Part I: Forging Your Empire – Campaign Map Fundamentals
Victory is not born on the battlefield. It is forged in the council chambers, the marketplaces, and the training grounds of your empire. The campaign map is where true legends are made. Master it, and the battles will often win themselves.
The First 20 Turns in Total War: Warhammer III: The Dawn of an Empire 🌅
The opening moves of your campaign are the most critical. A strong start creates a powerful momentum that can carry you to victory, while a weak start will see you fighting for survival.
- Secure Your Home Province. 🏡 Your first and most immediate goal is to conquer and control all settlements within your starting province. This provides a secure economic base and allows you to issue a powerful, free Commandment.
- Prioritize Growth Above All Else. 🌱 In every new settlement, the first building you construct should almost always be the one that provides growth. Growth is the single most important resource in the early game.
- Build a Defensive Garrison Next. 🛡️ After the growth building, your next priority, especially on a hostile border, should be the defensive building chain. A strong garrison can deter an enemy or even defeat a weak invading army on its own.
- Fill Your Lord’s Army Immediately. ⚔️ Recruit units every single turn until your starting Legendary Lord is leading a full 20-unit army. Even an army of basic troops is a massive deterrent.
- Plan Your Lord’s First Skills. 🧠 For your Legendary Lord’s first few skill points, invest in the blue skill line. Take the “Route Marcher” skill first. This 10% boost to campaign movement range is invaluable.
- Establish Your Economy. 💰 Your primary goal is to build an economy that can support at least one full army while still generating a positive income.
- Scout Your Surroundings. 🗺️ Use your starting hero to explore. Knowing the terrain, the location of nearby factions, and the disposition of your neighbors is critical.
- Fight Early Battles Manually. 🤺 Do not rely on auto-resolve for your first few battles. Playing them manually teaches you how your units work and allows you to win with fewer casualties.
- Begin Your Research. 🔬 Open your technology tree on turn one and select your first research project. Plan a path toward technologies that provide economic bonuses or buffs to your early-game units.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Restart. 🔄 If your first 10-15 turns go disastrously wrong, do not be discouraged. Even veteran players often restart a campaign. Learning a faction’s optimal opening is part of the process.
The Art of Expansion in Total War: Warhammer III: Painting the Map Wisely
- Do Not Overexpand. Resist the temptation to conquer everything in sight. A small, well-defended, and economically stable empire is far stronger than a sprawling, indefensible one.
- Finish Your Enemies. 💀 When you go to war, be decisive. Do not leave a weakened enemy faction alive with only one settlement. They will rebuild and become a persistent problem.
- Understand Settlement Climates. Every region has a climate suitability.
- Green 🟢: Suitable, no penalties.
- Yellow 🟡: “Unpleasant,” incurs penalties to growth and income.
- Red 🔴: “Uninhabitable,” has severe penalties.
- Sack, Occupy, or Raze?
- Occupy: Take the settlement. Only do this in green climates.
- Sack: Plunder for a massive, immediate injection of gold. 💰
- Raze: 🔥 Burn the settlement to the ground to eliminate a threat or create a buffer zone.
- Establish Choke Points. When expanding, look for natural defensive positions like mountain passes or river crossings. Fortifying a single settlement that guards a choke point is far more efficient.
- Consolidate Provinces. Your goal should be to conquer entire provinces to issue powerful commandments and maximize building efficiency.
- Use Raiding Stance for Profit. An army in the “Raiding” stance in enemy territory will generate income each turn without fighting.
- Sack and Run. 🏃♂️ Sometimes, the best move is to sack a poorly defended settlement for a quick profit and then retreat.
- Temporarily Occupy for Replenishment. ❤️🩹 If your army is badly damaged, you can occupy a settlement in a yellow or red climate temporarily to replenish your troops.
- Beware of Plagues. 🤢 Nurgle and Skaven factions can spread devastating plagues. Move your armies out of affected regions immediately.
Mastering Diplomacy in Total War: Warhammer III: The War of Words 🤝
Diplomacy is not merely a tool for peace; it is a weapon of war.
- Check Diplomacy Every Single Turn. Make it the first thing you do. The diplomatic landscape is constantly shifting.
- Attitude is More Important Than Pacts. Pay attention to the colored face. A green, smiling face 😊 indicates a positive attitude. A red, scowling face 😡 means they despise you and will likely betray you.
- Maintain High Reliability. Your reliability rating is your diplomatic reputation. Breaking treaties will lower your rating, making every other faction distrust you.
- Sell Your Wars. Before you declare war, check who else is already at war with your target. Offer to “Join war against…” them. They will often pay you handsomely for your help.
- Trade Agreements are Free Money. 💸 Sign agreements with every possible faction. It costs you nothing and provides a steady income.
- Balance the Deal. When the AI offers you a deal, look at the number in the bottom right. If it is green, the deal is in their favor. Click the “Balance Deal” button (⚖️) to automatically demand the gold they are willing to pay.
- Use Gifts to Improve Relations. 🎁 If you want to befriend a neighbor, give them small gifts of gold over several turns.
- Defensive Alliances are a Double-Edged Sword. Be cautious. While an ally will help you if you are attacked, you will also be dragged into their defensive wars.
- Military Alliances Let You Direct Your Allies. 🎯 A military alliance allows you to set war coordination targets, effectively letting you direct your ally’s armies.
- Good Guys Hate Bad Guys. The world is generally divided into “Order” factions (Empire, High Elves) and “Destruction” factions (Greenskins, Chaos). As a general rule, factions of the same alignment will like each other.
Part II: The Art of War – Battlefield Mastery ⚔️
While empires are built on the campaign map, they are defended on the battlefield. A brilliant commander can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Battlefield Basics for Total War: Warhammer III: The Anvil and the Hammer
- Understand the Anvil and the Hammer. 🔨 The most fundamental tactic. Your “anvil” is a strong, defensive line of infantry that holds the enemy in place. Your “hammer” is a mobile force (like cavalry) that swings around and crashes into the enemy’s exposed flank or rear.
- Know Your Unit Roles.
- Melee Infantry: Your anvil. Hold the line.
- Ranged Infantry: 🏹 Your primary damage dealers.
- Cavalry and Chariots: 🐎 Your hammer. Flank, disrupt, and destroy.
- Monsters and Single Entities: 🐲 Can be anvils or hammers. Break through enemy lines.
- Artillery: 💣 Force the enemy to advance into your kill-zone.
- Use Simple Formations. A line of melee infantry with archers behind and cavalry on the wings is effective and easy to manage.
- Learn the Checkerboard Formation. A slightly more advanced but incredibly effective formation. Place your frontline units with gaps, and a second line covering those gaps.
- Protect Your Flanks. The sides of your formation are your weak points. Always place spear or anti-large units on your flanks.
- High Ground is King. ⛰️ Always try to position your army on high ground. Your troops fight better, and ranged units have a clear line of sight.
- Use Forests for Cover. 🌳 Lightly armored units gain physical resistance and are harder to hit when inside a forest.
- Focus Your Fire. 🔥 Do not let ranged units pick their own targets. Command them to focus fire on a single enemy unit at a time.
- Understand Key Unit Stats. For your anvil, look for high Melee Defense, Armor, and Leadership. For your hammer, prioritize high Melee Attack, Weapon Strength, and Charge Bonus.
- Leadership is the True Health Bar. ❤️ Most battles are won by breaking the enemy’s will to fight. Attacking a unit in the flank or rear inflicts massive penalties to their Leadership (morale).
Advanced Tactics in Total War: Warhammer III: The Commander’s Finesse
- Use Control Groups. Select a group of units and press Ctrl + 1 to assign them to control group 1.
- Lock Your Formations. 🔒 After creating a control group, click the padlock icon. Now, when you order that group, they will maintain their formation.
- Move in Formation with ALT. Select multiple units, hold ALT, then click and drag. This will move all units while preserving their relative positions.
- Rotate Formations with ALT + CTRL. Select a locked group, hold ALT + CTRL, then click and drag to rotate the entire formation.
- Set Movement Paths with SHIFT. Hold SHIFT while issuing a move order to set a series of waypoints.
- Master Cycle Charging. 🔄 Units with a high Charge Bonus (like cavalry) deal immense damage on the charge. Charge them in, let them fight for ~10 seconds, then pull back and charge again.
- Use the “J” Key for Quick Reversals. Select a unit and press “J”. The unit will instantly turn 180 degrees.
- Toggle Guard Mode. Guard Mode prevents a unit from chasing a routing enemy. It’s crucial for your frontline to prevent them from breaking formation.
- Toggle Skirmish Mode. Skirmish Mode causes a ranged unit to automatically run from enemies that get too close. Turn it off for your main archer line.
- Pause and Slow-Mo are Not Cheating. ⏳ Battles are chaotic. Use these tools to give yourself time to think and issue precise orders.
The Winds of Magic: A Caster’s Almanac ✨
Magic is a tide-turning force. An army without a spellcaster is at a severe disadvantage.
- Every Army Needs a Caster. 🧙 Make it a rule to include at least one spellcaster in every main army.
- Understand the Magic Pool. In battle, your available magic is shown in the bottom right. You have a starting pool and a larger reserve that slowly recharges it.
- Use Channeling Stance. On the campaign map, an army in the “Channeling” stance increases its starting Power Reserve for the next battle.
- Master Two or Three Spells. Identify the most effective and efficient spells and learn to use them perfectly.
- Overcast for Maximum Impact. Most spells can be “overcast” by double-clicking them. This makes them significantly more powerful at the cost of more Winds of Magic and a chance to miscast.
- Positioning is Everything for Wind and Breath Spells. 🌬️ Spells like Wind of Death travel in a straight line. Click where you want the spell to start and drag your mouse to aim it down the long axis of an enemy line.
- Blob and Bomb. 💣 The best way to use AoE spells is on tightly packed infantry. Use a durable Hero to charge into the enemy, causing them to form a dense “blob,” then drop a vortex spell on top.
- Use Healing Wisely. ❤️🩹 Use healing spells on your most valuable units—your elites, monsters, or your Lord.
- Debuffs Win Fights. A spell that lowers an enemy’s armor or melee defense can allow your troops to win an engagement they would have otherwise lost.
- Beware Friendly Fire. 💥 Many powerful spells will also damage your own troops. Be extremely careful with placement.
Part III: Know Thyself, Know Thy Foe – Faction-Specific Stratagems
True mastery comes from adapting the universal principles of war to the unique strengths and weaknesses of each faction.
The Realms of Man 👨
- The Empire: 🦅 Combined Arms Doctrine. Use a line of sturdy infantry (Halberdiers) as your anvil, and let your exceptional Handgunner units and devastating artillery (Hellstorm Rocket Batteries) act as your hammer.
- The Empire: Use Elector Count Units. Through Imperial Authority, you can gain unique and powerful state troops.
- The Empire: Master Gunnery with Elspeth. The Thrones of Decay DLC lord Elspeth von Draken’s Imperial Gunnery School allows you to dramatically upgrade your gunpowder units.
- The Empire: Gelt’s Wizard Stacks. Balthasar Gelt can create a powerful doomstack of an all-wizard army with nearly unlimited magic.
- The Ice Court of Kislev: 🐻 Master the Hybrid. Kislev’s core units, like Kossars and Ice Guard, are effective at both range and in melee.
- Kislev: Adopt an Elastic Defense. Kislev’s starting position is notoriously difficult. Focus on defending your three major cities: Kislev, Praag, and Erengrad.
- Kislev: Use the Motherland. The Motherland invocation system provides powerful, temporary faction-wide buffs.
- Kislev: Tzar Guard and Ice Guard. A late-game army of a frontline of Tzar Guard protecting multiple units of armor-piercing Ice Guard (Glaives) is incredibly strong.
- The Kingdom of Bretonnia: 🐎 Embrace the Charge. Bretonnia has some of the worst infantry but arguably the best cavalry. Your entire strategy must revolve around the Hammer and Anvil.
- Bretonnia: Fulfill Your Vows. Your lords must complete chivalric vows to unlock their full potential.
- Bretonnia: No Supply Lines. Bretonnia does not suffer from increasing upkeep for fielding multiple armies. Do not be afraid to field numerous cheap peasant armies.
The Elder Races & Ancient Pacts
- High Elves: 🧝 The Beginner’s Choice. A simple army of Spearmen and Archers is incredibly cost-effective and will win most early-game battles.
- High Elves: Influence and Intrigue. Use “Intrigue” to manipulate diplomatic relations and turn your rivals against each other.
- Dark Elves: 😈 Fuel Your Economy with Slaves. The Dark Elf economy is powered by slaves captured in battle.
- Dark Elves: The Power of Black Arks. Black Arks are mobile sea-based settlements that can recruit units and provide devastating orbital bombardments.
- Wood Elves: 🌳 Fight in the Trees. Wood Elf units receive significant combat bonuses when fighting inside forests.
- Dwarfs: 🧔 The Unbreakable Box. The Dwarfs are the ultimate defensive faction. Form a “Dwarf Box,” with tough infantry protecting your flanks while powerful ranged units obliterate the enemy.
- Dwarfs: Settle Your Grudges. The Book of Grudges provides missions that, when completed, grant powerful rewards.
- Dwarfs: Malakai’s Adventures. The Thrones of Decay lord Malakai Makaisson’s “Adventures” mechanic unlocks powerful upgrades for your artillery and war machines.
The Green Tide & The Great Maw
- Greenskins: 🟢 Always Be WAAAGH!-ing. The WAAAGH! mechanic allows you to generate a secondary AI-controlled army. Time it to overwhelm your enemies with sheer numbers.
- Greenskins: Grimgor is Da Best. The Legendary Lord Grimgor Ironhide is one of the most powerful melee combatants in the game.
- Ogre Kingdoms: 🥩 Manage Your Meat. Ogre armies consume Meat each turn. If you run out, they suffer heavy attrition.
- Ogre Kingdoms: Camps are Your Cities. Your true power comes from Ogre Camps, which are like mobile settlements that can be built up to tier 5.
- Ogre Kingdoms: Leadbelchers are Key. These powerful, short-range gunpowder units can shred both infantry and large targets.
The Undying Hordes 💀
- Vampire Counts: 🧛 Your Infantry is Trash, Your Monsters are Gods. You have no ranged units. Swarm the enemy with cheap Skeletons and Zombies while your powerful lords and monsters do the killing.
- Vampire Counts: Zero-Upkeep Skeletons. Through research, you can reduce the upkeep of Skeletons to zero, allowing you to field dozens of full armies.
- Vampire Counts: Raise the Dead. After a large battle, a sigil will appear on the map. You can use “Raise Dead” on this site to instantly recruit high-tier units.
- Vampire Coast: 🏴☠️ Gunpowder and Zombies. Use a frontline of Zombie Deckhands to bog down the enemy while your Zombie Gunnery Mobs and artillery blow them to pieces.
- Tomb Kings: 🏺 No Upkeep, Limited Numbers. Tomb King armies cost no gold in upkeep. However, the number of units you can recruit is limited by the number of military buildings you have.
Children of Chaos 🔥
- Warriors of Chaos: The Path to Glory. Your humble Marauders gain experience and can be upgraded into Chaos Warriors and mighty Chosen.
- Warriors of Chaos: Focus on Dark Fortresses. Your faction can only construct its most powerful buildings in special Dark Fortress settlements.
- Khorne: 🩸 Blood for the Blood God! Khorne has no magic. Your gameplay is pure, unrelenting aggression.
- Nurgle: 🤢 Inevitable and Unkillable. Nurgle is slow but incredibly durable. Your units have massive health and regeneration.
- Tzeentch: ✨ Magic, Missiles, and Barrier. Tzeentch units are protected by a magical “Barrier” that recharges out of combat. Use hit-and-run tactics.
- Slaanesh: 😈 Speed is Your Weapon. Slaanesh is the fastest faction. Your units are “glass cannons.” Your strategy must revolve around speed and flanking.
- Slaanesh: Seduce Your Enemies. Before a battle, spend “Seductive Influence” to take temporary control of one or more enemy units.
- Daemons of Chaos: 👑 Create Your Own Roster. The Daemon Prince is fully customizable. By dedicating settlements to a Chaos God, you gain “Daemonic Glory” to unlock units and body parts from that god’s roster.
The Eastern Empires 🐉
- Grand Cathay: ☯️ Maintain Harmony. You receive powerful buffs when you have an equal number of Yin (melee) and Yang (ranged) units near each other.
- Grand Cathay: The Bastion is Your Shield. The Great Bastion is a critical defensive line. Keep its threat level low by defeating Kurgan warbands.
- Grand Cathay: Caravans for Profit. 🐫 Send out Ivory Road caravans as often as possible. They are a major source of income.
- Chaos Dwarfs: 🐂 Master the Infernal Economy. The Chaos Dwarfs have a complex economy revolving around Labour, Raw Materials, and Armaments.
- Chaos Dwarfs: Hobgoblins are Your Anvil. Use cheap Hobgoblin infantry as your frontline to hold the enemy for your devastating Blunderbuss and Fireglaive units.
- Chaos Dwarfs: Use Convoys for Labour. Use your convoy system primarily to trade for Labour to keep your mines and factories running.
Part IV: The Path to Legend – Advanced Concepts & Secrets
You have mastered the fundamentals. Now, it is time to learn the secrets—the deep strategies and hidden mechanics that will elevate your command.
Total War: Warhammer III Doomstacks & Army Supremacy 💥
A “doomstack” is a late-game army so powerful it becomes nearly unbeatable.
- Hero Stacks. One of the most powerful doomstacks involves filling an army with 19 heroes of the same type (e.g., Skaven Warlock Engineers, High Elf Mages).
- Single-Entity Monster Stacks. An army composed entirely of powerful monsters is incredibly strong (e.g., a Cathayan army of 19 Terracotta Sentinels).
- Sisters of Avelorn Stack (High Elves). An army of a life mage and 15+ units of Sisters of Avelorn. Their magical, armor-piercing arrows will melt anything.
- Shades Stack (Dark Elves). An army of Shades with Greatswords is a nightmare. They have stalk and are devastating at both range and in melee.
- Skaven Weapons Team Stack. A frontline of Plague Priests summoning rats, backed by 8 Ratling Guns and 8 Plagueclaw Catapults, will delete armies.
- Steam Tank Stack (The Empire). An army of a Master Engineer and multiple Steam Tanks is a slow but nearly indestructible fortress.
Secrets of the Old World: Hidden Mechanics You Need to Know 🤫
- Trait Farming. You can acquire powerful traits by defeating specific Legendary Lords. A more devious method is to have one of your immortal lords be defeated by a target lord. They will return in a few turns with the new trait.
- Rebellion Farming. In a province with high public order and a strong garrison, you can intentionally cause rebellions by raiding your own province. Defeating the rebel army is a reliable source of gold and experience.
- Third-Person Control. Select any single-entity unit and press the INSERT key. This switches you to a direct, third-person control mode.
- Change Reinforcement Entry Points. On the pre-battle screen, you can drag reinforcing army flags on the minimap to change where they will arrive.
- Capture Enemy Artillery. If fighting an army of the same race, you have a small chance to capture one of their artillery pieces if you wipe out the crew and have an empty unit slot.
- Demolish Before Abandoning. 🏚️ If you plan to abandon a settlement, demolish all its buildings first for a partial refund.
- Free Units from Quests. You can accept free units from quests even if your army is full. The new unit will be added to your recruitment pool.
- Global Recruitment and Buildings. For every 10 of the same military building you own, the global recruitment time for units from that building is reduced by one turn.
- Steal Immortal Heroes. If you borrow an allied army with an immortal hero, you can intentionally get that army killed. When the hero recovers, they will join your hero pool.
- Quick About-Face. Pressing “J” causes a selected unit to instantly turn 180 degrees.
- View Hidden Unit Stats. During a battle, pressing “I” brings up detailed stat sheets for any unit you mouse over.
Conclusion: Your Saga Begins
You have reached the end of this chronicle, commander, but your own journey is just beginning. The wisdom within these pages is a powerful weapon, but it is useless without a hand to wield it.
But there is one final, crucial lesson.
Embrace Failure. You will lose battles. You will lose settlements. Do not see this as defeat, but as a lesson. Analyze your losses. Understand your mistakes. The greatest sagas are not tales of unbroken victory; they are tales of resilience, of learning from adversity, and of rising from the ashes to achieve ultimate triumph. 💪
The Chronicle of Command is now closed. Go forth and write your own. 👑
Disclaimer: This is an unofficial fan work, all trademarks and copyrights for Total War: Warhammer III belong to the developer CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive.
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