Dwarven Campaign Walkthrough and Tips TW: Warhammer Guide
Last update: 14 June 2016
The beginning of the Dwarves is probably the easiest from all of the available factions. There are numerous enemies in the vicinity (especially Greenskins-like), but Dwarves start with a functioning economy (which, as the time and turns go, accelerates even further), giving the player quite an easy start.
This chapter will focus on the first turns from the beginning of the campaign. It assumes that you've selected the leader of the faction, Thorgrim Grudgebearer as your starting Lord, but you can pick the second one if you like.
First turns
You begin the campaign with a single Lord (together with a small army), as well as with the capital city of The Silver Road province, Karaz-a-Karak. As soon as the game starts you will be informed about the grudge system. In short it's associated with short missions given to the player in accordance to enemy activity against your country. If a faction attacks you, kills your hero, or does anything hostile towards you, a new mission (Grudge) to complete will appear in the Great Book of Grudges. More on that can be read in a separate chapter of this guide.
At the beginning of the first turn start upgrading Sparring Chamber to the Clan Barracks. After two more turns it will grant you access to missile infantry units, which will be immensely helpful. Remember to start a research project (you can bring up the research window by pressing the 8 button). You will be able to select from dozens of different projects (a distinguishing feature of the Dwarves), but you should start with the Include Related Families. This will increase the public order in provinces by 1. Don't attack the enemy located nearby yet - instead, enter the capital city with your Lord and start recruit 2 units of Dwarf Warriors and 1 unit of Miners. Now you can end the turn.
During the second turn you can attack the enemy Lord of the Bloody Spearz located to the east. Use this opportunity and lead the forces to battle yourself - this way you will learn (even if only by a little) how Dwarven armies function. After the encounter your Lord will advance to the second level. Unlock the Route Marcher ability which will increase the Lord's movement range on the map.
You can immediately attack the settlement the enemy retreated two - The Pillars of Grungni. After the battle, select the option to seize control over the settlement and start constructing Barley Field here - this will increase the growth of this province. Remember to start recruit 3 more units before ending the turn. Also, your Lord is now level 3 - for his new ability select Inspiring Presence. This will further increase discipline levels of units near the Lord. Additionally, you should be given a story-related quest - ignore it for now and end the turn.
At the beginning of the 3rd turn attack and conquer the last settlement in this province - Mount Squighorn. You will assume full control over the province and will be able to select a commandment for it - the best one for now is Masters of Steel and Stone, which will decrease recruitment and construction cost. After the fight you will be able to invest a skill point of your Lord - unlock either the Axe Lord or the Tactician. Before you end the turn you must start construction of a new building in the capital of the province, Karaz-a-Karak - build the Gem Mineshaft. Don't forget to add 3 more units to recruitment - 2x Quarrellels and 1x Dwarf Warriors. Now you can end the turn.
With the beginning of the 4th turn start researching a new technology - Khazid Subsidies is a good choice. Order your Lord to head south, in the direction of Karak Dron - you won't get there during a single turn, but you can shorten the journey. Change the movement method of the Lord to "Use Underway" - this is a stance unique to Dwarves and Greenskins and it will allow your Lord to move a little further. Select the stance and order your Lord to move as close to Karak Dron as possible and end the turn.
Diplomatic offers from nearby factions should start appearing right now (5th turn). You should accept all trade offers, as well as non-aggression pacts - the later concerns other Dwarven factions the most. This will increase your income exponentially and will allow you to expand your borders without worrying that you will be constantly attacked. Start upgrading the main building in The Pillars of Grungni, as well as the Gem Mineshaft in Karaz-a-Karak to Gem Mine. To be able to attack Karak Dron you must change the stance of your Lord to 'none' - do that and conquer the settlement. After the encounter add a second point to either Axe Lord or Tactician. It's important to unlock the Rally! ability as quickly as possible - it will come in handy during combat. In the newly conquered Karak Dron start constructing Barley Field and end the turn.
At the beginning of the 6th turn order your Lord to head towards the Iron Rock, located to the south of Karak Dron. You won't be able to get there during this turn, so just end it. During the 7th turn attack the Iron Rock. You will be facing quite a large Greenskins army here, together with the leader of their faction. You should focus your missile unit fire on the enemy ranged units, and then take out Black Orks, or the enemy leader afterwards. After a short while the encounter should end. Afterwards, add another point into your Lord's abilities, as well as start upgrading the main building in Mount Squighorn. Use the opportunity that there are barracks constructed in the newly conquered Iron Rock and recruit 2 more units. Remember to select a new technology to research - Dwarf Treasures - but don't end the turn yet.
During the 7th turn recruit a new Lord in the capital, Karaz-a-Karak and start recruiting units - your goal is to create a second army consisting of 8 units (9 with the Lord). Recruit at least 2 Quarrellels in that army. If there's the Masters of Steel and Stone commandment active in the province, you will be able to recruit 4 units during a single turn - you will need 2 turns to finish it.
In 8th turn continue recruiting army and start upgrading Barley Fields in The Pillars of Grungni into Granary. End the turn now. Send your main Lord towards the capital of the province, Black Crag - it can be found to the east of the Iron Rock. The second Lord should be moving south, so that he can reach the main Lord - to speed up the journey you can use the 'March' method.
During the 10th turn send the army of the main Lord to Black Crag and start the siege - they won't be able to defeat the garrison on their own, so just add a few siege machines to the queue and click "continue siege". The second Lord should be going towards the mentioned capital (Black Crag) - he should be able to get there during the 11th turn. Now destroy Clan Barracks in Karaz-a-Karak and construct Watch Room in Mount Squighorn and in The Pillars of Grungni. This way you will free some space in the capital and secure the settlements at the same time. Afterwards, start upgrading the main building in the Iron Rock. Start a new research project before you end the turn - Dwarfen Diplomats will increase your relations with other factions.
In 11th turn approach Black Carag with the second Lord and start the encounter. You can use the option to auto-resolve it, so that you will save a lot of time, or you can lead the army yourself. Afterwards, select the Masters of Steel and Stone commandment for your new province.
During the 12th turn start upgrading Trinket Maker in Pillars of Grungni to Dwarf Tinkerer's Shop. Leave main Lord's army in Black Crag, and send your second Lord into Karaz-a-Karak. Afterwards, start constructing Gold Mining Pit in Black Crag (it will give you a huge income boost) and end the turn.
Start the 13th turn by selecting a new research. You can select it on your own, depending on your preferences, but Dwarfen Emissaries is probably the best project (it will further increase your relations with other factions). During the next turn start building Iron Mining Pit in the Iron Rock. Afterwards, send the army of your main Lord towards Barag Dawazbag, which can be found right next to the Iron Rock. Refrain from constructing anything more - you need gold for the main building in the capital. Depending on your treasury it can take to the 16th turn to acquire the necessary gold - this text assumes so.
Before you end the next turn, send your main Lord towards another settlement, Dok Karaz. You won't have any problems with conquering it, but your Lord probably won't reach it during this turn. End the turn now. Start upgrading the main building in the capital, Karaz-a-Karak. Afterwards, send your Lord to conquer Dok Karaz. The last two conquests should probably advance your Lord to level 9. Use those two skill points to unlock Rally! and High King abilities. Both of them increase the effectiveness of units standing near the Lord. If you have sufficient gold, start upgrading the main building in the Iron Rock.
During the 18th turn send your main Lord towards Karak Eight Peaks, the province of the Eastern Badlands. You will new two lords to conquer it, but your second one is close. Your main Lord should reach the capital in 21st turn - click through subsequent turns, move your Lord and upgrade other buildings. When both of your Lords are near Karak Eight Peaks (around 21st turn) attack it and conquer it. Now try not to waste too much gold (aside from upgrading main buildings), as you've probably been given a new quest that requires you to accumulate 10,000 gold. During the 22nd turn attack a nearby settlement - Valaya's Sorrow.
When the 23rd turn starts, it's time to complete the story-related quest that was given to you at the beginning of the campaign. In order to do so, select your main Lord and open the objective screen (by pressing 9). Click on the "Ambush at the Thundering Falls" quest and then on the icon with two arrows, located in the bottom right corner of the screen. This will allow you to teleport your main Lord to the quest, provided that you have 5,000 gold.
Ambush at the Thundering Falls
This battle starts with an ambush prepared against your army. You need to fight off several attacks of the enemy army, but with the troops you have it will be a piece of cake. Additionally, after a short period of time allied reinforcements will appear on the battlefield.
Order your melee units to stand in a long line, and place your missile and artillery units behind them. You now have to wait for the enemies to come at you. Remember to use your Grudge Thrower to take out the enemy catapult. After a short while two enemy units will emerge from the passage on the left side - take them out before the main army of the enemy arrives.
After about a minute allied reinforcements will come from the north - 4 units of powerful Gyrocopters, controlled by your allies. Those flying units will decimate enemy forces - your main task is to simply hold your line and take out any remaining forces.
Afterwards, a Trolls unit will appear on the battlefield. Those foes cause fear to soldiers near them, which is why you must take them out with your ranged units before they can reach your army. Trolls, like any monster unit in the game are extremely vulnerable to ranged attacks, which is why it shouldn't take too long.
After all of the enemy forces are gone, the battle and the objective will be completed. Your Lord will be given a unique item - Dragonhelm - and you will receive a free, random hero. The hero can be drafted into the army, or used to sabotage other enemies.
Following turns
After completing the above described mission, you need to conquer two settlements - Crooked Fang Fort and Dringorackaz. Both of those can be found to the south of Valaya's Sorrow. Conquering them should take you up to 3-4 turn - by 27-28th turn you should be done with it.
During the next several turns you must conquer all 4 settlements of the Blightwater province - Karak Azgal, Deff Gorge, Kradtommen and Misty Mountain. It's possible that any of those were conquered by your ally. If that's the case, conquer only those that are still controlled by Greenskins, and the rest can be taken care of later. If you manage to conquer the said terrains, the Greenskins faction will be defeat - it's one of the goals of the campaign, so you have to do that either way.
Your task for the next several turns is to conquer all of the settlements of the Southern Badlands and Western Badlands - both of them can be found to the west of most of your settlements. In order to do that, you will need two, 20-unit armies - you can even use three armies. The third one can be used to either attack another settlement, or to protect the ones that you've already taken control of.
Most of them will probably be controlled by enemy factions - you can kill two birds with one stone. If, however, some of them are controlled by allied Dwarven factions, you can either declare war on them and try to conquer them, or take a diplomatic approach and try to force that faction to join you. The "military" approach is a lot quicker and if those factions aren't stronger than you (and probably they aren't), you should attack and conquer them.
By doing so the whole south-eastern corner of the map will be under your control. You won't have to worry about getting attacked in the back. Depending on the situation on the map, you should achieve this outcome by 45-55th turn. The next several turns should be used to develop those settlements (although you should have been developing them all the time).