Total War: Warhammer 3 has finally been released, allowing players to wield the awful power of the Chaos gods. Players now have the opportunity to spread a vicious pox across the lands with the Nurgle faction.
Players can command the Poxmakers of Nurgle, a horrid faction sporting monstrous beasts that strike fear and pestilence into all those that oppose them. The four main Chaos factions of Total War: Warhammer 3 are highly specialized in one particular field, and for the case of Nurgle this is going to be its monstrous infantry and beasts. Much of Nurgle's power comes from the decisions made on the campaign map as opposed to the field of battle, so players looking for an overview to get started may read on.
Starting The Campaign & General Strategy
First, it is important to note the race abilities that Nurgle possesses. The Nurgle race has access to these unique abilities:
- Plagues: Concoct and spread plagues across the world or afflict your own assets.
- Cyclical Buildings: Settlements will grow over time and will then wither and die out.
On top of this, the Poxmakers of Nurgle faction contains the following benefits:
- Growth: +10
- Recruitment cost: -35% for Nurgling units
- Recruitment health: +40% for Nurgling units
Nurgle's entire strategy is going to be based on the cycle of birth, growth/spread, death, and rebirth. Just by nature of design, the player is going to want to use Nurgle in waves, balancing the right moments to recuperate and grow plague with those to strike and spread. Players of this faction can expect to lose units more often than others, but this is the cost that comes for their remarkable ability to reproduce.
Once the game opens to the campaign map the player should immediately begin completing the missions that are offered, as they will provide the player will an insane amount of favor to purchase buildings and units. This can also serve as a mini-tutorial of sorts, as it allows the player to confirm when they have successfully used their faction mechanic properly by being rewarded with favor and other goodies like weapons and armor. Players will note that they are highly incentivized towards growth and spreading pestilence, so focusing on buildings and technology that increase Control, Corruption, and Growth initially are going to be essential.
The Nurgle Military
Nurgle on the battlefield will be mostly based on swarm tactics. Considering the rapid ability to reproduce units, the player can expect to throw these expendable swarm units onto the frontline and completely forget about them. The early game is going to be a numbers game, as the Nurgle faction does not have particularly strong units. Overwhelming numbers of small swarm units can be used effectively to bog down the enemy's infantry and catch up cavalry/ranged units for a larger friendly supporting unit to come in and clean up the job.
Players should focus on controlling their initial province, and then spreading outwards against the dwarves for a solid early establishment. Players can field at least two full armies within the first few turns if they balance growth properly with infrastructure buildings. Set up the province with all the infrastructure buildings first and then begin constructing military units. The starting units will have to be sufficient while the player grows to tier 3 for the more powerful units. Players should use their plague abilities to spread to their cities and armies in order to enhance control (thus growth and income) and to begin bleeding corruption into the neighboring provinces. This will make it so that taking those neighboring provinces will be easier in the future as it is under the player's corruption.
Units
Legendary Lord Ku'gath Plaguefather
Ku'gath's lord abilities are the following:
- Infection cost: -50% (Lord's army)
- Nurgle corruption: +2 (local province)
- Chance of a plague spreading: +15% (Lord's army)
Players can expect to use him as a spell caster primarily, and then engage him into combat if necessary. Ku'gath is tanky enough that he can stay in sustained combat with the support of other units, but he is much better suited for casting buffs and debuffs and AoE attacks.
Lords And Heroes
Herald And Exalted Great Unclean One
Nurgle has access to generic lords called Heralds, much like the other Chaos factions, and a special "Exalted" unit as well. They are both considerably strong in terms of brute force and can hold themselves in fairly heavy sustained combat, given they are supported by infantry or ranged units. Both have access to spell casting as well, so using them similarly to Ku'gath initially will be advised, with sustained combat being saved for weaker foes.
Cultists And Plagueridden
Cultists are standard melee specialist units. They are going to be best suited to supporting the infantry on the frontline against other infantry. The Plagueridden is essentially a beefier Plaguebearer that is also capable of spell casting. They can be used similarly to Heralds, although they are a fair bit weaker.
Infantry
The main bulk of the Nurgle army should be a strong amount of Plaguebearers supported by swarming Nurglings. It may be wise to initially charge in with a wave of Nurglings, and then follow that up with a line of Plaguebearers to sustain the fight.
Nurgle infantry generally is fairly weaker than other units but have a lot of health, so their strength is going to be in their numbers. Having an overwhelming number against the enemy infantry can bog them down into a death ball, and then with any remaining infantry, they can be used to sweep around and encircle or flank.
Monsters And Beasts
Considering the Nurgle faction has no dedicated ranged units, it is going to be important to bring at least one type of ranged beast. The best for the Nurgle faction generally will be the Rot Flies as they are able to quickly maneuver and remain out of reach against enemy cavalry or infantry. They should be used to support the infantry directly firing into the death ball, or as a harassing force against enemy ranged if they have it. If going against a foe that has a lot of ranged units, the Nurgling swarms are highly effective at taking bullets or arrows to the face so that the Rot Flies or Plaguebearers can get close.
The rest of the Nurgle force is going to be in its monsters, which are highly melee oriented and thus should be used in support of the infantry. Considering the death ball, monsters are a great third wave addition to really beef the line and trickle down the enemy numbers. The Beast and Plague Toads are most effective at this, along with the Nurgle version of the Chaos Spawn.
Finally, the Nurgle Soul Grinder is best used similarly to a lord. It also has ranged capability, making it perfect as a siege unit or supporting artillery. It also can get into sustained combat and can remain effective, especially against large groups. Considering its size, however, it is a perfect match-up against enemy monsters as well.
Poxmakers of Nurgle is perhaps one of the weaker factions introduced in Total War: Warhammer 3, but if used properly in consideration with their growth and reproduction rate plus swarm tactics and with the support of abhorrent nightmare beasts, they can be a highly effective faction against even the toughest of the other Chaos or puny mortal factions that may challenge them.
Total War: Warhammer 3 is now available for PC.