This is how a DLC gets created. For the sake of Hashut!
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| Total War: Warhammer III |
While most people are interested in the Dawi-Zharr, Fire Dwarves (not to be confused with Dwarves), or Chaos Dwarves, this DLC was published alongside the enormous Total War: Warhammer III update 3.0 and its free downloadable DLC. So even if you don't purchase the DLC, you'll benefit from this fresh set of stuff. Mining exposed indications early on, and the beginning region was populated with, well, filler groups, making this DLC the worst-kept secret since the release of Total War: Warhammer III. As one of the most flexible species in the Warhammer world, the Chaos Dwarf DLC had to be outstanding, since expectations were high.
As with previous faction-specific DLCs, your campaign is detached from the Realm of Chaos, which means the entire tale of Ursus and Bel'akor is unimportant. Instead, you're tasked with locating dwarven relics, deciding which to use for yourself and which to power your massive drill, and digging towards the realm of Hashut, the Chaos Dwarves' primary deity, in order to gain access to his magical blood, ensuring your reign of darkness forever.
The Chaos Dwarfs are a hardworking race, literally, for their whole culture is predicated on the production of weaponry from raw materials mined by slaves. hmm... "manoeuvres" Apart from gold, these are the three key resources to be concerned about, as raw materials, in particular, are needed instead of gold to develop cities, and with enough sla... Workers, you can dramatically speed up the build. These laborers are obtained through trade channels and, well, invading and defeating other civilizations. This implies that their economy is a little more micro-manageable (those who have played the dark elves golden triangle campaign will understand what I mean), but only as needed for raw material extraction and factory manufacture.
The Chaos Dwarfs may be diminutive in height, but that doesn't stop them from pursuing lofty goals, such as court influence through a system known as the conclave. Influence is obtained via buildings and, you guessed it, warfare, and gives major bonuses, eventually leading to control of the other three internal factions in a "peaceful" confederacy.
And why do you require so many weapons? To keep your army running. Because elite troops are expensive, the number of soldiers of each class is severely limited. Earthshaker mortars being driven in a Skullcrusher train may sound fun until you realize that not only do you have to spend 3000 gold for it, but you also have to pay for weapons to boost the unit's cap. Most individual unit types must raise their cap in this manner, which is costly.
Then there's the ongoing upkeep of not just currency, but also weapons - Hell Forge's mechanic lets you to buy extra bonuses for your soldiers based on kind - and this must be paid for for each unit in your whole army, each round. So, although having a magical barrier or health regen on your shock cavalry seems amazing, the cost is exorbitant. I've saved 60,000 armaments so I can fight the latter half of the campaign with fully buffed soldiers, which you'll need since quest fights, especially the final battle, might be challenging, so you'll need your ultra-powerful huge demons to attack as hard as possible.
The lords and heroes available are simple yet effective, and include the extremely strong Hashut-wielding combat wizards, among others. I choose to play as Drazhoath the Ashen, a strong caster with some excellent gear and a regeneration talisman who can also work as a tank in many circumstances.
Although the main aim is to fuel the Great Drill, I had to wait until turn 160 before it really clicked. Part of this is due to the interesting Chaos Dwarf playstyle and roster, which allows you to deploy armies, monsters, soldiers, consumable flesh shields, fast-flying troops, super-long-range artillery, or very diverse close combat machines. I even had an army almost entirely made up of heavy shock cavalry in the form of half-bull, half-dwarf centaurs, partly because I kept getting attacked by ogres, dwarves, and lizard men, who apparently think raiding people's courtyards and carrying off their people in chains isn't a problem.
As a result, it's highly interesting and virtually flawless. There were a few glitches that CA made me aware of before I started playing, such as placeholder images and trapped characters. There was also some communication latency, as in, I may confederate and only get the message two rounds later, nothing breakers, and nothing CA didn't notify me of. Oh, also some balance, but mainly other races.