Zhatan the black the Warhost of Zharr

[Knight of Slaanesh]

I completely underestimated this leader. His true strength only becomes clear in interaction with armies of Hobgoblins.

[TheAlmightyProo]

Easiest start but worst LL (of the three) which might be a weird argument but Zhat the Blat is kind of boring too.

Still, best success and easiest time I've had with any of them, even without Gorduz and beelining for the other Hobgob buffs. But Gorduz and said buffs are awesome so...

Draz, on the other hand... fave Chorf LL here but damned if I can get past turn 50 without feeling I'm in a spiral. Gold gets low, Skaven dominate from Karaz a Karak down to Nagashizzar, still only two mixed Chorf infantry/Hobgob armies to cover three or more provinces that are vast compared to those the other side of the WEM... and while I don't lose a single battle, I'm against foes that will need many battles and many turns to whittle down...
And that Skaven corruption... must be the hardest to clear in the game.

Same thing as Astra... even Grimgor wasn't a big deal but now too much ground to cover with too little force (and those slow moving af)

At least with Zhat once Vilitch is done you can hold at the Volary and eat Cathay or hold at the Bastion and venture further into the vast west...

[Taifun_Vash]

He has the easiest start that's for sure, add that he can field a second caravan and most of the ealier problems are taken care of.

[TheAlmightyProo]

Originally posted by Slaanesh Cultist:

Originally posted by TheAlmightyProo:

Easiest start but worst LL (of the three) which might be a weird argument but Zhat the Blat is kind of boring too.

Still, best success and easiest time I've had with any of them, even without Gorduz and beelining for the other Hobgob buffs. But Gorduz and said buffs are awesome so...

Draz, on the other hand... fave Chorf LL here but damned if I can get past turn 50 without feeling I'm in a spiral. Gold gets low, Skaven dominate from Karaz a Karak down to Nagashizzar, still only two mixed Chorf infantry/Hobgob armies to cover three or more provinces that are vast compared to those the other side of the WEM... and while I don't lose a single battle, I'm against foes that will need many battles and many turns to whittle down...
And that Skaven corruption... must be the hardest to clear in the game.

Same thing as Astra... even Grimgor wasn't a big deal but now too much ground to cover with too little force (and those slow moving af)

At least with Zhat once Vilitch is done you can hold at the Volary and eat Cathay or hold at the Bastion and venture further into the vast west...

I have a couple recommendations for Astragoth. The lords with the "Considered" trait are essential. It gives a global +5 to relations for EVERYONE and it stacks. Super useful when your own faction has -15 aversion to you.

Then the caravan masters can have the "Ogre Controller" trait which gives +20 relations to all Ogre's while the caravan is active.

The point of all of this is that if you make friends with Goldtooth and Ku'Gath (both easy but Ku'Gath is super easy) then your eastern flank is secure. Kill Grimgor and Imrik early and your borders will be clear to the south, north and east.

Then if you focus west and kill the Dwarfs, Clan Mors and the Vampires love you.

I've found that at least earlier on I favour more static Lords (other than the LL and one other as a back up mobile/Gorduz and Hobgob army) with some Control boost to cover that side of things before the Tower control building etc. Again, haven't needed it with Zhatan so much but Draz needs it the most what with Tretch and other Skaven poking around, and Astragoth somewhere in between... at least until he's needed to go and beat Grimgor, take and hold his province etc.

The Ogre Controller convoy Lord is usually my first pick, if available, for that reason and especially for Draz and Astra. Though tbh I've found that even making Greasus a regular it doesn't change his attitude much to reduce needing a big sweetener to any deal...

... which is part of the main issue I've had with Chorfs; Gold. While Raw Materials and Armaments will always come in (though whether a trickle or flood is up to the player) Gold gets very hard fairly early. A lot of buildings need tons of it for even lower tiers while even mixed Chorf infantry only/Hobgob armies can still be very expensive. I'm often left with the choice of using it in diplomacy to maybe get some breathing space OR using a like amount (5 grand etc) on buildings that are as needed to maintain control or flows of resources etc, either directly or via convoys. And tbh it doesn't seem to matter whether I build taller or wider nor using more labourers in the force mix (as they die off so fast I'd be recruiting more over time anyway) Overall, the mechanics are great, even for me (haven't really played since sometime during WH2's development so I'm rusty) but the Gold income vs cost, and maybe expansion vs covering threats/Skaven corruptions and plagues etc is where I come undone some.

Still, I just started a second Zhat campaign last night with the different strategy of not mixing outposts/factories in a province and it's looking a little better... though gold has gone down to double digit income once or twice even with more labourers in my forces. I do find other factions to be rather more forgiving on that score though, while even a mixed Chorf infantry/Hobgob force with Gorduz's and tech buffs for the latter (lower left of the military tree) is quite a force early game. As for armies and commanders I tend to have two at most by turn 50, with that mix and Gorduz in the one that favours Hobgobs (across a stack for example it's usually 4 Chorf units base, at least twice that of Hobgobs and maybe a few labourers to make up the mass) That said, I had to use a near full Chorf stack for Draz at one point, just Chorf warriors and Blunders, and there was nothing it couldn't kill... Double stack of the best a 2-3 province Dawi destroying clan Riktus or Verms had? easy. Imrik's best with 2 provinces behind him? easy. The main issue is making good even moderate losses when far from home/global recruitment/replenishment etc nm covering ground in those huge provinces. For the regular Lords themselves, if magic users, I tend to buff their starting spells first, then work around their skills. I may have that wrong but afaik better they be adequate spell throwers early game than try to be useful as melee fighters alone.

Tbh I'm going to close my other Chorf campaigns and focus on Zhat for now, and maybe do a couple of other factions I really like (though th underserved re mechanics/reworks in comparison) until I 'git gudder' lol.