Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Grand Cathay

This is the general tactics page on how to play Cathay in Total War: WARHAMMER. As the game isn't out yet and we know very little about how the faction will work, this page won't be filled out for a long time. However, we can make some early guesses based on the table top and the trailer.

Why Play Cathay

• Because Total War: Three Kingdoms didn't go hard enough into fantasy for you.
• These guys are finally being fleshed out (with the full blessings of our evil British overlords nonetheless) after years and you want to see what they come up with.
• You're into oriental history and mythology.

Pros

...Man the fuck if I know. They're literally brand new, so this is likely going to not be flushed out for a while. More will come when information comes out over the months.

• Designed for Total War: One thing we can say as an advantage for Cathay is unlike the other factions they will be designed from the ground up to be in a Total War game rather then trying to transition from a table top game into total war. This gives them the potential to be one of the best designed races and balanced since they're not trying to fit a square Warhamemer peg into a round Total War hole.
• Monsters: The lore references things like Long Dragons, Stone Dog Guardians, Qilin and constructs similar to the Tomb Kings. With all of this, you will likely be the most monster focused of all the human factions.
• Good range units: There are two things everybody knows about ancient China's Military: they invented gunpowder and they use repeating crossbows. Therefore it is logically to believe that will carry over into Warhammer, but this is perhaps the most subjective pro on this list.
• Numbers: In lore, Cathay has the largest population of all the human nations, so they will likely have bodies to spare. Don't expect Skaven numbers, but you'll likely have large armies compared to other good guy races.

Cons

• Mediocre Cavalry: Ancient China isn't exactly known for it's super heavy cavalry, especially when you compare them to the high status mounted warrior class of Medieval Europe and Japan Unless you were from the north and especially close to (or are one of) the nomadic horse-riders, in which case things like heavy cavalry like Iron Pagoda Riders are possible. Your normal horse options might not be up to snuff compared to Empire Knights and Stone Dogs might be too slow to perform the job. Similar to ranged above however, this is VERY much speculation.
• DLC: There are three guarantees in life. Death, Taxes, and Core Races getting units withheld for DLC. Sorry Cathay, don't expect to be different. (Though in this case I guess it's less "units being held back" and more "CA and GW making up more shit later.")

Lords

Well... who knows, since Cathay lacks any big characters that aren't from Genevieve Dieudonné books. However, there are two Legendary Lords that will most likely appear at some point...

Legendary Lords

• Dragon Emperor: There is no doubt that the only known Cathay character(s?) will most likely appear in TWW, although nobody knows how - as a Legendary Lord, Legendary Hero option like Lord Kroak or Ariel, or just as a mention, like in the original setting. CA (if they made him into a Lord or a Hero) probably had many difficulties with the dragon in human-sona (if they even go that way). So, only a speculation for now.

• The Monkey King: Aside from the Dragon Emperor, he's pretty much the only other Cathayan character that even gets mentioned in the lore. Given that they evidently have a bad relationship, he may end up being an Arkhan the Black type character for Cathay. His campaign will likely focus on Monkey Warriors, however they're going to be implemented into the game.

Units

Artillery

• Rockets?: Given that in universe Hellstorm Rocket Batteries are inspired by Cathayan rocketry it's a decent bet that some form of rocketry is going to be present.

Multiplayer Strategies

• Beastmen:

• Bretonnia:

• Warriors of Chaos:

• Dark Elves:

• Dwarfs:

• Empire:

• Grand Cathay:

• Greenskins:

• High Elves:

• Khorne:

• Kislev:

• Lizardmen:

• Norsca:

• Nurgle:

• Skaven:

• Slaanesh:

• Tomb Kings:

• Tzeentch:

• Vampire Coast:

• Vampire Counts:

• Wood Elves:

Total War: Warhammer Tactics Articles
General Tactics	Tactics Magic Banner Immortal Empires
Total War: Warhammer	The Empire Dwarfs Greenskins Vampire Counts Bretonnia Warriors of Chaos Beastmen Wood Elves Norsca
Total War: Warhammer 2	High Elves Dark Elves Lizardmen Skaven Tomb Kings Vampire Coast
Total War: Warhammer 3	Kislev Khorne Tzeentch Nurgle Slaanesh Grand Cathay Ogre Kingdoms Daemons of Chaos Chaos Dwarfs