Characteristics | Norsca TW: Warhammer Guide
Last update: 23 August 2017
The humans of Norsca are worshippers of the Chaos. They are plunderers, relentlessly invading the civilized tribes of the Old World. They armies consist both of fierce warriors and fierce beasts and monsters. Contrary to the Warriors of Chaos, they are not a horde - they can own territories but, the economy is of footnote status in their society anyway.
General information
The army of Norsca are mostly melee warriors, supported by mighty beast such as mammoths. Their warriors are mostly poorly armored and don't have a huge variety of ranged units and cavalry, but these shortcomings are at least partly compensated with the Rage ability, which makes the units slowly grow during battle. Plus, they get the greatest choice of monsters in the game.
Similarly to the Chaos, they have a broad range of offensive spells. Apart from the Metal, Fire and Death domains, which the Chaos also has, they have access to the magic of the Shadows. Thanks to spells such as Spirit Leech you can very easily weaken the enemy's lord, and a well-placed Flame Storm can do some serious damage to whole regiments.
Worshipping the gods of Chaos is one of the mechanics particular to Norsca. If you want to raze a settlement, you have to choose the god in whose name the destruction will be done. Choosing any god increases the zest with which the population worships him, which gradually yields different bonuses for your faction, but also decreases the worship level for other gods. After reaching level three, the other gods will send armies against you.
The other specialty of this faction is hunting monsters. If you decide for a hunt, you will get a series of side quests that will end with a battle with an army of monsters led by the one you wish to hunt. Winning such battle gives numerous awards. These quests are not mandatory to finish the campaign, but they can help to do it sooner - sacrificing such beast to gods is much more effective. You should focus on hunting monsters later on in the game, when your army is bigger.
Norsca has a very poor economy. Their main source of income is sacking settlements and plundering the territories of other factions. Norsca settlements have no fortifications at all, so it's very easy to lose them. A good idea is to build a defense building in your towns, which at least provides a better garrison. On the other and, losing a settlement isn't especially painful.
Playing Norsca allows you to conquer the chosen settlements of other factions, apart from the settlements in the North. Although in most cases, the only option is to sack or raze a settlement, there are some locations, where you will also be able to establish a foothold. A special icon next to the settlement's name will let you know whether this is possible. Establishing such a foothold in settlements such as Altdorf is required to research the end technology.
Victory conditions
There are two playable factions here: Norsca and Wintertooth. No matter which faction you decide to choose, you will have to conquer the other. You will also have to:
- Reach worship level 3 for any god you choose;
- Defeat the armies of the remaining gods;
- Destroy factions: The Empire, Bretonnia
Available leaders
As far as the Norsca is concerned, there are only two lords available: Wulfrik the Wanderer (the leader of the main faction, Norsca), and Throgg (the leader of Wintertooth). Who you chose influences not only your initial units and their bonuses, but also the geopolitical situation and the difficulty of the campaign. Hence this is a rather important choice, especially since you can only access the other one after conquering his faction.
Wulfrik the Wanderer starts the campaign with the following units: Marauder Berserkers, Marauder Ice Wolves Chariot, Skin Wolves. The most interesting here is the chariot, being the quickest unit of this kind in the whole game. It's a well-armored, anti-infantry unit that can be used in early stages of a battle to crush the light-armor infantry from the clans of Norsca. However, this unit doesn't last a long time if it gets surrounded, so you need to maneuver a lot. Wulfrik provides a -10% upkeep bonus for all Marauder units, plus all units commanded by him can cause fear. Apart from that, all Mammoths get a bonus to direct combat damage, which makes them even more dangerous (when you get access to them later in the game). Wulfrik himself is a pretty powerful lord, having access to a mammoth later in the game, which makes him a formidable enemy.
Throgg, at the beginning, has access to: Norscan Warhounds, Trolls and Ice Trolls. Two trolls can be extremely useful at the initial stages of battle, but you have to be careful: low armor and leadership makes them pretty easy to eliminate, especially by the Marauder Hunters with Javelins from other Norsca factions. Throgg is a troll, so most of his bonuses are only helping other creatures of his kind - increased physical resistance and decreased upkeep. However, a more interesting bonus is the complete fatigue resistance, which allows you to easily invade the lands of the Vampires of the Elves. This comes particularly handy if you feel like destroying the rest of the world after winning the campaign. If you're wondering what's eating Throgg - it's the same thing as with all trolls: his armor is rather poor. The only advantage that he might have over Wulfrik is more health and greater speed - until Wulfrik gets the mammoth as his mount. All this makes the troll a worse choice for starters, especially if you're not an experienced player.