We continue our coverage of the latest Total War DLC with Legendary Lord Astragoth Ironhand. This petrified High Priest of Hashut charges to battle with his exoskeleton legs and buffs to Bull Centaur Renders. Now it’s worth mentioning that Chaos Dwarfs are not a beginner race, but the Disciples of Hashut does offer the easiest start. This article isn’t really a guide, but more like a collection of tips, tricks and general overlay of the faction. Total War: Warhammer III is a sandbox after all and Chaos Dwarfs are really versatile, offering a lot of replayability.
Astragoth Ironhand starts north from the capital of Zharr Naggrund. Located in the edge of the wasteland, a city of Uzkulak in the province of Zorn Uzkul which translates to Plateau of Skulls.
Astragoth Ironhand – Faction Effects and Buffs
Astragoth is a high priest of Hashut and one of the oldest alive. That’s actually the reason why he is rocking with the exoskeleton legs as he his petrified from years of using magic.
As a chaos dwarf elder, he is highly experienced when it comes to political hierarchy of Zharr Naggrund. It’s his experience and respect that gives him +10% buff to all conclave influence income. This influence is then used to claim seats in the Tower mechanic, giving the player even more buffs.
As a devoted high priest, he also buffs Bull Centaurs. They are mutated from normal chaos dwarfs and this is considered a gift from Hashut. So his faction pretty much centers around worshipping the dark father and expanding in his name.
On top of those forementioned buffs his faction also gives +10% research buff and +2 control factionwide which truly helps managing the public order in labour heavy provinces. More labour means more PO penalties and the more you go on to negative, the more labour you will start to lose.
Starting Moves for Astragoth
You will want to quickly secure your starting province from the pesky greenskins. They will provide you some early labour to fuel your warmachine. After that you have multiple options to choose from. You could raise a couple cheap goblin labourer armies and raid the region of Zharr Naggrund. That way you can max out your first province in no time.
There’s also skavens lingering in the mountains to your west (RoC) or to the east (IE) whose provinces could provide you with raw materials and labour. You will want to focus on those 2 resources first. Armaments wont do you any good before you have the infrastructure to field more elite units.
Keep in mind that raiding Zharr Naggrund will hurt your relations with the other 2 Legendary Lords of the Chaos Dwarfs and they might declare a war on you. However, considering how the race is meant to be played, we would say it’s just free real estate. Don’t worry about killing those factions, since you will get those lords anyways from the tower mechanic.
So you probably see that playing as chaos dwarfs can be extremely op, but also has a challenging start compared to other races. In the next article we will be looking at Jon Sn…. we mean, Drazhoath the Ashen and his faction and background so stay tuned!
