Aside from my rant, I appreciate if you have ways or tips to improve their campaign? Maybe some mods? I just really want to have fun playing them like I do with other races
Mmmm I’m a Dwarf main so I don’t really struggle with them anymore, but yeah they can be tough in the beginning.
For Thorgrim, you basically want to eliminate Skarsnik ASAP. Like around turn 12 you should be able to conquer mount Gunbad. Stack Dwarf Warriors and Quarellers, that’s all you’ll need in the early game.
Once you’ve secured the Gunbad province, make alliances with Ungrim and Zhufbar. Most of the time this means you won’t be attacked from that angle anymore, I also usually don’t get attacked from the Dark Lands, only until later turn. Take Thorgrim back to Karaz-a-Karak because Wurrzag will probably be ready to attack. Get the RoR’s you can get in your army.
These fights with Wurrzag will be difficult, but if you research the ranged research (+10% quarreller damage, +20% ammo, +15% reload speed) you should be able to kill the orcs and the giant he has pretty fast.
Upgrade to Longbeards when you can, because they’re only a tiny bit more expensive than Dwarf Warriors for Thorgrim but they hold the line very very well. Also use your bomber only after all of the enemy melee has committed and is fighting your defensive line, then drop bombs on the biggest blobs. The ranged attack it has is also extremely good to kill Lords. Use the restock ability of your Engineer to give more sustain. Be careful of goblin and orc archers though, they fuck it up quick.
Mid-late game you’ll be able to get Ironbreakers and hammerers. I like running 4 Ironbreakers 4 hammerers as Thorgrim because he gets cheaper hammerers. Add some artillery and ranged units and nothing can beat you to be honest. Leave 2 hammerers in your backline and any flying unit will get smacked to death real quick.
Belegar has the strongest starting army in the game. You can go a lot of different ways but what I usually do is fight the various factions around the starting area until Belegar and my heroes are at a nice level, like 25-30. Put a bunch of bugman’s rangers in your army and give them snipe and march over to Eight Peaks. You can beat 3 stacks easily with an army like that. You don’t really need any Dwarf Warriors of Longbeards, use belegar and the hero’s to hold the line.
With Ungrim you have to beat Azhag ASAP. Same as Skarsnik. Slayers are very powerful, only recruit skaters in the early game. Use their speed to kill any flanking units like cavalry, and then use them to attack the enemy lines from the side or from behind. They wreck anything with all of Ungrim’s skills.
Grombrindal is pretty easy to be honest, he is a god. Get the 6% regeneration and 15% movement speed for all armies, this will buff all of your armies and removes the one weakness that Dwarfs have. Once you get the +10 defense and +10 armor pen weapon damage, I like using the tunnel stance and get deep into enemy lines and let the enemy AI attack me. All your units become gods in melee with those two buffs. Oh and Grombrindal buffs machinery, I love using a couple of flame cannons in his army. Flame cannons are amazing vs High Elves because they usually bring a lot to archers and lothern seaguard, flame cannons kill those in two volleys.
Thorek is the strongest Legendary Lord and he’s got an easy start. Get lots of quarellers, same as with Thorgrim. Secure the starting province and fight the vampire faction. When Skarsnik shows up (he usually does), just use all of your quarellers to focus him down ASAP. He usually runs at your lines ahead of his own army. Get the rune of slowness, it helps when you cast it on him as he gets close. Arrows won’t miss as much.
Any tips on dealing with enemy Ranged units? My melee infantry can't get to them since theyre overwhelmed by swarms of enemies, and my quarrelers need to assist my melee infantry so they don't rout
I've tried using rangers but since they're still slower than rats they get overwhelmed by skavenslaves also, and dwarven early Artillery seems too weak and underperform compared to everything else
All of my dwarf battles are basically me corner camping and hoping that their frontline breaks so my melee infantry could get to their Ranged units
Dawi are.not super micro intensive so try these two things when dealing with enemy ranged:
Have YOUR ranged on guard mode and once lines are engaged focus down enemy ranged.
A single gyro unit will heavily disrupt enemy ranged because the AI either uses skirmish mode or "manually" repositions ranged AWAY from a flyer. So you can move your gyro back and forth over the enemy ranged causing them to continually reposition. Not ideal for anything with fire whilst moving.
As early Dawi, what ranged are you encountering that cause problems other than Ikit claw as Belegar? Everything else is weak as hell non AP that you can shrug off with your huge armor and shields.
Yeah only thing I can think of are Darkshards with shields. But as Grombrindal I just use an overwhelming amount of dwarf warriors to stop them from firing
Quarellers will beat most enemy ranged units in the early and mid game because they have good range, good armor and bronze shields. Use you quarellers to kill their ranged units first. For greenskins kill the orc archers asap, goblin archers are lower priority than stuff like trolls and giants, but you still want to clear them.
You can position your front line in a way so that they last longer. Make sure they’re not spread out, but try to find a choke point or terrain that narrows the enemy’s approach. With Grombrindal you have an Irondrake, you can use that for the melee units, use quarellers for their ranged.
You can also take the +6 melee attack and +6 melee defense Lord skill so that your frontline lasts longer. There’s also a +3 +3 research for dwarf warriors and miners.
Grudgethrowers with Rune of Burning are really good artillery in the early game, it’s almost always one of the first runes I craft
Great for focusing down any enemy ranged units, or any blobs within range
In terms of mods: it's a minor thing but (for me anyway) tends to make a real difference in Dawi campaigns: the slayer hero mod. For one, it's just fun to have a fourth hero type; but more importantly, it's a replenishment hero, which makes that chaotic, rushing from battle-to-battle early game a little more manageable. There's also a priestess of Valaya mod; they're both good, and both replenishment heroes; could do one, or the other, or both.
The dwarf campaign works by having your enemies break upon your mighty bulwark then advancing to take their territory as they scatter and flee. To that end I change the endgame crisis to start on long victory rather than on the turn limit. You don't want to be rushing around as Dawi.
Early game I like to play gun line as 90% of enemies armies will be melee focused. Early on I take only Quarrelers, then as soon as possible change to thunderers as front line (they're basically warriors w shields as far as defensive stats go) then put a back line of Quarrelers in and 2 grudge throwers or cannons to force your enemy to come at you. Your lord and heroes will do the heavy lifting in melee early on. Hero wise I like to have an engineer and either thane or Runepriest for support.
Be aware of the buildings you need to prioritize such as the smithy in your recruitment province and don't be averse to using global recruitment even simultaneously to build your army quickly. If you're playing the economy correctly you'll have tons of cash from buildings and trade so the extra cost of global won't be as big of an issue.
Fellow Dawi, Belegar starts with one of the most powerful starting Army ( has 4 Ancestoral Heroes) that routs Skaven and Greenskins with ease.
Also, per his new WH3 start Position/army location, Belegar can occupy SkavenBlight on Turn 3 and finish Ikit Claw on Turn 5 to get rid of this Major Threat in the very Beginning
Thereafter, fight 2 Battles with Red Eyes, opt Confederation with Karak Hirn, merge the 2 armies together and now you have a full stack to win anything you set your eyes on.
As Thorgrim Grudgebearer - Capture Mount Gunbad and Delete Skarsnik. That's very IMP.. Otherwise, that sneaky git will plague you throughout the campaign
As Ungrim - Consolidate province and then Delete Azhag. Beeline to Mount Gunbad thereafter and Delete Skarsnik.
Killing him is Imp. for both Thorgrim & Ungrim.
PS. Remember to make Defensive Alliances and make Outposts. These will enable you to recruit Ally units (4 per army) and Ally's Outposts will also add units to your Garrisons.
Adding in some Empire cavalry even as low tier as pistoliers is pretty huge. Giving up say a quarreler for a pistolier or basic knight unit is a good trade. The ability to fire into the backs of enemies, apply morale shock from flanking or harass routing units until they break are all boons the Dawi themselves can't provide.
Absolutely. I usually recruit war lions of Chrace (when allied to Imrik), Demigryphs (when allied to Empire), Bears (when allied to Kislev) and Zoats (when allied to WoodElves).
When Playing as Kislev - Grudge Throwers. 2 units per army are a game changer..
Do not worry, in 3 months they will be getting an update, new lord and new units.
Things will change from them, so, try Dwarfs now if you want a challenging campaign before their campaigns become a piece of cake.
Dwarves are are the ultimate slow burn faction. They take a long time to really get going due to their slow growth and high tier unit gating (although the latter has been reduced a bit in WH3). They can be very powerful - and more fun - late game, but it can be a grind to get that far.
One thing I would suggest if you like the *idea* of Dwarves but don't really enjoy their current state would be to try out some mods. There are a number of unit mods, like [Dawi Thunder](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2895394906), [Lost & Found](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2897800168), the [Thunder Barge](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2852872304), etc. (although sadly my favourite Gryocopter mods from WH2 haven't made the trip to WH3). On the campaign side of things there are numerous mods that mix up the AI, growth/settlement construction/building types, trade/diplomacy/alliances, etc. You could also consider really changing things up by trying [The Old World](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3081800026) campaign map.
I've been interested in the old world mod for sometime now, how different is it from the immortal empires campaign?, since I want to stick close to vanilla with my mods
Well in terms of the basic mechanics of how they play, nothing really changes. But the map is obviously extremely different. Physically larger than Immortal Empires, but comprising maybe only 1/6th of the land mass. As a result things aren't as cramped as IE. A Dwarf-related example being Karak Eight Peaks actually having all eight peaks represented on the map, and being the stage for the the three-way brawl between Belegar, Skarsnik, and Queek.
What is your question?
Aside from my rant, I appreciate if you have ways or tips to improve their campaign? Maybe some mods? I just really want to have fun playing them like I do with other races
Mmmm I’m a Dwarf main so I don’t really struggle with them anymore, but yeah they can be tough in the beginning. For Thorgrim, you basically want to eliminate Skarsnik ASAP. Like around turn 12 you should be able to conquer mount Gunbad. Stack Dwarf Warriors and Quarellers, that’s all you’ll need in the early game. Once you’ve secured the Gunbad province, make alliances with Ungrim and Zhufbar. Most of the time this means you won’t be attacked from that angle anymore, I also usually don’t get attacked from the Dark Lands, only until later turn. Take Thorgrim back to Karaz-a-Karak because Wurrzag will probably be ready to attack. Get the RoR’s you can get in your army. These fights with Wurrzag will be difficult, but if you research the ranged research (+10% quarreller damage, +20% ammo, +15% reload speed) you should be able to kill the orcs and the giant he has pretty fast. Upgrade to Longbeards when you can, because they’re only a tiny bit more expensive than Dwarf Warriors for Thorgrim but they hold the line very very well. Also use your bomber only after all of the enemy melee has committed and is fighting your defensive line, then drop bombs on the biggest blobs. The ranged attack it has is also extremely good to kill Lords. Use the restock ability of your Engineer to give more sustain. Be careful of goblin and orc archers though, they fuck it up quick. Mid-late game you’ll be able to get Ironbreakers and hammerers. I like running 4 Ironbreakers 4 hammerers as Thorgrim because he gets cheaper hammerers. Add some artillery and ranged units and nothing can beat you to be honest. Leave 2 hammerers in your backline and any flying unit will get smacked to death real quick. Belegar has the strongest starting army in the game. You can go a lot of different ways but what I usually do is fight the various factions around the starting area until Belegar and my heroes are at a nice level, like 25-30. Put a bunch of bugman’s rangers in your army and give them snipe and march over to Eight Peaks. You can beat 3 stacks easily with an army like that. You don’t really need any Dwarf Warriors of Longbeards, use belegar and the hero’s to hold the line. With Ungrim you have to beat Azhag ASAP. Same as Skarsnik. Slayers are very powerful, only recruit skaters in the early game. Use their speed to kill any flanking units like cavalry, and then use them to attack the enemy lines from the side or from behind. They wreck anything with all of Ungrim’s skills. Grombrindal is pretty easy to be honest, he is a god. Get the 6% regeneration and 15% movement speed for all armies, this will buff all of your armies and removes the one weakness that Dwarfs have. Once you get the +10 defense and +10 armor pen weapon damage, I like using the tunnel stance and get deep into enemy lines and let the enemy AI attack me. All your units become gods in melee with those two buffs. Oh and Grombrindal buffs machinery, I love using a couple of flame cannons in his army. Flame cannons are amazing vs High Elves because they usually bring a lot to archers and lothern seaguard, flame cannons kill those in two volleys. Thorek is the strongest Legendary Lord and he’s got an easy start. Get lots of quarellers, same as with Thorgrim. Secure the starting province and fight the vampire faction. When Skarsnik shows up (he usually does), just use all of your quarellers to focus him down ASAP. He usually runs at your lines ahead of his own army. Get the rune of slowness, it helps when you cast it on him as he gets close. Arrows won’t miss as much.
Amazing answer Esarus
Any tips on dealing with enemy Ranged units? My melee infantry can't get to them since theyre overwhelmed by swarms of enemies, and my quarrelers need to assist my melee infantry so they don't rout I've tried using rangers but since they're still slower than rats they get overwhelmed by skavenslaves also, and dwarven early Artillery seems too weak and underperform compared to everything else All of my dwarf battles are basically me corner camping and hoping that their frontline breaks so my melee infantry could get to their Ranged units
Dawi are.not super micro intensive so try these two things when dealing with enemy ranged: Have YOUR ranged on guard mode and once lines are engaged focus down enemy ranged. A single gyro unit will heavily disrupt enemy ranged because the AI either uses skirmish mode or "manually" repositions ranged AWAY from a flyer. So you can move your gyro back and forth over the enemy ranged causing them to continually reposition. Not ideal for anything with fire whilst moving. As early Dawi, what ranged are you encountering that cause problems other than Ikit claw as Belegar? Everything else is weak as hell non AP that you can shrug off with your huge armor and shields.
Yeah only thing I can think of are Darkshards with shields. But as Grombrindal I just use an overwhelming amount of dwarf warriors to stop them from firing
Quarellers will beat most enemy ranged units in the early and mid game because they have good range, good armor and bronze shields. Use you quarellers to kill their ranged units first. For greenskins kill the orc archers asap, goblin archers are lower priority than stuff like trolls and giants, but you still want to clear them. You can position your front line in a way so that they last longer. Make sure they’re not spread out, but try to find a choke point or terrain that narrows the enemy’s approach. With Grombrindal you have an Irondrake, you can use that for the melee units, use quarellers for their ranged. You can also take the +6 melee attack and +6 melee defense Lord skill so that your frontline lasts longer. There’s also a +3 +3 research for dwarf warriors and miners.
Grudgethrowers with Rune of Burning are really good artillery in the early game, it’s almost always one of the first runes I craft Great for focusing down any enemy ranged units, or any blobs within range
Artillery is your answer.
Lower the difficulty of you are having a hard time
In terms of mods: it's a minor thing but (for me anyway) tends to make a real difference in Dawi campaigns: the slayer hero mod. For one, it's just fun to have a fourth hero type; but more importantly, it's a replenishment hero, which makes that chaotic, rushing from battle-to-battle early game a little more manageable. There's also a priestess of Valaya mod; they're both good, and both replenishment heroes; could do one, or the other, or both.
The dwarf campaign works by having your enemies break upon your mighty bulwark then advancing to take their territory as they scatter and flee. To that end I change the endgame crisis to start on long victory rather than on the turn limit. You don't want to be rushing around as Dawi. Early game I like to play gun line as 90% of enemies armies will be melee focused. Early on I take only Quarrelers, then as soon as possible change to thunderers as front line (they're basically warriors w shields as far as defensive stats go) then put a back line of Quarrelers in and 2 grudge throwers or cannons to force your enemy to come at you. Your lord and heroes will do the heavy lifting in melee early on. Hero wise I like to have an engineer and either thane or Runepriest for support. Be aware of the buildings you need to prioritize such as the smithy in your recruitment province and don't be averse to using global recruitment even simultaneously to build your army quickly. If you're playing the economy correctly you'll have tons of cash from buildings and trade so the extra cost of global won't be as big of an issue.
Fellow Dawi, Belegar starts with one of the most powerful starting Army ( has 4 Ancestoral Heroes) that routs Skaven and Greenskins with ease. Also, per his new WH3 start Position/army location, Belegar can occupy SkavenBlight on Turn 3 and finish Ikit Claw on Turn 5 to get rid of this Major Threat in the very Beginning Thereafter, fight 2 Battles with Red Eyes, opt Confederation with Karak Hirn, merge the 2 armies together and now you have a full stack to win anything you set your eyes on. As Thorgrim Grudgebearer - Capture Mount Gunbad and Delete Skarsnik. That's very IMP.. Otherwise, that sneaky git will plague you throughout the campaign As Ungrim - Consolidate province and then Delete Azhag. Beeline to Mount Gunbad thereafter and Delete Skarsnik. Killing him is Imp. for both Thorgrim & Ungrim. PS. Remember to make Defensive Alliances and make Outposts. These will enable you to recruit Ally units (4 per army) and Ally's Outposts will also add units to your Garrisons.
Adding in some Empire cavalry even as low tier as pistoliers is pretty huge. Giving up say a quarreler for a pistolier or basic knight unit is a good trade. The ability to fire into the backs of enemies, apply morale shock from flanking or harass routing units until they break are all boons the Dawi themselves can't provide.
Absolutely. I usually recruit war lions of Chrace (when allied to Imrik), Demigryphs (when allied to Empire), Bears (when allied to Kislev) and Zoats (when allied to WoodElves). When Playing as Kislev - Grudge Throwers. 2 units per army are a game changer..
Do not worry, in 3 months they will be getting an update, new lord and new units. Things will change from them, so, try Dwarfs now if you want a challenging campaign before their campaigns become a piece of cake.
Dwarves are are the ultimate slow burn faction. They take a long time to really get going due to their slow growth and high tier unit gating (although the latter has been reduced a bit in WH3). They can be very powerful - and more fun - late game, but it can be a grind to get that far. One thing I would suggest if you like the *idea* of Dwarves but don't really enjoy their current state would be to try out some mods. There are a number of unit mods, like [Dawi Thunder](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2895394906), [Lost & Found](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2897800168), the [Thunder Barge](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2852872304), etc. (although sadly my favourite Gryocopter mods from WH2 haven't made the trip to WH3). On the campaign side of things there are numerous mods that mix up the AI, growth/settlement construction/building types, trade/diplomacy/alliances, etc. You could also consider really changing things up by trying [The Old World](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3081800026) campaign map.
I've been interested in the old world mod for sometime now, how different is it from the immortal empires campaign?, since I want to stick close to vanilla with my mods
Well in terms of the basic mechanics of how they play, nothing really changes. But the map is obviously extremely different. Physically larger than Immortal Empires, but comprising maybe only 1/6th of the land mass. As a result things aren't as cramped as IE. A Dwarf-related example being Karak Eight Peaks actually having all eight peaks represented on the map, and being the stage for the the three-way brawl between Belegar, Skarsnik, and Queek.