they are closer to their respective archenemies that way. Putting aside those oddities, Morghur is a pretty fantastic LL option for the Beasties. Unfortunately lacks a dedicated unique skill line that has become standard for Warhammer II LLs, but he does have a few notable unique skills. Notably he is clearly geared to buffing those that [[Chaos Spawn|That-Which-Must-Never-Be-Named]] in his armies, and fulfils the role of being that guy who just refuses to die. His sole Quest Item is the Stave of Ruinous corruption. Which gives him the hilarious ability to turn low health units into Chaos Spaw- BY SIGMOGLARBABLAHBALHABHHBLBL... ::[[Taurox The Brass Bull]] arrives with a much needed DLC and update for the Beastmen, leading the '''Slaughterhorn Tribe'''. His campaign isn't known yet, but we do know that as he fights and wins he gains the ability to replenish action points in order to keep him fighting and moving. He seems to get buffs from the Chaos Gods as he wins, though what the buffs are aren't specified yet. He searches for The Heart of Darkness to beat the crap out of Oxyotl, close the weak point on his neck and allow Chaos to sweep the world. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Beastmen| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Beastmen_Emblem.png|Warherd of the One-Eye File:Harbinger of Disaster.png|Harbinger of Disaster File:Wh dlc05 bst beastmen morghur herd crest.png|Warherd of the Shadowgave File:Slaughterhorn Tribe.png|Slaughterhorn Tribe </gallery> ====[[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Wood Elves]]==== [[File:Realm_of_the_Wood_Elves.jpg|center|800px|thumb|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvRkjOd1f8 "THEY MAY TAKE OUR LIVES, BUT, THEY WILL NEVER TAKE AWAY, OUR TREEEEEEE!!!"] ]] The second post-release race with the release date of the 8th of December of 2016. It seems CA has taken to heart the popularity of Clan Angrund, Crooked Moon, and Bloody Handz, because the DLC will come with a sub-faction of its own. Wood Elves play very differently from all the other armies. First, they are incredibly fragile, relying on massive micro to survive. Second, they [[Derp|''can conquer any settlement type be it Dwarf, Human, or Norscan'']], makes sense since Oak of Ages once had its root sprawled across the entire world, even Norsca; it was only the coming of Chaos that destroyed all its works. The catch is that all settlements outside Athel Loren are stuck being mere outposts where only the most basic structures may be built. The settlements in Athel Loren proper, meanwhile, have a whopping '''10 (ten) building slots'''. But where they truly become unique is their win condition: they need to upgrade the unique Oak of Ages to level 5. But there are a few problems. First, to do so you need amber, a secondary resource only used by the hippies. Amber is only found outside Athel Loren, and is also used for technology and high-tier units. Second, when you do grow up your pretty tree as far as it goes, you'll have to fend off stacks of Beastmen and Warriors of Chaos as they attempt to dogpile you. Their two lords are Orion and Durthu. Durthu actually leads a subfaction focusing on tree spirits in the opposite end of Athel Loren from Orion (who focuses on Elf units). They got two generic lords (Glade Lord and Treeman Ancient), and three heroes (Spellsinger, Branchwraith, Waystalker). Finally, they have motherfucking forest dragons. All these advantages though? They ''need'' it. They are currently one of the hardest factions to play, if not the hardest, and Dwarfen Irondrakes in particular will have a field day against their highly-flammable Forest Spirit units. Perhaps the biggest reason why people struggle with the Asrai is their relatively micro heavy playstyle. Wood Elves are definitely not a standing army during the early game and don't function as a fully functional traditional total war army ever. Wood Elves lack a cheap and high model front line unit. Eternal Guardians, the absolute minimum level unit you can recruit, will shit on any other faction's first unit in a 1v1. They are also extremely expensive to recruit and maintain. This is a major theme for Wood Elves. Take their base archer unit - Glade Guard- for instance. On paper they should absolutely defeat a Bretonnian or a Beastman archer unit. They certainly cost that much. In a straight up battle they will probably lose. This is because the Beastmen and Bretonnians can generally match them straight up in a fight due to having larger unit sizes and consequently more dakka. They are bringing more arrows while costing less. What the Wood Elves have over all other factions is raw speed. A Wood Elf army can outrange and out skirmish the enemy. While playing as Wood Elves, You have to think outside the box, breaking up formations, making sure that your archers keep firing no matter what happens, and keeping enemies away from your squishy missile troops. Oh, and fight in the DAMN TREES. Seriously, Wood Elves gain hefty combat bonuses in forests for prolonged combat. If you are playing as the Wood Elves by using conventional military tactics you are fucking up. Another mistake that people commonly make while playing as the Wood Elves is thinking that their infantry is supposed to fight in the front line. This is a mistaken idea that only leads to loss of Asrai life and makes baby Orion sad. Eternal Guards are a damn good unit that can go toe to toe with higher tier infantry of other factions. They are also too expensive to keep as frontline infantry. They are support units that keep your flanks clear of cavalry and support your front line with Anti-Large damage; ideally they should be supporting Treekin. Treekin are the front line tanks of the Wood Elves in battle. Whereas Trolls - their closest counterpart in the game - have low morale and regeneration, Treekin are walking trees that have a 20% resistance to physical damage along with a fuckton of health and small models. This means that you need to support them with magic, ideally healing them with the Lore of Life. You can't expect them to win a straight up fight against large numbers on their own. Your starting Legendary Lords (especially Durthu, who can easily solo a Beastman army due to his innate fear traits) can soak up a lot of damage as long as they are well supported. Finally, a word on the Wardancers. They are basically Howling Banshees. Fragile and absolutely murderous in close range combat. Asrai Wardancers armed with spears can easily combat high level cavalry like blood knights due to their anti-large bonus while regular Wardancers do the same to infantry. They aren't frontline infantry and using them as such is a waste. Eternal Guard units have much higher mass and can generally hold their own pretty well. Wood elves also have a lot of access to magic damage, which bypasses physical resistance, making them very effective against heroes and Lords. One thing that players have noticed on release in the campaign was that AI-controlled wood elves were notoriously bipolar and would sometimes even ''ally with Chaos'' while laying waste to huge swathes of the map. However, an update that came with Bretonnia made them lore-tasticaly isolationist with short bursts of aggressive expansion. http://store.steampowered.com/app/534331/ - the steam page with their roster Their base Legendary Lords are Orion and Durthu. :: [[Orion]] leads the main Wood Elves faction named '''Talsyn ''' starting in King's Glade in Mortal Empires. His faction effects reduce upkeep for all cavalry units, gives leadership during forest battles, and unlocks the Wild Hunt campaign event. Lord effect wise he buffs the charge bonus and weapon strength of Wild Riders in his army. He specializes in the "Elf" aspect of his faction, to the degree that while many standard infantry options are available to him at no extra fee, higher tier Tree Kin and Tree Men cost amber as an additional upkeep. Role Wise Orion is a hybrid melee and ranged option, with his melee stats nothing to scoff at while he launches his spear off like a bolt thrower. While he lacks a truly unique skill-line he does have the capability to massively boost his armies ranged and melee capabilities. He also has a reskinned Lore of Metal spell in the form of his Hounds of Orion ability. His Quest Items include the Horn of the Wild Hunt, Cloak of Isha, and the Spear of Kurnous. :: [[Durthu]] leads the subfaction named '''Argwylon''' starting in the Waterfall Palace in Mortal Empires. His faction effects include a reduction in Branchwraith recruitment cost, and a boost to melee attack during forest battle. Lord effects reduce upkeep for all forest spirit units in his army, boosting their charge bonus, and all units in Durthu's army are immune to ALL forms of attrition. As can be expected, Durthu's faction focuses on the ''Wood'' of the Wood Elves, allowing him to recruit Tree Kin/Men normally, but recruiting higher tier elven units such as Wardancers requires amber as an extra upkeep cost. Role wise Durthu is basically a world beater, he is a hybrid Lord that has fantastic melee capabilities while also having access to the Lore of Beasts. Being one of the few monster Legendary Lords in the game, few can really compete with him in a straight-up fight. He also has access to a unique magic missile called "Lamentations of Despair." His sole Quest item is the Sword of Daith. :: The [[Sisters of Twilight]] lead the '''Heralds of Ariel''' subfaction, starting in the Witchwoods in both Vortex and the Mortal Empires campaigns. The twins are doing their part to fix the forests, this time taking the fight to Naggaroth. They focus mainly on the flying units, giving upkeep reductions and combat bonuses to flying units including Eagles and Dragons. All Hawk Riders also get the Volley of Kurnous ability, sending multiple AP missiles of doom at their target. Uniquely, they have all of their magic equipment given to them at the start, and their quest battle revolves around freeing their dragon Ceithin-Har from the clutches of evil. All in all these gals let you be the US Air Force and Viet Cong at the same time, letting you reign death upon your foes from the sky. Oh yeah, they also have this Forge of Daith thing where their uncle/sugar daddy gives them a bunch of magic items at the start and you can upgrade them through dilemmas. Yeah, not the most exciting DLC mechanic but hey, [[Malus Darkblade|at least it doesn't force you to pick between two horrible options as you play,]] [[Nakai the Wanderer|replaces a ton of race mechanics with broken ones,]] or just ultimately makes the game unfun in general. :: [[Drycha]] leads the '''Wargrove of Woe''' subfaction starting in the Gryphon Woods in Mortal Empires. Her big draw is that instead of getting Ariel as a Legendary Hero, she will get Coeddil. Meaning you can take the REAL tree Hitler and kick those pointy eared assholes out of your forest. She can only recruit some of the weaker elven units, with the explanation being that they have been put under a magical glamour that clouds their minds and makes them believe they are serving Ariel. The glamour reduces their Melee Defense and ranged attack speed, but gives them a boost to Leadership and the Expendable rule, since no one else in Drycha's army really cares if they die. To make up for having a more restricted roster than the rest of the Wood Elf factions she also gets some unique units in the form of Malevolent forest spirits (functionally normal forest spirits but purple and with Frenzy) and animals to take into battle, including feral manticores. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Wood Elves| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Talsyn.png|Talsyn File:Argwylon.png|Argwylon File:Heralds of Ariel.png|Heralds of Ariel File:Wargrove of Woe.png|Wargrove of Woe </gallery> ====[[Warriors of Chaos|Norsca]]==== [[File:Norsca.jpg|center|800px|thumb|'''monke noises''']] A third post-release faction for the first game as a pre-order bonus for the second. Norsca is composed of two playable factions: the World Walkers under Wulfrik the Wanderer, and the Throgg-led Wintertooth tribe. Wulfrik is, understandably, focused on dueling enemy lords and heroes, while Throgg is better suited to breaking enemy lines. They only have one generic lord, the Marauder Chieftain, but they make it up by allowing you to specialize each lord into skill trees themed after the Gods of Chaos. CA being the [[Rick Priestley| based neckbeard]] they are included units and species in the faction that were mentioned in the lore but GW never cared about, such as skin wolves, [[Fimir]], even FRIGGING WAR MAMMOTHS. They also get three heroes to take into battle or to harass armies on the campaign map: the Skin Wolf Werekin, the Shaman Sorcerer (who can use the Lores of Death, Metal or Fire) and the Fimir Balefiend (who can use the Lores of Shadows and Fire). The Werekin is your regular combat hero much like a Gorebull or Wight King, and while the Shaman is the usual squishy wizard, the Balefiend is anything but. Instead, the Fimir hero can easily wade right into the thick of the fighting thanks to their resilience, magical attacks and sunder armour ability. Their roster is composed almost exclusively of light infantry/cavalry and monsters, though Marauder Champions are certainly some of the better high-tier heavy infantry in the game; being able to mulch Black Orcs and trade well against even Chosen. Certainly the Berserkers make up for their squishiness with sheer damage output. Most of their units are anti-large and the humans often have a [[rage]] mechanic that gives them bonuses the longer they are engaged in fighting. Meanwhile, war beasts and some monsters have Frostbite, which slows down enemy units they engage with. In the campaign, you will have to raid and sack the soft lands of the south, dedicating the victories to one of the four Dark Gods: [[Khorne|the Hound]], [[Nurgle|the Crow]], [[Slaanesh|the Serpent]] or [[Tzeentch|the Eagle]]. Get enough favour with one of them, and you'll become their champion, and have to fend off attacks by champions of the other three (in other words, Norscans get God-specific Chaos Lords [[Fail|while the Warriors of Chaos don't]]). Alternatively, the Norscans can also establish outposts in any coastal province as well as certain capitals like Altdorf and Drakenhof. In Norsca itself, you'll be able to confederate easily by defeating enemy faction leaders in battle. Finally, hunting monsters will take a big part in the campaign, giving you items and units as rewards. Not to mention Surtha Ek getting a chariot of his own... :: [[Wulfrik the Wanderer]] leads the primary Norsca faction called '''World Walkers''' starting in Icedrake Fjord. His faction effects include a boost to melee attack for all Mammoth units, and a reduction in upkeep for Marauder units. Lord effect wise, he starts with Siege Attacker, has a large reinforcement range, and his entire army causes fear. Role wise Wulfrik is a master duelist as expected, with his unique skill Hunter of Champions reducing the speed and defences of an enemy character to better murderize. He also has access to a unique wind spell Seafang, which summons his teleporting longship outta nowhere to plow through a sorry bunch of weak southerners. Much like the other DLC game I lords he lacks a dedicated unique skill line unfortunately. His sole Quest Item is the Sword of Torvald. And he can also be mounted on a War Mammoth, something he didn't have access to on the tabletop. :: [[Throgg]] leads the subfaction of '''Wintertooth''', starting in the Winter Pyre. His faction effects include a boost to physical resistance for all Troll units, as well as a reduction in upkeep for those units. His lord effects have him starting with siege attacker, a boost to local public order and chaos corruption, and all units in his army are immune to all attrition. Role wise Throgg is a monstrous lord that will beat the face in guys he faces, interestingly being given a slight anti-large bonus to differentiate him from Wulfrik's anti-infantry focus. Much like Wulfrik he lacks a dedicated unique skill line, but he does have a few skills dedicated to buffing the stats of the various monsters in the Norsca roster. Has a unique magic missile called Copious Vomit, that does a fair amount of damage to whatever it hits. His sole Quest Item is The Wintertooth Crown. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Norsca| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:World_Walkers.png|World Walkers File:Wintertooth.png|Wintertooth </gallery> </div> </div> ===Total War: WARHAMMER 2=== <div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> *'''Six factions (two of which are DLC ones), each divided into a multitude of sub-factions (including free DLC ones)''' <div class="mw-collapsible-content"> ====[[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|High Elves]]==== [[File:High_Elves_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|[[A Song of Ice and Fire|Not a midget]]]] With a balanced roster, a host of magical options and [[Awesome|motherfucking dragons]], the High Elves are an easy faction to use and understand and are capable of using almost every tactic from stonewalls to hit and run vanguards, but are ultimately the shootiest of all factions with all higher tier units having powerful ranged attacks. Their main distinction is that setting up trade agreements also provides them with a network of spies in the lands of their trading partners. High elves have a special resource called Influence which they earn through periodical events that pop up (along with faction debuffs or buffs, Influence isn't free). They can use Influence to improve or ruin the relationships between two factions regardless of their diplomatic standing with each other. Turn allies against each other through spending Influence points, or make new friends and new alliances. The sky (and your influence points) is the limit as far as your options go. It's also worth noting that Influence is extremely important as most Lords you can get without Influence are kinda garbage, and getting decent ones requires you to spend Influence to coax them from summer palaces to fight in your armies. In battle, High elves have the Martial Prowess ability: It represents their training and expertise in close combat when fighting with their comrades; since elves are naturally long-lived, they tend to have more experience in fighting in a coordinated manner when compared to other factions in the game. This means that as long as their total HP is over 50% they perform better in melee. However, their melee is lackluster compared to the Dark elves and ideally you should be winning the skirmish phase as soon as you can to whittle down more dangerous dark elf units like the Black Guard of Naggarond and Witch elves so that you can administer the coup-de-grace when your lines finally collide, or simply riddle them so full of arrows that when they do hit your lines half of them are already dead. On the campaign, the Crafted items are head and shoulders above items that you can get from random drops. Able to support you on the battlefield and the campaign, these items are well worth the money you spend on acquiring them. The one absolute benefit the High elves have over other factions is that their units -especially their cavalry- are more responsive. Lizardmen suffer from their units going berserk, and so do the Dark elf cavalry, while the bulk of Skaven armies are more eager to rout off the battlefield than they are to fight. High elves, in contrast, have typical total war unit responsiveness across their roster with units generally rallying and returning to the fight. While this is a glass-half-full analysis of their units it also means that you have control over when you want to engage the enemy. It becomes useful in the longer drawn out fights where you want to keep your army together and able to present a united front against the enemy. While players might prefer the more powerful buff that the Dark elves have to their murderous prowess, the high elf army is capable of holding their own with the help of magic and superior missile fire. Their base game Legendary Lords are predictably [[Tyrion]] and [[Teclis]]. Later joined by [[Alarielle]] (Queen & the Crone DLC), the grim [[Alith Anar]] (FLC), the even ''grimmer'' [[Eltharion]] (Warden & the Paunch DLC), and the Prince of Dragons Imrik (FLC) :: [[Tyrion]] leads the primary subfaction of '''Eataine''' starting in the city of Lothern in Ulthuan for both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. The unique faction effects are a bonus to relations with other High Elves, reduction in recruit time for infantry and cavalry units, and (interestingly) a reduction in construction time for the Shrine of Khaine. His Lord effects are a 50% upkeep reduction for Spearmen, Silver Guard, Archers, Rangers and Silver Helms in his army, along with a bonus to recruit rank for Lothern Sea Guard. Designed as the primary melee fighter of the race and specializing in dueling. Considered to be the vanilla experience suitable for the High Elves and Warhammer II in general, therefore his campaign is the most straightforward. With the main gimmick being Tyrion's unique skill tree options having a mutually exclusive choice between huge campaign boosts or in-battle boosts capable of making him solo armies. Quest items include the Dragon Armour of Aenarion, Sunfang, and the Heart of Avelorn. Also has access to a unique mount Malhandir. :: [[Teclis]] leads the '''Order of Loremasters''' faction starting in the Great Turtle Isle in the south of Lustria in the Vortex campaign, while he switches over to the Star Tower in Mortal Empires. The unique faction effects are a bonus to relations with Order factions, cheaper mage buildings, Swordmasters of Hoeth and Phoenixes and a bonus to recruit rank for spellcasters. His Lord effects are a bonus 30 to his Winds of Magic power reserve, and starting with the spell "Fireball" as a bound ability (which can be upgraded Fiery Convocation through his skill tree). Designed as the primary spellcaster of the race, with a selection of spells from the Lore of Beasts, Fire, Heavens, Life, and Light. Teclis' campaign isn't much different from a Tyrion based on mechanics alone, however his is far more difficult due to his start position; with a good deal of potentially hostile factions led by Legendary Lords in his vicinity in both campaign modes. Quest items include the War Crown of Saphery, the Sword of Teclis, the Scroll of Hoeth, and the Moon Staff of Lileath. As of the Total Waaagh! update he now has access to an Arcane Phoenix as a mount option. :: [[Alarielle]] leads the faction of '''Avelorn''' starting in the Gaen Vale in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. The unique faction effects are a bonus to Hero capacity for Handmaidens, and a reduction of cost for her unique rite. Her Lord effect is a bonus to missile damage for Sisters of Avelorn and Handmaidens. In addition to these she boasts a number of unique mechanics that differentiates her from the vanilla Lord choices. The first being the "Defender of Ulthuan" mechanic, which gives bonuses or penalties depending on how much of Ulthuan is owned by High Elf factions; with the penalties being especially harsh if another race takes hold of the inner sphere of Ulthuan. In addition to this she leaves lingering bonuses to any province she recently visited, and her in-battle performance changes depending on how much Chaos Corruption is present in the world. Not only that, but Alarielle has the pleasure of being the second hybrid faction in the game following Arkhan the Black's precedent. Having access to some forest spirit units from the Wood Elves' roster via a unique recruit chain in her faction capital. Alongside this she also has access to the Invocation of Isha rite (replacing the Invocation of Hoeth), early access to the Handmaiden building, and a unique campaign stance. Another spellcaster, though she can hold up better in a fight than Teclis can, with more of a support focus with access to a mixed lore from High, Life, and Light magic. Her sole quest item is the Star of Avelorn, while she starts with her Stave of Avelorn already equipped; she can also gain access to the Shieldstone of Isha through a hidden Quest (though it is not really hidden since you gain the item even if another faction completes the mission's goal before you). :: [[Alith Anar]] leads the faction of '''Nagarythe''', though oddly enough not actually starting in that region, instead starting in the Black Creek Spire in Naggaroth. The unique faction effects are reduction in global recruitment time for all units, and a bonus to campaign movement range for all armies. His unique Lord effects are a reduction in Shadow-walker upkeep, and a bonus to ambush success chance; whilst he also has a unique (and potentially hilarious) bound ability called "Mislead" which creates a clone of himself while making the original hidden. Much like Alarielle, he also comes with a good amount of new mechanics to differentiate himself from the other shiny elves. His main unique mechanic is "Marked for Death", where it assigns a hit list of characters from various factions which gives you a host of rewards should you take them out of the picture. Not only that, but he has the privilege of being the first Lord to have a unique unit exclusive to his faction, those being the Shadow-Walkers. Alongside these he also has mutually exclusive skill tree options ala Tyrion, a unique campaign stance (default ambush attack stance Beastmen and Skaven style), "Shadow Paths" (the usual underway style stuff), a unique building that boosts ambush chances and decreases enemy movement in your provinces, and his faction has Wasteland as a suitable climate. Last but not least he has the unique rite Invocation of Morai-Heg which gives him a unique hero character the "Hand of the Shadow Crown" which boasts a '''100%''' chance for assassination. His sole quest item is for The Moonbow, but he starts with his Stone of Midnight already equipped, and (supposedly) can gain the Shadow Crown through a hidden quest. His role is rather unique in that he is the first truly ranged Lord in the trilogy, though he can do decently in melee too. Having a rather absurd amount of range, able to fire whilst moving, and having extremely high armour piercing missile damage, and can vanguard deploy to boot. :: [[Eltharion]] the Grim leads the faction of '''Yvresse''', a subfaction of High-elves dedicated to protecting Ulthuan from anything Greenskin. As such, Yvresse enjoys a permanent -80 relation penalty with all Greenskin factions. The other main selling points for the new elven faction are the Mists of Yvresse, a defensive shroud that covers Yvresse and their allies and the Dungeon of Athel Tamarha, a unique mechanic that allows Eltharion to permanently capture and imprison other legendary lords. These mechanics tie in to a group of powerful unique units called Mistwalkers that gain bonuses from both. Eltharion himself is immune to Wasteland Attrition and causes fear to Greenskin units, letting him push [[/d/|deep into Ork territory hard and fast]]. Minor stat bonuses are also granted to his spear and ranger infantry. He also has a unique ability called the "Mistwalker's Barrage" which fires off magical barrage from the sky around him every 30 seconds. His Quest Items include the Talisman of Hoeth, and the Fangsword. He also has access to a unique Gryphon mount named Stormwing. :: [[Prince Imrik]] leads the '''Knights of Caeldor''' subfaction on his quest to catch 'em all. As can be expected from his title alone, the ''Lord of Dragons'' confers major bonuses for the various Dragons available to the High Elves and is able to embark on a side quest to find and tame campaign unique Dragons for his use in battle. To help with this, Imrik's entire army enjoys increased flame resistance to better tank these fire-breathing beasties. His sole Quest item is the Armour of Caledor, but he also starts with The Star Lance right off the bat. He has two unique mounts, his Elven Steed Mautererius, and his Star Dragon Minaithnir. The High Elves can cast the following Rites during their campaign. ::'''Invocation of Vaul''': Reduces recruitment cost, increases armour, and gives 2 chevrons for newly recruited Swordmasters, Phoenix Guards, White Lions and Dragon Princes of Caledor. Also grants a magical wall breaker ability called Vaul's Hammer during siege battles for all forces. ''requires 3 unlocked technologies'' ::'''Invocation of Asuryan''': Grants 2 influence per turn, reduces building costs by 15% and increases Public Order by 4 ''requires level 5 on Faction Leader'' ::'''Invocation of Hoeth''': 200 XP per turn for mages and loremasters of Hoeth. 30 additional mana reserves for all forces, 40% success chance for mage heroes and loremasters and 50% XP increase for mages. ''requires Archive building'' ::'''Invocation of Isha''': Immunity to attrition factionwide. 8% increased army replenishment rate and +10 to Anti Corruption in all regions. ''requires 3 settlements to be owned'' ::'''Invocation of Lileath''': Exclusive to Avelorn. Increases by 3 levels the recruitment of Sisters of Avelorn, gives 2 levels to all recruitable Handmaidens, +20 armor to Dryads and a 75% cost decrease to all Handmaiden actions. ::'''Invocation of Morai-Heg''': Exclusive to Nagarythe. Spawns the Hand of The Shadow Crown. A unique agent that has ALWAYS a 100% assassination chance. ::'''Invocation of Ladrielle''': Exclusive to Eltharion, replacing the Invocation of Isha. A simple rite that empowers the Mists of Yvresse effects. ::'''Greater Invocation of Vaul''': Exclusive to Imrik. Grants the entire faction Flaming Attacks and enables Dragon units to utilize their breath attacks more often. ::'''Invocation of Eldrazor''': Exclusive to Imrik. Gives all his units bonus XP, but incurs a diplomatic malus with other elven factions. Their roster can be found [https://www.totalwar.com/blog/high-elf-army-roster/ here] [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/High Elves| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Eataine_Emblem.png|Eataine File:Order_of_Loremasters.png|Order of Loremasters File:Avelorn_Emblem.png|Avelorn File:Nagarythe_Emblem.png|Nagarythe File:Yvresse_Emblem.png|Yvresse File:Knights_of_Caledor.png|Knights of Caledor </gallery> ====[[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dark Elves]]==== [[File:Dark_Elves_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|The [[Ulthuan|Doughnut]] shall be [[Rape|'''glazed''']].]] Like their High Elf adversaries the Dark Elves field a versatile and well rounded roster of troops. The key difference between them and their foes is that the Druchii focus on offense over defence like the Asur do. As such they are generally less resilient on the whole than the High Elves, with some units like the Witch Elves falling squarely under the definition of glass cannon. However this is balanced out by a number of heavily armoured or otherwise resilient units such as the Corsairs, Black guard, War Hydras, and Cold One Dread Knights, who are described by CA as being [[Awesome|dinosaur riding cataphracts]]. They can also field Black Dragons, both as a mount option and a standalone unit. In addition the Dark Elves have a battlefield mechanic which gives them an army wide offensive buff once a certain number of units (from either army on the field) have been killed. Their campaign objectives revolve around Malekith seeking to absorb the energy of the vortex and use it to finally conquer hated Ulthuan. Their campaign also features a twist near the end, involving the surprise appearance of a tabletop character. In battle the Dark Elves favour, as stated above, offensive strategies and benefit from closing the distance with the enemy early, especially against factions with a heavy focus on ranged firepower. Dark Elf ranged units, from the humble Darkshards up to the Shades, have a lower than average range, so expect to be out ranged by many other factions. However, for what they lack in range they make up for in damage, not to mention the sheer volume of fire they can output. In fact, thanks to all Dark Elf ranged units doing armour piercing damage, even the basic Darkshard unit can be relied upon to make heavy infantry cry salty tears. As for infantry the basic Dreadspear and Bleaksword units are nothing special, but they do their job well enough. A step higher are the corsairs, who are reasonably tough, reliable and cost effective in multiplayer. In terms of campaign mechanics they possess a slavery system, allowing them to take slaves in battle and from enemy settlements. These slaves can subsequently be sent back to their own settlements and used to bolster their economy, or as fuel for their various rites. Managing slaves is something of a balancing act however, as having too many can cause public order problems and potentially lead to rebellions. Another Mechanic is the ability to recruit black arks, giant floating fortresses which essentially function as mobile settlements, allowing recruitment of new troops on the move. The black arks can also support nearby armies with a variety of in-battle bombardment abilities. Lastly Dark Elf lords can be given "names of power" as they level up; these are essentially titles which grant various bonuses depending on the one chosen. For example one might grant bonuses in battle another to management on the campaign map. Their base game legendary lords (predictably) are [[Malekith|Malekith]] and [[Morathi|Morathi]]. Later joined by Crone Hellebron (Queen & the Crone DLC), Lokhir Fellheart (FLC), Malus Darkblade (Shadow & the Blade DLC) and Rakarth (FLC) :: [[Malekith]] leads the primary subfaction '''Naggarond''' starting in the province of, you guessed it, Naggarond in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. The unique faction effects are a bonus to loyalty for newly recruited Lords, relations bonus with the Cult of Pleasure, Malekith sharing a percentage of the XP he gains to other Lords, and an increased chance of loyalty loss when they are a higher rank than Malekith. His sole Lord effect is an upkeep reduction for Black Guard, Dreadspears, Bleakswords, and Darkshards in his army. Much like Tyrion's example he has a mutually exclusive skill tree line, but other than that he is meant to be the vanilla Dark Elf experience. His quest items include Destroyer, the Supreme Spellshield, and the Circlet of Iron; while he can also gain the Armour of Midnight from a hidden quest. Also has access to his unique mount Seraphon. Designed to be a hybrid Lord, who can more than hold his own in melee combat while also being a great spellcaster of the Lore of Dark magic too. :: [[Morathi]] leads the '''Cult of Pleasure''' faction starting in the Ancient City of Quintex in both Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns; and differs a decent amount from her eternal emo phase of a son. Her faction effects are a boost to diplomatic relations with other Dark Elves, a reduction in relations with the Exiles of Nehek subfaction, a reduction in hero action cost, construction cost for Sorcery buildings, a huge reduction in upkeep for heroes, and finally (being the closet Chaos worshiper that she is) all characters in Morathi's faction spreads Chaos corruption. Her sole Lord effect is a chance to boost loyalty to Lords in the same local region as her. Her sole quest item is Heartrender & the Darksword, while she can also gain the Wand of Kharaidon from a hidden quest. Her role is mainly being the (very squishy) spellcaster for the race, using a mix of Dark, Death, and Shadow Magic. But she also has the role of being the only Dark Elf lord capable of anti-large damage, and she has a passive debuff hex around her that gives her some more sturdiness. [[Derp|Oddly enough despite being the first Sorceress she didn't gain access to Arnizipal's Black Horror when it was added alongside the Queen & the Crone DLC]]. :: Crone Hellebron leads the subfaction of '''Har Ganeth''' starting in the city of executioners itself in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. The faction effects are an increase to hero capacity for Death Hags, and a boost to casualties captured post-battle. Her sole Lord effect is an upkeep reduction for Witch Elves, Sisters of Slaughter, and Har Ganeth Executioners. Much like her rival Alarielle, the Crone comes with a decent amount of unique mechanics that make her stand apart from the literal edge lord and his mother. First off is the Death Night mechanic, where every now and then you have to sacrifice a bunch of slaves to keep Hellebron all young and happy. Doing so gives a number of boosts to public order and Hellebron's in-battle stats, while also spawning an AI army of (unbreakable!) Dark Elves which will head over to give Ulthuan a rough time. If you do not commence a Death Night often enough, then Hellebron becomes more withered (sadly with no visual representation), and suffers from decreased combat stats and public order maluses. Capturing Allarielle and Morathi's capitals will raise the floor on this, lessening the negative effects should you go awhile without a Death Night. Alongside this she has access to the unique rite "Sacrifice to Drakira" (replacing "Sacrifice to Hekarti"), and she also has the unique bound ability "Gaze of Khaine" which causes units within her vicinity to rampage. Her sole quest item is the Deathsword & the Cursed Blade, but she can also gain the Amulet of Dark Fire from a hidden quest. Her role is to be an infantry blender, albeit one that can be damaged easily if you're not careful, with the potential of simply deleting units once she gets her unique weapon. :: [[Lokhir Fellheart]] leads '''The Blessed Dressed''' starting in the province of Chupayotl in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaign. The faction effects are a boost to income from Slave Pens and Slave Markets, and having Savannah and Jungle as suitable climates. His sole Lord effect is an upkeep reduction for all Black Ark Corsair units in his army. Alongside this his faction does not need a rite to recruit Black Arks, instead you gain more by capturing major ports on the map, and he starts with one (with a giant version of his squid helm hanging off of it) right off the bat. Alongside this they have access to the unique rite "Sacrifice to Aneth Raema" replacing "Sacrifice to Mathlann", which is funny for a Lord that constantly talks about making sacrifices to Mathlann. His sole quest item is the Helm of the Kraken, but he can gain his Red Blades from a hidden quest. He also has a unique mount Maelstrom, which he didn't have as an option on TT. His role is to be a duelist character and to '''never die'''. Seriously, Lokhir is neck to neck with Vlad in terms of being the tankiest character in the series so far. With his Helm of the Kraken giving him regen and melee defense boosts, and his bound ability "Dreaded Duelist" giving a crazy buff to his offensive and defensive stats which can be used every minute. Not only that but he has a passive leadership debuff, which is on top of the terror he gets from his helm. Due to this he is almost universally considered one of the only Lords you're better off using on foot, since his mount just makes him a bigger target. The Krakenlord can kill almost any other Legendary Lord in the game in a one on one duel, with the exception of the likes of Kholek and Durthu. As of the addition of Rakrth, he has gained a new quest to race the Beastmaster to 2500 slaves to confederate his home of Karond Kar. :: [[Malus Darkblade]] leads '''Hag Graef''' and controls it at the start of his campaign in both Vortex and Mortal Empires campaign, with his old "friend" Tz’arkan coming along for fun and games. But there is a bit of a twist in that he does not physically start there. Instead he is out on expedition with a Black Arc at the Tower of the Sun in the Vortex Campaign. In Mortal Empires he is instead having a bit of a road trip down in the Dragon Isles. At the beginning of his campaign you are given a dilemma, choosing between keeping Hag Graef under your control, or coughing it up for a hefty amount of gold. Making a nice balance between giving him his lore accurate territory, while also giving Dark Elves somewhere to start that isn't Naggorth. While Malus himself isn't involved with the fight for the Vortex, getting enough scrolls will lead to Malekith giving you the formula for the elixir to keep Tz'arkan down, letting you take them for free instead of having to pay money. For Lord effects he gets the expected buffs for Cold One units, granting recruitment and upkeep reductions to Cold One units in his army. As for faction effects he has Tz’arkan’s Whispers, which is a new type of mission where you play errand boy for the Daemon and are rewarded with various items and followers for the effort. He also starts off with a military alliance with metal daddy Malekith right off the bat, and a pretty good boost in income from iron minds, gold mines, and marble quarries in all regions. In addition to this Malus gets not one, but two unique new Rites, "Gift to the Witch King" and "Rite of the Warmaster", doing away with the whole "Sacrifice to X Cytharai God." The former gives a hero of your choice with a rank dependent on how many regions you own, while the latter gives you an army filled with the various Dark Elf beasties (basically a D-Elf flavored Rite of Primeval Glory). In battle he has the ability to transform, letting Tz’arkan possess him to completely change his statline and make him a literal monster in combat. But this comes at the price of the other edgy Elves on the map distrusting you the more you give into the Daemon. His sole quest item is the Warpsword of Khaine, which grants him regeneration while he's in combat, and he has his trusty raptor Spite as his unique and only mount. :: [[Rakarth the Beastlord]] leads '''The Thousand Maws''', a suitably edgy name that puts Naggaroth's best pet owner in Albion in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires. He of course has the expected upkeep reduction for all of the bad beasties in the Dark Elf roster but can also recruit some unique ones of his own. His Monster Pens will allow him to have a special recruitment tab to instantly recruit certain kinds of monsters based on the enemy that he is fighting, from Mammoths to Carnosaurs and several other smaller killing machines. You also get special missions to attack certain places for specific monsters, such as raiding the zoo in Altdorf. His unique rite, the Convocation of Hunters, also lets you send out Beastmasters for the chance of gaining monsters depending on where you send them off to. If it wasn't obvious, Rakarth is designed to allow you to grab a ton of big scary monsters and drown your enemies in them. Similar to Imrik he also has a mechanic to confederate his home base of Karond Kar once you have enough slaves. Unlike Imrik, you have to worry about Lokhir Fellheart trying to beat you to it, so make sure you get there before Squidward has a chance to steal it from you. Their rites are as follows, and, as stated above, require slaves to activate instead of gold like the other races. ::'''Sacrifice to Atharti''': On turn start, Lords have a chance to gain loyalty. Public order increases by 8 in all provinces. Costs 100 slaves, and requires you to issue the ''Demand Highborn Hostages" commandment over a province. ::'''Sacrifice to Hekarti''': Experience gain +50% and experience per turn +200 for Sorceresses. Winds of Magic Power reserve +30 for all forces. Hero action success chance +40% for Sorceresses. Costs 250 slaves, and requires you to perform an action with a Sorceress. ::'''Sacrifice to Khaine''': Post battle capture rate +25%. Casualty replenishment +20%. Income from slaves +15%, and slave decline rate +50%. Income from post-battle loot +50%. Gives an army ability called "Dark Conduit" to all forces. Costs 375 slaves, and requires you to enslave captives after a battle 3 times. ::'''Sacrifice to Mathlann''': Makes a Black Ark available for recruitment at any port settlement. Costs 500 slaves, and requires a Slave Pen to be constructed. ::'''Sacrifice to Drakira''': Exclusive Rite to Har Ganeth, boosts rank bonuses for Witch Elves and Death Hags, while giving bonuses for fighting H-Elves, and giving a diplomatic malus with them. ::'''Sacrifice to Anath Raema''': Exclusive Rite to The Blessed Dread, gives Black Ark Corsairs Fear and Stalk traits, while also giving them bonus AP missile damage. Also gives the Kharybdiss some bonus armor. ::'''Gift to the Witch King''': Hag Graef exclusive rite. Summons a hero of the players' choice next to their faction leader, with the hero's rank determined by how many regions the player owns. ::'''Rite of the Warmaster''': Hag Graef exclusive rite. Summons an army of Hydras, Black Dragons, Cold One Knights, Medusa, Kharybdiss, Manticores, and Scourgerunner Chariots at the faction capital. Their roster can be found [https://www.totalwar.com/blog/dark-elf-army-roster/ here], and their trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB6FaGBz0Lo here]. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Dark Elves| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Naggarond.png|Naggarond File:Cult_of_Pleasure.png|Cult of Pleasure File:Har_Ganeth.png|Har Ganeth File:The_Blessed_Dread.png|The Blessed Dread File:Hag_Graef.png|Hag Graef File:The Thousand Maws.png|The Thousand Maws </gallery> ====[[Lizardmen]]==== [[File:Lizardmen_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|A thousand pounds of reptilian muscle is heading [[Rape|straight for your ass]]]] Counting on the various types of dinosaurs, dinosaur-men, and [[Awesome|dinosaur-men riding dinosaurs]], the Lizardmen are the masters of Lustria and seek to complete the Great Plan of the Old Ones. Lizardmen used to have powerful, majestic cities that were leagues ahead of any other, so unlocking the full potential of the Lizardmen takes time and money; far more than the others. A prime example of this is the Geomantic Web: every capital in the game has Ley Lines only Lizardmen can see. These Ley Lines form a magical web that the Lizardmen can exploit to gain massive buffs to their capitals and troops, but require a LOT of investment and special building chains to make work. It's also worth noting that cities also use the ones next to them to determine their magical power, meaning that to make that Ley Line on your border into a lvl 5 like the ones deeper inside you will have to take enemy cities next door so you can improve them yourself. This encourages constant warfare and the natural debuff Lizardmen have in diplomacy means that war is easier than peace. They can also create "blessed" units, which are recolored and beefed up Lizardmen units that come from sacred spawning pools you can build in your cities, similar to regiments of renown. Their last unique campaign mechanic is the ability to search for the venerable Lord Kroak, a Legendary Hero that can be gained from following a unique questline. In battle a lot of their units have the potential to go into a rampage, making them ignore orders and just attack whatever unit is closest to them. To combat this, characters have access to the Cold Blooded ability which lets them stop a unit from rampaging. While units with the Primal Instincts trait will only rampage when they are below a certain health threshold. Lizardmen in-battle have little skill at ranged and vanguard with few units well suited to it, but nearly all late game units are big, beefy bastards with massive health, armor, and melee damage. Conversely what ranged units they do have are Skinks with Blowpipes and Javelins, and unfortunately their natural speed, vanguard abilities, and sheer Skinky awesomeness doesn't make up for short range and low ammunition. Though this is slightly alleviated by the addition of Salamanders and the Ancient Salamander in their Lord Pack, which added some much needed ranged firepower to their toolkit. Lizardmen are a Brute army that hits like a truck with no subtlety involved, but that giant T-rex and sledgehammer wielding Crocodile-Men (they literally do Death Rolls as an animated kill) are so awesome you probably won't care. Interestingly, recruiting a slann mage priest is surprisingly ornate as befits the fluff of the lizardmen. You can't recruit Mage priests like regular lords, but need to build a Star Chamber, and then enable the '''option''' to recruit a slann mage priest via a rite. These rites are periodical, just like the rites for all other races, meaning that you have to choose between selecting a frog magician and other major effects on the campaign map. Their base game Legendary Lords are Lord Mazdamundi and Kroq-Gar. Later joined by [[Tehenhauin]] (The Prophet & the Warlock DLC), Tiktaq'to (FLC), Nakai the Wanderer (The Hunter & The Beast DLC), and Gor-Rok (FLC). :: [[Lord Mazdamundi]] leads '''Hexoatl''' as the primary subfaction starting in, you guessed it, Hexoatl in the Vortex Campaign, and maintaining that position in Mortal Empires. The faction mechanics are a cost reduction to Star Chamber construction, a cost reduction for activating Rites, and an increased Mage-Priest capacity. Obviously to encourage players to take a more spell-caster oriented thematic playstyle. They also have a diplomatic malus with most factions, to showcase the somewhat genocidal habits Mazdamundi has. Lord effect wise he has a hefty upkeep reduction for Temple Guard units in his army. His quest items include the Sunburst Standard of Heoxatl and the Cobra Mace of Mazdamundi, and can gain a unique Stegadon mount when properly leveled. The primary Caster Lord for the Lizardmen, Mazdamundi comes with his own mixed lore of magic, a unique Wind Spell called "Ruination of Cities'', and can become quite a powerhouse once on top of his trusty (totally not a Dinobot) mount Slaaq. :: [[Kroq-Gar]] leads the '''Last Defenders''' as a subfaction, starting in the Temple of Skulls in the Vortex Campaign, as well as in Mortal Empires. The sole faction mechanic is a faction wide upkeep reduction. While Lord effects include a significant upkeep reduction for Saurus and Cold One units, Leadership and Armour bonuses for several monstrous units, and an increase to ambush chance for Kroq-Gar's army. His quest items include the Revered Spear of Tlanxla and the Hand of the Gods, while he can also mount on his unique Carnosaur Grymloq (also totally not a Dinobot). The main melee guy for the Lizardmen, Kroq-Gar is a powerhouse that rivals Kholek when he is on his pal Grymloq. Boasting impressive combat states, and his Hand of the Gods item gives him a unique magic missile that can dish out a ton of hurt when it connects. As he levels his yellow tree in campaign, he also gains access to the unique Swiftness of Itzl skill which ironically functions similarly to Verminous Valour, releasing a quick burst of AOE damage that pushes away foes and lets him make a hasty escape. :: [[Tehenhauin]] leads the '''Cult of Sotek''' as a subfaction, starting in Kaiax in the Vortex Campaign, and Xlanhuapec in Mortal Empires. The main faction mechanics is the unique Sacrifice campaign mechanic (capturing sacrifices after a battle and exchanging them for RoRs, and other bonuses), a significant decrease to the Rite of Sotek, and a +200% bonus to upkeep cost on Saurus units until you complete the first state of the Prophecy of Sotek. Lord effect wise he gives a physical resistance to all Skink units in his army, leadership bonuses to all his units when fighting against Skaven, and gives a bonus to untainted in a local province. The main unique campaign mechanics is the aforementioned PRophecy of Sotek, fulfilling several objectives in order to summon the Serpent God to the mortal plane once more. The second of which starts something called the Skaven War, which makes all Lizardmen factions go to war with all Skaven factions on the map, with diplomacy locked out. He starts with the Blade of the Serpent's Tongue as his unique weapon, and his quest item is the Plaque of Sotek. He can later be mounted on an Ancient Stegadon with an Engine of the Gods, though it is sadly not named after a Dinobot like the rest of the Lizardmen LLs. He is a hybrid Lord able to case the Lore of Beasts and can put up a pretty decent fight when he has to. Has a unique skill tree line campaign wise that offers a mutually exclusive choice of buffing the shit out of his Skink focused army, or boosting the Empire management element with upkeep reductions and the like. :: [[Tiktaq'to]] leads '''Tlaqua''' as a subfaction, starting in Tlaqua in the Vortex Campaign and in Mortal Empires. He brings a host of faction effects, with the main one being that his Skink Heroes all start with a Terradon mount right off the bat, an increase to campaign line of sight for all characters, Terradon riders gain an additional set of rocks that they can drop on enemy units, and finally he has the unique (and arguably broken) Rite of Tzunki. Lord effect wise he has an upkeep reduction for Terradon Riders and Ripperdactyls, and gives a melee attack bonus to his army when fighting in foreign territory. He starts with the Blade of the Skies as his unique weapon, and his quest item is his Mask of Heavens. The Master of the Skies was somewhat of an odd choice to include at the time, but fulfills a decent niche in the Lizardmen Lord lineup. He starts off mounted on his unique Terradon Zwup (completing the OG Lizardmen Dinobot mount trio) being the first flyer focused Lord in the trilogy so far. With his unique skill tree providing many buffs for various aerial units, and boosting the power of his unique Drop Sphere of Tepok ability. :: [[Nakai the Wanderer]] leads the '''Spirit of the Jungle''' subfaction of Lizardmen, which is the first (and likely only) Lizardmen Horde faction. Unlike other Horde factions, Nakai does retain territory conquered through a vassal subfaction of Lizardmen called the Defenders of the Great Plan. Territory given to this vassal allows Nakai to dedicate a temple to different Old Ones, which in turn unlocks new benefits to Nakai. Unfortunately, Nakai has no direct control over how the Defenders of the Great Plan build these cities or how the AI controlling them actually defends itself from attackers. This can lead to some very frustrating times where Nakai will struggle to maintain income compared to other Lizardmen lords or will have to constantly double back to protect poorly protected cities. Only Nakai's personal army can unlock new units for recruitment; all other lords must rely entirely on Nakai's horde teching up in order to recruit new units for their own armies. Nakai himself is a hell of a beatstick; He inflicts speed, vigour and leadership debuffs on enemies in range of him, passively grants perfect vigour to allied units nearby, and can buff himself and nearby allies with Primal Roar to increase their punchiness at the cost of making them Rampage. :: [[Gor-Rok]] the Great White Lizard is the FLC Lord of the '''Itza''' subfaction. As a Lord, Gor-Rok is built like a truck; regeneration and defensive bonuses allow him to stick into combat until the bitter end where other leaders (even characters like Kroq-Gar) might break and run. This is somewhat mitigated by Gor-Rok's slow movement speed and his lack of any mount options, which significantly limits his offensive capabilities compared to other legendary lizard lords. As for what he brings the faction of Itza, a flat 20% upkeep reduction in Saurus units lets you really splurge on them compared to your other factions (even Kroq-Gar's, since his cost reductions are limited to ''his'' army). The main selling point, however, is Lord Kroak. He just starts the game with him unlocked and in his army, Deliverance of Itza and all. This alone makes Gor-Rok's campaign the easiest in the eyes of experienced players, despite having a start in the toughest continent, Lord Kroak destroys all. The other minor bonuses his army provides are small defensive buffs while inside your/friendly territory or while defending during a siege. :: [[Oxyotl]], "He who hunts unseen", finalizes the Lizardmen Legendary Lord roster.Leads the '''Ghosts of Pahaux''' as a subfaction. Oxyotl starts his Mortal Empires campaigns in the far, frozen northern province of Deadwood in the aptly named Frozen City. His faction has universal habitability (considering where Oxyotl's former stomping grounds were, I'm sure anywhere in the material realm is a pleasant retreat), allowing him to set up shop wherever you send him. And oh, what places you'll send him; his primary faction mechanic involves teleporting himself and his banner army across the world to take down key targets that threaten the Great Plan. Killing certain lords, razing or capturing certain cities, each task Oxyotl completes rewards him with gems to build secret sanctums (functionally akin to Skaven undercities), Blessed Spawnings and temporary performance buffs for the army. Failure to do so within the time limit results in some rather punishing demerits, ranging from permanent buffs for the enemy army you were ''supposed'' to kill to actually causing the Chaos Invasion to happen sooner. Because Oxyotl himself is constantly warping all over the map, players will typically need to rely on generic lords to defend/expand the homelands. In a pinch, Oxyotl can always teleport his army back to his capital city and up to one Silent Sanctum of the player's choice. Their rites include ::'''Rite of Awakening''': Summon a slann mage priest ''requires Star Chamber''. Upon completion, the rite allows the player to choose between a Light, Life, High, or Fire slann mage-priest of either the Second, Third or Fourth generation (with earlier generations having much better Winds of Magic reserve bonuses compared to the later gens). ::'''Rite of Ferocity''': Units gain XP per turn passively and can be recruited with two levels of veterancy. Gain more loot after the battle. Costs 1400 gold. ::'''Rite of Sotek''': Enables attrition for enemies in your territory. 50% extra chance to succeed in ambush. Costs 2100 gold ''requires an ambush battle where you win (either as the ambusher or the ambushed).'' ::'''Rite of Primeval Glory''': An army of feral Carnosaurs, Stegodons and Bastiladons appears at your capital led by a random lord. All armies gain the "feral cold ones'' ability. costs 8400 gold. ::'''Rite of Tzunki''': Unique to Tlaqua and it's leader Tiktaq'to, as well as probably a nominee for most broken rite. When used, it completely resets the campaign movement for every banner army under the player's control, doubling (or effectively tripling) the distance their armies can travel in a single turn. A clutch use of this power can let Tiktaq'to and all other lords chase down multiple armies or assault multiple settlements in a single turn, though the cost and cooldown do prevent the rite from being spammed to hell and back. One additional caveat that ''must'' be considered is that any armies that were in the "March" stance when this Rite is used will be locked in the march stance for the remainder of the turn. While this lets your marching armies cover frankly obscene distances, it does completely shut down their offensive options for the turn, so caution should be considered before using the rite. ::'''Rite of Allegiance''': Exclusive to Spirit of the Jungle. Grants a bonus to your armies' replenishment rates, buffs the Defenders of the Great Plan's income, and spawns them an unbreakable army to defend their lands. ::'''Rite of Rebirth''': Exclusive to Spirit of the Jungle. Buffs the growth rate of Hordes while reducing unit recruitment and upkeep costs in addition to construction cost reduction for his personal horde. ::'''Rite of Mastery''': Exclusive to Spirit of the Jungle. This one's all about the Kroxigors, with an increased recruitment rank and buffs to Weapon Strength and Armor for anything Kroxigor related. ::'''Rite of Resilience''': Exclusive to Itza. Buffs your Saurus unit's defensive stats and grants them Unbreakable, letting you turn the entirety of your army into a brick wall intent on clubbing anything in front of it to death. Their roster can be found [https://www.totalwar.com/blog/lizardmen-army-roster/ here], and their trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3CmxjTFv_Y here]. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Lizardmen| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Hexoatl.png|Hexoatl File:Last_Defenders.png|Last Defenders File:Cult_of_Sotek.png|Cult of Sotek File:Tlaqua.png|Tlaqua File:Spirit_of_the_Jungle.png|Spirit of the Jungle File:Itza.png|Itza File:Ghosts of Pahaux.png|Ghosts of Pahaux </gallery> ====[[Skaven]]==== [[File:Skaven_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|YES-YES, MIGHTY-WARRIOR-CHAMPION. KILL-KILL ALL THINGS!]] Officially confirmed on the 16th of August, the Skaven and most of their monsters and machines are the fourth race for the game, and [[Just As Planned|the 13th race revealed]]. As if anyone didn't know. They are led by [[Queek Head-Taker|Queek Headtaker]] for the main faction (Clan Mors) and the subfactions being led by [[Lord Skrolk|Lord Skrolk]] (Clan Pestilens), [[Ikit Claw|Ikit Claw]] (Clan Skyre), [[Tretch Craventail|Tretch Craventail]] (Clan Rictus), and [[Deathmaster Snikch|Deathmaster Snikch]](Clan Eshin). [[DOOMWHEELS]] and hell pit abominations are confirmed. As for their mechanics, skaven cities are actually hidden, looking like ordinary ruins to some effect although attentive players will notice massive Skaven corruption around those ruins; a surefire indicator of a strong Skaven presence. Beyond that, Skaven also have unique mechanics in the Food mechanic. Skaven are hungry vermin after all, and massive Skaven populations need Food to survive. Unlike other factions that can sustain themselves Skaven aren't really farmers as such and so food shortages are a constant concern. Some advanced Skaven buildings create some food and exploiting natural food sources such as rich pastures and farmlands generate large amounts of food, but ultimately the best source of meat is the enemy; start raiding or simply eat the enemy dead, whichever works best. The more Food in your stores the better, but you can also spend Food to build more powerful settlements and increase the amount of Clan Rat reinforcements you can call per battle. Skaven also have to deal with Skaven corruption. Skaven Corruption (AKA Rat Rot) is an indicator of how many Skaven are in the area, and can be increased (or decreased) by certain buildings: a Breeding Pit for example increases Rat Rot as more and more Skaven are born while an industry building such as a Gold Mine lowers it as Skaven die in horrible conditions. The higher the Rat Rot the more disorder the local province suffers because of an unruly population, but the higher the Rat Rot the stronger the army buffs (such as more Clan Rat reinforcements in battle) so you need to find a sweet spot that works best for you. Not to mention that high Rat Rot means lots of Skaven (duh) which shows the AI exactly where your under-empire is. Skaven also have to deal with Loyalty like the Dark Elves, and keeping Lords happy is surprisingly easy to do. Give them massive armies, give them shinies, and keep winning battles and you'll be fine. Interestingly however, is that each faction works better with certain types of Lord. For example: Queek hates Grey Seers while loving Warlords and recruiting Seers to lead your army isn't wise as his buffs mean that Warlords gain stronger Loyalty while Seers get lower Loyalty, making Warlords the go to for that faction. They also have access to a movement stance that lets them ambush when attacking, and the "Menace Below" ability lets you summon Clan Rats anywhere on the field, with amount of usage dependent on how much food you're willing to give up for it and the level of Skaven corruption in the area. The "Under-Empire" mechanic added at the same time as the Prophet and the Warlock has further differentiated the Skaven campaign by letting them build in other faction's cities ala the Vampire Coast. The difference being that you can build them anywhere, not just in ports, and have a wider range of options. Some let you mooch off their income, gain more food (Praise the Horned Rat!), or even build up a force to take over the city. As can be expected, battle wise the Skaven's main strategy in combat is to overwhelm their enemy with cheap disposable rat fodder, while using their elite monsters and warmachines to do the real work while the enemy is busy with the slaves. Having some of the best artillery options in the game, and powerful, albeit fragile at times, monsters. The low leadership of the Skaven in general is a problem, but on the flip side they recover it much quicker than other races to compensate for how fast they break. Leading to a feeling of constantly getting swarmed with waves of them as they break only to return moments later. The Lord Pack's addition of the Clan Skryre units only bolstering their options, with additions like the Warplock Jezzails and Ratling Gunners adding much needed long range units to their arsenal, and the Doomflayer adding a (relatively) low tier armor piercing option great for dealing with those pesky Dwarf-things. Their base game Legendary Lords are Queek Headtaker and Lord Skrolk. Later joined by Tretch Craventail (FLC), Ikit Claw (Prophet & the Warlock DLC), and Deathmaster Snikch (Shadow & the Blade DLC). :: [[Queek Head-Taker]] leads '''Clan Mors''' as the primary subfaction starting in Yuatek in the Vortex Campaign, but switches it up by starting in Karag Orrud in Mortal Empires. His unique faction effects are a decrease in loyalty to Grey Seer recruits, and Queek steals a percentage of the XP gained by other Lords in his faction. His Lord effects buff his armies when fighting against Dwarfs or Greenskins, increased number of uses for the "Menace Below" and a significant upkeep reduction to Stormvermin and Clanrats. With the addition of the "Under-Empire" mechanic he also starts with an Undercity beneath Karak Eight Peaks. His quest items include the Warpshard Armour and his trusty war pick Dwarf Gouger. Queek is in an odd position of being designed to be both the vanilla Skaven experience in the Vortex Campaign while also being a participant in the race to the Eight Peaks in Mortal Empires. Complete with a unique building chain once he gets there. So campaign wise his start can actually be a bit of an uphill battle. With the addition of the Under-Empire mechanic, he also has the benefit of starting with an undercity below Karak Eight Peaks right from the get-go in Mortal Empires; which makes it a bit easier to take over the place if you set it up right. Battle role wise Queek is the quintessential duelist Lord, with his weapons and abilities catered to his role of demolishing single entity characters. He's pretty sturdy, and can do pretty decently in a crowd of troops unlike assassins, but he has Verminous Valor as assurance should you find him surrounded. :: [[Lord Skrolk]] leads '''Clan Pestilens''' as a subfaction, starting in Oyxl in both Vortex and Mortal Empires doing his best to spread, well, pestilence through the lands. The unique faction effects consist of construction cost reductions for Clan Pestilens related buildings, and a significant cost reduction for the "Pestilent Scheme" Rite. His sole Lord effect is a significant reduction in upkeep for all Plague Pestilens associated units. His quest items include the Rod of Corruption and The Liber Bubonicus. Role wise Skrolk is technically a hybrid Lord, being able to hold his own in melee decently enough. However he leans heavily into the spellcasting side of things, with his unique ability from the Liber Bubonicus being of particular note. Being able to devastate a single entity target with its damage nuke. Campaign wise he is pretty consistent with the goal of spreading ruin to Lusria, but it can be a pretty rough time due to the sheer number of other factions involved in that party. Allying with the resident edge lords and stocking up on Plagueclaw catapaults is highly recommended to survive the subsequent murder orgies. There wasn't a lot of incentive to actually go crazy with the spreading disease, but that has changed as of the Potion of Speed update. Such incentives include economic bonuses to settlements you control suffering plague and combat bonuses to your plagued armies. Clan Pestilens also has an increased capacity to spread plagues (including a sub-faction unique under city building, shorter cool down time for Rite of Pestilence, and their plague is more contagious). :: [[Tretch Craventail]] is not last but is certainly the least of the Skaven Lord choices, leading '''Clan Rictus''' as a subfaction far from home in the Clawed Coast province in both Vortex and Mortal Empires, being unique as the only Skaven faction present and willing to live in Nagarythe. His main unique faction effect is a public order bonus whenever a diplomatic treaty is broken, though he also buffs Stormvermin by granting them a +3 boost to recruitment rank and an Encourage aura similar to Dwarfen Longbeards. His Lord effects consist of attack bonuses during ambushes, and after retreating when attacked, as well as the classic vanguard employment for his whole army. His sole quest item is The Lucky Skull Helm. Role wise Tretch is meant to be good at survivability and that's about it. He technically also fulfills the anti-large role among the Skaven Lords, but he isn't anything special in that department. But to make up for those lows, he has the hilarious ability "Stay Here, I'll Get Help!", which makes him invisible as he runs away while giving those he leaves behind a small buff. Overall, Tretch provides the most down to earth Skaven experience compared to his infamous contemporaries. You're encouraged to play the rattiest rat that ever ratted, as being surrounded by factions that generally can tolerate the Skaven allows him to try and use allies as meatshields until they're no longer useful and betraying them when they're at their most vulnerable. :: [[Ikit Claw]] leads '''Clan Skryre''' as a subfaction, starting in the Star Tower in Vortex and in '''''Skavenblight''''' in Mortal Empires. The unique faction effects consist of a boosted research rate, increase in loyalty for new recruits, construction cost reduction for Engineering buildings, and exclusive access to the "Forbidden Workshop" mechanic. His Lord effects include starting with a Warpstorm Doomrocket, a significant upkeep reduction to Weapons Team units, as well as increased recruit ranks for them. His unique quest item is his halberd Storm Daemon, and he starts with his unique armour the Iron Frame. He can also be mounted on either a Doomflayer or Doomwheel, neither of which were options for him on the TT. Campaign wise he is undoubtedly the strongest among the Skaven, if not in the entire game up to this point. With the Forbidden Workshop giving insane amounts of both to Clan Skryre units (most of which were already powerful at a base level), and the ability to use '''nukes''' in battle and on the campaign map. With the ability to build Doomrockets to wipe out units on the battlefield, and the exclusive ability to make Doomspheres in under-cities to blow up the cities above ground. As for Ikit himself, he is pretty much good at everything. Seriously, he is tough to kill due to his armor, can dish out good anti-large armor piercing flaming and magic damage in combat, and has a flamethrower as a ranged weapon to boot. Which can be upgraded to add anti-large bonuses on top of its already significant damage. He also has access to the Brass Orb vortex spell ability from the get go, and can gain a strong magile missile ability from his halberd. To top it all off he is also a spellcaster, and a disgusting one at that due to the sheer amount of Warp Lightning spam he can rain down upon his foes. Also CA gave him a jetpack, with a ton of unique combat animations to go along with it. Which conveniently also contributes to making him harder to kill. And if all of that wasn't enough, you can put him on a DOOMWHEEL, so have fun with that. :: [[Deathmaster Snikch]] leads '''Clan Eshin''' as a subfaction, starting in El-Kalabad in the Vortex and in Flayed Rock in Mortal Empires. Their unique faction mechanic is Shadowy Dealings which gives a variety of agent actions that can be done by Eshin characters in exchange for food or schemes; but some make them unavailable for some time afterwards. You can get more schemes by doing the Nightlord's Say-So missions, but those are obtained by Snikch's level and take him out of commision each time they are done. But they are well worth it since the end game schemes are hilarious, letting you take over other Skaven armies, destroying entire armies at sea, destroying everything but the main building in a settlement, and even completely wiping out an entire faction and replacing them with rebels. Clan Eshin also has Great Clan Contracts as a mechanic, letting them accept missions from the other clans in exchange for food, money, and increased reputation with those clans. Looking like a pretty good representation of Clan Eshins for hire nature in Skaven society. This also grants them bonuses and cost reductions for the respective units of the Great Clan you do missions for. This mechanic will help greatly to alleviate Eshin's other faction effect, a hefty 200% increase in recruitment cost for non-Eshin units. And to top it all off, no Eshin Lords will defect from low loyalty and all Night Runners and Gutter Runners AP warp infused projectiles. Lord effect wise he has an increase to ambush success chance, increased melee attack for embedded heroes in his army, and concealment bombs. In battle he is pretty much what you'd expect, a close combat monster who excels at slaughtering enemy characters. He has the usual Eshin physical resistance (though lacking in the missile resistance department), vanguard deployment, stalk, Weeping Blades for that whopping 50% armor reduction on contact, and he also has an interesting trait where his damage increases the lower a target's HP is. In terms of unique items he has his Cloak of Shadows that debuffs the melee defense and leadership of units around him. As well as the Whirl of Weeping Blades which grant him a unique ability which roots him to the spot and makes an AoE vortex around him that dishes out a pretty good amount of damage. And going with the recent trend of giving every character and their mothers a slow/net ability, he also has the Deathmaster's Sigil which stops a character in place for a somewhat measly seven seconds. Which is usually more than enough time for Snikch to finish the job provided he is close enough. Following the animation creep since Prophet & the Warlock, Snikch unexpectedly has a unique set of combat animations (surprising since everyone was expecting them to just reuse the Deathrunner animations), where he goes full-on Naruto on everyone. Teleporting around to slash through groups of infantry, which (much like Ikit) actually makes him somewhat difficult to hit or pin down. :: [[Throt the Unclean]] leads '''Clan Moulder''' as a subfaction, starting in Atorak in Vortex and in Hell Pit in Mortal Empires. His unique mechanics are Growth Juice, which he gains overtime as well as from killing, allowing him to recruit a ton of beasties for no cost outside upkeep. His second, more unique mechanic is his Flesh Laboratory, allowing you to upgrade individual Monster and Infantry units with various mutations at the risk of them becoming unstable. Go wild and give those Rat Ogres invisibility! Give a Brood Horror to randomly shoot lightning! Make that Hellpit Abomination a vampire! What could go wrong? His unique items are Creature-Killer, which gives everyone around him Anti-large and Immune to Psychology, and the Whip of Domination, which gives a big leadership buff to basically every Skaven monster in the game. He has regeneration, armor piercing and Anti-large, making him perfect for taking down your opponents big monsters, while he also buffs your own monsters to ensure they run rampant all over your opponent. Their rites include ::'''The Dominating Scheme''': Increases food generated, growth, and public order in all provinces. As well as decreasing recruitment costs. Costs 3000 gold, and requires you to issue the Expansionist planning commandment in a province. ::'''The Pestilent Scheme''': Recruits a unique Plague Priest hero called a Pestilent Scheme Priest, that will spread a plague in an enemy settlement at the cost of its own life. Costs 1000 gold, and requires you to build a Pestilent Nave building. ::'''The Thirteenth Scheme''': Boosts diplomatic relations with Skaven by 13, provides a chance of loyalty increase each turn, reduces enemy hero success chance, increases your own hero success chance, and gives the army ability Clanstone (with varying effects depending on the faction) to all forces. Costs 1313 gold, and requires your faction leader to be rank 7.. ::'''The Scheme of DOOOOM!''': Recruits a unique Warlock Engineer hero called a DOOOOM! Engineer, that will destroy an enemy settlement's walls or create an Undercity (with a special building to boot!) at the cost of its own life. Costs 800 gold, and requires you to research 3 technologies. ::'''The Revitalising Scheme''': Exclusive to Clan Eshin. Restores all units in all armies to full health, and brings any wounded or recovering characters back into action. Costs 2500 gold, lasts only one turn, and requires you to research five technologies. ::'''The Sudden Kill Scheme''': Exclusive to Clan Eshin. Boosts missile damage for Night Runners and Gutter Runners, boosts speed, gives stalk, and snipe to all units in every army. Costs 1000 gold, lasts only one turn, and requires you to win 3 battles. Their roster can be found [https://www.totalwar.com/blog/skaven-army-roster here], and their trailer [https://youtu.be/k8EQ1KNkpmw here]. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Skaven| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Clan_Mors_Emblem.png|Clan Mors File:Clan_Pestilens_Emblem.png|Clan Pestilens File:Clan_Rictus_Emblem.png|Clan Rictus File:Clan_Skryre_Emblem.png|Clan Skryre File:Clan_Eshin_Emblem.png|Clan Eshin File:Clan Moulder Total War.png|Clan Moulder </gallery> ====[[Tomb Kings]]==== [[File:Tomb_Kings_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|OUR TRUE KING WILL SHOW THEM. WE DO NOT SERVE, WE RULE!]] Officially announced on the 19th of December, everyone's favorite skellies are finally coming to the Total War series. Led by [[Settra the Imperishable]] as their faction leader, the Tomb Kings do not give a shit about the petty concerns over the Vortex like the other races. Instead their objectives are based around finding the Nine Books of Nagash, and crushing any fool idiotic enough to wander into their lovely desert. Initially, the only missing units were the tomb swarms (added instead as a spell activated by the Great Incantation of Geheb rite, see below), the Necrolith Colossus (the bow variation was later added as FLC as the Bone Giant), Heralds (added in a roundabout way as auxiliaries), and the High Liche Priest. The fact that we have a fucking laser eye shooting Hierotitan (which Gameworkshop never made a proper model for) made up for that. Following the relatively recent trend of further diversifying the ways race play, Tomb Kings take things up a notch by making their units free of both cost and upkeep. Instead they are given restrictions in terms of how many of each unit they are allowed to field. These limits can be increased by their research in Dynasties, or through the Mortuary Cult. Speaking of the Mortuary Cult, this has been implemented as an RPG-esque crafting system, using trade resources and a unique resource called Canopic Jars allowing you to make various items as well as make the "Legions of Legend." Surprisingly the Legions of Legend aren't just an arbitrarily renamed Regiments of Renown, but more akin to the Blessed Spawnings the Lizardmen have, or the units Norsca gets through hunts. It has also been confirmed that the Tomb Kings will be getting their Regiments of Renown at launch, instead of waiting for it for Tzeentch knows how long like the DLC factions in Warhammer I did. In addition, their army roster gets an expansion. On tabletop, our mummies had extremes when it came to the army roster. Their units were either weak or really powerful, but this changed when CA filled up the gaps by giving the Tomb Kings the Bretonnian treatment and added new units (the dual-Khopesh wielding Nehekhara Warriors that are an aggressive medium type infantry, and the Nehekhara Horsemen which are Skeleton Horsemen with armor and better defense). On the battlefield their mechanic is the Realm of Souls. It works similarly to the Dark Elves Murderous Prowess, with a bar that is filled as more Tomb Kings die during a battle. However, it works somewhat differently in that there are three stages, when each stage is reached increasingly powerful waves of healing and resurrection are activated. Once the final stage is reached you gain access to a Menace From Below like ability that summons Ushabti wherever you want on the map. Their Legendary Lords are Settra the Imperishable, High Queen Khalida, Grand Hierophant Khatep, and Arkhan the Black. :: [[Settra the Imperishable]] leads '''Khemri''' as the primary subfaction starting in the titular city in both Vortex and Mortal Empires. The unique factions include buffs to public order and growth, as well as a reduction in building construction time. His Lord effects double his leadership aura size, and buffs the casualty replenishment of Tomb Guard and Chariots. His quest items include the Blessed Blade of Ptra and the Crown of Nehekhara. He can be mounted on the standard skeletal steeds or chariots, but in addition to those CA has also given him access to the Khemrian Warsphinx as a mount. And of course he wouldn't be the King of Kings without his unique Chariot of the Gods, which makes him the one of the most lethal chariot Lords in the game. So campaign wise his start can actually be a bit of an uphill battle. Role wise he fulfills both the uncommon anti-large hybrid role. With him being a strong melee combatant that can take on large entities (albeit somewhat fragile when not mounted), while being a passable caster (in contrast to his paltry magic skills on TT). His increased Leadership aura along with his unique version of My Will Be Done, means that his army is more study in the leadership department and will take quite a beating before crumbling. :: High [[Queen Khalida]] leads the '''Court of Lybaras''' subfaction, hanging out in the Copper Desert in Vortex while moving over to her home turf of Lybaras in Mortal Empires. The unique faction effects include a bonus to diplomatic relations with other Tomb Kings, and an increase in ammunition for all armies. Her Lord effect is to give poison attacks to her army, and she takes substantially less damage from attrition. Her sole Quest Item is The Venom Staff, and she has access to a Necroserpent as her unique mount. Role wise she is meant to be the Tomb Kings' assassin character, but that is a bit... questionable. If you put her in a duel with any other Lord she will likely not have a good time. She is fragile like she is supposed to be, but her role as a glass cannon doesn't work out because her combat animations make the "cannon" part basically non-existent. Her style of attack animations and the fact that her animation skeleton is the same as a Dark Elf Sorceress has led some modders to speculate the person who animated her thought she was supposed to be a caster. Thus in reality she mostly just works out as a support Lord that buffs up the ranged units in the Tomb Kings roster, though mounting her on her Necroserpent does alleviate ''some'' of her combat issues. :: [[Grand Hierophant Khatep]] leads the '''Exiles of Nehek''' subfaction, making him home in Naggaroth of all places in both Vortex and Mortal Empires. Though this makes sense when you consider how Nagash created his Necromancy after tearing out the secrets of Dark Magic out of a Dark Elf. So touring there is probably a big step in his goal of getting back in Settra's good graces. The unique faction effects include a bonus to Canopic Jars generated per turn, increases in campaign movement range, casualty replenishment for all armies, and a diplomatic malus with Dark Elves. His Lord effects are an increase in capacity for Liche Priests, as well as a bonus to their recruit ranks. His sole Quest Item is for The Liche Staff. In terms of mounts he has the expected skeletal steed and chariots at his disposal. However CA, being the madmen that they are, decided that wasn't enough for the old exile. So in addition to those two they also gave Khatep access to a Casket of Souls as his unique mount option. That's right, dear old Khatep has the honor of being the first [[Commissar Dan|Legendary Lord that doubles as heavy artillery]]. So role wise he is the Tomb King's dedicated Caster Lord, with the Lore of Nehekhara as his forte. But he has a surprising amount of damage potential due to the amount of Sandstorms he can spam out as a bound ability, combined with the magical artillery rounds he can dish out when on his Casket of Souls. :: [[Arkhan the Black]] leads the '''Followers of Nagash''' subfaction, oddly starting in the lands of Araby in both Vortex and Mortal Empires. Rather than his actual home in the Black Tower of Arkhan, though this could be because CA didn't want him to start to close to Settra. The unique faction effects include a malus to faction relations with Tomb Kings, a bonus to Vampire Count factions, and an immunity to Vampire corruption. His Lord effects include a bonus to the stats of heroes embedded in his army, and a boost to starting Winds of Magic. In addition to this Arkhan the Black has the honor of leading the first hybrid faction in the trilogy, having access to a select few units from the Vampire Counts' roster in addition to his Tomb King units. His Quest Items include The Tomb Blade of Arkhan and the Staff of Nagash. The former of which was hit hard with the nerf hammer, originally healing units around him like it did on TT, but was changed to just summon a unit of Skeletons after MP players kept using it to make Death Stars. Mount wise he has the usual Skeletal Steed and Chariot, however his chariot is unique in that it is visually a spooky floating chariot Mortis Engine style. So that's cool. Role wise he is a bit of a hybrid but leaning more towards the caster side of it. Can do decently in melee combat, but his real value is the utility he has with the Lore of Death. He also has a unique skill called Necrostrike rather than the desert/tomb strike that other Tomb Kings lords have. Over-all a great Lord choice with arguably the most unique playstyle out of the Tomb Kings. Their rites include ::'''Great Incantation of Ptra''': Summons a unique hero that lets you colonize ruins at city level 3. ::'''Great Incantation of Khsar''': Causes attrition to enemies in your territory, boosts your ambush chances, and makes your army hidden and gives units stalk in battle. ::'''Great Incantation of Geheb''': Increases city growth, reduces construction time, and gives you a vortex spell called Tombswarm as an army ability. ::'''Great Incantation of Tahoth''': Adds the Casket of Souls to your army recruitment, and gives rank bonuses to recruits as well as increasing overall recruitment capacity. Their trailer can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWqKme-g_4 here] [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Tomb Kings| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Khemri_Emblem.png|Khemri File:Court_of_Lybaras.png|Court of Lybaras File:Exiles_of_Nehek.png|Exiles of Nehek File:Followers_of_Nagash.png|Followers of Nagash </gallery> ====Vampire Coast==== [[File:Vampire_Coast_Wallpaper.jpg|center|800px|thumb|Arrr, the blood runs cold...]] Do you love Pirates of the Caribbean? Are you even vaguely fond of pirate fantasy? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHh1TxryWlw Then take a look at this fucking trailer.] Confirmed on the Fourth of October as their own faction to the surprise of almost everyone. What was once a pipe dream of a faction that only existed in the lore and an old White Dwarf army roster, has become a reality in Total War. The Vampire Coast army searches far and wide in the Warhammer canon for some truly obscure undead monstrosities to add to the roster of the sea shanty singing rotting legions of the undead, including the Necrofex Colossus (a [[awesome|bipedal ghost ship automaton]]) and the Mourngul. It also brings [[meme|giant enemy crabs]] to the table as well as Zombie Paratroopers carried by giant bats and the single biggest cannon in the game, the almighty Queen Bess. They also have some CA original units like the Gunnery Wright Hero that can restore ammunition for your units, and the Depth Guard who are vampire elite infantry. Much like the Tomb Kings, the Coast aren't interested in the Vortex but in a magical Star Metal Harpoon so that they can slay Amanar, the guardian Merywyrm of Lothern, so they can bring it back with Necromancy and control the oceans. You have to pull a Sid Meir's Pirates! and focus on defeating various pirate lords to take their verses of a shanty that will allow the pirates to imbue the harpoon to slay Amanar in order to raise it and take control of the seas. In the campaign they play as a unique hybrid between regular factions and hordes. With their Legendary Lords having their ships as mobile settlements, while the generic lords (with exception to some unique Lords you can gain from the skill tree) play more like your typical Total War armies. They have a unique currency called Infamy, that is gained from acts you'd expect from morally questionable pirates. Which can be spent on research and is used to rise up the ranks of the Infamy board for their campaign goal. They also introduced the concept of Vampire Coves, which let you build a hidden base in settlements with ports. Letting you leach income, increase corruption, or other effects with the other faction unable to get rid of them unless the settlement is razed. They also have a unique treasure map mechanic (rewards given if you can figure out a riddle and dig in the right place). As well as the Pieces of Eight mechanic, which has you hunting certain armies to gain access to their Regiments of Renown. They also have reskins of the Office and Loyalty mechanics you can find in other Races. Their unique combat mechanic is called More Powder! Which grants bonuses to your units ranged damage the higher the quantity of ammunition they have. Alongside this mechanic they also brought with them the original Lore of the Deeps, which focuses a lot on slowing the enemy so that your ranged units can blast them apart. :: [[Luthor Harkon]] fittingly leads '''The Awakened''' (originally called '''The Vampire Coast''' prior to the ''Potion of Speed'' patch) as the primary subfaction starting in the Awakening in both the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. The faction's effects are a bonus in leadership when fighting Lizardmen, as well as a diplomatic malus with Lizardmen factions. His Lord effects are a buff to magical resistance for his army, and an increase in Vampire Corruption in the local province. In addition to this he has a unique mechanic where his fractured mind causes different personalities to take charge. With it helping or hindering his effectiveness in battle until you find the Lizardmen trinkets he needs to fix it in his campaign. His sole quest item is Slann Gold, and his mount is a Deathshriek Terrorgeist. Role wise he is a hybrid Lord, being great in melee due to being a Blood Dragon vampire, and his hand-cannon makes him fearsome at range. Especially when given his explosive rounds, and on top of his Terrorgheist. He is unique among vampires because of his lack of spellcasting ability, making up for it with a hefty amount of magic resistance. But in campaign he can gain access to the Lore of the Deeps if you resolve his fractured mind storyline. :: [[Count Noctilus]] leads the '''Dreadfleet''' subfaction that starts in the Galleons' Graveyard in both Vortex and Mortal Empires. The faction effects are a reduction in Necrofex Collosus recruitment time, and a bonus to Pirate Crew recruitment rank. In addition to this he also has a unique war-declaration mission, which gives a variety of bonuses should you declare war on a specific faction. His Lord effects are a reduction to Necrofex Collosus and a bonus to weapon strength for large units in his army. His sole quest item is Captain Roth's Moondial. He also has access to a Necrofex Collosus as a mount choice exclusive to him. Role wise he is a hybrid lord, with more emphasis on tankiness than dealing damage, and bringing a good amount of utility with his mixed lore of Vampires and Shadows. Putting him on his Necrofex Mount further broadens his battlefield role, basically making him a mobile artillery platform at the expense of becoming a larger target. :: [[Aranessa Saltspite]] leads the '''Pirates of Sartosa''' subfaction that starts in the titular pirate city in both Vortex and Mortal Empires. The faction effects are a bonus to raiding/sacking income, an increase to finding treasure maps, and a hefty diplomatic malus with Norscan factions. She also has the honor of having a mixed roster Arkhan/Allarielle style, with her hosting two variations of non-undead Sartosan units. Her Lord effects are a bonus to her Leadership aura effect, and a boost to weapon strength and attack to the aforementioned Sartosan units in her army. Her sole quest item is for her weapon Kraken's Bane. Mount wise she has access to a Rotting Promethean. Her role is to be a somewhat flexible combat lord. Dealing out anti-large damage, and being surprisingly sturdy due to her high melee defense. She can also work well as a character killer provided they are on a mount, with her on-foot animations giving her a big edge. :: [[Cylostra Direfin]] leads '''The Drowned''' subfaction that starts in the Grey Peaks in both Vortex and Mortal Empires. The faction effects are a boost to loyalty for newly recruited lords, a reduction in Syreen and Mourngul upkeep, as well as a decrease in recruitment cost for them. In terms of Lord effects she gives her entire army magical attacks and gives them a small amount of physical resistance. In the campaign she also starts with a Damned Paladin hero to accompany her. Her sole quest item is the The Bordeleaux Flabellum. Mount wise she has access to a Rotting Leviathan as an option exclusive to her. Role wise she is the Vampire Coast's dedicated caster character, but she brings an interesting twist with her being the first ethereal legendary lord in the trilogy. Making her quite sturdy for a caster character when dealing with physical attacks, though she will melt like butter when hit with anything magical. But this issue can be solved by sticking her on her giant crab, which will take away the magic weakness for the most part, and making her one of the most tanky units on the field. She is also quite good at spamming summons given the Lore of the Deeps and her unique bound ability to summon Damned Bretonnian Knight units. [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Vampire Coast| More specific tactics here]] <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Wh2 main vmp vampire coast crest.png|The Awakened File:The Dreadfleet.png|The Dreadfleet File:Pirates of Sartosa.png|The Pirates of Sartosa File:The Drowned.png|The Drowned </gallery> </div> </div> ===Total War: WARHAMMER 3=== [[File:TWW3 logo.PNG|Conquer Your Daemons|thumb|center|550px]] <div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> *'''Unlike the other games in the series, Total War Warhammer III launched with seven playable factions rather than the usual four, along with one DLC race for Preorder.''' <div class="mw-collapsible-content"> ====[[Kislev]]==== [[File:Kislev Splash Art.PNG|center|800px|thumb|Just another day in Paradise]] Originally a palette swap of the Empire in the first and second games, Kislev has been chosen to receive a major overhaul with their own Legendary Lords, a new army list with unique characters and their own faction mechanics. They have received a major presence in the marketing of the game, indicating that CA is really trying to sell people on their badass credentials. The game's army list is being developed in conjunction with [[Games Workshop]], tying into the [[Warhammer: The Old World]]. The new units include [[awesome]] additions such as the Ice Guard of Kislev, much ballyhooed War Bear Riders and the Little Grom, aka a War Wagon Mortar version if it was a sled pulled by bears. All of this is just delightful. :: [[Tzarina Katarin|Tzarina Katarin Bokha]] leads the primary subfaction of the Tzardom known as the '''Ice Court'''. As the most powerful ice witch in generations, she has a complete mastery of the Lore of Ice. This allows her spell casting to be cheaper, faster, and more powerful. She can be mounted on either a war horse, or even a war bear. When not mounted, she also floats off of the ground, which is something that canon wise also happens with Prince Sigvald the Magnificent, but [[Fail|doesn't]]. The Ice Court has more control over their settlements, and reduced training times for mage lords. Frost maidens have an increased recruitment rank and give Devotion for every successful hero action. Katarin herself reduces corruption significantly, has halved upkeep for Ice Guard, and a halved miscast base chance. :: Supreme Patriarch [[Kostaltyn]] leads the '''Great Orthodoxy''' of the Cult of Ursun. A firebrand preacher, he considers the ice witches and especially the Tzarina as nothing more than heretics that usurped power through their machinations. He's also very obviously a fantasy counterpart of Grigori Rasputin, the Mad Monk. His special abilities include Ursun's Ward, which grants him a regeneration and stats boost when heavily injured. He can be mounted on either a war horse or a war bear. :: Tzar [[Boris Ursus]] leads the '''Ursun Revivalists'''. Unlocked after holding three major cities of Kislev as Katarin and fighting a quest battle, his receives bonus recruit rank for War Bear riders, and construction bonuses for garrisons and religious buildings. Boris himself gives his army a leadership and melee attack bonus against the Warriors and Daemons of Chaos and their Norscan allies, and halved upkeep for War Bear Riders. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:The Ice Court.png|The Ice Court File:The Great Orthodoxy.png|The Great Orthodoxy File:Ursun Revivalists.png|Ursun Revivalists </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Kislev| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Khorne]]==== [[File:TWW3 Khorne Banner.jpg|center|800px|thumb|Milk for the Khorne Flakes!!!!]] Khorne's roster is more similar to [[Age of Sigmar]] than the classic tabletop, having a mixture of mortal followers with demons. Granted, the mortal half of the roster is currently a bit underdeveloped, with only Chaos Warriors, a single hero unit, minotaurs, chariots and Skullcrushers used to represent the non daemonic part of Khorne's legion. This is balanced out by the fact that aside from Daemon Princes every Daemonic Khorne unit is in the game. :: [[Skarbrand]] leads the armies of the '''Exiles of Khorne'''. Always seeking ways to regain the favor of Khorne after he [[fail|attempted to usurp him]] ([[just as planned|just as Tzeentch planned]]), he is quite literally a pile of rage that rages on about his rage. His rage is so prevalent, that anyone who is even near him will also be enraged, compelled to fight even under suicidal odds. He is also immune to psychological attacks, and will not falter in his bloodlust to kill until it is done. Skarbrand’s faction can replenish in foreign territory and earns movement after razing a settlement, but is of course on bad terms with other Khornate factions. Skarbrand’s army earns extra movement after winning a battle and has a reduced recruitment cost when in ruins or enemy territory. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Exiles of Khorne.png|Exiles of Khorne </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Khorne| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Tzeentch]]==== [[File:Tzeentch-loading-screen.jpg|center|800px|thumb|Just as planned...]] Tzeentch's roster is focused on hit and run using devastating firepower and cycle charging. Tzeentchian factions have numerous ways to influence the winds of magic on the campaign map, making sure that his armies are always fully buffed and never going to run out of magic soon. They can [[Just_As_Planned| use schemes to steal an enemy settlement without having to fight it]], gain complete vision over a faction's territory, and even force rival factions to break alliances and go to war against each other whether they want to or not. Tzeentch's units all have a barrier that absorbs damage and recharges out of combat. :: [[Kairos Fateweaver]] leads the armies of the '''Oracles of Tzeentch'''. His faction is all about screaming [[Just As Planned]], with bonuses to helping reinforce allied armies and debuffing reinforcing enemy armies. Karios himself has access to more lores of magic and has increased ambush defence chance and defence against enemy hero actions. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Oracles of Tzeentch.png|Oracles of Tzeentch </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Tzeentch| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Nurgle]]==== [[File:Nurgle Warhamer 3.png|center|800px|thumb|NURGLE IS LOVE! NURGLE IS LIFE!]] Nurgle is all about outlasting his opponents whilst crippling them with debilitating debuffs through spells and unit traits. The roster is very durable, but at the same time is very slow and is vulnerable to kiting if you don’t bring furies or a soul grinder to tie up/phlegm on units. As to be expected Nurgle can spread plagues to settlements, and customize them for a variety of benefits to you, ailments to very lucky receivers, or both at once. Nurgle functions very differently on the campaign besides plagues. Nurgle’s buildings cycle between growth and decay where the initial stage is built and then grow over time, before reverting to their first form; each stage grants different benefits. Nurglite units are added to a recruitment pool by these cyclical buildings and can be recruited instantly like RoR, but they start out weak and must replenish to full force over a couple of turns. :: [[Ku'Gath|Ku'Gath Plaguefather]] is Nurgle's playable lord and leads the '''Poxbringers of Nurgle'''. Ku’gath’s faction sees extra growth, and a reduced recruitment cost and boosted initial recruitment health for Nurglings. Ku’gath himself has a halved infection cost, spreads more corruption, and has an increased chance of spreading plagues. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Poxmakers of Nurgle.png|Poxmakers of Nurgle </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Nurgle| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Slaanesh]]==== [[File:Slaanesh Warhammer 3.png|center|800px|thumb|Insert overdone sex joke here]] Slaanesh specializes in speediness and stampeding into opponents with a sky-high charge bonus, and the AP to stab into any soundly shielded soldiers. Not only do your cavalry and chariots have this, but your infantry share this as well, and every unit has the terrifying trait where their charge bonus is doubled when flanking enemy units. You’ll have to rely on this though because Slaanesh’s sensualists are fragile (due to that whole freaky fetish thing), and funnily enough won’t last in prolonged engagement without breaks. Slaanesh’s roster is entirely lacking in ranged units, however, even Khorne has ranged options. On the campaign Slaanesh is the only daemonic race that has diplomatic options with non-daemons, as his/her/their factions can influence and even forcibly vassalize mortal factions to the point that they can revive minor factions specifically to act as vassals. This vassalization mechanic, along with improvements to how allies function both in the campaign and in battles, are intended to patch the staying power shaped hole in Slaanesh's roster. Seduce mortals, force mortals to tarpit your opponents, then buttfuck your opponents with your daemons and win. And then buttfuck your mortals. :: [[N'Kari]] is Slaanesh’s legendary lord and leads the '''Seducers of Slaanesh'''. N’Kari’s faction has a +20 diplomatic bonus with every faction and increased tribute from vassals. N’kari himself earns extra experience for every new enemy faction fought in battle. He also has a reduced cost to seduce units and reduces the leadership of local enemy armies. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Seducers of Slaanesh.png|Seducers of Slaanesh </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Slaanesh| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Cathay]]==== [[File:Cathay Warhammer 3.png|center|800px|thumb|Today the vidya game, tomorrow the Tabletop!]] All of this information is just from the Total War website's article introducing Cathay, so more specific information will need to be added later. They are a defensively focused army, with ranged and melee units receiving buffs when in close proximity with each other and relying on the Great Bastion to keep Chaos off their doorstep. The Bastion itself provides powerful bonuses if maintained and enhanced, but if its gates collapse their territory will fall with it. Their frontline is mostly cheap but plentiful infantry that protects the ranged forces that deal most of the damage, and they have some powerful artillery and war machines to back it all up. Additionally, each unit is associated with either Yin or Yang, with units of opposite affinities being enhanced by staying near each other. So basically, imagine playing Dwarfs, but with a focus on synergy, magic, and motherfucking Dragons. In keeping with the whole Chinese Ying Yang thing, all ranged units have a Yang aura that provide a not insignificant buff to all melee units, something that Cathay infantry desperately need as their mid rank Jade Warriors are actually slightly worse than Empire Swordsmen while being more expensive. Meanwhile, all melee units have a Ying aura that buffs the reload speed and range of ranged units, which Cathay doesn't really need but is nice nonetheless. The idea of harmony and balance continues into the world map. Most buildings, lords, and research produce either Ying or Yang points, and keeping these points equal is crucial as a balanced score provides increased Control, income, and resistance to corruption. Being even one point out of balance means debuffs and the worse the imbalance the grater the chaos. Luckily you can easily change buildings from Ying to Yang and vice versa through the extended building planner, but expect a juggling act as you gain and lose territory. Cathay also has access to the Ivory Road system. Raise a caravan with some weak units, and send it out to a specific city. When it arrives at it's destination it automatically makes a LOT of money, usually in the 9000-15000 range with the sum being higher the further the caravan traveled, and then begins it's slow route back. Unfortunately carrying so much cargo makes it a tempting target, so expect it to be attacked at one point or another. The caravan can be reused once it arrives back home and it has the chance to become more powerful as it faces dilemmas, so eventually you'll have a caravan made up of top tier units. You should always have one caravan out there at all times, making you cash-money and earning you items to give to your lords. Defying many expectations, the Dragon Emperor is not actually a Legendary Lord, as he and his wife spend all their time in the Celestial City above Wei-Jin and the devs have stated that both would be too powerful to actually be playable. Instead you play as one of their kids. :: [[Miao Ying]] the Storm Dragon is the leader of the '''Northern Provinces''' and daughter of the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress, and is featured in the trailer for Grand Cathay. Miao Ying is quite cold and aloof, a trait that irks her siblings to no end. She gives buffs to her missile units, including more ammo and upkeep reductions, along with a buff to Anti Corruption and a leadership buff when fighinng Daemons of Chaos. :: [[Zhao Ming]] the Iron Dragon is the leader of the '''Western Provinces''' and son of the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress. Zhao is a skilled alchemist and likes to integrate it into his forces. The millennia stationed close to the Great Maw have made him "eccentric" compared to his other siblings. This label of eccentricity could also just be due to him actually enjoying hanging out with his mortal subjects. Of course making a treaty with Greasus Goldtooth does seem to indicate something may be a little off-kilter upstairs. His factionwide mechanics include giving every unit in his armies more armor, increased money from caravans, increase in rank for alchemists and upkeep reduction for Ogre Mercenary units. Zhao himself gains a 25% upkeep reduction on all melee units, 100% chance to [[Blood_Ravens|steal]] magic items, and +3 alignment to Yang. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:The Northern Provinces.png|The Northern Provinces File:The Western Provinces.png|The Western Provinces </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Grand Cathay| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Ogre Kingdoms]]==== [[File:Ogres Warhammer 3.png|center|800px|thumb|The power and grub's what we're doing it for!]] Ogres '''ARE''' a monster faction, and we mean it. Only two units from the overall army are normal-sized ([[Gnoblar]] ones, obviously), others are massive in one way or another. You can be deceived by this, think that Ogres may be slow and melee-based, but that's not quite true either. Ranged units are present, and for their size Ogres are relatively quick. They have a tough relationship with armour, however - no protection for themselves (which makes units a good target), but they are great at piercing it anyway. Downs, other than poor defense, consist of lack of mount, air power and staying power. Overall, a pretty good army with one playstyle - charge, fight, eat. :[[Greasus Goldtooth]] leads the '''Goldtooth Tribe''' in the Mountains of Mourn. Greasus’ faction has a +20 diplomatic bonus when dealing with other Ogres, and increased trade and unit mass. Greasus’ army has increased income for raiding, sacking, and looting, and halved upkeep for Ironguts. :[[Skrag the Slaughterer]] leads the '''Disciples of The Maw''' in the Grey Mountains. Skrag’s disciples have an increased movement range, and an increased capacity and recruit rank for Butchers. Skrag himself has increased replenishment and halved upkeep for Gorgers. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Goldtooth.png|Goldtooth File:Disciples of the Maw.png|Disciples of the Maw </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Ogre_Kingdoms| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Daemons of Chaos]]==== [[File:Daemons Warhammer 3.png|center|800px|thumb|MY NAME'S NOT FUCKING DANIEL!!!!]] An unexpected faction for sure, Daemons of Chaos brings the flexibility of having a combined roster from all the daemonic hordes, but must unlock more powerful daemons through a tech tree involving daemonic gifts body parts gifted to your Daemon Prince legendary lord. The Lord in question is the most OC-do-not-steal friendly in all three games, identified only as an Ungol Prince before being corrupted by the Ruinous Powers and ascending to Daemonhood. In his campaign, he teams up with the Advisor to steal the power of Ursun from Be'lakor. Everything after that, from his name to his allegiance, is up to you. Naturally, different allegiances open up different tactics and you can mix and match as you see fit. :'''[[God-Slayer]]''' (<s>insert your own specific Daemonic name here</s> Daniel) leads the '''Legions of Chaos''' subfaction in Norsca. As it's based around Daniel the Daemon Prince, the only unique mechanics the Legion received are daemonic gifts. In addition, every time your lords inflict damage in battle there's a small chance you get an army-wide buff for a few turns. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Legion of Chaos.png|Legion of Chaos </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Daemons of Chaos| More specific tactics here]] ====[[Chaos Dwarfs]]==== [[File:Chaos Dwarf Image.jpg|center|800px|thumb|WE ARE THE MINISTRY OF SILLY HATS!]] After years of only appearing in a small (Ha!) role as the artillery crew for the Hellcannon unit, their homeland appearing on Realm of Chaos and Immortal Empires maps and a small teasing quote on loading screens, the Dawi-Zharr are finally brought to life within the game. Being a beautiful mix of the Oldhammer models and the Tamurkhan range, the Chaos Dwarfs conquer the world via the world's most evil economy simulator. With a healthy mix of guns, artillery, armoured infantry and cavalry and Greenskin <s>slaves</s> labourers to throw at your enemy, they are ready to bring the Industrial Revolution to the rest of the world. :'''[[Astragoth Ironhand]]''' takes charge of the '''Disciples of Hashut''' faction within the city of Uzkulak. Astragoth focuses mainly on Bull Centaurs, granting them an additional Ward Save and The Tower of Zharr, earning more Conclave Influence from all sources. Astragoth himself is a great hybrid caster witht he lore of Fire and Hashut and a mech suit that lets him kick ass in melee as well. :'''[[Drazhoath the Ashen]]''' leads '''The Legion of Azgorh''' from his home base in The Black Fortress. His main gimmick is a more efficient Hell Forge, granting a lower cost of upgrades and increased Armament output. His armies focus on Infernal Guard and K'daai monsters. Drazhoath himself if the primary spellcaster of the faction, with the Lore of Hashut and best used on his Bale Taurus mount Cinderbreath. :'''[[Zhatan the Black]]''' leads '''The Warhost of Zharr''' just north of Cathay's bastion in Immortal Empires. He focuses mainly on the Convoy system, granting you an additional convoy at the start of your campaign. While he has reduced cost for war machines, his skill line is very selfish and gives him some extreme buffs. He doesn't specializes in any units particularly, and can be mounted upon either a Great Taurus or a Lamisu. <gallery mode="nolines"> File:Disciples of Hashut.webp|Disciples of Hashut File:The Legion of Azgorh.webp|The Legion of Azgorh File:The Warhost of Zharr.webp|The Warhost of Zharr </gallery> [[Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Chaos Dwarfs| More specific tactics here]] </div> </div>
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