Play as the Elves? This is just another Elgi scheme.

The empire offers one great advantage for noobs: readability. If you're new, all these witch elves, changebringers and Tzaangors can be pretty overwhelming. But everybody knows what swordsmen and archers are supposed to do. Maybe you shouldn't expect to win your campaign, but you can expect to learn the basics of the game.

Recommending Kairos is a strange choice if you ask me. In my experience this is one of the more challenging starts currently in the game. You have three nearby factions that will all declare war on you sooner rather than later, which means you very easily end up in a situation where you're getting pummeled from all sides. And even when you figure out how to optimize the start the hurdle of beating Oxy is one of the toughest early rival battles. Not to mention you pretty much need the warriors of chaos DLC for the faction to be good, you're completely dependant on being adept at using magic, Tzeentch's eco situation is a nightmare for a new player, and you won't learn anything about playing with diplomacy or trading. My first thought after Tyrion and a Lizard (I would personally pick Kroq'Gar) would be Malekith. You have a bunch of friends around and a fairly isolated position, Dreadswords have been buffed to be very reliable and Dark Shards are great and the more advanced army has great variety, and both your early rivals (Valkia and Grombrindal) aren't overly aggressive or super strong offensively but they offer a decent challenge when it comes to killing them off.

Cant believe kairos is on this. His start can be insanely difficult and one of the hardest in the game imo.

Putting Kairos's campaign on here must truly be a Tzeentchian scheme to torture new players, because even on moderate-to-easy difficulties the Tzeentch campaign is one of the hardest in Total War. Complicated economy management, wars on multiple fronts, and the practical inability to use diplomacy makes this a wicked challenge of a campaign. I'd advise newer players to stay away

Kairos has to be a troll lmao that campaign bends you over and tells you how it's going to be

I kinda disagree with Grand Cathay not having a solid frontline. In my experience, Jade Warriors hold pretty well. I think Grand Cathay's armies are less forgiving if you're not learning to utilise the Harmony mechanic, rather than the frontline being bad at all

Kairos definitely not. His starting position is literal hell. If you want to make the most out of it you need to be experienced and kill Teclis first and just ignore the South Pole in the early game. Chaos Dwarfs I would also disagree because they have complicated faction mechanics that no other faction has that can be overwhelming for a new player. Also if you are playing it wrong it will be punishing for you on the campaign map. Not enough gold or armaments. Also, you need to be constantly aggressive as Chorfs to gain labour. That is the biggest problem for the new players as far as I've seen. Many new players tend to play rather defensively and safe (which isn't good tbh) but going Chorfs is like throwing someone to the water to learn how to swim.

Recommending Kairos Fateweaver for new players is absolutely insane. Out of all the Chaos Lords, Kairos is by far the most complex character, starting in a very rough position that forces you to deal with Teclis early on in your campaign, no easy task for any new player. On top of this there are many complex campaign mechanics such as changing of ways, winds of magic manipulation and unique build trees different from most other factions. The fact that you would recommend his campaign to new players makes me question your understanding of the game as a whole, that's how absurd it is. I love Kairos, his campaign is very thematic and chaotic, but I wouldn't recommend Kairos for anyone who haven't already completed a few campaigns.

I don't know about chaos dwarfs as a beginner faction... They're very fun and diverse, but you need an understanding of what the 'good' units are worth before you produce them, you'll have to learn how to manage mines and factories, and you're always surrounded by enemies. And the slave frontline is not forgiving either, they run away very quick. Perhaps they're a good try for a second campaign?

The Kairos campaign is brutal. I wanted to play Tzeentch, but was struggling hard to get back quickly enough to defend against Oxy, after taking out Slaanesh. All those regions are like 6 turns away from your capital, and by the time you reach the eastern edge, Oxy declares war on you. I know it can be done, but it is quite challenging. I plan on coming back to it, but am playing Belakor at the moment. Way easier, and i can still play with Tzeentch units and a better front line.

That Kislev and Tzinch recommendations are very weird ones. These are one the hardest campaigns! Chaos dwarfs are just too complicated and overloaded with mechanics. So definitely not for the beginners. Here is my top 5 noob friendly factions list. 5. Beastmen. Very agrissive and straightforward army. The main selling point of beastmen is that you don't have much to manage. Their units are totally free, they don't have public order issues at all and they don't even need to engage in diplomacy. Just roll around, burn down everything and have fun! Pick Taurox or Malagor they are very powerful legendary lords. 4. Dwarfs. This is the opposite side. Dawi army is very tough and defensive: their infantry can hold the lines while missiles and artillery blast the SHEISSE out of your enemies. Low growth is a problem but economy is one the best. Choose Thorek or Grombrindal as your legendary lords and start completing the grudges! 3. Lizardmen. They have a strong versitile roster: great infantry, lots of flying units, skirmishes as well, some cavalry and a huge variety of large DINOSAURS. Lords and heroes are amazing too. Economy and growth are poor tho. If you are a big fan of DINOSAURS than play Kroq-Gar or Gor-Rok. 2. High Elves. Heavy missile focused faction but infantry, cavalry and monsters are very solid as well. Thier influence mechanics allows to recruit a very powerful lords and heroes with unique traits which can buff the whole faction. Units are kinda expensive but economy is amazing, you get a huge income from trade. Tirion and Alariel are absolute powerhouses especially with the sword of Khaine. 1. Greenskins. They don't have as much armor and leadership as the dwarfs, their missiles are not as great as high elves and skaven, their cavalry isn't as strong as French, their artillery isn't as destructive as Empire's but their versatility, their tactical performance are truly DA BEST. Because they are cruel but cunning and cunning but cruel. Their units are cheap, have some handy scrap upgrades and economy is surprisingly good for a faction that can't trade at all. WAAAAGH is very helpful both in battle and on the map as you get a factionwide buffs for trophies. If you want to paint the world in green than Grom and Wurrzag are your boys.

Another reason Empire, Dawi or Cathay aren't good for beginners is the understanding of how line of sight works, formations, and positioning to effectively field gunpowder units will be too much for a beginner to learn. Elf archers don't have that problem so beginners can focus on other parts of the battle.

every free campiagn

Cathay was my first campaign. Learned a lot and still learning.

Few wierd recomendations imo, Kairos is a bit wierd as another poster mentioned. but tbh i think Lizardmen is also wierd with the criteria that you put out because they have quite a non-standard army.

If you want to learn the basics of total war, I feel Chaos Dwarfs are a horrible choice. Their economy is a lot more management than any other faction and their military recruitment works different to almost every faction as well. Hella strange pick

Me, with over 2000hrs between wh2 and 3 and still refuses to use cavalry: Neat, another zerkovich video🎉

Nah guys easiest start is Skrolk everybody knows clan rats > saurus. Trust me.

Noooo Kairos is one of the hardest starting campaigns in the game

Honestly some of these picks are really questionable. The only ones I agree with on this list are Tyrion and Gorok. If you're new player for WH3 here's a better list: - Tyrion - Gorok - Valkyia - Thorek - Rakarth All of these lords are in very comfy positions where you can think more clearly of your next move. When you're new, you want a campaign that sort of funnels you in to going a specific direction. Having too many paths can be distracting for a new player which is why these campaigns work so well.

I agree with Kislev, High elves and Lizardmen. I am a little on the fence about Chorfs and Tzeentch. I guess Tzeentch has barriers, but those can be hard to utilize

My first campaign was Ikit Claw, I don't regret it, and playing Skaven has taught me that routing isn't the end, and monsters are very versatile, however no flying and the only "cav" is war machines and the rat hounds, it was a riot and loved every second of it. From using the Warpstone for nukes, to embedding it with the Engineers, but the empire has taught me the importance of using heroes and imbedding them into armies and not just a lord and a doom stack of Poison Wind Mortars, a new goal for a new campaign.

Strongly disagree with this list in large parts. Kairos is one of the hardest campaigns currently, and he only has a good unit selection if you have the DLCs. Chaos Dwarfs campaigns are too burdened by the plethora of additional mechanics and unit caps to be beginner-friendly. Lizardmen don't teach players anything about ranged combat, and their roster is too single entity-focused to be a good representation of Order faction gameplay. Kislev faces way too many strong enemies early on, and needs a lot of time to get their economy rolling, while also suffering from pretty crap units in the early game. Honestly, the only beginner-friendly lord is Tyrion. Strong economy, relatively safe starting position, and a roster that covers all the basics of combat in W3.

Beastmen is good for learning the game. Free army upkeep. Hidden encamp stance. Increased ambush chance.

Imo festus is a VERY good starter lord Especially now that they have legit cavalry. Cool faction mechanics, tons of healing if you mess something up, magic, monsters etc

Kislev as a starting faction? I pray for any new player that listens to this video

Maybe a bit too heavy on the battle focus. I'd say Katarin and Kairos would be a massive issue for a new player in terms of wars they get in quite early. You take Fort Jakova as Katarin and you border Azhag and Drycha on what, turn 2-3? It will heavily depend on the player if they get into one war there or two. Drycha is a nightmare to fight on the battlefield. Throt will declare war by turn 10 I guess as well. Kairos needs to rush back to defend vs Oxyotl and Teclis after securing the east flank. When it comes to their campaign situation, these two factions (Kaarin and Kairos) are likely in the top 10 most difficult. Which is why I love them but for a beginner no way I'd recommend them. Cathay seems fine to me as a recommended campaign, Miao/Zhao are not too difficult, solid rosters as well. Dwarfs I would not call too easy based only on their simplicity in battle, a few of those campaigns make up for it with their difficult campaign map situations. For a new player: absolutely do not play Belegar 😂

Clearly Chad Franz is the best choice whether you're a novice or a veteran

I don't think there's anything wrong with recommending Cathay as a beginner faction. Yes they have a simple playstyle, but that will enable newer players to learn important mechanics like LoS and terrain without panicking over microing everything. They have everything in their roster bar monstrous infantry so it can all be experimented with at a player's leisure. Also think you sold their frontline short - Jade Warriors are some of the best generic infantry in the game, you can set them up and they'll do their job for a long old while without oversight. Zhao Ming also has a very forgiving start position, particularly now Gelt has been moved near him. I'd have no trouble suggesting him to a new player. The Empire I'd hesitate to, but only because Karl Franz still has a very challenging start position.

Faction that helped me learn best on how to play is tomb kings. They have a balanced roster with alot of chaff, mix of magic, chariots, constructs, artillery, and some cavalry. They have some of everything and if you lose, can rebuild army fairly quickly. Can do a bit of everything.

kairos and katarina are really tough

First time I actually disagree with a Zerk video. Kairos's start position is pretty hard for beginners and Cathay can teach all the fundamentals while having a better front line than empire. I would say dwarfs are good precisely because of their tanky nature, it teaches you basics and while you will have to adapt to less tanky front line for other factions, but that doesn't mean they arent good to learn the game with imo.

I really disagree on Cathay, the peasants units may be weak but the jade units make for a really sturdy frontline. Their start is also quite forgiving with lots of allies and relatively few enemies. And the current version of harmony is really easy to understand and apply. All in all, while my first recommendation would be Tyrion, Cathay would be n°2 or 3. At the very least they're much better than Kislev or the Chaos Dwarfs which are either pretty bad with a weird hybrid roster and unfun mechanics or way too complex and locked behind a DLC.

Kairos? I am not quite sold about that one. His position is pretty difficult, especially without the dlc (that new players probably won’t have). His abilities are also a bit complicated, as is his the range focused army (to a beginner at least).

My first ever faction I played with is dwarves in WH2, and then I assumed this game is just napoleon total war but with a fantasy paintjob It’s made me realise the importance of positioning & proper formations, so that’s a grudging

i think chaos dwarves are not beginner friendly for the sole reason of multiple currencies, yes they are very powerful but i think it can be very overwhelming to try to balance different kinds of settlements on a first playthrough

I learned how to play the game as Katarin it was hard but very fun and now kislev has a special place in my heart. I enjoy playing them the most

"Kairos is a good starter lord and cathay's front line isn't good. Chaos dwarfs, the most complicated faction on the campaign map, are also a good first time faction" Well, those sure are some takes you can have.

Kislev, are you joking?

The community regards Kislev-Tzarina_Katarin & Tzeentch-Kairos as some of the most challenging campaigns. Though Kislev got a little breather, with Malakai plugging the North up a little.

I recommend The brutal teacher: slaanesh. Nkari campaign, glass cannon galore. You learn fast, or you die. No archers, no early tanky units, no autoresolve. Every step pain, every step pleasure!

bro chaos dwarfs is such a bad campain to recommend for someone new, their buildings are so weird and its really important with them that u dont build the wrong unit or else u are fucked. (one goblin unit is so bad that u cant win with that as a new player and u dont know what is good as a new player)

Tomb Kings I'd argue are a good faction to begin with. You get pretty much every single unit type but you don't have to worry about economy. It teaches players well on army diversity without bankrupting them.

_"And the High Elf army, is a pretty reliable one."_ You're the master of understatement, Zerk.

Play as the skaven, throw yourself in the deep end and if you drown at least you'll drown the enemy with your sea of skaven corpses. It's also such a nice change when you play a faction that has good infantry for once.

Always nice to open KZfaq and see "Zerkovich uploaded a new video". After all this time you still come up with new ideas for videos, awesome!

I was with you for most of this, but I'm going to hard disagree with the Chaos Dwarf recommendation. Their early game is brutal since you can barely field any strong units, the economy management is way different and way more complicated than any other faction (which is not going to help a new player understand how the economy works for factions in general), and as a Chaos aligned faction, almost everybody hates you (including Grimgor). I have never played a Chaos Dwarf game where Grimgor didn't declare war on me by turn 30. I would suggest Yuan Bo as a substitute. Your start position is way more comfortable and favorable with a good number of potential allies around, the edge of the map guarding your Western border for you, a standard economy and the balanced unit roster you were talking about, with the addition of a smattering of large single entities and flying units to cut your teeth on if you want to dabble in those. To each their own though; everyone is going to have a slightly different opinion on this kind of thing, just giving my two cents.

Azhag. Starts between 2 potential allies thx to his diplomatic bonus (One of them being the goddamn von Carstiens). You will learn about leadership and how to use a balanced roster, quest battles and the sweet bonuses they give, and the greenskins especially have a nice easy tech tree/faction mechanic. Anything but Kairos lmao.

Thanks for the video ! I mostly agree as well. Kislev, I might not have had much luck, but I find the campaign pretty tough to start with, pretty hard to defend your territory on a lengthy campaign. Maybe I am just bad also 😂

Kairos is pretty hard to play imo, I would have put Grimgor as a good choice, he's a beast and you get units so easily a defeat isn't really a problem !

1:14 I still remember picking Vampire Counts as my first campaign in Warhammer 1 and have no idea what I am doing even after 30 turns. Switched to Greenskins and immediately understand how the game works. VC is so bad for judging strength of units

I only got one answer to this video... SUMMON THE ELECTOR COUNTS !!!

Idea for new challenge video: Finish the campaign of Kairos with only vanilla Tzeentch. No DLC stuff allowed.

Kairos?! For Real? My man Zerk just taking the piss apparently. Try a Kairos campaign without the champions of chaos dlc and tell me how much you love fighting Slaneesh light cav as an early game hyrbid infantry faction, just before you get the joy of fighting lizardmen's light infantry extravaganza

Yo these are some hot takes. Like yes, the Kislev roster is really good for beginners, but the start positions for alot of lords are brutal. I just straight up disagrees with Kairos, thats the hottest take. Way too leaning into magic, which for alot of beginners isn't super what you need to focus on when there way more fundamental parts of the game they are already trying to learn. I also don't think starting with super easy armies like dwarfs is a bad thing. Alot people need to that easy first step to grow into more complex factions.

I learned the basics by playing elves. I learned that the world is unfair and I should show no mercy by playing the Empire.

Katarin campaign is just rough man. Good well rounded army, but the first 20 turn is so annoying.

We didn't have the same kind of campaign with Tzeentch, I'm always fighting off 2 full stack of lizardmen to the left and having to repeal Teclis' invasion far to my right. And that's not even considering Slaanesh to the far right pushing since it takes at least 4 turns of forced marched to bring Karos from the front line to deal with them... Never have time to bring my settlement and military building to tier 3 to recruit Chaos Warriors with Halberd to deal with the single entity dino the lizardmen have. I find it almost has hard has Nurgle

Disagree with Kairos, though. The Tzeentch roster is absolutely amazing and the lore options are pretty good. But his starting economy is brutal, ie slow as fuck. Definitely switch him with Grand Cathay, specifically Zhao Ming. He has a better starting position than Miao Ying, ie no major threats nearby plus a friendly Gelt as neighbour. He also has better faction effects, ie +5 alchemist recruit rank and +15 melee armour.

Greenskins are easily the most friendly. Very simple and with a strong balanced army, good economy, waaaagh makes campaign domination incredibly easy. Grom and Grimgor being the best.

You forgot wood elves, excellent noobie faction

Not recommending dwarfs for the reasons provided, then recommending Itza is a very odd assessment. Itza Saurus spam with E-Z-peezy, no friendly fire kroak nukes is one of the easiest, cheesiest and least tactically demanding campaigns in the game lol. Doesn’t make sense man lol

So, for an actual list, in no particular order, Karl Franz, Tyrion, Miao Ying, Wurrzag, Gor-Rok.

The campaign i recommend for a new player its the changeling, you can't even lose the campaign if you fk up, i think its the most easy and fast to learn LL

I can't recommend Tzeentch (Kairos) for beginners. You are surrounded. Especially by Oxyotl & Teclis. You have no idea about Tzeentch's cheat codes (changing of the ways) or which direction to take the research tree. And you can barely even support a second army early on

If you wanna be a baddy, alternatively to Tzeentch witch I wouldn't recommend would be Khorne, especially if you don't care about the use of magic. Skarbrand's campaign is extremely entertaining and engaging, you will learn how to be aggressive, how to move efficiently with your lord (both campaign and field), and how to use the bare bones army, no magic, not much tricks just good ol' fashioned mele carnage. Skulls for the skull throne mechanic is easy and rewarding, bloodletting is pure fun and Skarbrand slaps like there's no tomorrow...and there wont be any tomorrow for your poor opponents. Furthermore, his infrastructure and building stuff comes in a liiitle bit later into the campaign 'couse it takes time to passively occupy the settlements so you don't have to multitask and can completely concentrate on murdering the area in the begging, and then later on the infrastructure managements trickles in. Your starting position is a bit...exposed...but that's good!! you're Khorne you like those idiots sending you skulls attached to those bodies, they got you surrounded...those poor bastards. You will be in a beautiful opportunity to level up nice and early, get money from fights and settle in the mid game. U u Also...Kislev...sure but deff on lower difficultie levels 'couse their start position isn't as snug as it seems.

Hey Zerk love the video! I would like to ask if you could do a similar video where you go over some good coop factions if you are trying to get a noob friend into total war, like having the noob friend start as Tyrion and the more experienced player using a faction that is nearby and can offer good support and synergy to help them if they need it!

Wood Elves would have been my go to. they're a good faction with a good economy and a vast array of unit types and magic. it does kinda oversimplify knowing how to manage territories since they can be played in a "raze and forget" kind of manner but otherwise i'd say they are great for learning to play with.

As someone who play the game since 2016 and play both campaign (legendary / very hard) and ranked MP I can tell that Zerk POV is quite interesting and true. I think economy/campaign mechanics could have been a bit more focused. I also want to mention that it's very different to play MP from campaign and new players should be aware of it. In campaign HE are quite easy, but they are not that easy in MP. In general I also think that Cathay is also a good pick still, because unlike the empire their line and are units are quite solid (heavy armored). But to maximise their potential (aka harmony), you have still some rooms for improvement. Their economy is legit broken too and they don't have that much foes. And I think it's important to mention that future dlc's and mods can have a signifiant impact on how a race is played.

I think your commendations are a bit weird. Chaos Dwarfs are very different from the other factions and probably not good to learn the game with. Kairos has a very harsh start and pretty much requires that you own some DLC for him to be more manageable. I'd recommend: Miao Ying if you're have literally no DLC. She's a very balanced faction with simple mechanics and the Cathay army is fairly standard with all kinds of units to learn. Tyrion if you have Warhammer 2 for the same reasons Zerk said. Balthasar Gelt if you have Warhammer 1. He's got a save and easy start position with a strong ally nearby. The empire is a very standard faction that is great for learning the game with.

Would disagree on Kislev. Tough starting position. Hostile factions all around, need to know where to go first to secure the borders. You have vampires, tree kin and Festus at the South, orcs and ogres at the East, rats and huge amount of chaos factions at the North. It's too much for new player, especially a passive one. P.S. not talking about easy difficulty though, i meant normal\hard and up.

Tzeench mechanic is OP. I played Kairos and all wants to have a piece of me. He's like a god, a faction declares war and the next thing you know he can't move his army. Another faction declares war and the next turn we are at peace 😅😅. The changing of ways is really an OP mechanic. You get to choose your wars allowing you to expand rapidly without having to fight many factions at once.

Adding to the algorithm. I always enjoy your content.

Kislev starting pos is a hell as well, a lot of enemies around , you really want to put a beginner against norscans chaos warriors, skaven,orcs,vampires... And their early armies not at all solid

I would add a 4th rule for anyone who is new to grand strategy or 4x games and that's simple mechanics. My 5 recommendations would be: 1. Tyrion 2. Gor Rok 3. Xiao Ming 4. Lokhir Fellheart 5. Katarin

Cathay has no forgiving army? Hmmm, i would disagree. Their Jade-Warriors are amazing if you want to learn the game and if all fall in disarray, their lords can save the day on their own, if needed. They have cavalary, which is ok and the caravan system gives you nice extra money and items. Easy starting position with corner of the map and a lot of friends. Also skaven as one of the main threads are easy little wantans for your army. So i would say, Cathay is definitely one of the easiest starting and learning factions you can choose.

him: play a balanced faction. me: Malakai arty builds and Noctilus Necrofax doomstacks 🤓

If you want an easy bad guy faction archaon has to beit

Currently at 450 hours in Warhammer 3 after skipping both of the other games and went through this how/who to start myself not that long ago so hope this is usefull to someone. I have been a total war player since Shogun (the first game) so there is that. First of all play a faction you have a some interest in or at least think you might like regardless of how hard that faction might be because your interest in them will help you progress and learn but be aware you may only be learning a small fraction of what the game is offering. I used to play Wood elves many years ago on tabletop so my first faction was Argwylon (Durthu the treeman) and I doubt thats a great start point for most people but my interest in the faction was a big part of why I was playing the game, If you want to play Khorne or the Empire or whoever then do that and learn the rest of the game later but be aware it might be harder to pick up and that if it doesn't work for you play someone else and come back with the knowledge you gained. I have never played Tyrion of the high elves because they are supposed to be the easiest faction and much like turning the game down to super easy on the first play through doesn't help you learn much neither will he. I would actually say avoid him at all costs because learning how to play a total war game on easy is going to teach you the wrong things and will actually make it harder to progress later as you will have learnt a bunch of stuff that only really works (well) on easy mode. Don't play the hardest factions either (unless they are the faction you really like) because that will be pain but pick someone in the middle if possible. No one faction is going to teach you all aspects of Warhammer 3 even the well rounded factions because how specialist factions interact with each other is important to understand and it will take multiple campaigns to see this stuff play out. Whoever you pick first you should try something different (maybe not the exact opposite) next and that could also mean start location as some factions with similar armies but different starting opponents can feel different as in more or less fun different. Be aware of the dlc factor, that is dlc factions are ussually stronger/more fleshed out than (some) others but can also be more complex with a bunch of unique mechanics that others just don't have. For example while the wood elves are a dlc faction the extra dlc faction the sisters of twilight have extras that other wood elves don't, this makes them very powerfull but their start location adds an extra layer to getting their campaign started aswell as being a niche within a niche faction. Don't start with them despite being super OP and easy for experienced players they just aren't very good if you don't know how to play them in a super OP manner (Air bourne ranged units are great or worthless depending on how you use them). Zhao Ming the other non dlc Cathay faction (western provinces) is my tentative recomendation as they have a well rounded army for the most part that will teach you the difference between starting unit front line (paper) and a decent front line (the jade warriors are average to above) and how to use magic while not having too bad of a start location. Cavet here of I've not played them since Balthasar Gelt has been moved in but I found that Miao Ying (northen provinces) has some issues with the chaos wastes and the gates that I found super obnoxious on my first try but Zhao gets a bit of time to build up before thats a massive concern, at least on normal difficulty on very hard thats not the case but don't play your first campaign on legendary/very hard difficulty for obvious reasons. Cathay is mostly out of the way and is far from the busiest start location so will give you some time to learn a few things without needing to out compete powerful lords/factions like Vlad von carstien who will ussually cause Empire starts massive issues and they also have to deal with Festus (nurgle) plus others. That said I don't think Cathay are good campaigns I didn't enjoy them much but I did learn a good amount playing them so there is that. I generally enjoy the more specialised campaigns and not the all rounders so after you've got the basics down I recomend you play the more focused factions depending on taste and see what works for you and enjoy the getting wrecked by your weaknesses as a way to expand your understanding. After the first campaign or two the factions I highly recomend are. Skaven: mostly infantry with artillery and decent magic (Ikit claw *dlc gets OP ratling gunners which are rats with 'gatling' guns lol). Very amusing and fun. also smartest strongest are rats yes yes. Skarbrand (khorne): very limited army its Skarbrand a powerfull bloodthirster(single entity OP monster) and a front line of infantry. shouldn't be fun but it is (do not play first imo) Wood elves (of course): probably pick Talsyn (Orion), Odd campaign not like anyone elses so thats nice and they have amazing archers especially Waywatchers, Treemen are awesome Avoid Bretonia (unless thats your thing) as they are quite reliant on cavalry which is kind of weak in W3 and have a bunch of trouble to deal with early, namely Grom (orcs), Ikit (skaven), Heinrich Kemmler (vampires), Athel Loren is on your doorstep so if you can't make peace with all the wood elves expect Orion or Durthu to kill you too and if your super unlucky Be'lakor (Demon price of Chaos) will pick on you too. Also their unique mechanics are not new player friendly or fun. The level of 'austim' required to write (or read) a post like this is not required to get the most out of Warhammer but boy oh boy it does seem to help lol

Dont agree with Chaos Dwarfs, the additional ressources, unit caps and upgrades might overwhelm a new player. Kislev is also a bit off, as you will be attacked from pretty much all sides.

I kind of disagree about Cathay and the Empire. You don't really get good artillery until tier IV, so you do have to make do with standard tactics for quite a while, and on normal or hard battle difficulty, the infantry doesn't break that quick, at least the defensive ones. In my opinion, the empires biggest issue is actually how versatile the roster is, that does feel a bit overwhelming to me compared to pretty much any other faction I've played. Karl Franz' Campaign mechanics are also not the most beginner friendly, though that and his starting position issues are much improved with the latest patch. With Cathay, I think the yin-yang-stuff can feel a bit limiting on a first campaign, so for a complete beginner, I'd still recommend Tyrion over either of those, but I'd probably pick them over Kislev or - presumably - the Chaos Dwarves (haven't played them yet). [edit:] Oh, and I almost forgot: I actually think the prologue of warhammer III (the lost god) is actually a fantastic introductary campaign. Its only issue is that it makes you want to continue with the realm of chaos. But if you want to play dwarves or something else not generally recommended, I would suggest to start with that - it's fairly short, and you learn all the basic elements of the game.

Honestly, these suggestions aren't great. Kairos has one of the worst start positions in the game, and a new player can easily get killed off due to having enemies on both sides, as well as teclis and sometimes lizardmen coming from over the sea.. And Katarin is surrounded by strong enemies, azhag, moulder, drycha, norsca and chaos all ready to charge, while the minor empire factions and kislev die so easily and aren't much help. Both campaigns I've seen so many "help i'm dying" posts about, their relatively weak eco doesn't help either. Also, your justification for not including cathay is a bit weak. Their frontline is honestly pretty solid thanks to the ying-yang bonuses. Not going to win any awards, but it's fine. And zhao mings start position is excellent, with loads of nice allies nearby, and economy is good as well, meaning you can have more armies. Astrogath is a bad choice, not because of start position or anything, but because of how complex chaos dwarves are. They have so many different resources, so many ways to trade them, even 3 different settlement types. They're probably the most complex faction in the entire game. Really interesting and fun, but i'd never recommend them to a beginner for that reason, just too complex to start out with. Tyrion/gor-rok sure. I'd include zhao ming and grimgor. Both have fairly simple start positions, good economy and not overly complex factions, as well as a fairly varied roster.

I would've avoided using any dlc factions or factions that lean on dlc's like Kairos. These are new players who are learning the game and paying for a dlc is probably out of the question until they know they want to keep playing.

5 mins in and still waiting for this guy to actually recommend a campaign. Edit: Holy shit he recommended Kairos for new players lmao

I don't agree with anyone except for Tyrion. Here my 5 list: 1-Tyrion 2-vilitch----easy start and comfy start position and the Warriors of chaos mechanics force you to play with all the entire roster instead of just spamming one unit. This goes in place of Kairos which is WAAAY too hard for a new player. 3-actually any bretonnian factions to teach how to micro cavalry right, I find repanse to be the easiest of the bunch. 4-lokhir fellheart, easy start position, strong economy, complete roster, the easiest of the dark elves in my opinion 5-Beastmen are actually super forgiving and force you to play with all the roster once again as the WoC. they are really good to focus on learning how to play battles without having to manage settlements or other complicated campaign mechanics. The chaos dwarves are far too complicated for a new player due to their abundance of mechanics and if we really want to suggest a chaos dwarf faction I would go for Zhatlan, easier starting position and far more forgiving. Katarin has too much of an hard start position once again, too many enemies from too many direction. If we really want to suggest Kislev I would go with mother ostankya that is Kislev but in easy mode. I actually have not too many problems with itza, my only concern is that you can easily transform the game in "lord kroak goes booom" and win every battle without learning absolutely anything.

If we are talking pure vanilla here and our player is a total war noob my top three starter campaigns would be Highelves (Tirion/Alariel) Darkelves (Malaketh or his mom) Empire (Gelt or if he wasn‘t DLC Volkmar) The advantages of high elves are already mentioned in the video so nothing to add here. Although the darkelves feature the slave and sacrifice mechanic they are either easy to understand or can be simply ignored until later. Malaketh also starts with Darnell buddies nearby and his starting enemies are good to defeat early on. His mom also has to deal with starters like skaven, woodelves and an early stanky. Although Gelt is currently an exchange student in Cathey he features all the good stuff of the empire without the EC system of franz or a certain sucker from Sylvania. Volkmar has his starting hater Vlad but Vlad has no friends and a lot of enemies down there. Of course you have to watch out for Kairos and the red guy with anger issues but early on you just face a lot of mummies and that’s it. Also a lot of potential friends around you. These would be my starters for WH3 vanilla.

Before watching the video: In my opinion it's easier to be the attacker than it is to be the defender. So playing a ranged heavy army with artillery that you need to protect is more difficult than playing the unga-bunga all melee rush army like vampire counts, orks and so on.

recommending katarin to learn the game on is honestly kinda crazy imo, while yes the kislev armies are more well rounded than other races, katarin has imo one of the top 10 most difficult campaigns in the game since she will likely be getting attacked at every single angle and even when she deals with those threats, there are even more threats that will come very soon afterwards (like when you kill azazel or throt, throgg is usually on his way), imo the better faction to learn the game on is any of the cathayan lords, mostly zhao and miao though, they live on probably the safest region of the game with most factions on it being either confederatable or able to be made allies (balthasar and wood elves) and once you get cathay under control, the rest of the campaign is pretty easy with the only major threats being from outside of cathay and since you already have that under control you can throw all the armies you’ve acquired out there to either defend against the threats or go on the offensive, the hardest cathay campaign is probably miao and even then it isn’t crazy difficult to deal with

Great Video!🙂

I wouldn't recommend Kislev for beginers at all. It is one of the most unsafe strating locations there is, they tend to get invaded from many sides at the same time and their economy is not great... Which limits de number of armies they can field to respond to threats.

Bought TTW 1 not so long ago. As my first race i took dwarfs but it got boring pretty fast. Something had to be changed so i took faction that is opposite for dwarfs - Bretonia. It worked, i'm having fun! Currently in the process of ruining an entire lore by "drastically reducing wood elven population in my area".

"I love a good dwarf." So, there is this club in Germany that might suit your needs...

Kairos, Kislev, and Chaos Dwarfs? This might be the worst list I’ve ever seen for anything in this game. You’re like a millionaire trying to recommend food to someone on food stamps

I don't like Greenskins as a starting faction because the unit roles and power level are hard to guess. Is a savage orc boar boy big un a strong unit? What about a snotling pump wagon with spiky rollers or flappas? No clue.

Thanks Zerk for the recommendations. A couple of questions - What game difficulty do you recommend? Also is your keybinds video still the recommended set-up? Finally, is it worth downloading any game mods? If so what do you recommend? Thanks

I think you missed a beat not recommending the tomb kings. They have all the variety and they are freely replacable - very forgiving if combat deoesnt fo your way while you're learning. They have easy mechanics as well, especially compared to the Chorfs and Kislev who I think are both bad choices for beginners.

Wouldn't Vilich be a better choice for Tzeench/WoC beginner friendly faction?

Can't say I'd recommend Kairos. You invariably end up in a a two front war against stack after stack of lizardmen which are pretty good against tzeentch. Even in the beginning you have to rush down the eastern parts of the south pole really quickly and then rush back west to confront oxyotl or you'll loose your capital. I wouldn't exactly call that beginner friendly. Which is not to say that Karios/Tzeentch isn't incredibly fun with exceedingly powerful late game armies and campaign abilities. Just the beginning is really tough if you don't know what you're in for. And good Lord Tzarina Katarin? Are you out of your damn mind? That has one of the most hard, and with Throt, downright annoying campaign starts in the game. Why would you ever recommend that to a beginner? I have over 2000 hours and find that one of the shittiest starts. Pre 5.0 Kugath is easier than this. Chaos Dwarfs are also not for beginners since they have a completely different economy. Truly some bizarre picks.

My first faction was clan Mors. Saying I was frustrated by them routing every fight is understatement. And I was used to ranged units shooting in starcraft, and shot my skaven slaves in the back. Now that I think about it, that's probably the reason.