Total War: WARHAMMER is the 2016 first game in Creative Assembly’s fantasy strategy trilogy, developed by Creative Assembly and published by SEGA, with Feral Interactive credited for Linux and Mac. It combines a turn-based Old World campaign with real-time battles where Lords, Heroes, magic, monsters, flying units, public order, corruption, and economy all matter.
Content warning: Steam lists ESRB Teen descriptors for Mild Blood, Mild Language, and Violence, plus a mature-content note for graphical fantasy violence. This guide keeps descriptions non-graphic and focused on play.
Scope note: This guide is for the first Total War: WARHAMMER and its Old World campaign. It is not a Total War: WARHAMMER II, Total War: WARHAMMER III, Mortal Empires, Immortal Empires, DLC race, multiplayer meta, or Legendary Lord quest guide. Steam currently sells the first game and says buying WARHAMMER I grants Immortal Empires access, but Creative Assembly says Immortal Empires is accessed through the WARHAMMER III application, not as a mode inside WARHAMMER I.
A note on difficulty: The guide is beginner-focused, but Total War: WARHAMMER is a complex strategy game. Use these habits to avoid early campaign collapse; do not expect them to replace faction-specific planning.
Essential Tips
1. Know Which Campaign You Are Playing
The first game is about the Old World, not the whole trilogy map.
The first Total War: WARHAMMER campaign is The Old World. Mortal Empires belongs to WARHAMMER II, and Immortal Empires is launched through WARHAMMER III access. Treat this guide as first-game fundamentals. If you move into Immortal Empires, expect different starts, factions, mechanics, victory conditions, and balance.
2. Stabilize Before You Expand Again
Most early losses come from taking land faster than you can defend it.
Before starting a new war, check income, treasury, nearby enemies, public order, corruption, and whether your main army can actually protect the next province. Early campaigns usually cannot support several strong fronts at once. Taking a province and then pausing to secure it is safer than leaving a chain of angry, exposed settlements behind you.
3. Watch Public Order Every Turn
A rebellion is an avoidable second war inside your own borders.
Taxes, recent conquest, instability, corruption, raiding, difficulty, and enemy actions can pull public order down. Buildings, Lords, Heroes, commandments, garrisons, and turning off taxes can stabilize it. When a province is sliding toward revolt, fix the number before marching your only army away.
4. Treat Corruption as Faction-Specific Pressure
Corruption is not just flavor; it changes control and attrition.
Living factions suffer from Vampiric corruption, while Vampire Counts need it for control. Chaos and other corruption types can also destabilize provinces. Use the province tooltip, then answer the specific problem with the tools your faction has: buildings, Heroes, skills, followers, armies, technologies, or temporary tax choices.
5. Build Provinces With Roles
Do not waste every slot trying to do everything everywhere.
Province capitals can reach higher building tiers, so they are better places for higher-level military and specialist chains. Minor settlements are better candidates for economy, growth, public order, trade goods, and defenses. Border settlements facing hostile armies deserve walls or defensive support earlier than quiet interior towns.
6. Keep Armies Balanced
A stack of one favorite unit type creates one obvious weakness.
A reliable army needs a front line, damage dealers, answers to armor or large targets, protection for ranged and artillery units, and something mobile enough to exploit openings. Too many missiles can collapse once ammunition runs low or enemies reach them. Too much artillery can become dead weight if the enemy closes. Too many elite melee units can still be outmaneuvered.
7. Read the Pre-Battle Screen
Unit count is useful, but it is not the whole fight.
Check army size, health, reinforcements, artillery, terrain, unit quality, and whether your own army has the tools needed for the matchup. A smaller army with artillery, strong terrain, or better roles can outperform raw numbers; a larger army with no answer to the enemy’s strengths can still lose badly.
8. Deploy for Protection and Flanks
The battle is easier when your army starts in a shape that makes sense.
Put infantry where they can protect ranged units. Keep cavalry or fast units on flanks when you have them. Place the Lord where leadership support reaches important troops. If you bring artillery, keep a guard nearby, because flyers and fast enemies can tie it down. Use forests, high ground, water, obstacles, and Vanguard Deployment deliberately.
9. Manage Leadership and Fatigue
Broken and exhausted units stop doing the job you assigned them.
Leadership is morale. Flanking, terror, casualties, isolation, and Lord trouble can make units rout. Keep lines supported, protect flanks, and let returning units recover before sending them straight back into danger. Fatigue also matters: exhausted melee units fight worse, missile units reload slower, and cavalry charges lose bite.
10. Spend Winds of Magic With Intent
A saved spell can matter more than a flashy early cast.
Magic can buff allies, weaken enemies, damage single targets, punish blobs, or disrupt stationary units. Check the target, line of fire, terrain, resistance, and your Winds reserve before casting. If your army depends on magic, do not burn every point before the decisive engagement.
11. Use Lords, Heroes, Flyers, and Monsters Carefully
Powerful units still need support and exits.
Lords and Heroes can swing fights, but isolated characters can be surrounded or focused. Mages are better protected while casting than stuck in melee. Flyers are excellent for flanks, artillery pressure, and chasing weak targets, but they can be shot down or pinned if left grounded. Monsters can disrupt lines, but anti-large weapons and concentrated fire can wear them down.
Campaign Priorities
| Priority | Beginner Habit | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Keep positive income or enough treasury to cover temporary deficits | Bankruptcy can cripple armies and construction |
| Public order | Check new conquests before moving on | Revolts create avoidable battles and settlement risk |
| Corruption | Read the province tooltip and counter the specific source | Corruption can drive unrest and attrition |
| Province roles | Use capitals for higher-tier chains and minor towns for support | Building slots are limited |
| Borders | Fortify or garrison exposed settlements | One raiding army can undo several good turns |
| Diplomacy | Pick enemies carefully | Multiple fronts strain early armies |
| DLC/FLC | Know what content you actually own or claimed | Race/lord availability changes campaign options |
Battle Habits
| Situation | Beginner Response | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Enemy has artillery and you do not | Think before attacking into open ground | You may take heavy losses before contact |
| You have artillery advantage | Deploy with clear lines and force the enemy to approach | Makes range work for you |
| Map has high ground | Put missiles or key units where they benefit without being isolated | Improves firing angles and engagement control |
| Forests are near the fight | Hide suitable units or protect against hidden threats | Enables ambushes and flanks |
| Ranged units are exposed | Keep infantry or another guard close | Prevents fast units and flyers from shutting them down |
| A unit routs then returns | Let leadership recover before reengaging | Avoids instant second routs |
| Cavalry is exhausted | Stop chasing if the chase no longer matters | Preserves charge value for useful targets |
| Winds are low | Save magic for a decisive target | Prevents wasted casts when the fight turns |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Do not treat Immortal Empires as a WARHAMMER I mode - It is accessed through WARHAMMER III, even when WARHAMMER I ownership grants access.
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Do not expand because an objective sounds urgent - Secure income, public order, corruption, and borders before adding another front.
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Do not ignore a province sliding toward revolt - A rebellion can grow, attack settlements, and pull your army away from the real war.
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Do not use the same corruption answer for every faction - Vampire Counts and living factions want different corruption outcomes.
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Do not fill every settlement with military buildings - Province capitals and minor settlements have different strengths.
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Do not build an army out of only one unit role - Balanced armies survive more situations than narrow stacks.
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Do not deploy artillery or missile units without protection - Flyers, cavalry, and hidden units can shut them down quickly.
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Do not send Lords, Heroes, or monsters unsupported into the enemy army - Strong single entities can still be pinned, surrounded, or focused.
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Do not chase routing enemies across the whole map by habit - Exhaustion can make the next real fight harder.
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Do not spend Winds of Magic just because a spell is available - Save enough reserve for the target that decides the battle.
Summary
| Category | Top Tip |
|---|---|
| Scope | First game means The Old World; Mortal and Immortal Empires are sequel campaign contexts |
| Expansion | Stabilize each province before opening another front |
| Public Order | Fix revolt risk before leaving a conquest undefended |
| Corruption | Counter the source based on faction needs |
| Economy | Avoid wars your income and treasury cannot support |
| Provinces | Let capitals and minor settlements do different jobs |
| Armies | Bring balanced roles instead of one favorite unit type |
| Deployment | Protect ranged/artillery and use terrain deliberately |
| Leadership | Keep units supported and let routed units recover |
| Magic | Spend Winds on decisive targets, not routine noise |
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8 checked for this guideEvery factual claim in this guide was checked against at least two independent sources before publication. These are the references used for Total War: WARHAMMER.
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