Editing Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Kislev (section)

===Immortal Empires===
Right off the bat, Kislev starts under siege. Whether you're Boris, Katarin, or Kostaltyn, you will be surrounded by enemies on one side and annoying AI "friends" on the other. Expect to basically be dogpiled by declarations of war within 2 or 3 turns, see the tiny settlements of the oblast get picked off constantly by marauding armies, and for half your turns to be spent hiding in ambush stance. Depending on the difficulty level you're playing on, you may find the other Kislev factions wiped out before you're ever close to confederating them. This is especially true for AI Kostaltyn, so don't worry too much about the Supporters minigame unless you're not leading by Turn 50.

The first thing you should do is seize some defensible, profitable territory. The oblast settlements are all sacrificial; use them to delay and bait the armies of all your enemies while your legendary lord conquers some territory actually worth a damn and builds up XP. For Katarin, it can be profitable and safe to take Azhag's settlements in the World's End Mountains and secure his gold mine before he becomes a threat. Kostaltyn has a harder start because Erengrad is held by an AI Kislev faction, and you're exposed to Azazel and Norscan factions. You might have a better chance if you can cripple their armies and then sail south to Ostland or Hochland and claim some territory they won't raze. Finally, Boris is beset on all sides by daemons but you can either seize a map edge Chaos Fortress to get a strongly defensible position or you can retreat into Norsca where your early-game, non-magic attack units will do much better. If Kraka Drak gets wiped out early, as they tend to do, you can easily secure a Gem Mine to strengthen your economy and hold out until you can spam War Bears. If you're feeling confident, head south and east, into the Empire, Sylvania, and the World's Edge Mountains. Defeat Festus, Vlad, or Azhag and claim the rich resources there and secure territory that Norsca and Chaos won't be able to reach. If you want to play a purer Kislev campaign, you'll want to head northeast first and claim the icy regions of Norsca, which are green territory for your faction. Most of the rest of the north, unless you're Boris, are going to be useless to you.

In general, the early threats to Kislev will be Azazel, Clan Moulder, the Goromadny Tribe, and Wintertooth. If playing as Boris, Archaon and the Daemon Prince will join in the dogpile but they won't actually be able to attack Katarin and Kostaltyn for a long time. All these threats will make holding onto Kislev proper difficult, but if you weather the first 50 turns or so under siege you should have enough of an army to start scaring off the cowardly AI and begin your counter-offensive. The assault will also help the player confederate the minor Kislev factions holding Erengrad and Praag, assuming they're not totally wiped out when their armies are destroyed, and holding all 3 Kislev cities is critical to generating income and supporting your armies with the faction's many, many landmark buildings. A few alliances with the Empire or Dwarves will help hold territory as the AI tend to build outposts as soon as they're able, and adding their artillery to an army of Kossars or Ice Guard can be a very effective force multiplier in the mid-game, assuming their settlements haven't been raped into the Stone Age by the Vampire Counts, Azhag, or Festus.

Speaking of your foes, the only defeat traits you legitimately have a chance of getting (early to mid-game, after which you can go out trait-hunting if you wish because your empire should be secured by other armies) are Throt, Throgg and Festus, which boost your lord's stats and their army's replenishment, respectively. The other legendary lords you face have shitty traits, so don't bother keeping them alive to farm them. Finish them off as soon as you can to give Kislev breathing space. If you're Boris, killing Archaon is also really worthwhile for the Physical Resistance and bonus to the army's Melee Attack. After Kislev is secure, Wulfrik, Be'lakor, and Sigvald are also worth hunting down.

Most of Kislev's roster will be unavailable unless and until you hold the cities. Kostaltyn especially relies on kossar spam in the early- and mid-game, which doesn't mesh too well with his Patriarch-boosting abilities. Against most infantry and some cavalry-based armies, particularly Norsca, they'll do fine. Clan Moulder has to be handled delicately because monstrous infantry and mortars will absolutely destroy kossars, but kossars are cheap and easily replaced so you can wage a war of attrition and wear them down until you're able to besiege Hell Pit. One of the worst matchups in the early game will be Azhag's Bonerattlaz; if he goes full goblin his troops may rout often but kossar ammunition, and the balance of power, will be wasted on chaff. Most ork units have enough HP, armor, and shields to wade through kossar fire and get into melee with them where, while decent, they will lose. Smart tactics are absolutely necessary if you take him on, and the same goes for the Vampire Counts.

Once you can afford it, rush for light war sleds. Not only is Little Grom in the same building tree, light war sleds give Kislev armies the speed to outrun the cavalry and monsters of most of the AI factions they'll be at war with while firing on the move. When led by Frost Maidens, they can be a very cheap, very powerful army. Best of all, they only take 1 turn to recruit while Kislev's other strong units (War Bear Riders & Ice Guard) take 2 turns or more and will have higher upkeep. Kislev's horse cavalry is pretty shit; they're squishy and require cycle charging. Unless you want flavor or you're pressed for time, if you want cavalry go for War Bears. Armored Kossars are also pretty shit and can be ignored; they're weaker than Tzar Guard if you need melee infantry to hold the line, cost more than regular kossars while doing less ranged damage, and lack the Ice Guard's magical attacks.

One issue for Kislev is the Ice Court mechanic, which will limit your ability to hire mages. The special benefits of the Ice Court can be very powerful however, so you should be training as many as you can afford and hoping you get lucky. War Sled traits are among the best you can get, Ice Shard is currently (v2.1) bugged and can be cast for free if you interrupt it with a spell or ability, and Ice Guard traits will make them even deadlier. <s>Also as of the current update, Stalking Ice Witches and Frost Maidens are some of the best way to capture walled settlements as you can sneak them over the walls to cap the victory points without interference as long as you haven't attacked/dealt damage to the AI's defenders. Katarin can do the same with stalking Snow Leopards, which is about the only use for that unit in the campaign.</s>

Atamans are another great way to improve your heroes, since they can stack the hero recruit level trait as many times as that event triggers, and all their unique traits will stack with the landmark buildings of Kislev's three cities. They are vital to strengthening Kislev's economy and army, so you should aim to get a minimum of six provinces as soon as possible. Don't be afraid to trade regions via diplomacy to do so; the payoff in improved income, unit recruit rank, or discounts on building and recruitment are more than worth it.

Finally, a note on Devotion: It's good, but some rites are better than others. If you find yourself generating a lot of Devotion, rush Rites of the Land in the Kislev tech tree to unlock summonable Elemental Bears through the Rite of Dazh, which will also improve your economy. Do note, however, the more times you use a Devotion Rite, the more expensive using ANY rite becomes, and there's no upper cap. You could find yourself needing 700 devotion by the late-game for a single rite, so there is some benefit to building cathedrals even after you win the Supporters race. It's unclear if the benefits from each level of Supporters stack or if they are cumulative, so don't spend a ton of money or devotion reducing your rival's Supporter bar.
[[Category:Total Warhammer]] {{Total War Warhammer Tactics}}