What Makes This Guide So Special?
The quality over quantity approach to win battles with minimal losses! The combat tactics can be used for any other faction. Other benefits include managing settlements, optimizing troop composition, and maximizing rewards/loot!
How experienced are you?
I have been playing since the first version and on Legendary difficulty.
Why are you writing this guide?
I enjoy helping others and wanted to share and preserve the key findings. Other guides seem to be incomplete with lack of enough information, screenshots, and higher standards to guarantee successful runs.
Who is the intended audience?
The guide is for everyone, but much more friendlier to new players. The writing will be easy to follow and supported by plenty of screenshots for those who are too lazy to read everything! Everyone will be playing on the same level with the most experienced!
How experienced are you in writing guides?
I have written plenty of detailed guides. Here are some of them:
For Frostpunk,
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2612388028
For Crying Sun,
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1871229945
For Company of Heroes 2,
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664203139
For Infectonator : Survivors,
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=742714265
How can I contribute or help?
If you like this guide, you can show support through awards, likes, comments, and adding to favorite!
THE AWARDS HELP OUT THE MOST!!!
Game Settings & Proper Saving
Before starting the Legendary campaign, change unit size to Large instead of Ultra to have an easier time in capturing settlements. Large hybrid units can block each other and not attack the enemy. As for battle difficulty, hard is selected to have some consistency but can be adjusted to other desirable levels.
Extra backups are needed as strategic checkpoints before high-stakes battles or dealing with unwanted surprises later on. At times, enemies can march into vulnerable locations without early warnings and possibly end the game. This option bypasses the save limitation.
The file location is: C:\Users\<userid>\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Warhammer3\save_games
Introduction & Opening Turn
Tzarina Katarin starts south of the capital Kislev with a Norsca invader on the east border. The province sits below a hostile Kislev faction called Ropsmenn Clan. They will be sending a small harmless army to raid from their Praag capital and serve as a distraction only.
The first goal is to move east and blitzkrieg the entire province of Eastern Oblast. This area is largely undefended and the Ropesmenn will build an army at Igerov.
On the first turn, demolish the Kossar Hut to be replaced by Stall. Build Tribal Encampment and Tallow-Keepers Guild for faster growth to upgrade Kislev for early elite units. Then, use the Awaken the Land commandment to generate extra gold.
Begin the trade agreements with the three available factions and balance out the deal to get some extra measly gold.
Before attacking the Norsca invaders, turn off the research and turn back on before ending turn (Refer to the Research Tree section). The first research needs to be Ice Sculpting (Land) to recruit more characters, as they will help with obtaining more war equipment and gaining more followers.
1st Battle
The first battle will be on an open field and the enemy will charge first. Before deploying, there is an option to gamble the arcane winds for more energy.
The deployment is standard with the Kossars forming the first line and Ice Guard in the second with the cavalry on the wings. Refer to the Battle Mechanics for more information.
The ranged units form a large kill zone in front of them, which is shown by the green cones.
Lure the enemy cavalry and main formations into the kill zone with own cavalry. Katrin needs to cast Ice Sheet to slow them all down for inflicting max damage.
Use cavalry back and forth in the kill zone without engaging in any fight. Friendly fire does exist in the game.
Not One Step Back! (More Reward)
After the battle is won, all remaining enemy units will begin to rout and not return damage if attacked. Do not end the battle and hunt down every single one of them to maximize the rewards. The cavalry is best used for this purpose, along with Katrin's Ice Sheet spell to further slow down their retreat.
There will be less enemy to deal with if they can retreat and refer to Battle Mechanics for more information. Select Devotion rewards in the early game to build shrines and invocations.
Battle Mechanics & Deployment
Each lord in the same turn is given two chances of attacking or retreating. There is only one chance for any army that is in march stance, tunnel, or garrison. They must be victorious to survive or be wiped out completely. The latter also applies to regular armies that were chased down twice.
With this knowledge, multiple armies could be wiped out in a single battle if targeting a Lord who is in march stance.
Army Setup
On the battle field, there will be normally be 3-4 lines when artillery is introduced. The frontline is reserved for the armored and/or units with their line of fire not being blocked.
The organization is:
1. Armored Kossars (Pistol/Gun) or non-bow Kossars & Lord & Characters
2-3. Short-range bow Kossars with the longer-range Ice Guard behind them
4. Artillery (later in game)
If the enemy has cavalry or charging directly towards the frontline, order the first line to be in guard mode to avoid breaking formation.
Advanced Combat (Cavalry)
During battle deployment, the cavalry needs to be stationed at both wings (if 2 or more) of the army formation. They are versatile and mobile military units that can fulfill any task of either disrupting enemy formations, distract/lure, and/or capture victory points during siege.
Anti-Range Disruption
The cavalry can reduce or stop enemy projectiles by attacking them directly through a chain attack. This maneuver will force the missile units to regroup every time they are under attack and can move onto the next one if being chased..
On the open field, the cavalry charges out diagonally out towards the enemy like a V shape then loop back inwards to form a full heart shape. The enemy will react and send their closest front-line melee units or cavalry to chase.
Distraction & Lure
The enemy can be lured to go on a wild goose chase by the cavalry if the enemy has superior power. They can split the enemy army by galloping close by to attract nearby units to chase. The chase will be broken if going beyond a certain range and restore normal behavior. This maneuver buys some time in fighting the enemy by parts rather than facing the whole at once.
Siege
Their offensive role is to attack the garrison alone from a completely different side from the main army. They can target units that have no counter to cavalry or go for victory points like supply or leadership.
1st Settle Siege
After the first victory, the quest is complete and rewards a free Ice Maiden (Tempest). Characters have 3 passive traits and need to be evaluated. Desirable ones are unique spell trait, no loss in vigor, or individual combat buffs. The entire campaign can be restarted if the Ice Maiden has no good traits.
Before ending the first turn, march towards Gerslev to be almost hugging the city and resume research.
Turn 2: Invoke Ursun and attack Gerslev!
The same kind of formation except place cavalry on a different side to either capture or go for enemy units with no anti-cavalry bonuses (avoid spears).
The Ice Guard has long enough range to shoot at enemy Guard Towers with ease.
The enemy garrison will put up a much tougher fight because of close quarter fighting. They can be lured out to fight in more open terrain where Kossars can inflict full damage.
After capturing Gerslev, build a shrine there to generate devotion and followers in the long run.
Recruit Kossars while in settlement since Katarin can no longer move. Resume the research and continue upgrading all buildings at Kislev (build Stall in the free slot) before ending turn.
Research Tree
For every turn, students are potentially gained from victories when research is turned off. They are needed for faster research. Only characters can equip them.
1. Ice Sculpting (Land)
2. Cold Storage (Land)
3. Troll Country Pathfinder (Land)
4. Ice Court Discipline (Erengrad)
5. Glacial Prism
6.
Lord & Character Skills
Every lord should invest their very first skill point into Route Marcher to have more range in chasing the enemy or attacking settlements. The skill generally helps to fulfill objectives faster and can get out of danger when needed.
Note: The horse mount was skipped in favor for the bear that has a superior mount and save a skill point.
Tzarina Katarin
She is a Legendary Ice Witch Lord who possess the two most damaging spells of the faction.
The first powerful spell to learn is Death Frost, which locks onto the enemy and best used against tougher targets like Lords/Characters. The damage inflicted will be over 20+ seconds and does not need to stand still.
After maxing Death Frost spell, there is an option to save the skill points until she reaches level 12 to get all the skills of Ice Mistress line. These skills will buff her directly with the last one (Shield of Ice) giving the entire army permanent damage reduction.
At Rank Level:
3. Ice Maiden's Kiss
4-5. Death Frost
6. Frost Shield (costs no arcane)
7-11. Save skill points for complete Ice Mistress line.
12. Spend all points in this line to get Shield of Ice (Ward save for entire army)
The most powerful spell is the Heart of Winter that has 4 phases of increasing damage and makes quick work of static targets. The only drawback is the high cost and long cooldown.
Boyar
He will be a secondary Lord and focuses on the second line to be a tanky damage dealer. The third and fourth line can be worked on later once there is enough income to build his army.
Frost Maidens
Ice witches are focused on offensive skills compared to their Tempest counterparts.
The Tempest counterpart has the most cost-effective spells that allows more casting but weaker. Her early spells should focus on biting wind to take out enemy ranged columns.
Patriarch
They serve as the battle medic in and out of battles to prepare them for the next fight.
1st Province (Eastern Oblast)
Turn 3. Move the army towards Igerov near its border to hire an Ogre mercenary.
Retreat a little bit and change stance to Ambush while staying in friendly territory. This will allow replenish and avoid triggering the Ropsmen to recruit a fresh army at Igerov.
Turn 4: Pause Research before attacking Igerov and resume afterwards. There will be no more reminders from now on.
Deployment will change a bit for Igerov. The newly recruited Kossars will form the 2nd line and the Ice Guard will now be the third line.
The ogres will join with the cavalry on a different front to attack. They will serve as their bodyguards as their anti-counters.
The first student should be gained after this battle and recruit 2 more Kossars. Continue upgrading buildings in Kislev for more growth and income generation.
Katarin needs to max skill Death Frost while the Ice Maiden gets Scouting.
Turn 5. Attack the Chaos rebels outside of Igerov twice and select Devotion reward for both.
The battle will be much similar to the first except Katarin has another spell called Bitterness of Winter to complement the Ice Sheet to further slow down the enemy in the kill zone.
Being training of the Frost Maiden in the Ice Courts that is located right above the research button. Select Cold Storage Research.
In normal stance, stay on route to Fort Jakova but stay within friendly territory to replenish.
Turn 6: Take Fort Jakova. Nothing too different with the battle except using Death Frost spell. Demolish Hallowed Wood and replace with Shrine after.
Turn 7: Recruit a new Lord (Boyar) at Igerov and select a trait that gives more campaign movement or combat buffs. He needs to move into the settlement to locally recruit and transfer Ancillaries for +2 rank and cheaper recruitment costs.
Katarin needs to temporarily transfer injured units to Boyar to heal more for one turn. She needs to march back to Igerov and preferably north of it.
Ignore the Ogres for now since declaring war will disband the Ogre mercenary.
Turn 8: Katarin takes all the units back and sets up an ambush in the forest.
The solo Boyar needs to be in march stance and within Katarin's ambush radius shown in red.
The enemy army will be baited out of Volksgrad for easier capture next turn. Choose the gold reward option.
Turn 9: Take Volksgrad, demolish the stables, and select Awaken the Land commandment.
Choose the first Ataman and select someone who gives more income and also growth as an added bonus. Place him in Kislev and also upgrade its settlement.
Katarin needs to recruit 2 more Kossars while in the settlement and transfer the ancillaries back to her for +2 rank units. March the 2nd Lord (Boyar) north by himself towards Sepuzky in preparation of its capture.
Before ending turn, make another trade agreement with Stirland.
2nd Province (Dukhlys Forest)
Turn 10: Volksgrad builds a shrine in the free slot and needs to change commandment to The Power of Church for additional +2 rank for the Frost Maiden who will be recruited there next turn.
An event might trigger that will allow you to get a free Patriarch. If given, he needs to be equipped with the student for bonus research speed. The next research will be Troll Country Pathfinder (Land) and will be a turn faster. Move him north to embed into Katarin's army.
March Katarin north right on the border between the two provinces, and move the Boyar above her. Their circle of influence will block the raiding Baersonling army from going east to rejoin up with others.
Turn 11: Recruit the Frost Maiden at Volksgrad and change back to Awaken the Land commandment. She will also join up with Katarin's army.
The capture of the Sepuzky settlement can now begin with the Ursun Invocation still active for one more turn.
Battle Of Sepukzy
The enemy Lord in the settlement will swap places with another who has an almost full army. Their major weakness is that their army is all melee mixed with some cavalry and few short-ranged javelins.
The settlement will most likely have a side that has two long vertical lanes. The narrow lanes will make perfect killing zones with the Ice Guard and Kossars taking out the nearby tower.
The army will slowly advance up each lane to chip away at the enemy forces. The enemy will pour into both lanes and retreat back. They can be lured closer and held within in the kill zone with Katarin and her Frost Maiden.
The last part of the battle is when the most of the army ran out of ammunition and turns into a melee slugfest. The majority of the enemy will be too injured for any prolonged melee combat. This is when the cavalry and the Ogres come in to play to finish them off and chase them down.
Losses will be minimal for a Decisive Victory! There will be a small lead of supporters over the Orthodox.
After the battle, recruit 2 more Kossars in Katarin's army after transferring 4-6 Kossars to the Boyar. He will need to walk east of the settlement then click on her army to transfer. They will be heading to Novchozy to temporarily repel them to safely capture Praag after.
Battle Of Novchozy
Turn 12: Both armies will march towards Novhozy and hug the settlement. There are no additional moves to attack the city in same turn.
The Ataman will be given a promotion through an additional of a bonus trait. Select a bonus that benefits the city like growth or income improvement. Upgrade Volksgrad settlement when there is enough growth.
Turn 13: The enemy Lord with 1-2 units will flee the settlement and only the garrison needs to be fought. Katarin needs to absorb the new characters of Patriarch and second Frost Maiden before attacking the settlement directly.
The battle will have less enemies to deal with but they are too stubborn to come out with this kind of settlement. It has too many horizontal lanes and only two entrances. Fighting will be a bit more difficult because the army will need to get closer to draw them out.
After the capture, Katarin needs to recruit 2 more Kossars and the Boyar needs to march back into Sepukzy for the invader. He will have enough moves to walk directly into the settlement to garrison.
Katarin will finally be Rank 12 and use the saved 6 skill points to fully obtain the Ice Mistress line. The army will now have a permanent 8% damage reduction.
3rd Province (Praag)
Magic Items & Ancillaries
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2761667847
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