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#4616092 - 12/08/22 01:56 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: JohnnyChemo]  
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Thanks, you are always supportive when I have my moments. I just want to see more discussion around here for the games and sims I play. It's not the people, but how few there are I think. Like last night I was looking to maybe start a new run in one of the Warhammers. There are only a few races I've not played for any real length of time, such as Greenskins. And I thought how cool it would have been if others here wrote posts like mine, so I'd know already the strengths and weaknesses of the units, the mechanics, opinions on starting positions, how that player prosecuted his campaign, which units he favored in his stacks, which neighbors proved most challenging and so on. Of course I can get this elsewhere, but that's not really my point. And really that's it, I want more players here talking about their campaigns, or whatever the game or sim might be. No one has an obligation to post anything, but if there's no discussion it isn't much of a discussion forum is it?

I've rather returned to Warhammer 2 for the mo. Honestly, the load times on my box in WH3 are brutal and I get tired of waiting. I loaded the prologue a couple nights ago to finish it up. This is a tiny campaign, yet the initial load took 5 minutes easy. Maybe something's wrong, but there are a lot of loadings to do in Total War.

Unable to pick a new run in WH2 (although I want to try out Taurox, but need to pick up that DLC) I resumed two unfinished campaigns. One Vortex run as Clan Skyre (Ikit Claw) and one Vortex campaign as Vampire Coast (Luthor Harkon). The VC run is about 220 turns in and I'm ready to fight the final battle. This is one of my favorite factions, like the Counts but with ranged and pirate ships. Vampire corruption is awesome. The Last Defenders (lizards) are the top faction in the run and we are at war. But they can't attack me, due to the massive attrition they take when entering my lands. I hold 4/5 of Lustria with five field armies! Just because the enemy, if they are bold enough to actually come at me, can easily be dealt with after a few turns due to how much attrition they've taken. They did one of their Rites of Primeval Glory, which spawns a dinosaur army, and that army came at me and just about melted before I decided to hit them. This corruption is one of the best defensive things in the game. So much so that I am now spreading it all over their lands and now they take attrition no matter where they are. It really puts the brakes on the AI's attacking intent.

About melee defense... yes that's important for me, and I almost always choose to buff to this over other choices. The ability to stand in there and take it is so important in battle. Like wormfood said, ward saves are even better, as they counter every type of damage, but those bonuses are more rare. It's essentially DR. Especially for my infantry line I want good melee defense as I rarely count on infantry to be the killers. That's almost always artillery, ranged, cav, monsters and characters that do the heavy hitting. Depends on the faction.


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#4616160 - 12/08/22 11:21 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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I agree about the discussions. I wonder if it’s this community has gone by the wayside, or folks have left for greener pastures. I know the site can be cumbersome at times, esp on mobile devices.

VC is a faction I’d like to have a run in as well. I’ve played a handful of turns as them but never really I committed. Overall I am finding more appeal in the WH2 races than WH3 I think. Seems like the variety and differences are more striking, while WH3 seems to have a lot of races with the same feel to them. At least to me, and this is a first impression. I can’t say that I’ve spent a lot of time in game yet so maybe it’s too early to pass judgement.

If nothing else, WH3 miht wind up being a conduit back to the TWWH games for me. I’d frankly lost interest the game, and gaming in general to be honest. But that has to do with some personal stuff I’m dealing with right now too. I’m glad for the distraction WH3 has provided though.


Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck.”
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#4616165 - 12/09/22 03:07 AM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: JohnnyChemo]  
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Originally Posted by JohnnyChemo

VC is a faction I’d like to have a run in as well.


Vampire Coast is an interesting faction, isn't it? I couldn't get in to Vampire Counts, even though they have their strengths. I like a combined arms army, you know? Vampire Coast brings over some of the great things about the other VC, like raising the dead recruitment, which is really good when the campaign is sticky, and adds the whole pirate vibe. Vampire Coast doesn't have great infantry. The Depth Guards are good, but a really low unit count and no shields. They do the job, but I'd like a few more dudes in the formations. The Necrofex is fantastic, and the pirate lords are good. It's a diverse roster, but weaker than many factions I think. They shine though with campaign mechanics like pirate coves, the pirate ships, vampire corruption, recruitment. Perfectly viable as a tall faction, with the pirate coves, but in this one I expanded a bit, about 25 settlements, and most of Lustria. I mentioned how good the corruption is, to allow us to sit inside our borders snug as a bug.

Harkon is an awesome lord. Good spells, a kick ass gun, a fractured mind. The whole personality shift thing keeps you on your toes. I played this one in Vortex, and the objectives took a while to reach. Gaining the required Infamy took a while, and I finished the campaign on turn 236, which is longer than most Vortex runs I've done. Maybe the longest. Even though I think the roster isn't all that strong, unit to unit, the synergy of combining those different units, along with getting the whole army to max veterancy, allowed me to win the final battle, which is no joke, let me tell you. Because I went strong in to monstrous and monster units in Harkon's army, and with the Depth Guard having just 60 men, er, dead guys, I went in to the final battle with an army of less than 700. That's really puny. Especially when you consider what the enemy brought haha. We did get a handful of reinforcements, but man what a battle. Check out the attached screenshot. The Queen Bess artillery had 1023 kills!

Heroic victory, indeed smile

Attached Files VCFinal.jpg

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#4616180 - 12/09/22 02:05 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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With the Vampire factions you have the invocation of nehek spell. Not only does it do a bunch of healing to either a unit or area, but it raises the dead back up as well. Best healing spell in the game by a country mile. Mass up those skeletons, buff them with a hero or two and drop those healing spells. Then your cav, monsters, wind of death, or whatever else you have can just wreck them from the sides or back. It is really weak against armies with lots of artillery, so you have to be a bit more careful with the map placement and maybe hide some fast units that can blitz them.

And then the vampire coast is a bit more fun because you can throw your own artillery and ranged units into the mix.

#4616181 - 12/09/22 02:50 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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Yeah, like Queen Bess. I've played a hell of a lot of Total War down the years -- every main title now aside from the first two -- and I can't recall ever having a single unit exceed 1000 kills. Maybe it's happened and I just forget. But what a devastating weapon against massed formations.

You're right about Invocation of Nehek, which I used twice in that final battle and so some of those units look a lot healthier at the end than they might have. It was critical to winning this one I think. Plus the gunnery wight offers ammunition replenishment for the ranged units. Spells and abilities like Dead Eyes, Enchanted Ballistics, Extra Powder and More Powder all synergize so well with a ranged army. I'm hot and cold on installing heroes in my armies, for example as Skaven I rarely do. But for Vampire Coast it can be really strong, making those ranged units punch well above their weight. Those three artillery units, the Queen Bess and two mortars, accounted for 1600 kills. The battle was so mixed up that I had to remount the crews several times through the course of it. Get back on those guns you slackers.

That was a fun campaign, which I started back in 2019, and finished three years later smile

I've also played the Dreadfleet (Count Noctilus). I think if you want to play tall and just be a pirate this might be the better choice. Harkon starts with The Awakening as a settlement, so it made sense to take some territory as Vampire Coast. One thing about this run that I found interesting, is how well the AI Vampire Coast factions did. By the end they held 3/4 of Ulthuan including Lothern. They just smoked the High Elves. It was a tag team effort between Dreadfleet and Sartosa.


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#4616193 - 12/09/22 04:51 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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With Skaven it depends. Engineers increase movement speed of the army on the campaign map and when you add that to the underways those armies can really move. They also buff movement speed, range and damage of all weapons teams. Assassins are great at one on one fights against opposing heroes but will get butchered by anything else, but then they do add casualty replenishment. It's nice to have at least one of each of those in every army.
Packmasters get summons, they're not great but the ability to freely spawn a couple units to tie up units is great. Plus, if you're in a monster heavy army of mutant ogres and brood horrors, they give plenty of buffs to those. In an army like that I'll have 2 of them in it.
Sorcerers of Plague have some very powerful spells, Ruin is OK. I'll usually try to have at least one in an army, usually the lord commanding it.
If I do a weapons team army I'll sometimes have up to 6 heroes in it and the rest weapons teams. The heroes do the bulk of the fighting or summon troops to tie down the enemy army and the weapons teams and sorcerers rain death on everything.

I've had sieges in WH2 where poisoned wind mortars got over 1000 kills in a battle. And if you line things up right a vampire lord can do a couple wind of deaths and rack up 1000 kills easy.


And yeah, those gunnery wrights are mean and provide ammo and buffs to ranged units in those vampire coast armies. Always nice to have.

#4616252 - 12/10/22 01:48 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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Quite right wormfood. I'm not doubting their effectiveness, maybe it's more that I like my Skaven armies with a lot of rats. Mass over precision. I use them embedded occasionally as Skaven, but more typically as campaign map agents.

One of my long-term goals has been hitting 100 WH2 achievements. I always have to invent little goals like this to keep up the momentum. I sit at 98 after getting three Skaven ones last night. One I do not have is winning a campaign as Greenskins, so I kicked off a new campaign, hard/hard as Wurzag in Mortal Empires. I don't think I've played as Greenskins before aside from a few turns as Grom after his DLC was released. A bit of a perilous start position, and at war with four factions. The confederation mechanic is pretty cool. Defeat another faction leader and you get to confederate his faction. That makes wars go quickly, expansion is fast at the start. This only applies to other Greenskin factions I'm sure. Did this twice in the first five turns and boom, just like that, we went from one settlement to about seven. Of course I can't hope to defend all of that territory as I have no money. Dwarfs and Princes to the north and west. Vampires and Tomb Kings to the south and east.

Wurzag has bonuses to Savage Orcs. Not all that crazy about the roster. Melee defense is like a dirty word with these dudes. They are 'aggressive' which means good charge, melee attack and foot speed, but no armor and low defense. Wurzag grants 15% DR to these units, but only in his army. I think Grimgor might be more my style. Black Orcs are the type of infantry I like. I don't much care for the desert bias either. Not sure how far I'll get with this run. Have you guys played Greenskins? Which faction do you like most?

I've also never done a run as Beastmen, and I think I'll pick up the Silence and the Fury DLC for Taurox.


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#4616257 - 12/10/22 02:34 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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Lol, yeah that confederation mechanic is a double edged sword for sure. So tempting to just take it, but if you do you have a giant, undefended border. And since your armies often need to keep fighting it might be better in some instances to not take the confederation and drag them out to earn you a bit more xp and money from the fighting.
I don't think I've ever completed a run as the greenskins though. Started a few but never really got on well with them.

#4616262 - 12/10/22 04:20 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: wormfood]  
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Originally Posted by wormfood

I don't think I've ever completed a run as the greenskins though. Started a few but never really got on well with them.


Yeah, same, but I want to do, just to have done it. They don't seem to be my sort of thing, but there's value in that, stepping outside my zone and finding success anyway. And when it's all said and done I can at least know I played them all smile

The Taurox thing for example. His mechanics look to wreck. I mean, the way his momentum works is sick. It would be so far from my zone. But maybe that's the beauty of it?

Perhaps I'll try a start as each Greenskin lord, except Skarsnik probably, as he's completely fooked. Maybe get a feel and then go for a run. Finished an Ikit Claw Vortex run last night on, wait for it.... turn 160. Nuts.


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#4616326 - 12/11/22 02:11 AM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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I should have waited for a sale, but I bought the Silence and Fury DLC, because I just had to check out Taurox and the beastmen rework. It's Warhammer blitzkreig.

It's a Vortex run on hard/hard, and the Slaughterhorn Tribe is a horde that starts next to Venom Glade. And then you just raze the world. The game walks you through a bunch of explainer screens, covering all the beastmen mechanics, and there are quite a few. But the vibe is a rampaging horde that gets fantastic boosts to movement range and killing. As long as you keep on doing it. Even not knowing what I'm doing I killed off Karond Kar and razed like seven settlements inside the first six turns with just the starter army. Taurox is a beast haha.

So far I like this faction, especially the way you unlock items, gear, unit upgrades, tech and so on. Attila's the only TW title where I played a horde I liked, that was Ostrogoths, but these new beastmen are pretty sick. Still need to work out my favorite units, so I can focus the right horde buildings.

A razing horde is liberating, since you don't have to worry about defending anything but your armies, and I guess the herdstones. After clearing up Kar Karond, I turned north to hit Malekith and take him out before he can get started. Beating him in battle should give the trait to boost rading by 10% (though maybe it doesn't apply to beastmen) and grants frenzy. Taurox needs no help anyway, this dude wrecks. Sword of Khaine? Never used it ever, but with Taurox why not? He could probably solo sieges.

I think I might as well do a tour around the map, a big circle and just raze everything in the path. And while you can do this unfettered, there is an important mechanic tied to herdstones, which you plant in a settlement, creating a Blood Ground, and then gain currency by razing everything in that Blood Ground. Having done so you perform a Ritual of Ruin which grants new faction and other bonuses and the herdstone is returned and off you go to establish the next one. So the mechanics sort of tie you down for a short time to that region. Due to the insane movement, that won't be too long. A good human player could counter this I reckon, but the AI? Not sure about that, and with a top-tier army or two I think it might be a bit simples. But let's see.

I should have bought it on sale as I said not because of the ten bucks Silence and Fury costs, but because ten turns in it's time to recruit a second lord, and there are a few legendary lords you can recruit from the Warhammer 1 DLC that I never bought. So I had to buy that because Malagor apparently kicks as much ass as Taurox. And that DLC is twenty bucks! Bah, it's only money and together these two will kick some serious ass around the map.

Screenshot of my start. Look at all that devastation in just a few turns. There's one more razed town behind my army up top, and Hag Hall is the herdstone that created the Blood Ground which you then just go and wipe out. I think in the end I might feel like I want a bit more of a good game out of the AI, which many starts give you. Having looked over all of the skills, spells and upgrades I think this could be the sort of run you do when you just want to feel literally unstoppable. But I've only just started


Attached Files TauroxBlitz.jpg

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#4616353 - 12/11/22 07:29 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: wormfood]  
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Originally Posted by wormfood

I've had sieges in WH2 where poisoned wind mortars got over 1000 kills in a battle. And if you line things up right a vampire lord can do a couple wind of deaths and rack up 1000 kills easy.


I meant to address this before, but that's really good, especially with those Skaven mortars. I suppose part of the equation is which faction/race you're fighting, with some having much higher units counts than others. Like a campaign with Skaven enemies would give more opportunites for high kills counts than going against Beastmen or Chaos for example with their monster-heavy low count stacks.. I'm approaching 1200 hours in WH2 and of course I've used magic, but only now am I trying to do it right, focusing on it. Before I'd use native character spells and maybe drop a point here and there, or get items with spells on them. But that's never going to be all that effective even if some spells are OP regardless. I bet there are some spells I've skipped right over before that could have been big killers like the wind of death you mention.

Another thing I keep forgetting to post is while I was praising Vampire Coast earlier, their tech tree sort of sucks. Some good techs, but too many that award a single banner that can then be given to a single unit. Feels like a Warhammer 1 faction in the tech tree.

I'm about 60 turns in to the Taurox run and it's been fun, I'll call it Beastkreig. Wiped out Malekith, Hellebron, Alith Anar, Tretch, the Sisters of Twilight, Karond Kar and maybe a couple more. Speaking of magic, I'm not getting on with it well with the Slaughterhorn because my wizard heroes have very short range with their spells. The lores are good (Wild, Shadow, Death, Beasts), but with virtually no ranged units I find it difficult to use magic much as the lines are joined quickly. Wouldn't be a problem if the wizard had more range. But I don't want to march him out in to no man's land by himself to stand within the enemy's arcs. The melee heroes though are really good and I'm getting good results with those. The Lore of the Wild casters I have embedded can at least summon a cygor every battle.

Above, I was rather suggesting that some of Taurox's best mechanics were factionwide. But some, like the movement bonuses, are just for him. The other armies are considerably less powerful on the campaign map.

Recruitment works sort of like Tomb Kings, where you unlock new units and then unlock unit caps to be able to build more units, and new armies with better and better units. All recruitment is free, and there's no upkeep. Only new lords have a cost, paid in the Dread currency. As a result of this and the insane pace Taurox can maintain, his army is ridiculous already, stuffed with RoR's and top-tier dealers of death. I have three infantry units in Taurox's army, all RoR's, several monsters like the Cygor, and the rest are the excellent monstrous Minotaurs. With Taurox levelling up so quickly I was able to unlock his roster pretty fast, and with recruitment free it means I can try out all the units, and just swap in new ones if some fail to measure up. There's no regret to disbandment, as they're free (other than veterancy I guess) and the better ones can be given to another lord since his recruitment will be lagging behind. Taurox is level 30 after 60 turns. Minotaurs very quickly proved great performers so I've gone heavy on those units for Taurox.

My big circle plan was canceled when I realized I'm playing Vortex and not ME, so there's no Old World to wheel through. So I did a clockwise move through the northwest quadrant of the map and blitzed it all. This is a wild run. This is turn 55, and I'd be content with this as Malekith or someone over a whole Vortex campaign.


Attached Files Taurox60.jpg

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#4616428 - 12/12/22 03:57 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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The goal in the Taurox campaign is to reach 500 Marks of Ruination.

Any settlement you capture can become a herdstone. At the start you have one herdstone that can be planted, and as you progress the imperium-like Ruination bar you gain access to more.

When a herdstone is deployed, that settlement sets a Blood Ground, encompassing several adjacent regions, each with a value determined by how developed the settlement is. Tier four and five capitals might be worth 10 or 12 points, while minor settlements are worth four. Once the Blood Ground is established, you then raze the other settlements within it. Each one you raze contributes its points to the total. Once at least ten points are won in that Blood Ground, a Ritual of Ruin can be performed (you just click the button). The more completely you raze the settlements in the Blood Ground, the more Marks are obtained with the ritual.

So the campaign consists of identifying good prospects for becoming the herdstone location. Ruins settlements are worth zero points, only occupied settlements are worth anything. If you raze a town and get the points, and then it is reoccupied, you can raze it again for more points. Once you've done all you can in the region, perform the ritual, collect your Marks, and reclaim the herdstone to be used somewhere else. So far my Blood Grounds have ranged between 18 and 32 Marks. So to get to 500 that takes quite a bit of rampaging.

I'm about 100 turns in now, have half the required marks, and have just invaded Ulthuan from the sea on the north shore. Tor Anloc is my herdstone, and this Blood Ground is the best yet, worth 70 points if I can get it all. But the High Elves are united and strong, have no other enemies it seems and its a tough nut to crack. They have reacted strongly to our incursion. Taurox is a match for any army, but my other armies are less so. Each of my armies is led by a LL, but the recruitment mechanics mean they are mostly mid-tier units in those armies. Good supporting stacks, but not able to strike out alone like Taurox can.

One amazing ability Taurox has is his rampage and momentum mechanics. It is possible to have a never-ending turn. I've not done, but the possibility exists if things fall right. I read a reddit thread where one player finished the campaign in six turns by maximizing this ability. He fought 159 battles in six turns.

When Taurox fights battles and wins, he gains momentum. Momentum decays by -1 each turn. So to maintain momentum you have to keep fighting. Regions with close, occupied settlements and many armies are the fertile ground. As momentum builds it fills a Rampage meter. Once you hit the first tier of Rampage, Taurox gains the ability to restore all of his movement at the cost of two momentum. If conditions are right, that renewed movement can be used to fight yet more battles, gaining more momentum, which can then be spent once again on restoring movement. With the right conditions it could theoretically be used indefinitely. I already find his campaign strong, and while I have used this a few times to great effect, I'm not too fussed about ending it quickly. But it is an amazing ability that allows this lord to raze the world, and fast.


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#4616464 - 12/12/22 08:20 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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The wind of death can be done anywhere the opposing army has tons of enemies. Its is the single most powerful spell in the game. And if you overcast it...and it doesn't miscast, doubly so.
The skaven mortar racking up those kills only work on sieges, mostly attacking. So it doesn't happen against beastmen and chaos....maybe on defense but things are usually moving too much for that.

#4616546 - 12/13/22 03:34 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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Does Vampire Coast have it, or just the Counts? I probably was using it and didn't know what it was called. But I've never played a Counts campaign for long.

The Taurox run is done and dusted on turn 136. Having gotten accustomed to the mechanics when razing the northwest quadrant, we invaded Ulthuan and razed the whole island. For some crazy reason none of the High Elves were in any wars, aside from two with just Sartosa. So they could put their attention on us. But you don't stop Taurox. We razed 77 settlements. His army was ridiculous.

Field battles within a bloodground add to the marks points in addition to the settlements and we had one with 86 points. Ulthuan was a perfect target because there were so many armies, and close, well-developed settlements.

If you ever want to play a campaign where you just go postal, this is it. I like the concept of combined arms in Total War battles. This was not that. I had a nice mix of unit types, and tried to cover all the damage types like anti-large, AP and down the line. But every unit was a melee unit aside from two cygors (monsters who hurl boulders) and a wizard hero, who honestly I could have gone without. Another unit of minotaurs would have been better. But he leveled all the way up and so I kept him in the army to add some variety to the abilities on hand.

The beastmen roster is strong, There's vulnerability to missiles, as the faction has low armor and few shields. Only artillery is the cygor. I gave a run-out to every unit in the roster, but harpies and ranged cav I discarded, as well as most of the infantry. The jabberslythe too, whatever that thing is. Half the stack was minotaurs at the end, a mix of standard (anti-infantry), shielded (ranged defense) and great axe (anti-large). All are armor piercing, and I took the red-line skills for each lord to buff these in every army. Fantastic performers in 3D or AR. Using a monstrous and monster army is really effective because of the way damage is dealt by the enemy. The damage is spread around the unit, but it takes a while before one will fall. So even rushing a ranged stack will result in most units full strength but damaged when they hit their lines. And once you get cygors then the enemy comes to you of course.

Chaos corruption is as good as vampire corruption for keeping your borders snug, and it spread way faster too.

Not normally my sort of faction, but I can say that about quite a few of them, yet the game play, mechanics and unique things about them made for a fun campaign. It's too easy against the AI if I'm honest. If there were one faction I think I might be able to win a legendary campaign with it's the Slaughterhorn. And not just for how insanely strong Taurox's campaign and battle abilities are, but because a full stack of melee units requires less micro and with the battle restrictions in legendary, these armies would be easier to control.


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#4616554 - 12/13/22 04:19 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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Both vampire counts and coast should have wind of death. Look for a hero or lord with lore of vampires magic.
That also has the nehek heal spell. Be careful with the vampire coast though as some of the pirates and monsters aren't undead and can't be healed with it.

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NooJoyzee
My apologies, as I only just finished a VC run last week and some of the heroes had lore of vampires, so I was using this spell too, only not so effectively as you.

I've kicked off a h/h Grimgor ME run, and let's see how that goes. That was the closest Ive come to losing the patsy battle you start with in just about every campaign. Haven't played in this part of the map in a long time. Underways are gold. Speaking of which, I was surprised to find I couldn't use the beastpaths when we invaded Ulthuan in the Taurox run. Is this disabled here for all factions that have this mechanic? I know I was using world roots in the Sister of Twilight run I did to get there, but that's not the same thing. Is it because it's floating in the air?

Grimgor is a top duelist, or so everyone says. Queek just declared on me so let's see if that's true smile

The start position at Black Crag is a good one for a campaign because you have Dwarfs and Skaven, both of whom can use the underway, and which have very different sorts of army compositions. I reckon Lizards aren't too far away. Not much special about the faction as an Old World original, but I think could be a good campaign from an operational point of view, especially in Mortal Empires. Grab all the neighboring province capitals, like Karak Eight Peaks, then turtle up a bit until I can get better units. With enemies who can just jump under mountain ranges, you have to stay agile in defense.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4616647 - 12/14/22 01:39 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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DBond Offline
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NooJoyzee
What a start Grimgor has. Not just the Dwarfs and Skaven that I mentioned. There are High Elves nearby (but Snikch killed them off), Vampires, Border Princes, lots of Greenskin factions too. Lizards just over there. This could have been a hard start, with so many enemies close by, difficult terrain to maneuver in (even with the underway), and just a couple armies to cover it. But I felt lucky, that few of them managed to send a stack to attack us. Queek came by for a visit, but was trapped by my two armies as they converged and he was knocked off in the Iron Mine. It could have been far harder, but there was no apparent player bias here, and the fact that everyone in the region is in a half dozen wars seemed to help me get my footing. The combination of both Queek and Snikch could be real trouble. But they have other concerns as well and it has helped considerably.

The Black Crag region is a good spot for legendary lord farming. Grimgor already has the defeat trait from like eight of them. And he is indeed a good duelist, and even has a trait that debuffs lords he targets, called You're Next.

Not much in the Greenskins roster stands out. As an OG faction they're a bit vanilla. Black Orcs and Big 'Uns make up Grimgor's front line. A stand of Arrer Boyz back up the line. The cav is pretty good, I really like the goblin wolf riders archer units, and I'm usually ambivalent about ranged cav. But maybe my favorite unit is the Doom Diver Catapult. I never noticed in all the time I've spent with Warhammer 2 that these are guided artillery. Great unit. Artillery is usually hard to use against certain targets, like flying units, moving cavalry and other artillery. But the Doom Diver has no trouble since the rounds (actually goblins with wings strapped to them who scream and go whee! in flight) home on target. Like a Hellfire missile these things.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4616652 - 12/14/22 02:20 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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wormfood Offline
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How are those arrer boyz working for you? I find they're awful outside of the first several turns. I would almost rather just have more cav, catapults or frontline troops in their slot.

That's in WH2, right? If so, that's good. In WH3 Skarbrand starts out in that region and he wrecks everything in the area. It automatically makes everyone else in that starting location a bit harder.

#4616653 - 12/14/22 02:41 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: wormfood]  
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Originally Posted by wormfood
How are those arrer boyz working for you?


Inadequately? smile

Yeah, Waywatchers they are not, but they have AP at least. Low accuracy according to the unit card. Grimgor has three of them in his stack at the mo. They aren't great, but I always want some of this in my armies if I can get it. A little veterancy helps level them out.

Yes, I'm playing Mortal Empires. It loads faster and I'm hunting a few achievements. Hit 101 during that Taurox run, got those for winning a battle while outnumbered 10 to 1, razing 30 towns, and for winning a beastmen campaign. Even though I've played many runs in ME, it's still a unique experience each time and I noticed a new settlement to the west of Karaz-a-Karak. something Forest I think. A wood elves settlement? That's fairly new, right? Even after all these years, there is still some motion in that ocean. That they keep refreshing it is great.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4616727 - 12/15/22 01:16 PM Re: Total War : Warhammer (x) [Re: DBond]  
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Actually, the Arrer Boyz are a decent unit when fighting Skaven, which we've done a lot of in this run so far. They have decent armor, weapon strength and melee attack which means they are able to counter the menace below units the AI loves to spawn among your archer and artillery units. Not top killers, but they give greenskins some ranged capability, some AP and are able to look after themselves.

This has been a fun run. Snikch took too long to really put the pressure on me as they dealt with the Callendor High Elves. They expanded quite a bit,but once I rolled Grimgor and a second army in their direction they could do little about it. Snikch's stacks are weak, mostly Skavenslaves and Grimgor rolled right over them. Snikch is dead. We also killed off Karaz-a-Karak to secure our northern flank. Wurzag was getting his ass kicked by Border Princes, so I allied him just in time so he would agree to a confederation so I could have him in my faction. He had about 9 settlements at one point and then just a few turns later it seems he was down to two. So I got him before he was killed off. Border Princes haven't turned to me yet, which is a surprise, and it's allowed me to finish the eastern offensive while building up a waagh. Those guys have four full stacks somehow, but it's all empire trash so I think we can handle them.

The plan is to bring my eastern armies back to the western front, initiate the waagh and use those double armies to sweep Border Princes off the map. I've done one waagh so far and it is really strong. Timing's everything, so I'll be sure everyone's in the right jump off positions before firing it and the thing should go.

It wasn't goblin wolf riders that I like as I said, it's the spider rider version, and it's a RoR. But they're fun to use. I'm having a good time on this run, this is a great part of the map in Mortal Empires. The terrain makes it all that much more difficult, and it's such a mish mash of races.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
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