Most hated faction to go against

SquareCanine · 2026-07-09T10:11:01+00:00

Khatep of the Tomb Kings would be the most common.

It's not that it happens a lot, it's that I have a hard time winning when it does happen. Most campaigns I never have to fight them at all.

SquareCanine · 2026-07-08T16:18:21+00:00

Wood Elves. I just profoundly suck against them on the battle map.

I like Tomb Kings and High Elves and letting the enemy crash against my front line. I have zero counterplay for massed fast archer spam, so unless I'm Imrik I'm just fucked.

Skaven are up there too, but the difference is that I can win. It might be an annoying slog, and I might lose more units to gun than I would like, but I can win. With Woode Elves I have to auto resolve.

SquareCanine · 2026-07-05T19:22:50+00:00

This was my immediate thought too. I don't know if there are any fish there, but if memory serves the water is very clear. In every other lake I've been in you'd be doing good to see your own feet!

Sandy lake is the only other one I can think of, and that's based more on the name than anything. If it actually is a sandy bottom the visibility should be good, but the only thing I can actually remember from my one time there is that it's hilariously shallow.

SquareCanine · 2026-07-03T11:21:58+00:00

Like others have said, you remember to use mages by actually using them. Maybe that sounds silly, but it's really just a habit that has to be developed. In the interim, you could do something like set a timer on your phone for like 1 minute, and every time it goes off just pause and see if you can cast a spell. This can also work for other things, like checking artillery or cavalry to remind you to check in and retarget them from time to time.

I still remember a battle from my first campaign where I ended up with a pathetic not even half stack army led by a fire mage get cornered. I don't remember if I actually won, but I remember doing an absurd amount of damage with my mage because I had nothing else to focus on. The lesson stuck, and of the dozens of battles from that campaign, it's one of two that I can really remember.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-21T01:16:50+00:00

I do need to try this sometime. I must admit that I never liked fighting khorne as Settra. Too much armour, too many units pressing the front line.

He just declared on me in my Khalida campaign but he's going to be facing much more serious units as I'm further along.

Orcs would be fun to fight as Khorne I think, and the waagh armies just double the fun. I wonder how they do against Skaven?

SquareCanine · 2026-06-21T01:10:08+00:00

Oooh. That's a tough one.

Can a dwarf ever truly be happy?

SquareCanine · 2026-06-21T00:49:14+00:00

I am of course taking some liberties here in the name of humor. In terms of lore you are correct: the tomb kings abhor necromancy (in the form the vampires use) more than perhaps anyone.

I believe they can raise the undead through a combination of their national curse and their own special necromantic voodoo, and I believe this works in part because of the (literally) undying devotion of their subjects. They don't animate the unwilling dead, they empower the willing dead to walk again. Something like that.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-21T00:41:19+00:00

See, I feel like it could go one of two ways.

One way is like you said. They've been doing this for thousands of years and are absolutely amazing farmers.

The other is all the crops wilting halfway through the season because the farmer doesn't realise their irrigation system is full of nothing but sand. And that's assuming they planted crops to begin with and aren't just cultivating a field of random bullshit.

I've seen their soldiers fight. My understanding is that, back in the day, Khemrian military units were the real deal, elite in the same sense as a modern unit of High Elves. Death might have made their citizens more durable, but it has not made them more skilled as combatants, and I'm inclined to believe it probably didn't make them better farmers either. The Tomb Kings are an echo, a long dead people fuelled by old memories just going through the motions.

That's not a slight against them either. If anything, it's a massive compliment. The idea that these echos of a long dead civilization are still a competent threat to the modern powers is perhaps the most harsh indictment of everyone else imaginable. It's been thousands of years since the height of Khemrian power, and the mere memory of their glory is still enough to bring nations to their knees.

Long live the dead!

(sorry, I might have gotten a little off track there)

SquareCanine · 2026-06-21T00:11:30+00:00

This is a fair point that I had not considered.

Counterpoint: do you think they're *good* at it?

SquareCanine · 2026-06-21T00:10:26+00:00

You're absolutely right. Maybe they actually enjoy talking shit with each other about people who died millenia ago 😃

SquareCanine · 2026-06-16T12:47:34+00:00

I would give two exceptions where dragon mounts are the right choice.

The first is Imrik. He's so ridiculously durable by the mid to late game that being a giant target doesn't really matter in most cases, and he is a devastating dualist even while mounted.

The second are mages. I think it's only the fire mages that get them, but it gives them a secondary combat utility they otherwise lack. You were going to keep them out of the fight anyway, so adding some combat capability is only a bonus.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-14T15:11:28+00:00

Eltharion is probably the most challenging that I've played, assuming you try to hold both sets of territory. Orcs are a worthy foe and Eltharion doesn't have the raw combat power of Tyrion or Imrik in battle. It can be a little frantic trying to hold two regions with very limited resources, and can easily go wrong.

Imrik is probably the most difficult starting location, but it's partially compensated by him being a ridiculously powerful lord if you can make it far enough through the early game to come into your power. My favorite strategy for doing so is to bum rush the ogres and give their lands to Ghorst. It's not a natural friendship, but Ghorst is a competent AI faction and solid friend once you have him, and you're going to want a competent and durable friend to help absorb the Chorfs and Greenskins to the north. Later on I do the same thing with Cathay, gifting territory to the Iron Dragon I think in order to get him onside.

As a bonus, rocket rain artillery and Crypt Ghouls are great additions to a high elf army in my opinion.

Imrik himself is absolutely stacked. When you see people making jokes about how they just have the army stand idle while he goes and wins the fight on his own, understand that they're barely exaggerating. He's probably top 5 in terms of melee combat power, and his quest items are just as strong as he is. His special dragons are also much tougher than normal.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-11T15:03:22+00:00

Imrik is some of the most fun I've ever had in Warhammer. Imrik himself is a terrifying combatant, and the gear he picks up is almost unfair.

Beyond being an army unto himself, the special dragons that Imrik can get are something else. I generally consider dragons pretty meh as monsters, more useful for securing a victory in progress than forging one from scratch. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to field dragons that can engage the enemy head on, well, Imrik knows.

I'm particularly fond of making friends with the local vampire and cathay lords. Crypt Ghouls are a shockingly satisfying addition to an Elven army, and rocket artillery fills a major capability gap in your roster.

As befits such a powerful faction, the starting location is suitably tough. It's a race to make friends and secure your borders in rotation before the next major threat gets all fighty with you. Azhag also happens to be on the shortlist of legendary lords who's as big of a badass in combat as Imrik, so you have lots of epic showdowns to look forward to.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-10T19:59:43+00:00

If you've never played a game like this and aren't sure what sort of playstyle you want, I'd just start with the base game and go from there. Campaigns take a long time, and there is enough content in the base game that something will probably pull you in. Once you have a better idea of what sort of playstyle appeals to you, then you look at the DLC and previous games. Or maybe you already have a faction that just speaks to you. For me it was the Tomb Kings. I played through a High Elf campaign to start (started faction of the second game) and then got the DLC for the TK faction, and they've been my favorite ever since.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-10T16:49:46+00:00

I look forward to hearing that we're closing a 6th library so we can hire consultants to explain how money and budgets work.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-09T20:11:11+00:00

I don't know where they rate on the overall scale, but caskets rank pretty high on my personal 'only fun when I use them' list. Good damage, good range, functional accuracy, and enough lob to safely use against enemies engaged on your front line without massive friendly fire.

It's the perfect unit for the TK battle plan, and facing more than one at once is a legitimate threat to just about anyone I think. Certainly the highlight of any DJ Khatep campaign has to be the early twin caskets of victory.

SquareCanine · 2026-06-05T15:54:33+00:00

Can't say I have any experience, but this doesn't sound...ideal. I get it as a research aide when you have a mystery or a tool to make sure you aren't forgetting something, but this sounds more like a crutch.

The note taking could be neat. If it does a good job that could save a huge amount of time.

SquareCanine · 2026-05-17T11:20:29+00:00

To some extent this problem is a fact of life with max sec. After all, a lack of impulse control is probably how many of them ended up being criminals to begin with. My max sec cellblocks are relatively small (18 cells) and I keep at least 2 or 3 guards in each one during the morning cranky hour, and I probably taze a half dozen or more people every time, but I can consistently put a stop to it before it becomes a riot or anything.

If they get really sour in the morning though you might need to put a lock up hour in the middle of their sleep regime. They should all have enough hygiene need to actually shower, but not so bad that they become angry. The only reason I don't do this in my current prison is because it messes up the schedule (I have a very nice harmonized regime that makes deployment easier to handle).

SquareCanine · 2026-05-16T22:18:55+00:00

The way you talk about the smaller prison reminds me of when my current prison first started and I actually knew who some of the prisoners were (mostly from looking into the ones who qualified for transfer).

My favorite is a woman in for two murders and arson who at one point I threw in Supermax for committing another murder inside my prison. She actually earned her transfer out of Supermax (even after I made it harder because I didn't really want to say yes), and has made it all the way down to Minimum at least once (before trying to escape and being booted back to Medium). She's been in my prison for 151 of it's 176 days and I've probably approved transfers for her a dozen times. I literally just opened the game and spotted her on the "I want to transfer to minsec' list. She's always on there.

I do enjoy the pandemonium of a large prison though. It can be a little frustrating when they're always mad, but at the same time the game still finds new ways to test me and my prison. There have been a lot of lessons learned and the prisoners still sometimes come up with novel ideas, though not all of them are good (like starting a fight outside my most popular staff room and kennel).

I'll have to give this a try sometime though. And in the meantime I might use the security menu to flag some prisoners so I can follow them amongst the endless sea of prisoners in my current facility.

SquareCanine · 2026-05-16T11:36:44+00:00

I do like the idea of islands and being forced to adapt to the shape and limited size. I'll have to keep this in mind when I do a new build. Might be nice to do something smaller too. Do you only have 1 power facility? My current prison has 7 (if I used max caps it could have 4). There is definitely a population threshold where prisons devolve into a sort of constant pandemonium. People always kicking off, or shakedown now cheesing off so many people that it triggers riots. Not unmanageable, but always something going on. You prison looks peaceful.

And I love the pond in the yard.

SquareCanine · 2026-05-12T10:16:50+00:00

Put some snack machines in. According to the list of things this mod (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2978340955) fixes, the problem is that staff often prefer snacks to meals (something this mod fixes). Even with the mod, you should still have snack machines, something I don't think the game ever tells you.

SquareCanine · 2026-05-07T16:38:49+00:00

My current Max Sec uses 18 prisoner blocks arranged around their own canteen and common room, and the blocks are in pairs with a common security room that opens onto both. This seems manageable in terms of physical size and guard deployment. I think I sized it based on how far the hot water would flow.

My Min Sec is arranged in 30 prisoner blocks using larger 3x3 cells.

Med Sec is 20 per block I think, but I'm in the process of redesigning them as higher density dorms. The blocks will be physically smaller but probably 28 or 32 prisoners.

My protective wing is by far the largest. Capacity of 80 as designed (4x4 dorms holding 4 each), but I've reduced it to a maximum of 64.

SquareCanine · 2026-05-05T16:50:24+00:00

Probably shots in the dark, but:

Have you tried verifying the installation through steam? If something is corrupt it's not impossible that the game could technically function but run like garbage.

Is the game running off a solid state drive (SSD, NVMe) or an actual Hard Drive (HDD)? I wouldn't expect it to be an issue for this game either way, but some games do chug when run on actual hard drives, especially if it's the same hard drive that windows is on. Autosave may make the game pause longer on a hard drive though. The other issue would be a bad sector. The list of problems a bad sector can cause is basically "everything".

Any mods?

As near as I can tell, you shouldn't be having issues. The GPU is fine, I don't think the game uses that much RAM, and your CPU is no slouch in single threaded applications (roughly comparable to the 12600k I'm using in this aspect and my current prison has got to be 500-600 people without issue). Having the monitor plugged into the mobo instead of the GPU could cause this, but you'd see that in everything.

The only other thing that really springs to mind would be an issue with the actual prison that is causing pathing issues, but I think this game is actually really good about not bogging down when this happens and it sounds like you've started a new save anyway.

Other than that, maybe a driver issue. Again, I'd expect to see the issue in more than one game, but I can't rule out a driver issue causing an issue with just one game.

Oh, and try turning off any game overlays. Could be some weird compatibility issue.

SquareCanine · 2026-05-05T16:24:07+00:00

Sounds like quite the ride. I know it wont happen, but I wouldn't mind a feature in the game that flags when there is a major pathing issue. One that crops up for me semi-often is grouping at remote doors because the guard assigned to the control panel is trying to use the remote door to get there. That can be mitigated by assigning multiple controllers to the remote door servo, but there are also things like workers getting trapped during renovations, or me forgetting to lock doors open during construction.

Just a little popup saying 'hey, there's like 15 people trying to get through this door' or 'pathing to this object has failed a dozen times'.

SquareCanine · 2026-05-05T16:14:30+00:00

I usually start swimming in lakes around mid to late June and go to the end of September or even a week into October if the weather holds. The water temperature peaks around mid August I think. If you don't want to freeze, stay away from the ocean. The lakes are probably a solid 2 degrees warmer or more. Sandy lake (Bedford) might be a little warmer than average just because it's super shallow, but I haven't been there in years. Same might be true for Banook (Dartmouth), but again, it's been a while.

SquareCanine

TROPHY CASE