24. September 2017 von Jean Pierre B.
A compilation of the hints, tips strategies, and plots that I have discovered while playing through several games as the Vampire Counts. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and there are undoubtedly turn-by-turn guides available elsewhere on the internet, but this guide should be helpful for those playing as the Vampire Counts for the first time, especially in the early game. Other TWW2 Guides:
Acquiring New TerritoryOverviewThe Vampire Counts (VCs) begin in a bad position; they are stuck between two of the largest race-nations on the Old World map: the Empire (humans) and the Dwarfs (dwarfs). Thankfully, both race-nations have other things to deal with than Western and Eastern Sylvania, your starting position. Vampires are ageless and immortal, and they can afford to play the long game. Taking territory a bit at a time, and solidifying it behind you, is arguably the best strategy you can use. Vampiric Corruption is a useful tool on the campaign map, as it increases public order and causes attrition among enemies, but it takes many turns to establish, by default.
Slow & Steady ProgressIn the early game, it is unwise to expand too quickly; even though cities are the single biggest source of income for VCs, their armies in the early game are weak, and not well-able to defend newly-seized territory. The cost of new cities, new armies, and public order penalties must be accounted for before new territory is claimed. The first main 'questline' of the VCs is to seize more and more territory, but survival and management of your current domains should take precedence most of the time. It is not worth it to seize a new town like Pfeildorf if it means you lose Castle Drakenhof to an invasion by Dwarfs or Greenskins. VCs need to take time to restore Public Order in their seized towns; since all of the other nearby race-nations have a diplomatic Aversion to vampires, their cities have stronger public order penalties. A military presence in an occupied town or city will forestall unrest and rebellions, but the military presence needs to occupy that site for many turns before public order is restored and there is a high enough level of Vampiric Corruption to start giving public order bonuses. Having a hero in the army with strong Vampiric Corruption traits can speed this along. RuinsAn extremely valid strategy for the Vampire Counts is to seize control of towns and cities that were razed by other armies. The trade-off for this is that this can be difficult to accomplish, because in the first place, any army that is powerful enough to raze a city or town is likely your enemy, and will return to raze your new town soon after you found it. In the second place, if you are making friends with your nearby races, the conflicts that result in razed towns will be further away, and you will almost certainly have to travel extensively across uncorrupted terrain to reach the towns (this sort of travel causes attrition in your armies). The good news is that VCs can take over razed towns fairly cheaply thanks to Raise Dead. A half-stack army can move around the map and defend itself (or flee) long enough to reach a razed site. Then, the Lord of the army can use Raise Dead to summon a number of Zombies and Skeletons to fill out the ranks, reducing the cost of founding a new town on a raised site. After a VC player has researched cost-saving methods (see 'Savings' in the 'Treasury Management' section), this process can be comparatively very cheap, and give the Lord of the founding army a stack of cheap trash troops to defend the new town and keep public order until it can better defend itself. Even if an enemy returns and attacks your new city, you do not lose as much investment as other races do. Founding new towns on ruins also prevents you from having to go to war with the race-nation that used to occupy that city. Vampiric CorruptionThe campaign map trait of the VCs is Vampiric Corruption, which grows steadily over time. Taking over settlements in a territory, garrisoning armies, and many Hero and Lord traits can increase the rate at which Vampiric Corruption spreads. It is worthwhile to have one hero in an army who has high Vampiric Corruption (part of the blue campaign traits at the bottom of the skill tree for Vampires and Vampire Lords) in order to spread it faster. Taking over a settlement in a territory also gives Vampiric Corruption in a range around that settlement, which means your armies do not suffer attrition in that range. When VCs take over a new settlement, it will suffer a public order penalty until Vampiric Corruption reaches 50% or higher. At that point, public order should stabilize at around 0, gaining or losing slowly each turn, depending on other factors. VC public order is directly related to the amount of Vampiric Corruption in a territory; the higher the Vampiric Corruption, the higher the public order bonus. The second effect of Vampiric Corruption is to cause attrition in any non-Undead army. (The only armies Vampiric Corruption attrition does not affect are the Vampire Counts, Vampire Coast, and Bretonnian Vampire Lords). Specific units may also be immune to attrition caused by Vampiric Corruption (such as stronger Greenskin units). Treasury ManagementOverviewVampire Counts (VCs) benefit from large stockpiles of Dark Magic (hereinafter referred to as 'money'). They have a slight advantage in the early game because the bulks of their armies are cheap trash troops like zombies and skeletons, meaning that they can save up money for larger projects and expenditures. GainsMost of the VC gains come from their cities; unlike other race-nations such as the greenskins and Norsca, they do not get any special benefits from raiding and pillaging cities (though heroes can 'specialize' in pillaging if they do it often enough, gaining bonuses to the amount of money harvested). VC research in the Lahmian tree gives bonuses to several different building chains, such as Repression (small gains of 100-150 monies/turn) and Vampire Crypts and Necromancer Libraries (large gains of 300-500 monies/turn). SavingsVCs play a long economic game; it takes quite a bit of research and specialization to have a high steady income. A lot of this income is based on reductions in upkeep costs for most of your army troops. All of the research trees eventually have upkeep reduction costs for specific army units, and there are several extremely valuable researches to perform in the early and midgame. Namely, these are 'Master of the Putrid Horde' and 'Defiler of the Ancient Barrows' under the Arkhan tree. These give free, no-cost upkeep to zombies and skeleton units, respectively. ExpendituresVCs benefit from large stockpiles of Dark Magic (hereinafter referred to as 'money'). They have a slight advantage in the early game because the bulks of their armies are cheap trash troops like zombies and skeletons, meaning that they can save up money for larger projects and expenditures. Counting things like the additional cost to recruit units with Raise Dead, a VC player will often be forced to choose between upgrading their armies or upgrading their settlements.
Diplomatic RelationsOverviewThe Vampire Counts (VCs) have a long history with the other race-nations surrounding them; in the past (and probably the present), they have been aggressive and war-like against the Empire and the Dwarfs, which are your two biggest neighbors. Accordingly, most of the race-nations around you have a Diplomatic Aversion to vampires, setting your starting relationship at a penalty ranging from -15 (Bretonnian Kingdoms) to -50 (Dwarfs), with the average being -30 (almost everybody else, including the Empire). AlliesThe closest allies of any VC nation are other vampire-based Undead race-nations, namely: The Vampire Counts, the Von Carstein Bloodline, Templehof, Mousillon, The Barrow Legion, and the Vampire Coast nations in the New World. The Problem of Templehof Your first mission playing as a Vampire Count is to exterminate the Templehof faction; I would advise that you continue this policy until Templehof has only one settlement left. Assault this settlement, but afterwards choose to Subjugate Templehof as your Vassal, instead of exterminating them entirely. Optimally, Templehof will seize an Empire Province territory outside of Western and Eastern Sylvania, which you should pick as your final target to Subjugate them. In this way, Templehof will 1) give you tribute each turn in the form of money, 2) act as a buffer between you and more aggressive Empire Provinces, and 3) eventually become a steadfast trading partner. A similar policy can be adopted with the Von Carstein Bloodline or the main Vampire Counts faction led by Mannfred, depending on which you have chosen to play. The Enemy of My EnemyIt is wise for a VC player to choose from the beginning who they will ally with (if anybody), and who they will keep as long-term enemies. This helps control the amount of wars that the VCs are fighting at any given time, and therefore the number of fronts they are fighting on. Even if your chosen allies have a diplomatic Aversion to you, this can eventually be mitigated and overcome. The safest way for VCs to gain diplomatic relations with their allies is to offer them gifts in the form of money. Maybe the quickest way to gain diplomatic relations with allies is to send Heroes to attack and harass the enemies of their allies, since this can be done every turn, and the diplomatic bonuses stack with your chosen allies (and the penalties stack with your chosen enemies!). For this purpose, I recommend using Necromancers to 'Steal Technology' from an enemy settlement, as this will give a bonus to your research speed. If you have chosen an enemy far away from Sylvania, then actions such as 'Assault Garrison' are less beneficial to you. Chaos InvasionsCounter-intuitively (but very much in keeping with the themes of Warhammer), the VCs do not have any special positive relationship with the forces of Norsca or the Chaos Warriors. BattlesOverviewAs a Vampire Count, your weapons are the black arts, guile, and terror. In the early game, a Vampire Counts army will probably have to field twice as many low-level troops as any other army to have a good chance of winning. The starter troops - zombies, skeletons, ghouls - have numbers, but very little else going for them. General TacticsNo Ranged Units - Perhaps the main weakness of VC armies is their almost complete lack of ranged units, unless the player wants to super-specialize in order to get all of 2 ranged units. That is a maximum for your entire campaign, not per army. The only ranged units VCs ever get are Sylvanian Crossbowmen and Sylvanian Handgunners, both of which are available only through the Von Carstein Bloodline specialization. But Flying Units! Vampire Lords, and Bloodline Lords also have access to flying mounts at level 10 (Hellsteed, a black pegasus) and level 18 (Zombie Dragon, which is everything you need in this game). Vampires access the Hellsteed at level 10. Keep Your Army Tight - don't spread out too far, or send your units too far away from your main force. Weak units can be picked off, and all VC troops will start to disintegrate if they lose their morale. Even strong units like the Varghulf can be overwhelmed and start to disintegrate if outside your heroes Leadership Auras. If you have incoming reinforcements for your side, try to meet up with them as soon as possible, sending only quick, disposable troops to harass the enemy and slow them down before the main engagement. Field Several Heroes - The backbone of the army are the Heroes and Lords, which provide a Leadership Aura around them to strengthen the morale of your forces. They are also the only early units capable of withstanding enemy Heroes and Lords. (Zombies, skeletons, and ghouls will get taken to pieces if they don't disintegrate first.) Keep An Eye on Morale - The TWW2 interesting take on the Undead is that they do have morale, and it is a constant concern for an army commander. Unlike other races, VC troops will not flee when their morale is low or broken; instead, if a VC unit loses its morale (even Heroes and Lords), they will start to take heavy health damage, and the troop can die in a few seconds. Lords & HeroesMany VC Lords and Heroes are excellent assassins; Vampire Lords and Vampires both regenerate hitpoints while in melee combat, giving them great staying power. Wight Kings - Your front-line fighters. Well-armored, with a strong attack and damage, Wight Kings are best used to bolster a weak line, assassinate enemy heroes, and lead charges. Vampires (the females) lean more towards magic, and can be upgraded to be strong spellcasters, or melee combatants. Vampire Lords (the males) are strong melee combatants and leaders. Necromancers - Spellcasters, meant to be stationed behind the front line to support with spells such as Invocation of Nehek, Raise Dead, and Wind of Death. The main concern with Necromancers and spellcasting Lords is not to cast too many spells too quickly; save up your Winds of Magic reserves to keep regeneration high, and casts spells only when you need to protect or support expensive units. Keep in mind that you can cast Inovcation of Nehek on Heroes, Lords, and single units such as Varghulfs to heal them to full. Banshees - Your hero assassins. Quick, deadly, and with a chance to ignore physical (non-magical) damage, Banshees excel as assassins both in battle and on the campaign map. They are not as good in prolonged engagements as units of incorporeal troops are (Cairn Wraiths & Hexwraiths), so save them for decapitating strikes that will demoralize the enemy army. Specific UnitsVC units can be divided into the following categories: weak/strong, slow/fast, easily-broken/army-breakers. Siege Weapons - Vampire Counts get siege weapons like other race-nations do, and they can also use Crypt Horrors, Varghulfs, and Terrorgeists to destroy city gates quickly. Dire Wolves & Dire Bats - Harassers; use Dire Wolves and Dire Bats in the same way: to chase down enemies who are fleeing because of Fear or Terror, or use them to attack an embattled enemy unit from behind, and deal even more morale damage. Dire units can keep broken enemies off your back, so that the enemy unit does not regain its morale and return to the fight. The advantage of Dire Bats is that they can fly over a battle, instead of having to go around. DO NOT USE against armored troops with high morale! Crypt Horrors - Even though they are few in number (6 in a full unit), Crypt Horrors are very useful because they are probably the first unit you will field that has Armor Piercing attacks. Varghulfs - (Varghulves??) With speed, armor-piercing attacks, regeneration, and huge size, varghuls are excellent formation-disruptors and hero-slayers, taking out chunks of powerful units with each attack. They do need support, since they have comparatively low morale, so you can group them with your hero or lord to create an assassination squad, or send them plowing through the enemy ranks while they are engaged with your Skeletal Spearmen or Zombies. Varghulfs also deal great damage to city gates; two Varghulfs can take a gate down in about a minute. SpellcastingUse spellcasting (especially Invocation of Nehek) judiciously; like money, VCs benefit from stockpiling their Winds of Magic reserve, to either cast several spells in rapid succession, or make sure they have enough Winds of Magic to cast a spell at the right time. Every Lord and almost every Hero has Invocation of Nehek, which heals a friendly Undead unit, and can reanimate lost units. Aside from its obvious uses during battle, Invocation of Nehek can be cast after the battle is finished but before you leave the battle screen (assuming you won), to heal and replenish your troops for the next fight (especially if you have another enemy just waiting to pounce on your weakened army). Fear & TerrorA good part of the battle-play for the VCs is control over morale; just as low morale is a dangerous weakness of your armies, it is also a powerful weapon against your enemies. Several VC units cause Fear or Terror (ex: Hexwraiths, Terrorgeists), and several Heroes can be upgraded to cause Terror as well (Vampire Lords), so spread them throughout the line of battle and have them attack different units one after another. When a unit routs, send Dire Bats or Dire Wolves to harass them and keep them running away. The only armies where this tactic is not effective are the fellow Undead armies (who are your closest allies anyway). PoisonGhouls, Crypt Horrors, and certain special units have Poison attacks, which slow your enemies and makes them do less physical damage. Spread it around! If you have several units of Ghouls, have them attack several different units of the enemy, inflicting Poison on all of them. Be sure to have a decent unit backing up the ghouls, though, such as Grave Guard, who are better able to soak the lessened damage, and catch up to slowed enemies. Raise DeadOverviewRaise Dead deserves its own section because of the important role it plays in Vampire Count logistics and army recruitment. Raise Dead is a recruitment option for any Vampire Counts army led by a Lord. When selecting an army, select the golden skeletal hand listed at the bottom of the army unit window. Using Raise Dead allows the VC player to instantly recruit troops into their army, for a slightly greater cost than recruiting the same unit from a settlement. A VC player can recruit as many troops in one turn as they can afford, and as are available in the Raise Dead window. More and better troops can be Raised at Battle Site Markers. Battle Site MarkersA golden skeletal hand with a plus symbol (+) on the campaign map is a Battle Site Marker; this means that because a large battle with powerful units was fought in this territory, using Raise Dead will offer better and stronger troops. Interestingly, Raising Dead at a valuable Battle Site Marker can let the VC player recruit much stronger units than they can recruit from their own cities, long before the recruitment buildings are unlocked. However, these units are both expensive to Raise, and have expensive upkeep (in the hundreds of monies per unit). Chaos Invasions & How to Avoid ThemOverviewFirst, you may ask, 'Why should I bother avoiding Chaos invasions? Mostly, they are things that happen to somebody else.' The answer is, 'Because after they are done with somebodies else, they will come for you.' Chaos and the Vampire Counts (VCs) do not start off at war with one another, which allows the VCs some breathing room before having to confront Chaos - but sooner or later, confront them you will. The confrontation can be postponed for a good long time, until you have the economy and troops to deal with at least 1 Chaos army at a time. Avoiding Chaos InvasionsThe simplest way to avoid Chaos invasions is to never completely seize both Western and Eastern Sylvania. Seizing both territories gives you Mannfred Von Carstein, another faction leader (if you did not start play with him; otherwise it gives you another legendary lord), and starts a countdown to the first Chaos invasion. If you seize both provinces by turn 40 or so, the first Chaos invasion can start anywhere between turn 60 to 100. You may get the occasional warning about 'Chaos is coming', but they should not actually spawn armies for a good long, long time, if ever. Dealing With Chaos InvasionsAs mentioned above, Chaos and VCs do not start off at war, so the initiative is on your side. Chaos will be happy for many turns subjugating Norsca and razing Kislev and the northern provinces of the Empire. All-too-soon, however, they will enter your territory. Working the viable VC tactic of inhabiting ruins, you can send a cheap army full of zombies and skeletons in the wake of the Chaos hordes, colonizing new settlements. Expect to lose these settlements. Build only light economic infrastructure, and maybe also Vampiric Corruption buildings if you're flush with wealth. Though the economic gains are small, they add up if you colonize a dozen new cities without much further investment. Vampiric Corruption in your new provinces may whittle down Chaos or Norscan armies passing through your territory, though they are 99% likely to Raid their way across the map, preventing attrition. Causing attrition in this way does not seem to impose a negative penalty on your diplomatic relations (like it did in TWW1). And Then Things Get WorseAs if normal Chaos Lords were not bad enough, if you and the AI manage to defeat or at least delay the first Chaos invasion, the second wave will be named Legendary Chaos Lords such as Archaon the Everchosen and Kholek Suneater. These increase the danger of Chaos armies geometrically, since they also bring along Regiments of Renown and give themselves economic and replenishment bonuses. At minimum, VCs will need 2 armies to defeat 1 Chaos army if you choose to auto-resolve - including as many armor-piercing units such as Crypt Horrors and Varghulfs as you can. Even then, it is certainly better to manually control the battle and preserve your best units with discrete, effective use and Invocation of Nehek. Chaos units also have high morale and are sometimes immune to Fear and Terror, making their armies almost unbreakable. Having 2 VC armies gives you the chance to surround and more effectively demoralize a single Chaos army. Assassinating their Lords and Heroes is also more difficult, but affects their Leadership just like it does for other armies - then the only issue becomes defeating the naturally-high base leadership of each unit.
In dem PC STEAM Spiel „Total War: Warhammer II “ könnt ihr insgesamt 106 Steam Errungenschaften (Achievements) freispielen. Um einen dieser Erfolge freizuschalten müsst ihr die jeweilige Bedingung erfüllen.
In unserem Leitfaden findet ihr alle Erfolge und deren Bedingungen. Weitere Lösungen und Cheats zu „Total War: Warhammer II“ findet in unserer Themenseite zum Spiel.
PC Erfolge Roadmap & Leitfaden
You’ve just been handed a coat covered in skulls or a massive hammer, and put in charge of the new Norsca (Wulfrik) or Wintertooth (Throgg) faction in Total War: Warhammer. What now? Now, my friend, you head South for a life of raiding and pillaging at the expense of all who oppose you.
I’ve played through a full Wintertooth campaign for the purposes of review, so I can now share the knowledge of my people. Some of this stuff is Throgg-specific, but the vast majority can be applied to either Legendary Lord.
Norsca Campaign Essentials
The Norsca faction (unless specified, I’ll just be using ‘Norsca’ to mean both them and Wintertooth) do not use the Total War: Warhammer Horde mechanics like Beastmen and Chaos, but operate quite like those factions for strategic purposes. A lot of the time you’ll find yourself roaming far afield, some distance away from a friendly town. You’ll also need to be regularly raiding and (especially) sacking rich settlements to pay for your war efforts.
That sweet, sweet Empire capital is worth 40 grand.
You should absolutely secure a local province (or two) up North to unlock some specialist troop options in those areas, but those provinces and their taxation will not be able to support you indefinitely. Norsca only have one building dedicated to income generation, and it tops out at 300 gold.
Almost all of the time your army upkeep will exceed your basic income. But it doesn’t matter that you’re losing 2,000 per turn if you have cash on hand to cover it and a couple of towns that are worth 12,000 gold apiece lined up for sacking in the next two or three. The trick is to keep an eye on the expenditure (army upkeep, basically) and judge how sustainable it’ll be against the cash you already have over the coming turns.
As you acquire more gold through raiding, sacking, and external challenges like Hunts and Quests, your per-turn-losses become less relevant. Aim for the wealthier settlements (usually capitals) – you can see how much a city will return when sacked by hovering the mouse over them when you’re within striking distance. By the end of my Total War: Warhammer Wintertooth campaign I had 120,000 banked and enough military power to roll over just about any city I pleased; so it really didn’t matter that my three armies were bleeding out 4,000 each turn.
The trickiest period is towards the end of the early campaign segment (Turns 15-35 or so) when you’re trying to both construct your building chains and expand to two armies. That requires a fair amount of gold, and at the same time you’re increasing your upkeep. Try to aim for any technologies or character skills that say they will reduce army upkeep (or on specific unit types), and take advantage of any random events that come your way (some of them have a temporary reduced upkeep option too).
You’re ultimately trying to knock over settlements and replace them with Chaos totems for the god of your choosing (or several gods if you’re playing the field for a bit). Make sure you sack anywhere that offers a decent gold return before sticking a totem up. You can sack the place first, then (assuming the fight went well) come back the next turn to finish off a weak garrison and put up a totem.
Make sure you convert a few places into actual settlements though. Once you’re quite far South it helps to have a place where you can quickly replenish troops. The smaller coastal settlements don’t have many building slots, but you’ll at least be able to use them to replace Marauders, or maybe some Horsemen or Hounds. Remember too that this Total War: Warhammer faction can replenish casualties (for existing units) anywhere by using the Raiding Camp stance.
Wintertooth Starting Strategy
You start off at war with the Naglfarlings, so take the hint and go for their throat. Recruit two or three basic units (whatever you fancy and can afford), then head off West to grab the two settlements you need to unite your province. One of them has an Obsidian mine that can produce a bit of extra income and trade if you’re inclined to dip into a little Total War: Warhammer diplomacy.
You never know who you might make friends with.
If you make sure your army is a bit weaker than the Naglfarling one, you can bait their stack into attacking you (and then hopefully defeat them with your superior tactics). If not, just go and take the settlement they’re not at and then prepare to take the final one. You might need to build up a decent sized army if they don’t budge from the city and its friendly garrison.
With the province united, now would be a decent time to plan which buildings you want. There won’t be enough slots to be able to produce every type of unit, so it pays to plan ahead a bit and figure out if you need additional constructions like a blacksmith and so on.
It’ll all become clear in the list below.Some of the skill book combos are completely, insanely broken. It isn’t clear what all the skill books actually do, so you’ll need to do some experimentation on your own. Divinity original sin skill reset.
Now that you have a base of operations, it’s time to head East and kill the Dwarfs next door. They have a diamond mine which provides some decent sacking revenue.
Around about turn 12 or 15, finances permitting, you want to be starting off a second (smaller, for now) army in a supporting role. That advise applies to most Total War: Warhammer campaigns really.
Once the Dwarfs are dead you have a choice. Either spend more time killing fellow Norsca tribes, or do some diplomacy with them and dive headlong South, into Kislev. The former will allow you to get more provinces (and provide more slots for building variety); and if you go all the way East you can take on Wulfrik nice and early. Doing so will let you secure some coastline properties for straightforward routes into the Empire.
However, Kislev (which is the option I took) have some rich cities to sack, and they have a unique building in Troll Country if you take Erengrad. It allows cheap recruitment of Fimir Warriors and (normal) Trolls, who both start with additional experience. Kislev’s capital can be occupied too, but doesn’t appear to have any special bonuses. Still, it can be a decent outpost for replenishment.
Whichever path you choose, you should have raised a few Chaos totems along the way and end up well positioned to strike The Empire and, later, Bretonnia.
Norsca Starting Strategy
Wulfrik’s starting moves shouldn’t be radically different from those outlined above. You start off at war with Skaeling, so defeat them and unite that first province as soon as possible. After that, you can either beat up some more neighbours (and possibly acquire some territory through confederation, long-term), or head South from your coastal settlements into the Empire.
Like with Wintertooth, try to have a second army up and running around Turn 15 or so.
Reaching Level 3 With Your God, Rewards, and the Chaos Challengers
Each totem placed will earn you 6 points towards your Norsca god of choice. Level 3 unlocks at 100 points, so that’s basically 17 settlements in total. However, you also get a boost from sacrificing the mighty beasts you can defeat in the Norsca hunting quests (I think either 10 or 12 points), so if you beeline for one god it’s possible with destroying fewer settlements than that.
There’s a meter at the top for you to keep track of your god-progress.
You can spread your favour around with the gods (and get multiple bonuses) until you hit the 100 point mark with one of them. Then the rest get angry at you and you lose previous favours. However, you do get a bonus from your chosen god.
The Serpent gives you a Level 30 Chaos Sorcerer (Fire, Metal, Shadows mix) mounted on a dragon. Serving The Hound gets you a special Hell Cannon artillery piece. If you opt for The Eagle, you can recruit a special Lord of Change as a general for one of your armies. Finally, The Crow reward says it spreads a plague around the world from which your troops are immune. Since I didn’t go down this path I don’t know exactly what the plague does to the rest of the Total War: Warhammer realm, but it’s probably something like global attrition, lowered replenishment rates, more Chaos corruption, or some combination of those.
As soon as you achieve that third level with a god, the other three will send armies after you. First, two will appear from the Northern Chaos Wastes. They’ll head directly for your Legendary Lord (ignoring settlements) so don’t worry about suddenly having to protect distant towns. The armies are strong Chaos compositions, full of Chosen, Chaos Spawn, Chaos Trolls, Warriors, and the like. If the god has a special reward unit (like the Sorcerer), they’ll be present as a foe.
This would normally be a problem, but he’s going to just stroll on past.
If you want an easy way to beat the first two stacks, remember that they’re heading right for your Lord. Should he happen to be in a fully garrisoned settlement, or have a second stack stood next to him as an ally, then you’ll get a relatively straightforward auto-resolve option.
You can’t use that trick for the third challenger, which appears on the map as a classic Total War: Warhammer quest battle. That means, at least, you can leave it until you feel ready. Again, the army will be a strong Chaos composition, and will receive reinforcements throughout the fight. I battled the Eagle challenger (who was invincible for a short period at the start of the battle), and he had both Norsca and Beastmen friends show up. I’m not sure if that’s the same for the others, but you can practice them beforehand through the Quest Battle option on the main menu if you want a preview of what the fight will be like.
Norsca Army Composition and Unit Types
The Norsca forces in Total War: Warhammer are a core of raging Viking types, monstrous infantry, short-ranged missile support, missile cavalry, and a few expensive, specialty units like Frost-Wyrms and Mammoths. Your infantry, for the most part, is not very well armoured, but can dish out a lot of damage once in combat. The Rage and Berserk mechanics (most of the infantry has one or the other) mean that the longer a unit stays in combat, the more damage it’ll be putting it. Units will get a kind of white smoke effect when Rage or Berserk are popping off.
That, combined with a focus on shorter-ranged missile fire (and lots of melee capable monsters), mean that you should almost always be trying to rapidly close the gap with the enemy. Don’t just smash your infantry into things at random, of course, but make sure you’re not farting around too much on your approach. If you do, you risk taking a lot of damage from factions who lean on war machines and missile troops. Beware of cavalry heavy forces like Bretonnia, because while your army does have counters to shock cavalry, it doesn’t have much cavalry of its own (at least, not in the traditional sense).
If you’re Norsca, Wulrik’s ‘red’ skill line in Total War: Warhammer gives boosts to Marauders. Throgg’s red skills are all about improving Trolls and Fimir.
Marauders: Assuming you have the right building chains in place, you can produce all kinds of Marauder varieties. The basic axe/shield kind are useful as an early screen against enemy missile troops, due to those shields. Don’t have Spearmen or Berserkers on the front line charging at bows or guns, they’ll be very unhappy about it. Keep the guys with shields up top until you’re close.
If/when you can recruit Marauder Champions, those guys are armoured enough to take a few arrows (but, as ever, watch out for armour-piercing damage from guns etc). Early on, the Marauder Spearmen are going to be your most accessible anti-large option (along with Hunters with javelins).
Wasted on bats, but sometimes needs must.
For armour-piercing, you’ll need the Marauders (or, much later, Marauder Champs) with Great Weapons. However, if you’re already building around monstrous infantry like Trolls and Fimir then the armour-piercing duties are probably fairly well covered. You’ll need one or the other once you’re regularly facing armoured dwarfs, higher tier Chaos units and the like.
Missile Options: As mentioned, Hunters with javelins are a solid anti-large choice. If you can pin down a ‘large’ unit (or beast) with some spearmen and pelt it with javelins, you’ll usually come out fine. The later tier Hunters have armour-piercing axes. Note: although both units can somewhat hold up in melee combat, their melee attacks do not appear to have a bonus against large or armour-piercing properties.
Your three cavalry choices are all missile-based too. They all have Vanguard deployment, so they can be prime candidates for hitting stray war machines or just popping up on someone’s flank to be a nuisance. You can also parade up and down in front of the AI’s lines to pull some things out of position. The basic Marauder Horsemen won’t hold well under any missile fire (or a charge from hounds or other knights), but the ones with throwing axes at least have shields. They also do armour-piercing damage which can be handy.
Hi there, remember us? You know, from EVERY AI VARG ARMY EVER.
I’m not totally convinced the Horsemasters are worth the extra cost; the basic type have the same major benefits (Vanguard, mobility – in fact the basic Horsemen are slightly faster). Horsemasters’ main selling point is actual armour and slightly better melee/defense stats, but that comes at a pretty heavy price. Google chrome download official site. They are the closest you’ll get to conventional Total War: Warhammer cavalry in this faction though.
Chariots: To be honest I find chariots a little too micro intensive to use very often, so I’m not the best person to offer tactical suggestions for these. I’ll do my best. There are two varieties, a (cheaper) melee one, and an Ice Wolves missile chariot. Both have incredible charge stats (typical for chariots), and I will say the Ice Wolf option is pretty versatile. It has armour-piercing missiles, that very strong charge, and deals Frostbite damage in melee (slowing enemies by about 50%). That makes it a great contextual support unit, but similar cost gets you a unit of Trolls or Skin Wolves.
Release the Hounds: Like with the chariots, you’ve got two options. Basic Norscan Hounds will do the usual tactical jobs given to hounds in Total War: Warhammer; sweeping around flanks, looking for chances to harass isolated war machines, archers, or weaker cavalry. They’re fine at that, like all hounds. Ice Wolves are a bit more special. You can give them similar tasks to the regular hounds, but their Frostbite ability means they’re also very useful as a support against tougher foes. If one of your infantry units is evenly matched or slightly losing a fight, slamming some Ice Wolves into the fray (preferably from the back) will dramatically slow the enemy attacks down.
Monstrous Infantry: A lot to choose from here. Let’s start with Skin Wolves. The Skin Wolf Werekin hero is well worth a mention here, and basically seems to be a slightly worse (but also slightly cheaper) Gore Bull. Since Gore Bulls are top tier unstoppable killing machines, being “slightly worse” isn’t exactly a harsh criticism. The basic unit versions are good too, but particularly the armoured variety. They move a little slower (still faster than most things that aren’t cavalry), but 20% physical resistance, combined with 70 armour and regeneration mean they can take some severe punishment.
Poor Squigs never stood a chance.
The Trolls are, well, Trolls. A good armour-piercing option, especially if buffed by Throgg’s skill tree. Low leadership, of course, so sticking them near your general or a worthy hero is always a good plan. Same goes for the Ice Trolls, who deal more weapon damage than the regular kind and have the same Frostbite effect as the Wolves. By the end of my Wintertooth campaign I had six or seven units of buffed up Trolls traveling around with Throgg and they could hold the line pretty damn well.
Fimir can augment your army in a couple of useful ways. Their Warriors (normal or great weapon varieties) are tough, lower-end-of-top-tier infantry. They’re another armour-piercing option, but, perhaps more important, they’re one of the few units for Norsca who can deal magical attacks (so they can do full damage to ethereal foes). Since magical attacks ignore physical resistance, and Fimir attacks are also armour-piercing and sundering (reducing armour), they should be dishing out a lot of damage with each swing.
Total War Warhammer 2 Guide Mortal Empires
Other Monsters and Mammoths: The Feral Manticore and Giant are the same as the versions which appear on other Total War: Warhammer rosters (the Norsca Giant has its own red-nosed style though). They’re fine, but arguably less exciting than Norsca’s unique monsters. The Frost-Wyrm has very similar stats to the Wood Elf Forest Dragon, but it’s not a siege attacker (sadly) and it takes increased damage from fire. However, in return, it also gets the Frostbite effect on its attacks. Very useful as a mobile distributor of negative speed status effects.
Now, everybody’s favourite woolly friends, the Mammoths. Even the lowest variant (the Feral Mammoth) has a huge amount of hit points (8,850; more than a giant). The War Mammoth has over 10k, which is kind of insane. All of the Mammoths are anti-infantry and cause terror. All of them are siege attackers (because who’s going to win between a castle door and a mammoth?) Send these guys into the infantry fray and let them soak it all up while dealing carnage. If they attract all the attention (particularly anti-large attention, or lots of armour-piercing missiles) they can of course be in big trouble; but in that situation it means the enemy are focusing basically everything on one creature. That’s a prime opportunity for the rest of your army to sweep in where it pleases.
The War Shrine Mammoth variation can even bestow fire damage abilities and more leadership on nearby infantry. Basically, there’s every reason to point Mammoths at almost every cluster of troops you see, as long as they have some support.
Magic Options: Your Shaman-Sorcerers give Norsca the choice of Fire, Metal, and Death magic, and the Fimir Balefiends have both Fire and Shadows covered. That’s a pretty decent spread of Total War: Warhammer spell schools to select from, and the Fimir casters can also hold up pretty well in a fight (useful for a normally vulnerable character). I’m partial to the Balefiends for that reason, and because the Lore of Shadows has some helpful hex-type spells in it to aid your warriors in melee.
Now, with this knowledge, head South and tear the lands asunder in your pursuit of gold and glory.
Empire Army Composition
Common questions about the Empire is: What makes for an effective army? What is the ideal Empire army composition? I’ll go over a few armies I used for my Legendary Empire campaign.
Let’s start with the basics. To perform “anvil and hammer” tactics, you’ll need:
That is a good place to start. Ideally, front-line infantry has shields in order to reduce the damage they receive from ranged attacks, which helps their longevity. Swordsmen and Spearmen (with Shields) fill this role nicely in the early and mid-game. From there, you want to concentrate on melee attack, melee defense, and armor.
For ranged infantry, crossbowmen work well, even into late game. You will want to transition to handgunners eventually due to their armor-piercing damage.
The important thing is to make sure you’re covering the important characteristics:
My personal style when building armies is very defensive: Artillery, strong melee infantry, and ranged infantry to counter enemy ranged infantry. Cavalry are used to flank, take out enemy ranged infantry and artillery.
I divide up my armies into three types: Main army, sub-armies, low-budget armies.
Main Army
My main army is designed to fight just about any faction, and is heavily anti-armor with some anti-large. It also costs the most so I don’t run more than one of this type.
Empire Guide – Empire Army Composition
This army fights defensively using the Steam Tanks, LL, and Warrior Priest as the front contact line. Enemy units will swarm and surround these units.
The handgunners take up positions behind and fire directly into the enemy as they swarm your Tank/LL/WP line. As your front line are all singular entity units, there’s a lot of free space and you can shoot without worrying about friendly fire. The handgunners can also be shifted to the flanks to fire on ranged cavalry who attempt to fire on the far wings of your army.
Demigryph halberds solve three problems: Needing anti-large, needing cavalry to flank the enemy, and taking out artillery. They pretty much eliminate the need for horsemen and halberdiers. I usually keep these in the back to meet large unit attacks. They can also spot cover for handgunners if units break away from your steam tank front line.
As strong as this army is, it has a downside: It is very expensive. You will most likely be able to field only one of these armies until you take a lot of territory.
Standard Army
These are standard armies that are well-balanced between cost and effectiveness.
That is a core of nine units. The rest can be filled in how you want, but you want to cover a few bases:
While there is no single “best army”, this should provide you with a decent idea of what to build around. Obviously, depending on the enemy faction you’re dealing with, make adjustments (more halberdiers against Brettonia or more cavalry against Dwarves, for example).
Low-Budget Army
You will need armies to keep public order stable in newly conquered territory while your regular armies fight, or need an army to chase down stragglers. That is where the low-budget army comes in. Nothing fancy with a solid backbone, this army is composed of swordsmen, spearmen with shields, crossbowmen, and mortars. This army is great for reclaiming razed territory also (a must as Chaos factions will blow up all the cities they attack).
Conclusion
I hope this guide is useful for you, please leave feedback and also your input on what you think makes for a good army!
Empire Army Composition
Common questions about the Empire is: What makes for an effective army? What is the ideal Empire army composition? I’ll go over a few armies I used for my Legendary Empire campaign.
Let’s start with the basics. To perform “anvil and hammer” tactics, you’ll need:
That is a good place to start. Ideally, front-line infantry has shields in order to reduce the damage they receive from ranged attacks, which helps their longevity. Swordsmen and Spearmen (with Shields) fill this role nicely in the early and mid-game. From there, you want to concentrate on melee attack, melee defense, and armor.
For ranged infantry, crossbowmen work well, even into late game. You will want to transition to handgunners eventually due to their armor-piercing damage.
The important thing is to make sure you’re covering the important characteristics:
My personal style when building armies is very defensive: Artillery, strong melee infantry, and ranged infantry to counter enemy ranged infantry. Cavalry are used to flank, take out enemy ranged infantry and artillery.
I divide up my armies into three types: Main army, sub-armies, low-budget armies.
Main Army
My main army is designed to fight just about any faction, and is heavily anti-armor with some anti-large. It also costs the most so I don’t run more than one of this type.
Empire Guide – Empire Army Composition
This army fights defensively using the Steam Tanks, LL, and Warrior Priest as the front contact line. Enemy units will swarm and surround these units.
The handgunners take up positions behind and fire directly into the enemy as they swarm your Tank/LL/WP line. As your front line are all singular entity units, there’s a lot of free space and you can shoot without worrying about friendly fire. The handgunners can also be shifted to the flanks to fire on ranged cavalry who attempt to fire on the far wings of your army.
Demigryph halberds solve three problems: Needing anti-large, needing cavalry to flank the enemy, and taking out artillery. They pretty much eliminate the need for horsemen and halberdiers. I usually keep these in the back to meet large unit attacks. They can also spot cover for handgunners if units break away from your steam tank front line.
As strong as this army is, it has a downside: It is very expensive. You will most likely be able to field only one of these armies until you take a lot of territory.
Standard Army
These are standard armies that are well-balanced between cost and effectiveness.
That is a core of nine units. The rest can be filled in how you want, but you want to cover a few bases:
While there is no single “best army”, this should provide you with a decent idea of what to build around. Obviously, depending on the enemy faction you’re dealing with, make adjustments (more halberdiers against Brettonia or more cavalry against Dwarves, for example).
Low-Budget Army
You will need armies to keep public order stable in newly conquered territory while your regular armies fight, or need an army to chase down stragglers. That is where the low-budget army comes in. Nothing fancy with a solid backbone, this army is composed of swordsmen, spearmen with shields, crossbowmen, and mortars. This army is great for reclaiming razed territory also (a must as Chaos factions will blow up all the cities they attack).
Conclusion
I hope this guide is useful for you, please leave feedback and also your input on what you think makes for a good army!
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