The crash of steel and the booming explosions of magical mayhem on the battlefield never get old, and the new DLC for Creative Assembly and SEGA’s Total War: Warhammer III brings it to a whole new level. Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, released on 4/13, adds a new faction and 3 legendary lords as well as free content for the original game. The titular Chaos Dwarfs are a faction of vertically challenged crafters that became lost from their kin in a cataclysmic event and were only saved through the power of a dark god, Hashut. While they gained strength and magic from this Chaos god, they also grew vile and full of contempt for the other races and took these “lesser” beings as forced labor to push out monstrous war machines and armaments. For a game like Total War: Warhammer III, this is a perfect way to push players to balance expansion and economy, and this faction is one of the most fun I have played. They also turn into rock when they get old, and one Lord is half stone so he invented an exosuit so he can still run around and smack things. Ingenious!
Gameplay
Dwarfs are master crafters, able to creat powerful armor and weapons, firearms, and war machines. This remains true for their Chaos-tainted cousins, though the powers of Chaos are intermixed with the powerful dwarf weapons. In battle, homing Hellcannons, destructive mortars, and rifles that fire flaming bullets are but a small part of their arsenal. Dwarf Warriors and Infernal Guard make up their frontline, orc and goblin slaves are used as meat shields, powerful creations of metal and magic decimate those before them, all while rifles and shotguns rip apart those to get within range. The Lore of Hashut is connected to fire and ash, and features explosive spells and slowing abilities, allowing full advantage of the Chaos Dwarf’s cannons and rifles to decimate their enemies.
On the campaign map, the brutally strong units are limited well with unit limits and an interesting economy that forces players to expand thoughtfully while still constantly fighting to keep the labor coming. Chaos Dwarfs have 3 resources, called Raw Materials, Armaments, and Concave Influence. Raw Materials are mined from outposts, creating workforce requirements in exchange for these materials. These Raw Materials can be used for certain buildings or to craft the next resource. Armaments are built in factories using Raw Materials and are used to increase unit caps, build military buildings, as trade items for convoys, and in the Manufactory to provide buffs for certain units. Finally, Concave Influence is used to take seats in the Tower of Zarh, a faction-wide mechanic where each seat gives its owner bonuses. Each seat is part of a district, and filling a district provides a buff for every Chaos Dwarf faction, with the bonuses getting bigger and better as you ascend this tower.
Chaos Dwarf also utilizes a mechanic similar to Cathay, where they send out convoys to trade their Armaments or gold for labor and Raw Materials. These independently moving lords can get new units, fight, and gain experience to level up. I touched on labor earlier, but it is taken in battle and can be bought by convoys, and each turn any province that produces raw materials will require a specific workforce to produce at 100% efficiency. Keeping your labor force strong requires constant fighting or raiding, and really gave me a reason to expand as I required more workers for my expanding economy. I constantly felt like I was on the razor’s edge between high income and bankruptcy, as well as trying to keep up with the high upkeep costs of their more powerful units.
Replayability
As with most of my reviews, your mileage may vary on replayability. Personally, I have put in 20 hours this weekend playing each of the Chaos Dwarf Legendary Lords, and while there is very little difference between them they each have a very different early game experience. Overall, playing as the Chaos Dwarfs has been a blast and I feel the unique economy gives me a reason to dive deeper into the management and has me feeling much more engaged on the campaign map. They have quickly become my favorite faction and I have enjoyed them immensely, and look forward to more campaigns in the future.
What it Could Have Done Better
This DLC is awesome. To me, this is a transformative DLC and adds an incredibly fun and unique faction that feels great to play as. The primary problem I have is related to the number of lords, the uniqueness of each lord, and the cost of the DLC.
With 3 Legendary Lords, the Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs has 1 less lord than most race DLCs, and each of the Lords feels very similar. While they have their own buffs and locations, once you pass turn 15 the only difference is how you use them as battle units and what enemies you are fighting. This isn’t a game-breaker for me as the Chaos Dwarfs already feel very unique as a race and are wildly fun.
Another issue that I already see splitting the community is the price of the DLC. At this time it is $24.49 full price, while most Total War: Warhammer III race packs are $15-18. Due to the record-breaking inflation worldwide and the enjoyment I have gotten from this DLC, I don’t see this as a real issue but it must be noted.
Verdict
This is one of my favorite Warhammer III DLCs to date, and I would argue it is potentially one of the best in the series. It was such a welcome departure from the races we currently have, and I have had an absolute blast playing them. I’m sure I will play it even more as time goes on, and I have already convinced my friends to pick it up so we can goof around and take over the world as angry bearded dudes with guns. I truly hope this is indicative of the future products coming from Creative Assembly, and I would happily call this a resounding success of a DLC.
Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs is out now on Steam and Epic Games Store. Check out the release trailer below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
