Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs Review

Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs is the latest DLC in the franchise and makes players pledge their allegiance to Hashut, Father of Darkness. Developed by Creative Assembly and Feral Interactive and published by SEGA and Feral Interactive, it introduces the Chaos Dwarfs faction to the game. After thoroughly enjoying myself playing Total War: Warhammer III for the last year, I got the chance to try out this new DLC before it went live.

Although I've always had a turtling strategy when playing the Dwarfs, their chaotic counterparts have awakened the aggressive gung-ho enthusiast in me.

Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs - Burn them in the furnace and let their souls ignite the flames!

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Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC adds the Chaos Dwarf faction to the game. Unlike their goody-two-shoe counterparts, these Dwarfs don't hold grudges, but rather hold sacrificial ceremonies to obtain the blood of Hashut.

Their aim is to drill into the ground until they uncover this powerful magic to unleash onto the world. Although they are Dwarfs, their playstyle is incredibly different from their vanilla kin. I cannot stress how refreshing the campaign felt and how good the mechanics are. All in all, this is probably the best faction to try out in-game.

First impressions and gameplay

Nothing like using Labor to get the work done (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

While playing Chaos Dwarfs, the upkeep system is by far the most exciting part of the faction mechanics. Aside from gold, there are four other things that I had to keep track of: Labor, Raw Materials, Armaments, and Conclave influence.

Although using slaves is nothing new in the Warhammer universe, Chaos Dwarfs use their Labor very wisely. It's unclear if they have contracts or if any health regulations have been put into place, but Labor makes the economy function on a turn-to-turn basis.

Thanks to this resource, I found myself playing more aggressively than usual. Since Laborers 'deteriorate and/or degrade' after every turn, more are needed to swell the ranks. And what better way to acquire a few than by capturing and enslaving them post-battle?

While constantly waging war would be a bad thing, for the Chaos Dwarfs, it's just another day in the office. With three Legendary Lords to choose from, I decided to go with Zhatan the Black and begin my unholy crusade of terror. From the teasers, I knew that the Chaos Dwarfs were straight-up brutal, so fighting was going to be a primary necessity.

"Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the bullets! (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

On that note, Chaos Dwarfs don't beat around the bush when it comes to combat. However, I was caught off guard when I realized that Goblins constituted the bulk of my starting army. Nevertheless, they are surprisingly useful in battle. Of course, they can't hold their own against a well-trained unit, but they work just fine, for a while at least.

That said, if they aren't good at sustained melee combat, why even use Goblins? Well, unlike other factions that rely on an upgraded building chain and gold to unlock and recruit elite units, the Chaos Dwarfs have it a bit differently. The number of Dwarf units they can recruit is limited to how advanced the "Hell-Forge" is.

To elaborate, the Hell-Forge is not just another gimmick; it's the beating heart of the faction, and anything to do with unit modification and/or increasing its recruitment capacity will have to be done from within. However, much like the economy, it does not run on indentured Labor alone. This is where the other two resources come into play.

Resource management in all its glory (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

Raw Materials and Armaments are needed to fuel the fires of war and Hell-Forge machinery. While units can be recruited using just gold, Raw Materials, when turned into Armaments, can be used to buff units. Here's where things got more interesting for me.

Unlike other factions that can capture a settlement and merely occupy it, the Chaos Dwarfs can create special settlement types: Towers, Outposts, and Factories. Towers are like the run-of-the-mill province capital of the faction; they provide general buffs, perks, and control.

Outposts, on the other hand, provide Raw Materials. This is where Labor is put to good use. I found out pretty early on in my campaign that without Labor, the entire economy comes crashing down and makes it harder to establish a foothold. At times, I would find myself manually distributing Labor to ensure that all regions had a steady supply. Although this facet was challenging at times, it eventually became the norm.

Factories are the backbone of the Chaos Dwarf economy (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

Factories are the final settlement type. As the name suggests, they require Raw Materials to produce Armaments. This can then be used for a variety of things, from constructing advanced military buildings to upgrading units and making them worthy of Hashut's name. This brings us to the most fascinating part of the Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC - the Hell-Forge.

While most would think that this new forge would function similarly to the Forge of Daith found in-game when playing as the Sisters of Twilight, the Hell-Forge is radically different. It is an all-in-one, one-stop solution for upgrades, but those do not come cheap or easy.

The first part, or the basic part, of the Hell-Forge is the Armoury. The first time I visited it in-game, I was confused. I had no idea what any of it meant and found it rather overwhelming, but after a bit of reading, I realized this is interesting stuff.

The Armoury is one of the best features in this DLC (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

Given that Chaos Dwarfs troops are rather overpowered, this is a good way to limit recruitment capacity and persuade players to use Goblins as support units. It adds a lot of value to the lore of the race. Coming back to the Armory, Armaments can be used to upgrade recruiting capacity for units.

This extends from the humble Chaos Dwarf Warrior to the elite Infernal Ironsworn. Furthermore, after a certain recruitment capacity for a certain unit type has been increased, passive perks/buffs become available to select. This is where the Manufactory section of the Hell-Forge comes into play.

This segment of the Hell-Forge made me feel like a kid in a candy shop. For the small cost of Armaments, I realized that I could buff my units on the battlefield. While this meant it would affect the amount of Armaments I was gaining at every turn, the trade-off was well worth it.

More passive buffs? Don't mind if I do (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

Truth be told, I didn't get to make full use of this system until mid-game. Given how long it took to set up regions and defend them, by the time I began using the Manufactory, I already had elite units on the battlefield. Nevertheless, when engaging with foes on multiple fronts, every little advantage helps.

Speaking of advantages, another great mechanic added to the Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC is The Tower of Zharr. It is divided into three Districts (Sorcery, Military, and Industry) and has four tiers to it. In short, The Tower of Zharr provides some amazing perks if you have enough Conclave Points.

However, not having bothered to read the instructions, I started off rather late in claiming seats within The Tower of Zharr. Thankfully, since I had plenty of Conclave Points lying around, I made sure to eventually secure a District. As mentioned, claiming seats provides buffs. Depending on the District that's captured, a buff/perk associated with it will be given.

Remember to spend Conclave Influence to get extra buffs (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

These tend to scale the higher the tier goes. Sadly, I soon realized that I wasn't the only one gunning for seats. Other Chaos Dwarfs factions were claiming them as well. While you can reclaim them using Conclave Points, the cost is rather high.

Another new feature of the Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC is convoys. Rather than merely exchanging goods for gold, Chaos Dwarfs tend to exchange Labor and Armaments as well. This is useful if you need an extra source of income for either resource, but in the long run, gaining gold to field large armies is probably the best way.

Last and most definitely not least is the Great Drill of Hashut. I cannot stress how refreshing this felt compared to the other campaign objectives in Total War: Warhammer III. That said, the Great Drill of Hashut is the centerpiece of this DLC. The goal is simple: collect Relics to prime the Great Drill of Hashut, drill into the depths, and bore through the mantle to reach Hashut's domain.

Don't try to secure Relics without an elite army (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

Compared to the other faction mechanics in the game, this felt very refreshing. No "one drop of blood," no God-Bear, and most importantly, not having to go through rifts to fight armies in hell. This felt very similar to how the Tomb Kings did their own thing while everyone else fought to take control of the Vortex in Warhammer II.

That said, collecting Relics is not easy. Until an elite army has been created, using a mixture of Chaos Dwarfs and Goblins is not a good idea. War Machines, Bull Centaurs, and K'daai will be needed to help claim Relics. Once a Relic has been collected, it can be used to either power the Great Drill of Hashut or claim it for yourself. Benefits will be reaped either way.

Performance and sound

Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, provided by SEGA, was played on a system having the following configuration:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: RTX 3070 8GB
RAM: 32 GB

Throughout my Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs Campaign playthrough, the game ran smoothly. I did not encounter any problems, stutters, or hard crashes. The only minor inconvenience I did face were the long loading times, which affected my ability to spill blood in the name of Hashut.

In terms of sound and SFX, there's nothing to say that long-term fans don't already know. From battlecries to the sound of Hell Cannons firing a barrage into the enemy's ranks, it's pure symphonic and chaotic bliss.

Conclusion

Zhatan The Black is probably my favorite Legendary Lord at the moment (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

Of all the DLCs released thus far, Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs takes the cake and eats it too. I cannot remember the last time I had this much fun with a faction. Given how the mechanics work, in conjunction with resource management, they spruced up gameplay and made it feel refreshing.

The unit types added in make it a strong faction for defensive as well as aggressive gameplay. You can either create a strong firing line using Chaos Dwarfs Blunderbusses and Deathshrieker Rocket Launchers or sally out using Infernal Guard to flank opponents with Bull Centaurs.

If these options seem too expensive for the early-game, you can always drown the enemy in waves of Goblins and do some friendly-fire damage using artillery. These choices are truly limitless and make for a wide variety of combat strategies. On that note, if all else fails, you can always use a K'daai to rush into the fight and trample on every living being.

Make it rain fire and anguish! (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

That said, combat felt amazing while playing the Chaos Dwarfs. Unlike their vanilla counterparts, I felt confident playing aggressively instead of turtling and using Thunderers to form a defensive line. In fact, in most engagements, even when having to defend, I would sally out to meet my foes head-on.

There is something about Chaos Dwarfs that makes a defensive player like me violent. Have I embraced Hashut? Probably not, but I'm getting there. Given how the campaign works, it's something that I can rally behind wholeheartedly. Even though it does take some time to build up an army to hunt for Relics, there's never a dull moment.

Sacrifices must be made for the Great Drill of Hashut (Image via SEGA and Feral Interactive/Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs)

I found myself micromanaging at every turn to ensure that the Armaments were being produced at full capacity. While it can get frustrating maintaining a large stockpile of Armaments to upgrade units and boost them, there's a certain joy once the task has been completed.

All said and done, Total War: Warhammer III - Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC is truly a masterpiece. I mean, sure, the Blunderbuss and artillery units are rather overpowered, but I'm not complaining. As long as they can fire a volley and incinerate an approaching enemy unit, I'm a happy player.