Total War: Warhammer 3 has released, sporting eight new playable factions and a glorious new campaign. This campaign allows players control over the terrors of the north that are the Chaos Lords, including the fierce and bloodthirsty Khorne faction.
The Exiles of Khorne faction is a hard hitting rampaging behemoth that, if used properly, can cause devastating waves of destruction across the entire campaign map. The Khorne faction is fairly mechanically simple compared to other Chaos factions, thus making it a very good introduction faction to the game as players can easily see themselves dominating through powerful infantry and monstrous horrors in the battle for the Realms of Chaos in Total War: Warhammer 3.
Starting the Campaign & General Strategy
Starting a new campaign, players will note that the Khorne faction has only one Legendary Lord, the Bloodthirster Skarbrand. The Exile of Khorne faction effects include:
- Armies replenish in foreign territory
- Diplomatic relations: -20 with Khornate factions
- Campaign movement range: +25% after razing a settlement (all characters)
The defining strategy for the Exiles of Khorne is going to be killing, killing, and more killing as, of course, they serve the Chaos God Khorne, who demands blood and skulls. The Khorne faction starts at war with many surrounding neighbors, so it will be in the best interest of the player to immediately begin crushing all those around them. Khorne is not a diplomatic faction in any regard, so they should not be treated as such. Players will need to be constantly on the offensive, moving their armies through sweeping campaigns around the map.
To fuel this wave of destruction, the Exile of Khorne faction pulls from a secondary resource from Favor, that being Skulls.Generating Skulls will be of the utmost importance to the long run of the campaign. The Exile of Khorne faction is highly incentivized to roam the lands scorched earth-style, pillaging and razing every settlement they see, as their faction features generate Skulls and another feature called Bloodletting for doing so.
Bloodletting will allow the player to spawn Blood Host armies, which will begin taking attrition immediately, but this of course can be mitigated by further conquest as winning battles and killing foes generates Growth and reinforces the army.
Players will note that, as long as they have a settlement in the province, any of the other settlements that the player razes will, over time, fall under control of Khorne simply by osmosis. Players should then follow this process:
1. Raze settlements, generate Skulls and Bloodletting
2. Spawn Blood Hosts that can move in-tandem with the main force
3. Move on to the next, and repeat
Eventually this should see the player with enough resources to support more and more armies for exponential conquest as settlements slowly fall under control, and Skulls pile for the Skull Throne.
Units
More than anything else, the powerhouse of the Khorne army will be derived from its powerful Lord and Heroes, and the infantry and monsters.
Players of Khorne will want to sport this heavy infantry build, but may note that Khorne lacks any dedicated ranged units.
To mitigate this, having some supporting cavalry in the form of Warhounds and Skullcrushers or Chaos Furies to work around the frontline and harass these units will be essential.
Lord and Heroes
Skarbrand
Skarbrand's special abilities include Wrathful Reaper, which keeps the daemon lord undeterred by distraction as it pummels a chosen unit until it is absolutely decimated; and Rage Embodied, which will throw all surrounding units into a murderous rampage.
Skarbrand should be used as the main pillar of the frontline, as he absolutely crushes any unit foolish enough to engage him. Combined with infantry at his flanks to support and maintain the frontline, he will be virtually unstoppable.
Exalted Bloodthirsters and Heralds
These serve as the secondary lords to Skarbrand.
Exalted Bloodthirsters can essentially be treated as a slightly weaker Skarbrand, supporting the frontline in heavy sustained combat. The Exalted Bloodthirsters can also fly, so pulling them away from one end of the frontline and flying them over to engage with another side that may be faltering can be a highly effective strategy.
Heralds should be treated as if they are super Bloodletters. They are more than capable of charging in the frontline and staying in for long sustained combat. Since they are an individual unit, it may be more challenging to pull them away from a fight, so players should plan on committing them to one particular spot on the line, generally.
Cultist of Khorne and Bloodreaper
Both of these units should be used similarly to the Heralds. They can be used a lot more liberally, considering they aren't lords who will rout the army if they pass.
That said, however, they should not just be used as throwaway fodder, as they are powerful units capable of maintaining or supporting the frontline. They should be used in-tandem with infantry to cut down the opposition, or as back line fighters ready to jump in and support faltering units.
Infantry
All the Chaos God factions are highly specialized, and it is the infantry that is the backbone of the Khorne army. Just about all of their units are incredibly powerful anti-infantry capable of devastating any unit that troubles themselves with sustained combat.
They should be wary of flanks from cavalry, and, most importantly, they need to stay out of the way of any ranged units. They will simply chew them up with no real method of countering.
A good strategy when engaging the frontline would be initially smashing in with the Chaos Warriors, as they are more than capable of maintaining a defense with their powerful armor. They will be the spine of the line.
As combat becomes sustained, the player should then introduce Bloodletters into the wave. These will support the Chaos Warriors directly with their high attack as they begin systematically wiping units that are distracted by the armored ones. Used in combination, this frontline will be virtually unstoppable from any other infantry units in long sustained combat.
Cavalry, Chariots, and Flying Units
To support this frontline, it will be essential that the player includes some cavalry, chariot, or flying units in their roster, as they will be able to quickly maneuver around the battlefield to prevent cavalry charges coming in to the frontline flanks, or to harass archers trying to melt the line down.
This is likely the most mechanically complex part of using the Khorne army on the battlefield, as much of their strategy is simply pushing units into combat. This will see the player needing to micromanage slightly, but nowhere near as necessary as the Seducers of Slaanesh faction.
Considering Khorne's infantry is suited best for sustained combat unlike the Seducer's weaker units and flankers, they are easy to give orders to and then forget while focusing on the cavalry.
It is generally wise to use the Warhounds against squishier targets, like enemy ranged and light cavalry, while using the Skullcrushers as flankers against enemy infantry.
Monsters
The Exiles of Khorne have access to a load of various monsters, though generally they can all be used similarly as supporters of the frontline and counters to large units.
Units like the Minotaurs should be introduced last to the frontline as a powerful charging force, capable of destroying the enemy's morale and only adding to the death ball that is a Khorne frontline. Similarly, the Soulgrinder can be used as a counter to enemy Heroes or Lords, or against other monstrous foes.
The Exiles of Khorne are a hardened and dangerous faction, capable of chewing up any unfortunate soul who finds themselves stuck in the meat grinder that is their frontline. Incredibly powerful infantry and monsters will dominate as the player marches across the campaign map.
Though heavily lacking in the ranged department, savvy players will counter this weakness with savage hound units capable of devouring squishy archers and light cavalry with quick flyers that can harass and stall. Using these general tactics, players should see their enemies fleeing in terror as blood flows for the Blood God, and Skulls pile generously for the Skull God.
Total War: Warhammer 3 is now available for PC.
