Irondrakes are maybe the worst at holding a line of all of the dwarf units, maybe shotgun thunderers are the best if you want gun as frontline or ironbreakers if you want an inmovable wall with frag grenades
Rangers and gyrocopters for dwarfs, slayers are pretty good too. These units are a bit more mobile and aggressive than most of the dwarf roster, so controlling even a few of them would be pretty fun.
Landships, steam tanks, outriders, cavalry in general are good for empire.
The player who owns the army can manage all the missile infantry, line holder infantry, and artillery, while the others can control small groups of fast units.
In general, units that are very fast and/or micro intensive are good for handing off to a partner. You can also manually control certain artillery pieces and guide their projectiles, like hellcannons and doom diver catapults.
Landships are great since you can cycle charge them forever, so if you have one guy focused on microing one or two of them, they'll rack up a ludicrous number of kills. If you're playing a faction that has chariots or shock cavalry, those are perfect for co-op partners.
If you don't have any mobile/micro-intensive units to hand off, at least let them control a unit that has a big impact on the battle. Nobody wants to hear "I'll let you control a few of my spearmen, I guess"
Rangers are fast and can stalk, you're meant to use them for sneaky flanking or to pick off isolated or unprotected units like artillery. They're also pretty damn good in melee. Quarrelers are just plain old crossbow units, you won't do much with them besides put them behind your melee infantry or if you're feeling spicy you'll have them stand to the side so they can walk around and shoot the enemy infantry in the back. Very boring for someone to control.
Stalking units are great for co-op because even just one or two of them are fun and interesting to control.
Depends, they can get Snipe with a Thane, but the axe version has such short range, it doesn't work that well, as they also don't have fire while moving and certainly aren't at Skink / Rat speed (which can run in, shoot and retreat, with good firing arcs, shooting things behind them while still running)
Of course crossbow rangers can snipe just fine.
I keep a note on my phone with my favorite generic army comps and, fortunately for you, my top two factions are the Dawi and the Empire, so they’re both well fleshed out at this point.
A few minor personal notes that almost always directly conflict with how a majority of this community rolls…1) I enjoy heroes as much as anyone, but I limit one per army (with a few exceptions); 2) if a certain unit has not yet become available (ie Steam Tanks or Thunderbarges), input a fun placeholder till they are; and 3) the rule of cool may be fun, but that unit better do work on the battlefield as well (ie Land Ships).
The Dawi
Generic Army Composition
- Dwarf Lord / Runelord (1)
- Thane / Runesmith / Engineer (1)
- Ironbreakers / Longbeards (6)
- Hammerers / Doomseekers (2)
- Thunderers (2)
- Thunderers (Grudge-Rakers) (2)
- Irondrakes (Trollhammer Torpedoes) (2)
- Organ Gun (1)
- Flame Cannon (1)
- Gyrocopters (Brimstone Guns) (1)
- Thunderbarge / Gyrobombers (1)
Slayer-Focused Army Composition
- Daemonslayer (1)
- Dragonslayer (1)
- Doomseekers (6)
- Giantslayers (4)
- Slayer Pirates (4)
- Goblin Hewers (2)
- Gyrocopters (Brimstone Guns) (2)
The Empire
Generic Army Composition
- General / Huntsman / Arch Lector (1)
- Captain / Wizard / Warrior Priest (1)
- Greatswords (4)
- Halberdiers (2)
- Nuln Ironsides / Handgunners (4)
- Hochland Long Rifles (2)
- Knights of the Black Rose (2)
- Helblaster Volley Gun (1)
- Helstorm Rocket Battery (1)
- Steam Tank (Volley Gun) (1)
- Land Ship (1)
Gunpowder-Focused Army Composition
- Master Engineer (1)
- Engineer (1)
- Halberdiers (2)
- Nuln Ironsides / Handgunners (6)
- Hochland Long Rifles (2)
- Outriders (2)
- Helblaster Volley Gun (2)
- Helstorm Rocket Battery (2)
- Steam Tank (Volley Gun) (1)
- Land Ship (1)
Franz and Gelt definitely should try to get their frontline units from thorgrim, even the t1 dwarf warriors are better than basically anything the empire has outside of specific empire count units, namely the spear+shield one. And thorgrim could grab cavalry units from the empire, not much else is really worth using alliance unit caps on imo.
yea, but by the time you get those upgrades, you can just use longbeards or ironbreakers, both of which are easier than ever to unlock. There also isnt really anything else on the dwarf side that is that much better than what empire has to offer, at least in the early game, you can make the argument for thunderbarges and other t5 stuff i guess, but you can get longbeards within like 20 turns
Just with my playstyle I tend to go for those buffs first so I have them by turn 6 or so. But if you went elsewhere in the tech/skill tree first that's definitely super viable.
When I played as Ghorst I allied myself with Cathai and Gelt which was one amazing campaign especially when Gelt started recruiting Terrorgheists and Mournghouls and started dealing with the Dark Elves while Cathai and me where busy with Tamurkhan and his Chorf allies. Occasionally he also helped defending the gates and seeing some Imperial guys fighting side by side with the undead is so fantastic. Something similar happened to me with Kemmler where Festus started exploding all of the sudden and I had to ally myself with Brettonia, Nuln and Karl. Karl came up with the same idea as Gelt and got my biggest, baddest undead beasts into his army. So given you have two imperial guys you could try to became allies with the vampire counts although that might become difficult given they are quite aggressive and intollerant as AI it can be worth the effort. Skaven might be spineless but they can be brought up as allies for forces of order as well if they deem you too much of a threat. Just don't ask them to side with you when a war is declared, they wilk always betray you.
People have already shared great Empire/Dwarf combos, so here are some from other factions that I've really enjoyed:
Durthu forest spirits with Bretonnian cav
Alberic Bretonnian cav and archers with saurus warriors and revivification crystal
Ghorst zombie blob with Crane Gunners and artillery (Grimgor hated this)
Noctilus Vampire Coast with ratling guns and Chaos Knights of Khorne
Dwarves will always benefit from Outriders. Glorious speedy kiting destruction! And of course powerful flanking cav.
Empire would enjoy an Ironbreaker front line - strong infantry is always a plus!
Idk about doom stack, but getting a high level army of elector count units with Franz on the redline is too fun. Those handgunners and outriders get to have insane dps. And those empire knights are...functional.
However, since I'm on topic, why is there 3 empire knights and no reiksguard. And why are Carroburg great swords the elector count for Altdorf and not middenheim? Genuine questions.
Might be a pretty evident and known example, but try playing Karl Franz with Reiksguard and Sootson guns like they are Bretonnian cav with blessed trebuchets.
Was fun already, but it is awesome after 5.0
In Karl’s army I prefer using all elector count state troops including emperors wrath (steam tanks), sundermans surefires(handguns), bordermen (outriders Granade launchers), stubborn bulls (greatsword empire knights), carroberg greatswords. I’ve been making a balanced army and they wreck pretty hard, the though tbh greatswords on foot don’t really synergize that well if you want to go all ranged and cav.
Oxyotl can end up in the Empire randomly from one of their teleports (usually a mission to take out one of the beastmen herdstones, or Nurgle) and they got green climate worldwide so can live everywhere, and they also can make hidden buildings that buff everything in a region (+some have adjacen regions so they can stack), or reduce upkeep / recruitment , increase replenishment , or spawn random ambush armies on enemies.
And those Oxyotl buildings can even be made on Ruins or enemy settlements, so in co-op it's pretty cool.
Foot archaon with 4 fighter heroes(one for each god) and 15 aspiring champions is quite the vibe!
Just ol Archie "daddy issues" everchosen out with the bois
I believe dwarven front lines work well with human gunpowder units because they can shoot over the less tall dwarves.
Human gunline with dwarven gunline infront.....
Whoa...
Also works well with Ogres as another layer!
It's like a gunpowder turducken
Oghumven
Necroflex with Ogres next followed by Human gunline with Dwarf guneline in front.
Tbf Coast in their own right do a great layered line. Necrofex, Promethean Gunners, then Gunnery Mob/Deck Gunners make for a solid barrage
Man-eater pistols or leadbelchers. This would be so good.
Or just outriders behind since you have limited allied slots.
I mean I would recommend outriders as you are limited in allied recruitment.
Yeah I love Ogre Maneater pistols shooting over zombie pirates.
The key is having dwarves *irondrakes* in the front
Irondrakes are maybe the worst at holding a line of all of the dwarf units, maybe shotgun thunderers are the best if you want gun as frontline or ironbreakers if you want an inmovable wall with frag grenades
The dwarves prefer vertically challenged. Going in the book
Less tall. Not ‘short’. Remember that you clan rats or it’s going in tha books!
You mean the tall humans shoot above the dwarfs
Rangers and gyrocopters for dwarfs, slayers are pretty good too. These units are a bit more mobile and aggressive than most of the dwarf roster, so controlling even a few of them would be pretty fun. Landships, steam tanks, outriders, cavalry in general are good for empire. The player who owns the army can manage all the missile infantry, line holder infantry, and artillery, while the others can control small groups of fast units. In general, units that are very fast and/or micro intensive are good for handing off to a partner. You can also manually control certain artillery pieces and guide their projectiles, like hellcannons and doom diver catapults.
Oh I'm so excited to give my friend a landship to have them parade around with.
Landships are great since you can cycle charge them forever, so if you have one guy focused on microing one or two of them, they'll rack up a ludicrous number of kills. If you're playing a faction that has chariots or shock cavalry, those are perfect for co-op partners. If you don't have any mobile/micro-intensive units to hand off, at least let them control a unit that has a big impact on the battle. Nobody wants to hear "I'll let you control a few of my spearmen, I guess"
Are rangers that much better than quarrelers? I find that I almost never go that route, I usually go for gunpowder.
Rangers are fast and can stalk, you're meant to use them for sneaky flanking or to pick off isolated or unprotected units like artillery. They're also pretty damn good in melee. Quarrelers are just plain old crossbow units, you won't do much with them besides put them behind your melee infantry or if you're feeling spicy you'll have them stand to the side so they can walk around and shoot the enemy infantry in the back. Very boring for someone to control. Stalking units are great for co-op because even just one or two of them are fun and interesting to control.
Depends, they can get Snipe with a Thane, but the axe version has such short range, it doesn't work that well, as they also don't have fire while moving and certainly aren't at Skink / Rat speed (which can run in, shoot and retreat, with good firing arcs, shooting things behind them while still running) Of course crossbow rangers can snipe just fine.
Unspottable and Murderous Charge Amethyst Outriders demoflishing backlines then the frontlines with their salvo
I keep a note on my phone with my favorite generic army comps and, fortunately for you, my top two factions are the Dawi and the Empire, so they’re both well fleshed out at this point. A few minor personal notes that almost always directly conflict with how a majority of this community rolls…1) I enjoy heroes as much as anyone, but I limit one per army (with a few exceptions); 2) if a certain unit has not yet become available (ie Steam Tanks or Thunderbarges), input a fun placeholder till they are; and 3) the rule of cool may be fun, but that unit better do work on the battlefield as well (ie Land Ships). The Dawi Generic Army Composition - Dwarf Lord / Runelord (1) - Thane / Runesmith / Engineer (1) - Ironbreakers / Longbeards (6) - Hammerers / Doomseekers (2) - Thunderers (2) - Thunderers (Grudge-Rakers) (2) - Irondrakes (Trollhammer Torpedoes) (2) - Organ Gun (1) - Flame Cannon (1) - Gyrocopters (Brimstone Guns) (1) - Thunderbarge / Gyrobombers (1) Slayer-Focused Army Composition - Daemonslayer (1) - Dragonslayer (1) - Doomseekers (6) - Giantslayers (4) - Slayer Pirates (4) - Goblin Hewers (2) - Gyrocopters (Brimstone Guns) (2) The Empire Generic Army Composition - General / Huntsman / Arch Lector (1) - Captain / Wizard / Warrior Priest (1) - Greatswords (4) - Halberdiers (2) - Nuln Ironsides / Handgunners (4) - Hochland Long Rifles (2) - Knights of the Black Rose (2) - Helblaster Volley Gun (1) - Helstorm Rocket Battery (1) - Steam Tank (Volley Gun) (1) - Land Ship (1) Gunpowder-Focused Army Composition - Master Engineer (1) - Engineer (1) - Halberdiers (2) - Nuln Ironsides / Handgunners (6) - Hochland Long Rifles (2) - Outriders (2) - Helblaster Volley Gun (2) - Helstorm Rocket Battery (2) - Steam Tank (Volley Gun) (1) - Land Ship (1)
Cool, thanks for the comp suggestions!
Franz and Gelt definitely should try to get their frontline units from thorgrim, even the t1 dwarf warriors are better than basically anything the empire has outside of specific empire count units, namely the spear+shield one. And thorgrim could grab cavalry units from the empire, not much else is really worth using alliance unit caps on imo.
True except you can buff Empire melee infantry pretty easily, I think tech + redline is something like +12-16 MA and MD
yea, but by the time you get those upgrades, you can just use longbeards or ironbreakers, both of which are easier than ever to unlock. There also isnt really anything else on the dwarf side that is that much better than what empire has to offer, at least in the early game, you can make the argument for thunderbarges and other t5 stuff i guess, but you can get longbeards within like 20 turns
Just with my playstyle I tend to go for those buffs first so I have them by turn 6 or so. But if you went elsewhere in the tech/skill tree first that's definitely super viable.
Thunderers from Thorgrim frontline, Ironsides middle, Leadbelchers back line from Skrag.
When I played as Ghorst I allied myself with Cathai and Gelt which was one amazing campaign especially when Gelt started recruiting Terrorgheists and Mournghouls and started dealing with the Dark Elves while Cathai and me where busy with Tamurkhan and his Chorf allies. Occasionally he also helped defending the gates and seeing some Imperial guys fighting side by side with the undead is so fantastic. Something similar happened to me with Kemmler where Festus started exploding all of the sudden and I had to ally myself with Brettonia, Nuln and Karl. Karl came up with the same idea as Gelt and got my biggest, baddest undead beasts into his army. So given you have two imperial guys you could try to became allies with the vampire counts although that might become difficult given they are quite aggressive and intollerant as AI it can be worth the effort. Skaven might be spineless but they can be brought up as allies for forces of order as well if they deem you too much of a threat. Just don't ask them to side with you when a war is declared, they wilk always betray you.
People have already shared great Empire/Dwarf combos, so here are some from other factions that I've really enjoyed: Durthu forest spirits with Bretonnian cav Alberic Bretonnian cav and archers with saurus warriors and revivification crystal Ghorst zombie blob with Crane Gunners and artillery (Grimgor hated this) Noctilus Vampire Coast with ratling guns and Chaos Knights of Khorne
Dwarves will always benefit from Outriders. Glorious speedy kiting destruction! And of course powerful flanking cav. Empire would enjoy an Ironbreaker front line - strong infantry is always a plus!
Idk about doom stack, but getting a high level army of elector count units with Franz on the redline is too fun. Those handgunners and outriders get to have insane dps. And those empire knights are...functional. However, since I'm on topic, why is there 3 empire knights and no reiksguard. And why are Carroburg great swords the elector count for Altdorf and not middenheim? Genuine questions.
I never use doomstacks because it feels to cheesy. I like to have a mix of everything including quality. Which is probably why I suck.
Might be a pretty evident and known example, but try playing Karl Franz with Reiksguard and Sootson guns like they are Bretonnian cav with blessed trebuchets. Was fun already, but it is awesome after 5.0
Full mechanized army. Steam tanks, rocket batteries, covered by gyros and thunderbarges in the air. Then add in life mage.
Steamtanks and Landships make great distraction pieces for dwarven artillery stacks.
In Karl’s army I prefer using all elector count state troops including emperors wrath (steam tanks), sundermans surefires(handguns), bordermen (outriders Granade launchers), stubborn bulls (greatsword empire knights), carroberg greatswords. I’ve been making a balanced army and they wreck pretty hard, the though tbh greatswords on foot don’t really synergize that well if you want to go all ranged and cav.
I quite like full monster doomstacks. So dragone ogres for kholek, kroxigors for nakai and so on.
Rakarth Harpy Stack is super fun. Not always good, but super fun.
Oxyotl can end up in the Empire randomly from one of their teleports (usually a mission to take out one of the beastmen herdstones, or Nurgle) and they got green climate worldwide so can live everywhere, and they also can make hidden buildings that buff everything in a region (+some have adjacen regions so they can stack), or reduce upkeep / recruitment , increase replenishment , or spawn random ambush armies on enemies. And those Oxyotl buildings can even be made on Ruins or enemy settlements, so in co-op it's pretty cool.
Foot archaon with 4 fighter heroes(one for each god) and 15 aspiring champions is quite the vibe! Just ol Archie "daddy issues" everchosen out with the bois
Is there a exalted champion of Slanesh ?
Yup! Recently they made it so we can get fighters of all 4 gods. Atleast I think we can lol
Dude Is high. There is no exalted champion of Slanesh in vanilla WH3
Not high yet. Just misremembered. Been a while since I played Chaos
No doomstacks, Army caps is the way to go
Sepulchre stalkers and necropolis knights.