Total War WARHAMMER II – Warriors of Chaos Campaign Guide and Tips

This guide is made for Total War WARHAMMER II. There’s been a big update for Total War WARHAMMER III, especially for the Warriors of Chaos faction. I haven’t had the chance to play as WoC in Total War WARHAMMER III yet. The purpose of this guide is to help you easily and quickly conquer the WoC campaign.

Basic Mechanics

Warriors of Chaos are only available in Mortal Empires; they don’t have a Vortex Campaign. Archaon the Everchosen is a great starting lord due to his armywide 5% Ward Save and a 50% bonus to income from razing settlements. Archaon becomes even more powerful as he levels up, although Kholek and Sigvald are strong right from the beginning. You can choose any of them to start with, and the others can be unlocked during your campaign.

Here’s how to unlock each lord:

• To Unlock Archaon: Sacrifice 10 sets of captives after a battle.
• To Unlock Kholek: Construct a Dragon Ogre Gathering.
• To Unlock Sigvald: Awaken 4 Norscan Tribes (see Awakening the Tribes section).

For this guide, let’s assume you choose Archaon.

TECHS

Start by researching The Path to Ruination right away. Once that’s done, move on to Rituals of Corruption. Make sure to also research Erection of Ruinous Monuments to maximize your Razing income. The goal is to have enough money to research the top line technologies as soon as possible. Unless you’re facing a serious income problem, prioritize unlocking the top row of techs to maximize growth for all your armies.

The top row techs are ADDITIVE, meaning, once Daemonic Pact is researched, you’ll continuously get +15 Growth for ALL armies. After finishing the top row techs, focus on the Razing Income techs and Infernal March. The remaining choices are flexible; once you have the recommended armies, you’ll be overwhelmingly powerful, so the specifics don’t matter too much.

GROWTH

On each Lord, prioritize maxing out the Campaign (Blue) Line skill “Tribes of Chaos” for the +5 Growth. Your first task using Growth is to upgrade your Encampment (Main Horde building) to Tier 5, “Ruinous Host,” granting an additional +5 Growth.

After maximizing all sources of +Growth, hover over the word Growth in the “Horde Growth” panel above the lord portrait in the lower left of your screen. You should see:

• Technologies 15
• Core 5
• Characters 5

“Core” represents the growth from your Encampment building, “Characters” is the growth from the “Tribes of Chaos” skill, and “Technologies” come from Tech. Your objective is to get a new lord to Rank 5 for Tribes of Chaos and then level up your Encampment building to “Ruinous Host.” Combined with the +15 Growth from Daemonic Pact, this will result in your lord having +25 Growth every turn, leading to a Population Surplus every turn and an extra Population Surplus every 4 turns. At max growth, Sigvald will have +28 Growth due to his trait.

Maximizing growth is crucial to acquiring as much Population Surplus as possible. Each building costs Population Surplus, and the cost increases within a specific horde with each new horde building constructed. Additionally, creating a new horde raises the cost of a new horde by 4 Population Surplus.

Awakening the Tribes

To awaken the tribes, you need to win battles against settlements in specific provinces. Here’s a breakdown of the tribes and their corresponding provinces:

• Aesling: Win a battle against a settlement in the Mountains of Hel province.
• Baersonling: Win a battle against a settlement in the Goromandy Mountains province.
• Graeling: Win a battle against a settlement in the Helspire Mountains province.
• Sarl: Win a battle against a settlement in the Trollheim Mountains province.
• Skaeling: Win a battle against a settlement in the Ice Tooth Mountains or Vanaheim Mountains provinces.
• Varg: Win a battle against a settlement in the Mountains of Naglfari province.
• Mung: Win a battle against a settlement in the Ironfrost Glacier province.
• Aghol: Win a battle against a settlement in the Aghol Wastelands province.

Note that the province belonging to the Kraka Drak dwarf faction does not have any tribes to awaken.

Walkthrough – 12 Turns to Raze Kislev

Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough for the first six turns, aiming to raze Kislev in 12 turns:

Turn 1: Research The Path to Ruination. Head towards Baersonling’s Camp, ensuring you have 25% movement left. Encamp and recruit 2 Marauder Horsemen. End Turn.

Turn 2: Research Rituals of Corruption. Move next to Baersonling’s Camp with 25% movement remaining. Encamp and recruit 2 Marauder Horsemen. End Turn.

Turn 3: Declare War on Goromadny Tribe. Attack Baersonling’s Camp, win, and Awaken the Tribe, making them your vassals. Move towards Frozen Landing, keeping 25% movement, and Encamp. Recruit 2 Marauder Horsemen. End Turn.

Turn 4: Attack Frozen Landing. You can manually fight or auto-resolve (preferably saving your stronger units). Loot & Raze. Research The Lure of Dark Promises. No further actions this turn. End Turn.

Turn 5: Resume researching Rituals of Corruption. Moving towards Sjoktraken may reveal Throt the Unclean, who might take it. Instead, go south, Encamp, and recruit 2 Marauder Horsemen. Order Baersonlings to attack Sjoktraken. End Turn.

Turn 6: Move towards Volksgrad, recruiting 2 Marauder Horsemen. Cancel the Baersonlings’ order to attack Sjoktraken. End Turn.

Turn 7: The Baersonlings settled Frozen Landing, making them a better vassal. Your army now comprises 19 units: Archaon, Chosen GW, 4 Chaos Warriors, 1 Chaos Spawn, and 12 Marauder Horsemen. Attack Volksgrad, preferably manually to minimize casualties. Alternatively, auto-resolve with potential damage. Loot & Raze, leaving no further actions. End Turn.

Turn 8: Research Erection of Ruinous Monuments. Move towards Praag and Encamp. Recruit a final unit of Marauder Horsemen. Build the Tier 2 Encampment “Tribal Gathering.” End Turn.

Turn 9: The defending army at Praag might have moved away. Attack Praag manually. Deploy Chaos Spawn on the left, keep Marauder Horsemen behind Archaon, and advance. Focus Archaon and Chaos Warriors on the gate. Once the gate is down, have Marauder Horsemen and Chaos Spawn engage from the left. Use Archaon’s abilities to support the Chaos Warriors. Target spearmen initially, then switch to swordsmen and crossbowmen. If executed well, victory should come without losses. Loot & Raze Praag. No additional actions. End Turn.

Turn 10: Depending on the situation, move towards Kislev or Fort Ostrosk. If Fort Ostrosk is under siege by Beastmen, consider Kislev. Encamp and build the Tier 3 Encampment Warband of Chaos. End Turn.

Turn 11: Move towards Kislev, finding it undefended. Get close, Encamp, and combine and recruit Marauder Horsemen as needed. End Turn.

Turn 12: Kislev remains undefended at Tier 2 with a full 20-stack army. Some units are slightly damaged, but overall your army is in good shape. Despite considering healing and ending the turn, doing so allows Kislev to upgrade to Tier 3, bolstering its garrison. Instead, opt to attack now. Kislev’s L-shaped wall layout allows for strategic positioning. Place Archaon, Chaos Warriors, and Spawn at the L corner, and position Marauder Horsemen along one length of the wall. Start the battle, rushing Archaon and Chaos Warriors to the nearest gate. The AI focuses on Marauder Horsemen. Have them run along the wall. Archaon and allies break the gates and engage the enemy. Since there are no spearmen, send in Marauder Horsemen to assist in overwhelming the defenders. Victory is achievable by leveraging your numerical advantage. Loot & Raze. With enough money, research Unholy Communion. End Turn.

Turn 13: Research Erection of Ruinous Monuments again. Move south below Kislev to avoid Ostland, which is likely to attack and colonize Kislev. Recruite replacement forces as needed. End Turn.

Turn 14: Ostland colonizes Kislev. Attack and destroy them. Regular Raze for +10 Growth. End Turn.

Turn 15: Move south, Encamp, and recruit reinforcements. End Turn.

Turn 16: Loot & Raze Fort Jakova. End Turn.

Easy Mode for Short Campaign Victory

The objective is to Raze or Sack 50 settlements, destroy the Reikland and Couronne factions, and unlock all three Legendary Lords. Build their hordes up to Tier 5, construct Lightning Grounds, and fill their armies with Dragon Ogres or Dragon Ogre Shaggoths. The ultimate goal is world domination, starting with Couronne. It’s crucial to eliminate Couronne before they potentially confederate with other Bretonnian factions in The Southlands, which could complicate the campaign.

Each Lord should prioritize acquiring the Lightning Strike skill and proceed based on your preference. Avoid going down Sigvald’s Unique line unless planning to exclusively use Legendary Lords, as his first Unique skill increases the cost of normal lords by 25%. Archaon should lead an army of Dragon Ogre Shaggoths with key buildings like Lightning Grounds, Pillar of Skulls, and Reliquary of Chaos.

Kholek’s army should consist of Dragon Ogres (with free upkeep) and essential buildings like Lightning Grounds and Pillar of Skulls, effectively making the army almost free. Consider adding a Lore of Fire Chaos Sorcerer to deal with large enemy formations.

Sigvald’s army should include Dragon Ogre Shaggoths, possibly supplemented with 1-2 Lore of Fire Chaos Sorcerers for the Burning Head spell to handle enemy blobs.

Heroes can be added to armies as desired. However, recruiting heroes other than the one obtained from the early campaign event is discouraged within the first 20 turns. This early hero can be stationed in Baersonling’s Camp to complete quests. Heroes tend to be time-consuming to level up and manage, and the campaign can be completed quickly without heavily relying on them. Consider using heroes for scouting and assassination purposes.

Legendary Lord Quests

Important note: For every quest to unlock the battle, the previous step involves moving any character to Baersonling’s Camp region or Goromadny Mountains province. Therefore, recruiting a hero and having them stay in that area is crucial if completing these quests is a priority for you.

Archaon the Everchosen

Recruitment: Choose Archaon as your Starting Legendary Lord or Sacrifice 10 sets of captives after battles.

1. The Slayer of Kings (Available at rank 8)

I. Build a Chaos Warshrine in one of your Hordes (doesn’t have to be in Archaon’s).
II. Research the Unholy Communion technology.
III. Move any character (Lord or Hero) to the Baersonling’s Camp region.
IV. Win the battle: The Slayer of Kings.

2. The Armour of Morkar (Available at rank 13)

I. Have 1 Chaos Knights (Lancer) unit in Archaon’s army.
II. Have 15,000 Favor at the start of your turn.
III. Deploy any Hero in the Baersonling’s Camp region.
IV. Win the battle: The Armour of Morkar.

3. The Eye of Sheerian (Available at rank 18)

I. Have 10,000 Favor at the start of your turn.
II. Deploy a Chaos Sorcerer in the Goromadny Mountains province.
III. Win the battle: The Eye of Sheerian.

4. The Crown of Domination (Available at rank 23)

I. Sack or Raze 3 (different) settlements.
II. Move any character (Lord or Hero) to the Baersonling’s Camp region.
III. Win the battle: The Crown of Domination.

Kholek Suneater

Recruitment: Choose Kholek as your starting Legendary Lord or construct the Dragon Ogre Gathering building.

1. Starcrusher (Available at rank 8)

I. Have a Chaos Sorcerer embedded in Kholek’s Horde.
II. Deploy a Chaos Sorcerer in the Goromandy Mountains province.
III. Win the battle: Starcrusher.

Prince Sigvald the Magnificent

Recruitment: Choose Sigvald as your starting Legendary Lord or Awaken 4 different Norscan Tribes throughout the Campaign.

1. Sliverslash (Available at rank 8)

I. Using Sigvald’s army, defeat 3 enemy armies or garrisons.
II. Successfully Assassinate any Lord of a Norscan faction.
III. Have a Chaos Warshrine built in one of your Hordes (Doesn’t have to be Sigvald’s).
IV. Deploy any hero in the Baersonling’s Camp region.
V. Win the battle: Sliverslash.

2. Auric Armour (Available at rank 13)

I. Have 2 Chosen (Great Weapons) in Sigvald’s army.
II. Embed a Chaos Sorcerer in Sigvald’s army.
III. Deploy a Chaos Sorcerer in the Goromadny Mountains province.
IV. Win the battle: Auric Armour.