Total War: Warhammer III Beginner's Guide: Best Starting Factions and How to Get Immortal Empires

Total War: Warhammer III is huge: dozens of factions, giant maps and two very different ways to play. That makes it hard to know where to start. This guide explains the campaign types, how to get the giant Immortal Empires campaign, the friendliest factions for beginners, and the mistakes that end most first campaigns early.

The game today

• The latest big update is Update 9.0, released on September 24, 2026, together with the Lords of the End Times DLC. That DLC adds four new Legendary Lords: Nagash, Boris Todbringer, The Glottkin and Thanquol. Update 9.0 also added Neferata as a free lord for the Vampire Counts.
• Earlier, the Tides of Torment DLC arrived on December 4, 2025.

Start with the prologue

From the main menu, play the prologue campaign, The Lost God, first. It's the game's tutorial: you play as Yuri of Kislev searching for the lost bear god Ursun. It teaches you the basics of the campaign map and battles, and it leads into the story campaign. You can skip it, but beginners really shouldn't.

The two main campaigns

• Realm of Chaos is the story campaign. It's built around Ursun and the Forge of Souls, with the daemon prince Be'lakor as the villain.
• Immortal Empires is the giant sandbox campaign that combines the maps and races from all three Total War: Warhammer games. This is the one most players spend hundreds of hours in.

How to get Immortal Empires

This has changed over the years, so a lot of older advice is out of date:

• Since February 2023, owning Total War: Warhammer III alone is enough to play Immortal Empires.
• Since December 4, 2025, owners of Warhammer I or II get free access to Immortal Empires and The Lost God.
• Since September 24, 2026, buying any Lords of the End Times pack also gives you Immortal Empires, even if you don't own any of the Total War: Warhammer games.

But: which races you can play still depends on what you own. Warhammer I unlocks races like the Empire, Greenskins and Dwarfs, and Warhammer II unlocks races like the High Elves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen and Skaven. Your games need to be on the same store (for example, all on Steam).

The best factions for beginners

• Tzarina Katarin (Kislev, base game): the most recommended beginner pick. You already learned Kislev in the prologue, and her army is flexible and forgiving.
• Miao Ying (Grand Cathay, base game): starts defending the Great Bastion and plays a strong ranged and artillery style. A safe, steady faction to learn on.
• Tyrion (High Elves, needs Warhammer II): often named the top beginner pick in recent guides. He starts in Ulthuan surrounded by mostly friendly High Elves, which gives you time to learn.
• Skarsnik (Greenskins, DLC): a well-liked, fun Greenskin start, from The King & The Warlord DLC for Warhammer I.

What about Karl Franz of the Empire? He's the face of the series, but players disagree on how easy his Immortal Empires start is. Many find it tougher than it looks, so try him second, not first.

The core systems in plain English

• Public order: keep your settlements happy or they rebel. Some races have their own version of this system. Keeping an army in a settlement helps.
• Corruption: Chaos, vampire and Skaven influence that spreads across the map and hurts public order. Buildings and heroes can push it back.
• Upkeep: every army and unit costs gold each turn, and every extra army makes upkeep more expensive for all of them. Look at your income after upkeep, not just your gold pile.
• Auto-resolve vs fighting yourself: auto-resolve is fast, but it often loses more troops than a real battle and doesn't use spellcasters, skirmishers or cavalry well. Use it for easy wins, and fight close battles yourself.

Beginner tips

1. Play The Lost God first.
2. Don't over-expand. Take a few settlements, then let your economy and public order catch up.
3. Specialize your cities. Not every settlement needs military buildings.
4. Avoid unnecessary wars. Non-aggression pacts with neighbors keep you safe while you grow.
5. Repair or upgrade the main building in every settlement you capture, and secure each province's capital.
6. Don't be afraid to restart. Most players' first campaign is a learning campaign.

Beginner mistakes to avoid

• Recruiting too many armies and going broke on upkeep.
• Ignoring public order and corruption until rebels show up.
• Auto-resolving close fights.
• Starting Immortal Empires with a hard faction. Pick one from the list above first.

My take

As a Warhammer fan, there's nothing like seeing armies from across the Old World clash on one giant map. Start with Kislev or Cathay, learn the economy, and you'll be hooked. Which faction did you start with?