Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs review: a shot in Total War: Warhammer 3’s arm

For all its economic management, military operations and real-time tactics, Total War: Warhammer 3 has always been a game of spectacle as much as strategy. A rat ninja assassinates a camouflaged wood elf, a horse-sized frog swarms vampire zombie pirates, and a giant dinosaur headbutts his four-headed sea monster. But my favorite playable races have always been the ones that emphasize the strategic aspect. The first new race added to his trilogy in over two years, the Chaos Dwarves amplify strategy and cunning above all else. And they are an absolute blast.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been playing Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, the DLC that releases tomorrow with Update 3.0. Chaos Dwarfs (referred to as Chorfs or ChaD by members of the Total War community) are one of the more versatile options. warhammer 3real-time battlefields — they’re also a huge force in the game’s turn-based campaign layer. Their obsession with industry, volcano cannons, demon monsters, and hobgoblin cannon fodder makes for a decent foil against just about any enemy I’ve encountered. It has led to some of the most compelling mid-to-late-game campaigns in the roster.

My first attempt at Chorfs was in the Realms of Chaos campaign. warhammer 3A more guided, story-driven mode featuring a small portion of the Warhammer Fantasy world map. Each of his three Chorf factions, each with their own distinct buffs and abilities, build giant drills to burrow into the ground and draw Hashut’s blood (basically, named after their patron deity). material such as lava) must be utilized. Turns metal into molten goop with the slightest touch). Of course, they have to fight various other races that have their own game-winning objectives.(This is total war, not total peace.)

For my first try, I chose Zhatan the Black, a Legendary Lord of Chorf, and his faction allows for additional trade fleets and cheaper war machines. It’s become clear how adaptable it is. Their numerous artillery options (my favorite is Magma his cannon, which does exactly what you’d expect it to do) give defenders enough range to force them to attack. Only by closing the gap and bringing in their own short-range units can they survive the battle.

Soon after, Chouf’s gunpowder unit found itself to be a true dual threat, a brutal one-two punch of long-range ax rifles and close-quarters dodgebass. And their K’daai units (basically demon-like beings trapped in massive metal armor frames) are capable of facing off against some of the most intimidating melee monsters in the game. increase. Add to this their cheap Hobgoblin units and you have a very solid front to keep the enemy at bay while the elite units attack at will.There are few Chorv on the battlefield Can not do.

Here are the issues: Getting the full potential of the Chorf roster can be tricky. In Warhammer his fantasy lore, the Chaos Dwarves are a race in decline who rely on hobgoblin workers to fuel their militaristic and industrial pursuits. To reflect this, the developer’s Creative Assembly limits the number of real Chaos Dwarves, War Machines, and monsters that can be deployed at once. If you want to increase this population cap, you’ll need to balance several different types of settlements, currencies, and trading options. In the early turns, your army will consist mostly of expendable hobgoblins. The result is a foot race that requires you to plan your early turns wisely in order to later steamroll an entire swath of the map.

Image: Creative Assembly/Sega via Polygon

These considerations kept my Realms of Chaos campaign fresh past 50 turns. That’s when Chorf’s economics really started to pay off. As the de facto armorer for the evil factions of Warhammer Fantasy, Chofu can send weapons convoys to various locations around the map. If they return safely from their destination, in return he receives building materials, workers, or gold.

And much like when you play the Grand Cathay, the Chinese mythology-inspired faction that introduced this fleet system, Chofu’s guard forces slowly amass a mishmash of different units as they travel. Around turn 60, it was a joy to battle hobgoblins, chaos dwarves, mythical sea monsters, war mammoths, a jovial band of Viking-esque berserkers and random ambushes. I believe what I said about Chorfs is more about strategy than spectacle.

The Chouf family also has diplomatic concerns. Using your political clout, each of the three Chouf factions can occupy seats in the Tower of Zaar. Each seat offers a unique stat buff or troop ability. I gravitated toward seats that increase weapon output to raise the aforementioned population cap for my most powerful units. I took it away.

Image: Creative Assembly/Sega

However, there is also a problem here. Zahl’s Tower has four levels, each with increasingly powerful advantages. The only way to unlock each new level is to fill all his two seats out of his three “districts” in the previous level.This kind of thing happens a lot Helps maintain friendly, or at least polite, diplomatic relations with the other two factions more quickly when all three Chorf factions are taking up seats. However, using additional political clout, take away seats of other factions.

This is a process that can only be described as a toxic addiction. It brings to mind the fragile alliance of Kendall, Siobhan and Roman Roy. Inheritance Season 4. As a united unit, they have much more capital at their disposal and will be together for the long term (to be clear, set aside a lot of insecurities, unresolved trauma, and sadistic obsessions). ). Media becomes a powerful force in the stratosphere. But of course, the ultimate goal is unique power. Just as they secretly used each other to usurp Machiavellian power, I used his two other Chorf Lords to unlock the final level of Tower of Zharr. As soon as it was opened, I cut all ties and moved my troops to the Allies’ doorstep, wiping them off the map.

base game campaign and immortal empire game mode. And while they’ll likely get their fair share of nerfs and minor reworks in the coming months, we’re confident they’re one of the most consistently engaging races in the sprawling world of Total War: Warhammer. Their military is flexible, their economy is robust, and their political mind game makes the campaign interesting all the way to triple-digit turns. As with the Warhammer fantasy world additions to this digital facsimile, their presence will have ripple effects on the future of the game. As always, I’m excited to see what happens next.

Total War: Warhammer 3 The Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC will be released on Windows PC on April 13th. This game was reviewed using a pre-release download code provided by Sega. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.