Summary
- In Total War: Warhammer 3, there are several Legendary Lords to choose from, each with their own unique challenges and difficulties in the Immortal Empires campaign. Here are some of the most challenging starts for these lords:
- Belegar Ironhammer - Belegar starts with a small force and is surrounded by powerful enemies. He must rely on diplomacy and restraint to survive.
- Karl Franz - As the Emperor, Karl Franz is constantly at war with multiple factions. He must defend against threats from every angle, including Vlad Von Carstein, Festus, and Grom the Paunch.
The Immortal Empires map in Total War: Warhammer 3 is mammoth in scale. Starting with more than 250 independent factions warring for control, it is easy to be overwhelmed, especially for some of the playable Legendary Lords who start near fearsome foes or at a distinct disadvantage that will slow them down.
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Starting location can have a big impact on how quickly factions can get up and running and working as effectively as they should be. Completing a campaign with one of these Lords is a worthy challenge for the mightiest of generals and may also be a tricky test for new players who are unfamiliar with the ins and outs of Total War.
Updated on July 5, 2024, by Connor Hogg: As Creative Assembly adds heaps of new legendary lords to Total War: Warhammer 3 through DLC and free content, they are also changing the start locations and functionality of many of the existing factions. With more lords to choose from, it is only fair to spotlight a few more characters who struggle to get momentum in the early game to warn fans of which campaigns to play carefully. Many legendary lord starting positions in Total War: Warhammer 3 can be hard to get to grips with, but some are arguably more challenging than others.
1 Belegar Ironhammer
Victim Of Neighbor's Snowballing
- Struggles as other factions snowball
- Wherever he focuses on, enemies will appear behind him
Despite the strengths that come with playing as the exiled king, Belegar's start is plagued with setbacks. Until he retakes Karak Eight-Peaks he can struggle to muster a decent number of fighters, and in the meantime, he is beset on all sides by foes who will grow in power as they take out any stragglers nearby.
He starts at Zarakzil, by the Western Border Princes, who will quickly be taken out by the nearby enemies, which will see players fighting off Queek and Ikit of the Skaven, Skrag the Slaughterer from the Ogre Kingdoms, and even a possible early appearance of the hated greenskins through Skarsnik or Grom the Paunch. With so many foes all fighting for scraps of land, Belegar will need to rely on shrewd diplomacy and clever restraint to stand a chance.
2 Karl Franz
The Quintessential Empire Experience
- Beset on all sides
- Constantly at war
For players looking for a real challenge that will see them fighting on every front, the Emperor himself is a good start. Karl Franz starts in the Reikland province, with a wealth of friendly options in the Elector Counts and a scary number of threats from every angle.
Franz will likely see the majority of evil factions around him declare war in the first few turns, and watching as each of the elector counts is defeated can be demoralizing. Players will be attacked by Vlad Von Carstein from the East with huge hordes of undead while also having to contend with Festus and his plagues from the North and perhaps even an appearance of Grom the Paunch if gamers get too comfy expanding into the West.
3 Tsarina Katarin
Balancing Priorities
- Multiple factions are after her
- Must protect her allies early
Katarin has one of the hardest campaign starts based entirely on her location. Her mechanics make her and her armies fearsome, but the surroundings that she faces are incredibly challenging and will force fans to plan ahead and to focus on priorities in the order that they present themselves as an issue.
Kislev is surrounded by Norsca running raids around the territories, masses of Orcs in the East, Vlad and his zombies in the South, and the stealthy armies of Clan Moulder in the North. If players take too long to take out any of these foes, the others will grow in strength and can eventually lead to a full chaos invasion by Archaon, Norsca claiming player settlements and cutting off income, or being ravaged by the Vampire Counts. Kislev players will have to be careful and crafty as their nearest allies can be wiped out as part of an invasion force meant for Katarin herself.
4 Prince Imrik
Avoiding A Pile On
- Far from High Elf allies
- Can struggle with early economy partly due to surrounding Skaven
Imrik starts very separated from his High Elf kin. While other Lords can make allies quickly, Imrik can struggle to find a place amongst the enemies that start all around him, many of whom have a slight edge against him. He begins in the East, to the South, dangerously close to Ku'Gath, who can sweep up to infect lower settlements.
Skaven swamp the area to the North and the West, with Tretch Craventail and Queek Headtaker both within attacking distance. A little further away, Imrik can even be attacked by Vampire Counts, roaming Ogres, and the might of the Chaos Dwarves. This constant battle to assert himself on the map will mean lots of lost settlements and a struggle to get a good economy in order to fund never-ending battles in every direction. It may be best for players to take a province and then hunker down in defense.
5 Arkhan The Black
Being Overextended Becomes A Problem
- Fighting against enemies with high armor
- Evasive enemies can dodge his slow units
Arkhan the Black starts an Immortal Empires campaign in the south near the western coast of the large desert. This gives him room to overextend himself at the beginning of the game, and he will quickly find himself at war with Dwarf war machines, Bretonnian cavalry, and even other Tomb Kings as they start to eclipse players in power.
Players' starting armies are horde units that are effective against slow-moving enemies, but Arkhan will often be fighting against fast and evasive armies that have very high armor. The distance between settlements will also pose a threat, leaving wide stretches of the starting province undefended if Arkhan ever manages to expand.
6 Malagor The Dark Omen
Sandwiched Between Two Powerful Foes
- In the middle of a constantly warring province
- Can be lured into wars of attrition that ruin his economy
Malagor leads a Beastmen faction from the Badlands, which means a squabble between a huge swathe of armies grappling for enough power to conquer the whole region. Malagor's empire works best when raiding and razing for income and aggression, but this chaotic start will force the Beastmen into a defensive position where they will have to eliminate the weakest one at a time until they are a force to be reckoned with.
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Malagor's armies are incredible melee combatants, but players will find themselves sandwiched between two of the most effective melee-focused armies in the game, Skarbrand's Khorne faction and Wurzag's Orcs. Developing a strong midgame can often be slowed or halted entirely by these long wars of attrition. In some cases, Malagor's best option is to retreat far away enough to start over and build up elsewhere.
7 Grombrindal The White Dwarf
Tough To Get Armies Up And Running Quickly
- Big-name threats around him, like Valkia
- Economy staggers out of the gate
Grombrindal, the White Dwarf of legend, is a powerful leader who is stunted by his empire's position in Immortal Empires. He finds himself fighting Skaven as his first main opponent, but these enemies will quickly be joined by the Dark Elves of Naggarond. Add to this the consistent aggression of Valkia and her Khorne units razing undefended claimed land, and Grombrindal can find it quite hard to get his armies up and running and can especially struggle with his economy.
His faction is one of the most straightforward Dwarf factions to play, with strong backline artillery pieces that can shred slower enemies; the majority of his first enemies are much too fast. Valkia is an incredibly powerful lord that can fly into one's backline to disrupt a whole formation. Grombrindal's best chance is to hunker down into a defensive position until there is a weak enemy that he can move into and expand inch by inch.
8 Mannfred Von Carstein
Neighboring Factions Can Counter His Units
- Nerfed magic means that he can struggle more than previously
- Starts near enemies that counter him
Mannfred is a lord who had much more early-game ability in previous Total War titles. His starting army is quite small, and the low winds of magic in Total War: Warhammer 3 mean that his early game suffers from a lack of powerful spells. His starting opponents are likely to give him a lot of trouble, with Volkmar starting to the player's west with an Unbreakable army that counters the units that should normally inflict fear.
Volkmar's army also quickly has access to flaming attacks that are particularly strong against Mannfred's undead forces. As Mannfred expands, he will be fighting Dwarfs and Lizardmen, perhaps even the Tomb Kings and Khorne. Each of these factions excels in wiping frontline infantry - players will be fighting an uphill battle with low armor and low-damage horde units that will struggle against highly armored enemies.
9 Ku'gath Plaguefather
Ghorst & Imrik Will Make Gaining Momentum Difficult
- Surrounded by hard counters to poison and regeneration
- The cycle mechanic means that Ku'gath often plays a waiting game
Another Legendary Lord who begins near a faction that acts as a hard counter to all the player's abilities is Ku'gath. The Plaguefather begins in an isolated position and, as players emerge, will be opposed by Helman Ghorst. Ghorst is one of the most powerful leaders, with necromantic abilities that can quickly outpace Ku'gath's army. Ghorst's faction ability negates poison damage, making Nurgle's special skills useless against his forces.
The next enemy that is likely to enter the fray is Imrik, who brings with him plenty of fire damage from his dragons that will do additional damage to Ku'gath because of his regeneration ability. All of this serves to slow down a faction that already struggles to build momentum due to the Nurgle cycle mechanic, making the first 25 turns a slog of slow factions bashing against each other until Ku'gath can force a victory.
10 Lord Mazdamundi
Multiple Fronts Make Solidifying Gains A Hassle
- Leaving territories undefended will allow them to be taken quickly
- No frontline to compete with surrounding Norsca & Slaanesh
Starting with a fairly low-power army, Lord Mazdamundi can struggle to get started on the Immortal Empires map. While he doesn't start in a particularly crowded area, the main foes around him are very powerful and will move in when Mazdamundi is weak or leaves a settlement unguarded. Norsca and Slaanesh will be the first opponents and will bring more effective frontline units until the Lizardmen economy starts to build. Any expansion only reveals more enemies, pitting the Lizardmen against Skaven, Orc, and Dark Elf factions.
Mazdamundi is forced to choose one front to fight on while taking heavy losses and potentially losing a lot of land to the front that he ignores. If any nearby factions are left for too long, they will grow in power and snowball with all their gathered momentum, able to crush Mazdamundi and his weak starting units before the Lord is given a chance to fund more expensive soldiers. If the Empire also decides to declare war, Mazdamundi can simply be left behind in the race for power due to constantly having to defend and fight in long, drawn-out wars all across the campaign map.
Total War: Warhammer 3
- Released
- February 17, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Creative Assembly
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, Tactical
