Total War: Warhammer 3’s evil dwarfs turned me into Succession’s Roy family

For all his economy management, army maneuvers and real-time tactics, Total War: Warhammer 3 has always been a game about spectacle as much as it is about strategy. Rat ninjas slay camouflaged wood elves, horse-sized frogs swarm vampiric zombie pirates, giant dinosaurs headbutt four-headed sea monsters, and so on. But my favorite playable races have always been the ones that emphasize the strategic side of things. The Chaos Dwarfs, the first new race to be added to the trilogy in over two years, mainly enhance strategy and cunning. And they are an absolute blast.

For the past two weeks I’ve been playing Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, the DLC that will be released tomorrow along with update 3.0. Not only are the Chaos Dwarfs (which members of the Total War community call the Chorfs or ChaDs) one of the more versatile options on war hammer 3‘s real-time battlefields – they’re also a monstrous force in the game’s turn-based campaign layer. Their obsessions with industry, volcanic artillery, demonic monsters and hordes of Hobgoblin cannon fodder make them good enemies for almost every foe I encountered. They’ve even led to some of my most engaging mid-to-end campaign moments from the trilogy’s 24-race roster.

I first tried the Chorfs in the Realms of Chaos campaign, war hammer 3‘s more guided, story-driven mode featuring a smaller portion of the Warhammer Fantasy world map. Each of the three Chorf factions, which have different buffs and abilities of their own, must build a giant drill to drill into the ground and tap into the Blood of Hashut (actually a lava-like substance named after their tutelary deity that can turn metal into molten goop at the slightest contact). Of course, they also have to fight various other races that have their own game-winning objectives. (After all, this is Total War, not total peace.)

For my first attempt, I chose Zhatan the Black, the Chorf Legendary Lord whose faction allows for an additional trade convoy and cheaper war machines. Turn 20 showed how malleable the Chorfs are on the battlefield. Their numerous artillery options (my favorite is the magma cannon, which does exactly what you’d expect) give them enough range to force defenders to go on the offensive. Only by closing the gap and deploying their own close-range units can they take on the battle.

Soon after, I realized that Chorf gunpowder units are true dual threats, a relentless one-two punch of long-range ax rifles and close-quarters blunderbusses. And their K’daai units – basically demonic entities trapped in colossal frames of metal armor – can take on some of the game’s most intimidating melee monsters. Add to that their cheap Hobgoblin units, and they have an extremely solid front line to keep enemies at bay while elite units take them out at will. There are not many Chorfs on the battlefield can not Doing.

Here’s the catch: It can be tricky to utilize the full potential of the Chorf roster. In Warhammer Fantasy lore, the Chaos Dwarfs are a dwindling race that depend on Hobgoblin workers to fuel their militaristic and industrial pursuits. To reflect this, developer Creative Assembly limits the number of actual Chaos Dwarfs, War Machines, and Monsters that can be deployed at one time. To increase this population limit, you need to balance different types of settlements, currencies, and trading options. In the first turns, your armies will mainly consist of expendable Hobgoblins. The result is a running race where you have to plan the early turns wisely only to roll entire sections of the map later.

Image: Creative Assembly/Sega via Polygon

These considerations kept my Realms of Chaos campaign fresh well past spin 50. That’s when the Chorf economy really started working in my favor. As de facto armors of the evil factions of Warhammer Fantasy, the Chorfs can send weapon convoys to different corners of the map. If they return safely from their destination, you will receive building materials, workers or gold in exchange.

And just like playing Grand Cathay, the Chinese myth-inspired faction that introduced this convoy system, Chorf escort armies will slowly collect a hodgepodge of different units on their travels. By the age of 60, fighting random ambushes with my merry band of Hobgoblins, Chaos Dwarfs, mythical sea monsters, war mammoths, and Viking-esque berserkers was a joy. I stand by what I said about the Chorfs being more about strategy than spectacle – but damn if this wasn’t one of the most mesmerizing spectacles I’ve seen in this game to date.

The Chorfs also have diplomatic concerns. Using political influence, any of the three Chorf factions can occupy seats in the Tower of Zharr – a proper senate, or perhaps parliament, albeit with more axes and flaming beards. Each seat has its own stat buff or army ability. I tended towards the seats that increased my armament output, the better for raising the aforementioned population cap for my most powerful units. I also got the military seats that enabled off-map bombing in the real-time battles.

Image: Creative Assembly/Sega

But again, there’s a catch. There are four levels in the Tower of Zharr, each with increasingly powerful benefits. The only way to unlock each new level is to fill every seat in two of the three “districts” on the previous level. This happens a lot faster when all three Chorf factions occupy seats, and so it helps to maintain friendly – or at least polite – diplomatic relations with the other two factions. However, you can spend additional political clout on it appropriate seats of the other political groups.

It’s a process I can only describe as toxic dependence. It reminds me of the fragile alliance between Kendall, Siobhan and Roman Roy Succession season 4. As a united unit, they have much more capital at their disposal, and if they stick together in the long run (I’m setting aside a host of insecurities, unresolved traumas, and sadistic fixations, just to be clear) they might form a strong force in the media stratosphere. But of course the ultimate goal is single, unchecked power. Just as they use each other in clandestine Machiavellian power grabs, I used the other two Chorf Lords to unlock the final level of the Tower of Zharr. As soon as it opened, I cut all ties, moved my armies over my allies’ doorsteps, and wiped them off the map.

I’ve tried each of the three Chorf factions, both in the base game campaign and the Immortal realms game mode. And while they’re likely to get their fair share of nerfs and minor tweaks in the coming months, I can confidently say they’re one of the most consistently engaging races in the vast world of Total War: Warhammer. Their armies are flexible, their economies are robust, and their political mind games keep campaigns interesting into the triple digits. As with any addition to this digital facsimile of the Warhammer Fantasy world, their presence will have ripple effects in the game’s future. And as usual, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Total War: Warhammer 3 Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC will be released on April 13 on Windows PC. The game was reviewed using a pre-release download code from Sega. Vox Media has partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.