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Total War Warhammer Thrones of Decay – Malakai starting guide and review

May 3, 2024 Mark Fittsy Fittock Leave a comment

Thrones of Decay… it’s Malakai time!

So I’m back again in the Realms of Chaos (the smaller campaign that is a part of Total War Warhammer 3)… with Malakai of course. I’m always keen on a faction which leans into war machines and especially so when they get buffed and modded as you progress (I may have some sort of bias being an engineer). I don’t really know his story or any of that (I don’t even know much of Gotrek and Felix’s) but as a character and a faction, it really spoke to me!

It’s got a nice overlap with my Kharadron Overlords from Age of Sigmar which I’ve been getting into painting this year and hope to bring them to the battlefield more soon. Malakai’s army is probably the closest thing to Age fo Sigmar’s Kharadron Overlords that we’ll ever see in Total War. It’s unfortunately got a bad overlap with taking away from my painting time but you win some you lose some (which is also my motto for Total War :D). I do get out the paints sometimes when I start to load a battle and do a colour before jumping back into the game itself .

The start of my new Kharadron Overlords army

First Impressions

Oh that Airship! It is magnificent! Buffs on the map, smashes face on the battlefield, and gets you across mountains and pesky rivers too. The only downside to it is forgetting to use it… quite a lot in my case at least. I didn’t realise until a fair few turns in that I could use it in a similar way to the Underway. Upgrade it as soon as possible, it just gets better and better!

I’ve played a few campaigns as dwarves… oh how I forget that you can’t chase anything down with the army. Although adding more Gyrocopters to my army is helping out there a lot for flexibility.

It’s a nice faction for roleplay in terms of decision making from army compositions, hero skill selections, and dwarves who quickly get pissed off when you aren’t resolving grudges. I’m certainly having fun with them and this feels really different to my other dwarf campaigns in the Old World of Total War Warhammer 1.

Fitts’ guide to the first few turns with Malakai

The first thing I noticed was I didn’t know where I should go at the start… apart from focussing on the aggressive neighbour and quickly taking them out which should be your first job.

Build a few more melee units to hold the line in the first turn and then knock off that first army in the second turn. Then start taking the settlements before they can recover.

Malakai’s starting position on the world map

I was already unsure where to then start expanding. I’m going to cover a whole bunch of mistakes or decisions I regretted and my first one was early and entirely my own fault. When it gives you all the information about Malakai’s adventures… select one. Don’t get distracted by whatever you were doing before that. It’ll save you some potential backtracking later.

Once you’ve activated the mission (and although I initally thought I’d made an error selecting the cannons one first, I think it’s the right choice), then start collecting those tasty bonuses to your unit. By the way, watch out for Grapeshot, you will destroy your own troops if they are blocking the cannons! It feels awesomely powerful though for an early artillery unit once it gets those buffs.

If you’re going for a good game instead of a narrative one, you want to attack and take that last settlement for the region directly south of your starting one which is held by a little Kislev nation… I didn’t and I’m now stuck with that one piece missing in my puzzle. I then headed up towards the coast to take my next region with an eye on being able to move northwards towards the Chaos forces across the river.

And a few one more turns later…

At this point, I realised I’d made the error not to build any oathgold generating buildings and that the other gold generating one locked me out of being able to build it in those settlements. This probably slowed me down a few turns effectively. It’s also when I wanted to build up a second army so it felt quite frustrating!

Malakai crossed the river after knocking off a few more pesky high elves and made a beeline for the old Dwarf Hold which was held by Nurgle forces… he quickly took this while failing to settle enough grudges again and the dwarves back home being all grumpy about it which was about to become a recurring theme at least for a while.

Gotrek and Felix fixing a hydra problem for Malakai

While he was over there knocking off chaos forces, I quickly did one of the Teleport Missions which had popped up and happily and easily walked off with the prize. This is where I started to see the real value of Gotrek and Felix in battles, they’re both really handy combat heroes and they help to plug gaps and deal with “big” problems really quickly.

Just when things were starting to consolidate here, another Nurgle faction, a Khorne faction, and a Chaos Undivided faction all decided that I was looking tasty. Quickly losing a settlement that was part of my starting region, Malakai needed to beat a hasty retreat and leave my newly gained territories. Here I starts to see a shift in the grudges as when they attack you those potential grudge points start to rack up very very quickly!

Here I had one of those nice Total War moments… Nurgle caused a rebellion which quickly took the territory which it had spawned in. Now, I didn’t really like that narratively, so I rewrote it for myself that they were the embattled remnants who have broken away after I abandoned them in their time of need. Allowing me to make a new friend deep in Nurgle territory who will hopefully cause them some issues and slow them down.

Malakai made it back to the capitol in time to face down both Skarbrand and the Daemon Prince who had dared to take one of my territories. This is where Malakai and his army really shone, taking down both decent armies without too much trouble (nothing 2 turns of healing wouldn’t deal with). Gotrek and Felix again really pulling their wreight… but the real stars were the 4 buffed cannons which have started to really chew through the daemons.

Skarbrand was taking a bite out of Felix’s health bar but Gotrek decided to change that

How does Malakai’s faction feel?

Weird actually… but not in a bad way. It’s pushed me in a direction I would not have considered before with the dwarves. It ends up being a really interesting mix for Malakai’s army (where all my focus is). I’ve settled on 4 x Misc Slayers 4 x Pirate Slayers to hold the line , 4 x Gyrocopters, 4 x Cannons, Malakai, Gotrek and Felix, Engineer for now which gives me a really solid castle whilst also being able to harry and distract the enemy with the Gyrocopters.

The grudge system feels much better and I actually like my surly dwarves being effectively my biggest enemy. I also start to feel like I understand the decline in power of the dwarven nations. I do see it changing in my campaign. Losing against some armies rapidly changes how many of those grudge points are there for the taking and that feel right. Also, it gives a bit of a power balance to the faction… when you’re doing well, being unable to fulfil the grudges will slow things down whereas when surrounded on all fronts by enemies there are a lot of bonuses to be gained. I will be focussing my next efforts against those who have the most grudges now and I expect with the forces of Chaos knocking on my door there will be plenty more to be gained.

Having bought most of the upgrades for the airship now has turned it into a real monster on the battlefield. The fact that it can drop in anywhere makes it key for turning around difficult fights! It’s also really fun to use in battle. It feels slow but dominating… perfect for a dwarf!

The review part of the review

Something, something, shouldn’t there be some more traditional review points in this article? Ok, here’s one to finish on:

Is Thrones of Decay value for money? I’d say yes! It’s bringing a new style of campaign to the Total War Warhammer 3 map and it’s been worth it’s money already!

Go justify me writing reviews of this expansion and buy Thrones of Decay for Warhammer Total War 3 using our affiliate link and save 10%!

Do you think I’ve missed some points or there’s some really terrible decisions I’m making? Drop me a comment!

Fantasy, Games Workshop, Gamesplanet, New Releases, News, Peter Holland, Total War: Warhammer

Total War: Warhammer – Thrones of Decay Released (Discount Code)

April 30, 2024 Peter Holland Leave a comment

Tamurkhan (Affiliate Link)

Click on the image to purchase a copy of Thrones of Decay: Tamurkhan

The Tamurkhan – Thrones of Decay pack introduces Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord, a new Legendary Lord for Nurgle, usable in both the Realm of Chaos and Immortal Empires campaigns.

Embrace decay and tyranny with new Lords, Heroes, Units, and Mechanics to enhance your campaign roster on and off the battlefield. Tamurkhan brings unique campaign mechanics to Nurgle, with a brand-new objective in the Realm of Chaos independent from the Ursun storyline, plus new Units and Heroes to help them achieve total victory.

Gather Chieftains from powerful factions across the known world and become the ultimate Warlord of Nurgle as Tamurkhan.
One of the first to flock to Tamurkhan’s banner, the new Legendary Hero Kayzk the Befouled joins the Maggot Lord’s side.
The Chaos Lord of Nurgle and Chaos Sorcerer of Nurgle reinforce the Grandfather’s throng as new Lord and Hero choices respectively.
5 new units and 3 regiments of renown join the forces of Nurgle, including the mutated Plague Ogres and monstrous Toad Dragons.

Malakai (Affiliate Link)

Click on the image to purchase a copy of Thrones of Decay: Malakai

The Malakai – Thrones of Decay pack introduces Malakai Makaisson, a new Legendary Lord for the Dwarfs, usable in both the Realm of Chaos and Immortal Empires campaigns.

Embrace conflict and ingenuity with a new suite of Lords, Heroes, Units, and Mechanics to enhance your campaign roster on and off the battlefield. Malakai Makaisson brings unique campaign mechanics to the Dwarfs, with a brand-new objective in the Realm of Chaos independent from the Ursun storyline, plus new Units and Heroes to help them achieve total victory.

Seek a glorious death, reap the rewards, and test your latest innovations as Malakai Makaisson.
Bolster your units from the skies with the Spirit of Grungi, a mobile workshop and transport vessel.
Garagrim Ironfist, the War-mourner of Karak Kadrin and son of Ungrim Ironfist, joins Malakai as a Legendary Hero.
Improve your odds with 5 new Units, a Generic Lord, a Generic Hero, and a further 3 Regiments of Renown.

Elspeth (Affiliate Link)

Fantasy, Games Workshop, Gamesplanet, Reviews, Total War: Warhammer

Should you give Total War Warhammer 3 a go? Fitts’ completely biased review

April 30, 2024 Mark Fittsy Fittock 1 Comment

Why I play Total War Warhammer games

Total War Warhammer is my guilty pleasure game and one of the hardest to say game titles I’ve ever played. I’ve been jumping in and out of it since the 1^st one dropped and I’ve started to lose count of all the campaigns I’ve played, Khemri, Dwarves, Empire, Undead, Lizardmen, Vampire Coast, Skryre (because they are definitely the best clan, so says my 2000 pt pure Skryre AoS army), more Khemri, more Vampire Coast, more Dwarves, and a little bit more Khemri. Playing the campaigns multiplayer has been one of the highlights (shoutout to my mate Samwise who is much better at the game than I am).

Look at all my cute little diabolical ratties!

Looking at the list of the factions I tend to take is also one of the reasons why I come recommending TWWH3, the games bring me a nostalgia hit which I don’t get from any other games (don’t tell Games Workshop but when I thought I was going to start with the Old World minis… I just loaded TWWH3 again instead). Playing on the computer with those armies and those units which I looked at hungrily in the White Dwarfs of old is one of the draw cards. As with each game and DLC before, it expands on the roster available and with some real treats this time around. All the chaos gods are finally represented along with Ogors and a couple of new factions.

Oh how I wish I’d owned some of these models

Getting started with TWWH3

I went into it thinking I would be starting up a Slaanesh campaign… and I started the tutorial then thinking that Kislev would be an interesting option too. Kislev is a really interesting faction being built upon a few of the units from Empire of old and some of the lore but then really pushing it out into a fleshed out faction that feels like it has always existed that way in the Warhammer universe.

When I came to start up a new campaign though, I found myself drawn to the Jade Empire, Grand Cathay. I hadn’t expected that from the previews but looking at some of the units available and the starting map, I could see a faction that really vibed with how I like to play my armies and campaigns in Total War Warhammer.

The start of Miao Ying’s victorious campaign

That was a lot of waffle to start but I wanted to make sure I covered some of that reflection from the tabletop gamers’ side of things. I’ll keep rambling on and give you some of my experience getting into the meat of the campaign (the good and the bad)….

Finding an army that fits to you makes the game much more enjoyable

Cathay is army that really lends into building up combinations of units that allowed me to adapt tactics and to focus certain armies towards different builds. I loved the look and the feel of Cathay (which to me is probably the most important thing when it comes to an army on the tabletop or in a Total War game). Trying to reflect a little, I had been a bit dubious that this would feel like a Warhammer army within TWWH3… but the inclusion of the massive constructs and a general who can turn into a dragon when you want helped prop that end up.

I remember the days when lizardmen and Lustria were coming into the Old World, Cathay riffs on a different vibe of being a land on the edge of the world… something that has always been there and interacted with the Old World but is also apart and has its own strong identity. The campaign with Cathay was also a blast… although I didn’t feel like the story was woven deeply enough into the campaign mechanics and I would really like to know more about that story. Mechanically, it took me a while to get to grips with the Ying-Yang mechanic but once I had it figured out, it was easily controlled by recruiting the correct heroes. The combination of the mechanics and feel of Cathay was a hit for me.

The unit diversity in this picture will make Kharadron and Fyreslayers players jealous!

The stuff I didn’t really like

This is where I want to get down into the “bad” part of TWWH3, the campaign mechanics can be a bit annoying, in the sense that it forces you to start tending your lands to stop the daemonic incursions in a way which feels more like housework than enjoying a wargame. The fact that these mechanics and the camapign end goals are effectively the same across all of the starter factions was also a real bummer. After being treated to varied and interesting campaign goals across the other games and DLCs this was a real let down.

I finished up my Cathay adventure (or so I’d thought) and I more or less immediately went back to the new campaign screen to try and choose my next faction (maybe Slaanesh). However because of the lack of variety in the campaign I just didn’t feel it and in the end didn’t start a new one. You know what? I think that’s a real shame, it feels like a lot of love and development work went into that map and I hope with the future expansions we’ll be given reasons to go back to it (I still need to do a Kislev campaign… those bears and beards look great).

Getting on with it…

Well, that didn’t last long and later that day I was booting it up to jump into Immortal Empires instead and for the first time ever I jumped back in with the same faction I’d just played (and won with) and got stuck into a grand campaign with Cathay. For TWWH3, Immortal Empires is really where its at, there are a series of quality of life improvements in regards to victory conditions making it feel a bit more like I had some concrete goals and could happily finish a campaign with a Long Victory instead of feeling like I needed to grind and grind to get towards a final victory. I don’t know how they did it but I’ve felt much happier jumping into Immortal Empires in TWWH3 than with the earlier games.

The valiant army of Cathay stand fast against a Tzeentch assault (and the dragon gets covered in blood and daemon juice)

I’ve gotta start wrapping up this review so I can’t get into too many details but I’ve had fun popping in and out of TWWH3. I’ve played a bit of Ogres and lot of Chaos Dwarves since (I won’t get into Chaos Dwarves in detail yet but if you like their vibe, the DLC is worth it at full price. I actually mean that. It is a vastly different faction with in-depth mechanics that feel like they work and the campaign is *chef’s kiss*. Also, hobgoblins and evil dwarves in big hats, and bull centaurs)

How does it play?

Oh, you came here for an actual review and managed to read through all those long sentences up above! The game runs pretty nicely on my 6 year old computer (don’t ask me for the specs). The performance actually felt better than in the earlier entries, I didn’t feel like I was waiting overly long for the transitions from campaign map to battlefield (as has been a problem before for me). The graphics weren’t glitchy (as I’ve also had a problem with) and this really helped keep me immersed.

The small campaign map felt “personal” I really started to form a rivalry with my fellow Cathay empire below me and the threat of chaos trying to break through and wreak havoc felt right. Later on in the campaign, I started to really want to get to grips with the slippery Tzeentch forces.

Immortal Empires gave me this too but on the grander scale that comes with it. When you get into these bigger longer campaigns, in this iteration (and the earlier entries), I really find myself going after personal goals rather than the ones imposed by the game but I never felt I was being penalised or pushed towards doing it differently.

I haven’t tried out the Multiplayer with TWWH3 but have had a blast in earlier versions. Now it’s upgraded to let you play a campaign with up to 8 players and they even made two special campaigns focussed on multiplayer. I’ve heard though that stability is an issue and you’ll want to check out dedicated server options if you want to go down that road.

Time to settle some grudges… with a war zeppelin!

Onwards and upwards

It’s been a while since my last foray into the “Old World” of Warhammer and I’m getting that itch again. My sincerest condolences to Slaanesh though, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer. Next campaign, I’ll be jumping into Thrones of Decay… Dwarven Engineer with a deathwish, pirate slayers, a war zeppelin… I’ll be back soon with a review of the DLC from the perspective of Malakai!

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