If you’re at least fairly new to strategy games, Total War: Warhammer 2 can be a daunting experience. There’s so much to account for, from settlement building to army management. One misstep and suddenly you’re on the back foot for the rest of the campaign, even on easy difficulty.
It’s quite important to start off with a beginner faction, one that can be far less punishing than others. Game developers have added a difficulty meter to each faction but this really doesn’t go the full length in explaining.
Here are the 10 best beginner factions in the game, I’ve tried to include different races to cater to all playstyles and preferences
10. Norsca (DLC)
Norsca can be tough if you don’t play it right, but it’s a campaign experience that everyone should try.
For starters, you can’t occupy settlements fully, only create outposts in ports. You can take over major settlements though,
Don’t bother trying to earn meaningful income from settlements. Instead, focus on sacking. It’s OK to go in the red for income for a while, so long as you keep the sacking up!
In order to spawn Archaon and start the chaos invasion, you’ll need to fully dedicate yourself to a chosen god. You do this by razing enough settlements.
In battle, Norsca seeks to descend upon the enemy as fast as possible. With plenty of war beasts at your disposal, getting through armies is no trouble at all. Factions such as Kislev and Reikland will prove a difficult task though, so focus on their artillery as quickly as you can.
9. Reikland
My personal favorite and a go-to for many new players. Human-based factions will always be the most popular but what people don’t understand is, the Empire is one of the most difficult factions in the game.
A great start position, as well as epic Legendary Lords, does make it possible to succeed on easier difficulties. However, towards the late game (and multiplayer), Empire front-lines become way too brittle to use effectively.
Experienced players can make use of the Empire’s cavalry, artillery, and ranged units. Until you’ve got a better grip on micro-management, I’d leave Empire factions for a while. If you insist though, Reikland is your best bet!
8. The Dreadfleet (DLC)
With one of the most fortified start positions in the entire game, Count Noctilus’ Dreadfleet is located right between Ulthuan, the New World, and the Old World. As such, you can approach the campaign and go for whatever enemy factions you want.
Sailing the seas to accrue Pieces of Eight will unlock special Regiments of Renown. You can choose to occupy taken settlements, or simply expand a network of pirate coves across the map.
In battle, Vampire Coast factions, in general, are defensive, boasting considerable ranged capabilities.
The combination of horde mechanics and settlement building might be too much for you to handle though. Make sure you read plenty of guides!
7. Hexoatl
Any Lizardmen faction is awesome but Hexoatl is the easiest. Others tend to have much harder start positions. Mazdamundi and his kind are surrounded by various threats, as well as potential allies.
Financially, the Lizardmen have an extremely strong early game and potent end game. You’ll want to doom stack dinosaurs as much as you can, early on you just rely on your superior infantry to overpower opponents.
Heroes like Skin Chiefs can obtain powerful dinosaur mounts, always be sure to include multiple heroes in your armies.
6. Naggarond
Fielding a wide variety of powerful units, Naggarond is a great “bad guy” starting faction. Their leader, Malekith, is among the strongest Legendary Lords in the entire game, able to solo entire armies when he’s maxed out.
Managing slaves can be tedious, they affect public order so maintaining a healthy balance is important in the early game. I’ve found multiple rebelling provinces are great for acquiring money and leveling up Malekith. Making sure he’s a high level by the time you expand past Naggarond makes the rest of the campaign a breeze.
5. Khemri (DLC)
Tomb Kings work differently from other factions. They have no upkeep, instead, they have free units, the amount depending on how many of the relevant buildings you own. Armies are also limited, depending on a number of factors (I’ll leave that for you to discover).
Expanding during the early game can be difficult, just hold your borders and level up your lords and heroes. As you start to get larger armies, it’s time to expand. Tomb Kings’ constructs are absurdly powerful, get a variety in each army you build.
After that, seek out the books of Nagash across the world. You’ll eventually be unstoppable!
4. Clan Skryre (DLC)
Considered by many to be the most fun faction in the game, Clan Skryre’s campaign is an absolute blast to play.
Ikit Claw is their Legendary Lord, having a huge focus on war machines and ranged fire.
A typical army will consist of 15 ranged units, Ikit Claw, a Warlock Engineer, a Plague Priest (for summoning rats to front-line), and 2 Hell Pit Abominations or Doomwheels to front-line.
Sit back, wait for your enemy to approach, and watch as their ranks are murdered by ranged fire.
Skryre also has access to a Doomrocket, which is basically a nuke. Get a bunch of your opponent’s units blobbed up and unleash it to completely annihilate anything caught inside.
3. Vampire Counts
The Vampire Counts roster contains no ranged units whatsoever. Your typical set up will be a front line of zombies/skeletons, supported by armored infantry or monstrous beasts. Mannfred is a particularly spicy Legendary Lord, being able to acquire a zombie dragon as a mount.
You’ll need to spread your vampiric corruption throughout the Old World, there you’ll be able to accrue large numbers of zombies and skeletons for next to no cost.
At some point, the Order tide (Dwarfs/Bretonnia/Empire) will come calling for you. It’s important to get them crippled before they get too strong. Try to take Altdorf & the Dwarf settlements in nearby mountains as soon as possible.
2. Lothern
Designed as the apex new player race, Lothern and the High Elves are a must-play campaign for any beginner. You’ll find yourself conquering Ulthuan, fighting other High Elves as well as some Vampire Coast armies for the majority of the early game. By the end game, you can steamroll using agent spam.
Agent spam is a strategy designed to accrue vast hordes of wealth every turn, by spamming heroes with the Entrepreneur trait. It gives you 30% tax rate in the local province, as well as 5% tax rate faction-wide. As you can imagine, 10+ of these heroes can give you insane income.
1. Karaz-A-Karak
Most players have trouble managing their army in a fight, so they set up their ranged units with a front-line and wait for the enemy to approach.
No faction in the game can be as effective at this as the Dwarfs. Incredible artillery, missile infantry and sturdy warriors make battles so easy to manage.
Just be aware of armor-piercing targets such as chariots, cavalry and artillery. Focus them with your own artillery, making sure to
In the campaign, Dwarfs acquire a ton of wealth quickly. You must defend your starting province with everything you have, until your minor settlements are tier 3 with walls.
Clan Angrund and Karak Kadrin are a tougher experience. Dwarfs under Thorgrim or Grombrindal is by far the easiest faction in the game!