Total War Warhammer Unit Types for TWW 3

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Total War Warhammer 3 Guide Part 2

Total War Warhammer Unit Types and Matchups

Today in Part 2 of our guide for beginners we will discuss the Total War Warhammer Unit Types for Total War Warhammer 3.

Ok, now we are going to talk about some general rules for battles: matchups, and like Sun Tzu said, if you know your enemy and you know yourself, you will always win (or something similar). Understanding the composition of the enemy army before you fight them is vital.

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Please see our list of guides in this beginners series below:

    If you look at many of the guides on YouTube I have seen for this game, a big part of winning battles is getting good matchups. So, while there are many different units in this game, most fall under these categories.

    List of Total War Warhammer Unit Types

    • Infantry
    • Ranged
    • Hybrid Infantry Ranged
    • Artillery
    • Warbeast
    • Cavalry
    • Shock Cavalry,
    • Ranged Cavalry
    • Monstrous Infantry
    • Large Monsters
    • Chariots

    Some essential attributes that affect how a unit will be used are anti-large, anti-infantry, and armour piercing.

    Now while there are many different infantry units, there is generally a category of spearmen that are both anti-large and have charge defence. Now anti-large means this unit gets a bonus when fighting against large units, covering almost everything except infantry and ranged and hybrid.

    So that means anti-large units are suitable for taking on cavalry, monstrous infantry, and large monsters in that they get a bonus to attack against those units. Generally, in most armies, you will have one regiment of anti-large infantry on the left and right of your block of units to help protect against cavalry.

    Now anti-infantry is just as it says good against infantry which includes infantry, ranged, and hybrid but not monstrous infantry. Armor-piercing means this unit is good at dealing damage to heavily armoured units.

    There are more attributes than this, but these are some widespread ones, so try to get your anti-large units into combat with large units while keeping your large units away from anti-infantry units.

    Try to get your anti-infantry units into combat with infantry units while keeping your infantry units away from anti-infantry units, and remember that armour-piercing units are good against heavily armoured units.

    Total War Warhammer Unit Types on Foot

    Infantry

    Next in our guide to Total War Warhammer Unit Types, we are going to talk about Infantry in that, for most factions, your infantry will be the front line of your army. The infantry’s job is to hold the line in most cases while the rest of the units focus on doing what they do well.

    This isn’t to say that infantry can’t do more, but it’s just that someone needs to hold the front line, and infantry is generally cheaper than other units and have high numbers in the unit, so they are generally much better at keeping the line than non-infantry.

    Unless you’re playing as the Ogres, you’ll have a front line of infantry at the beginning so that they will form the line in your army most of the time.

    Ranged

    Next in our guide to Total War Warhammer Unit Types, we are going to talk about ranged units.

    Now, most factions have ranged units, with some having more than others. Ranged units are those units that focus on using missile weapons. Now, these will be in a different category than Ranged Cavalry as those are different beasts altogether.

    Now the thing to remember is that taking an entire army of ranged units as your general army or lots of units unless you are Wood Elves is generally a mistake.

    The reason is that most ranged units suck in combat, and almost every army has access to a cheap fast unit that can get around the front lines and get to your missile units, and once they are engaged, they will not be able to shoot at the enemy.

    So, in other words, if you are going to take ranged units, be aware that you need enough other units to protect them.

    There are some powerful missile units in this game, but if your ranged units get attacked too quickly in combat, they will lose most of their value. Also, as most ranged units are only average speed, they will not be able to outrun cavalry and war beast units coming after them.

    This is also why it is good to have fast-moving units of your own to engage those fast-moving enemy units trying to target your ranged troops.

    When using missile troops, try to get them to focus fire on one unit at a time instead of allowing them to shoot at the enemy automatically, as it’s better to completely take a unit out than just slightly damage three units.

    Hybrid Infantry Ranged

    These units are a combination of both infantry and ranged. Unlike other units, there is an excellent variety within this category, as some are only early-stage units, and others are more late-game.

    The Kislev faction in Total War Warhammer 3 has many hybrid units, and so do other factions like the High Elves, Dark Elves, Wood Elves, and Vampire Coast.

    Be aware that in most factions, you will not see a lot of hybrid units, so how you use them will depend on the unit in question.

    The Free Company Militia for the Empire is their only hybrid unit, and you can get them early on. They have some short-range missile power with decent fighting capability for the early game, so they make an excellent front line. However, remember that their missile range is significantly shorter than the other ranged units in the Empire.

    So even if you take them as a front line, you would want to have dedicated missile units in the back line to attack the enemy from further away to help you take out as many units as possible before they get to you.

    Now we go to another example from the High Elves with the Sisters of Averlorn, one of the most effective units in the entire roster. They combine good missile damage with good range but are also really good in combat and can be a superb front line.

    As a result, it is much harder to give a general idea of hybrid units because of how different they can be but remember to read the unit card as it will mostly tell you what this unit’s strengths and weaknesses are.

    Artillery

    So, the next category in our Total War Warhammer Unit Types is artillery, a ranged unit that generally has a much longer range than ranged units. Generally, the unit card will tell you what this artillery is for, as you typically have two types.

    Anti-infantry and anti-large.

    As discussed, anti-infantry deals with infantry and anti-large deals with large units.

    Like I said, with ranged units, don’t go overboard with taking these, as they almost always suck in combat and don’t have the speed to get away most of the time, so the same applies. Make sure you can protect them.

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    Fast moving Total War Warhammer Unit Types

    Warbeasts

    So warbeasts are the following category in our guide, and it tends to be the evil factions that tend to have them. They are cheap fast units mainly used to harass ranged enemy units, wizards, artillery, and anything else that doesn’t want to end up in combat.

    Warbeasts can also attack routing units to ensure they don’t rally and come back. Some fly and others don’t, and the ones that fly have an advantage over the ones that don’t because they can fly over the enemy lines while the other warbeasts must go around.

    Just be aware that you shouldn’t try to have warbeasts attack an infantry unit head-on as they will typically lose but what they are good at is attacking an enemy infantry unit in the flank or rear. At the same time, they are engaged with one of your infantry units to help your unit break them faster.

    Cavalry and Shock Cavalry

    Next, I will talk about the two categories of Cavalry, as they are very similar. So, cavalry generally refers to a unit of infantry riding some beast from a horse, cold one, etc.

    They are fast-moving and generally strike hard on the charge, with Shock Cavalry hitting precisely hard on the charge and specializing in charges.

    The best way to think about cavalry is as a better armoured (generally) version of warbeasts that hit even harder on the charge. So they should be doing similar things to warbeasts, so flank and rear attacks on enemy units engaged by your infantry is an excellent use of them.

    Also, be aware that the AI will almost always take fast units, so there will be a battle between the fast units on both sides to control the flanks, as the flanks are where the fast units shine.

    Now we will talk about the difference between Shock Cavalry and Cavalry. Shock Cavalry are for cycle charging. In other words, they’re for charging units as often as possible, and they don’t want to stay in protracted combat.

     So, the best way to use them is to charge into an enemy unit, stay there for about 10 seconds, pull them out, and then charge back into the same unit or another unit but don’t leave Shock Cavalry in combat unless they’re seriously winning.

    Also, keep these units away from anti-large units, especially spearmen and halberdiers, as some have charge reflection. This means if you charge into this unit when they are unengaged, they will reflect your charge damage onto your unit, which is nasty.

    Ranged Cavalry

    Next is ranged cavalry, and while a minimal number of these units are good in melee, most aren’t, so basically, they are like ranged units on horses. But this gives them a significant advantage over regular ranged units because they move much faster.

    This makes them good at harassing the enemy early on, and if you are dealing with an army that doesn’t include many missile units, you may be able to harass them with impunity if they can’t catch your unit.

    Even better, they can deploy even closer to the enemy if they have vanguard deployment. This works excellently with artillery as you can use artillery to attack the enemy army while also harassing them with ranged cavalry to split up their army and give them two threats.

    Monstrous Infantry

    So monstrous infantry consists of things like Trolls, Ogres, Minotaurs, etc. They are physically larger than regular infantry and are generally faster moving, so they are like cavalry, but they are usually better at staying in melee.

    They are faster but not as fast as cavalry, so they are most likely going to be used to apply a hammer to a particular part of the line once your infantry units are engaged. The schwerpunkt, or focal point, is a good concept of maneuver warfare.

    When I say focal point, I am referring to a spot in the enemy army that is both vital and weakly defended.

    So, two vital points in an enemy army are the units on the left and right flank of the enemy front line. This is because if you can take out these units, you can then concentrate on the next unit down the line.

    Another concept of concentration of force also applies here, which means concentrating your use of force on one area.

    A great way to apply this is to have your front-line infantry engage the enemy and then have your monstrous infantry attack one of the flank head-on while cavalry charges the same enemy unit in the rear.

    Just be aware that there are different kinds of monstrous infantry, so some are better line holders than others, such as Chaos Spawn, especially if those units have regeneration like Trolls. Still, in my opinion, the infantry is better for holding the line as there are more of them, at least until the endgame.

    Another good thing about them is that they generally knock enemy infantry all over the place when they charge into them, so they’re good at disrupting an enemy formation.

    Also, to break one of the previous rules, you can charge your monstrous infantry in a unit already engaged with one of your infantry units.

    The spearmen won’t have their charge defence active because they are already engaged.

    Hopefully, you can charge your cavalry into the same unit to break that unit fast. Also, monstrous infantry usually causes fear, so they can break units more quickly, which is why they are good at attacking the focal point.

    Also, be aware that some monstrous infantry also has the anti-large trait, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them against enemy infantry. It just means that if they have to engage other large units, they will have a bonus against them.

    So, if an opportunity to attack enemy cavalry presents itself, they would be a good target to attack as if you get rid of the enemy cavalry, that means you can control the flanks

    Large Monsters

    Now we come to the awe-inspiring category of large monsters. These are single-entity units and, most of the time, cause terror. Now there are many different types, just like monstrous infantry mentioned previously and the same reasoning about the focal point discussed can apply here.

    Now, while it is possible to have a doom stack, an endgame army composed of nothing but giant monsters, you won’t have this in most instances.

    So, a few things about giant monsters are that they have a large mass. This means that they are very good at moving through enemy units, and they are good at knocking enemy infantry down. What applies to monstrous infantry also applies here.

    Because they cause terror, if an enemy leadership is low enough and they charge that unit, the unit will automatically run rout. One thing that changes how a giant monster is used is its speed and if it flies.

    If it’s fast or flies, you can use it to attack the weak point of the enemy army as those opportunities present themselves, for instance, if an enemy unit is losing a fight. Otherwise, if the giant monster is slow, you might use it as a second line of attack behind the first line to attack where the enemy flank or other weak point.

    What I like to do is if I have a lord that is all about combat, I will group them with any combination of giant monsters, elite infantry, or monstrous infantry.

    Then I will use them as my shock units to reinforce my line or go after where the enemy lord is engaged to try and kill them.

    A word of caution about giant monsters such as dragons is that not all large monsters should get stuck into combat and stay there.

    Dragons are a prime example of this as they are supposed to be used like shock cavalry that charge into a unit to rout it or a missile unit to try to rout it and do damage.

    One significant advantage of flying giant monsters, unlike most cavalry, is that they can fly over the enemy units to engage the ones they want, so they are a precision instrument like a scalpel instead of a hammer.

    One thing to be careful of with giant monsters is that they can be focused and fired on by enemy missile units, so wait until your infantry line is either engaged with the enemy or just before bringing your giant monsters in, especially the flyers.

    Chariots

    We come to the last primary unit type, and that is chariots. Now chariots are very micro-intensive to use, which requires a lot of focus, as you can’t just charge them into a unit and leave them there.

    But they can destroy units of infantry when appropriately used. So, like shock cavalry, they are fast-moving and meant to be charging all the time.

    But unlike shock cavalry, they don’t want to charge into the unit per se. They want to charge through it, so be aware that when you use them, you should stick to attacking infantry as giant monsters and monstrous infantry is something they may not be able to charge through.

    Also, be aware of the angle of attack you are using with this unit, as you want to charge through a unit and then come around and charge into the same unit or another unit.

    So you don’t generally want to charge through multiple units simultaneously, as it will be easier for your chariot to get bogged down.

    Also, be aware that the charge’s speed matters, so ensure some distance between the chariot and its intended target before you charge so the unit can pick up the speed to charge through.

    Chariots are more of an advanced user unit, so if you don’t want to use them initially, that might be a good idea but be aware they have the potential to do a lot of damage.

    Conclusion to Total War Warhammer Units for TWW 3

    This ends Part 2 of our TWW 3 Guide on Total War Warhammer Unit Types . Part 3 on Battle Tips and Advanced Battle Controls can be found here: Total War Warhammer 3 Guide Part 3

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