NOOB'S GUIDE to ZHATAN the BLACK

A guide to the lore and gameplay mechanics of Zhatan the Black, a playable legendary lord in the Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3. Zhatan the Black is the cruelest, meanest, and downright nastiest Chaos Dwarf to ever stalk the plains of Zharr. In this video we'll ask if all those laborers he sacrifices for the Greater Good of Hashut are really worth it.
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[@khylerbane4523]

The Pygmies “vanishing” from Warhammer Fantasy because Zhatan enslaved them (leading to the death of the entire faction/race) is now my new headcanon.

[@samuellancaster6487]

Honestly, the pygmies being retconned out is quite sad, but I respect why the did it. The sculpts depicting them in the stereotypical "picaninny" style was never acceptable and I am not surprised that they did not sell well. That said, I do believe that they could bring back the Pygmies, just with significant changes that lean into the different meanings behind the term "pygmy," their later lore, and African history and culture. I think Tall skinny models of Crane and Elephant Riding warriors along with Mask wearing shamans and rare units representing Cathayan, Kuresh, and Ind mercenaries/technology could be quite interesting!

[@Serpentking789]

​​​@@samuellancaster6487 Yeah, those sounds like cool possible units to use if someone ever decided to make Southlanders into a proper faction (because Subsaharan Africa has some really awesome Fantasy potential).

[@enriquejoseantequerasanche6180]

​@@samuellancaster6487 sadly,It would be instantly deemed "racist" and cancelled. Plus,with how GW IS selling out to political correctness and DEI, there's no way they'd release such a flavorful army,they need to turn everything into an amalgamated Messi of homogeneity where all differences are inappreciable.

[@a_lethe_ion]

Unlikely. If they actually do their job well that's less likely to happen

[@Marcoalexio]

@@enriquejoseantequerasanche6180 shut up weirdo

[@rubyseverinwhitworth9066]

I love how you are pronouncing his name differently every time to make sure everyone hates it

[@razagan1343]

a thing of scorched earth beauty

[@codybonds]

Can’t be told I’m using the wrong pronunciation if I do all of them.

[@ladywaffle2210]

@@codybonds Accuracy via volume of fire!

[@yungmalaria]

@@codybonds2:08 the african clicking language sounding version gave me a chuckle

[@jeffreycarlson7535]

Similar to Malus Duskydirk I see.

[@Aiursfallen937]

I mentioned this as a reply, but on the IE map, if you capture one of the cathayan bastions, you can use it as a storage hub for excess labor, as bastions (and fort type settlements in general) don't suffer any penalties to public order, so no matter how large the labor pool it can never revolt. Bastions can still use dictats for money and conclave influence every turn, and the settlement is relatively easy to defend. I've been using them to help with labor pool excess in my other regions, and since they don't have public order penalties, I think they have the public order 0 loss rate which is relatively small.

[@JaySwag77]

Dang that's good to know!

[@mariusietswaard4353]

W tip, cheers dude

[@DeinosCZ]

Hmm never had that problem personally i dont shy to REDUCE labor population with commandments and to simply build faster. Caravans for me go mostly for LAborers at start of campain.

[@privateeyety5735]

The laborers bit has blessed us with so much meme material

[@TheBouregard]

almost like Rimworld where the community made a hobby out of finding euphemisms for child slaves.

[@Immoralsalvage]

​@TheBouregard child slaves no I think you mean Unaccompanied Indentured Minor Bondsmen.

[@gr8m887]

Malus: “He does EXACTLY what I do.” Zhatan: “But better.”

[@TheBouregard]

I actually like his colorful gear - it looks more like a regular dwarf - and that makes him way more scary because he's the living embodiement of how far a normal dawi can fall. Or maybe he just took it from one of the regular dawi "labourers" and gets a new one whenever a new shipment of unpaid interns arrive. I'm totally stealing the phrase "hollistic approach to personal betterment".

[@TheDeceptiveMoss]

I get the feeling that he sports his unique looking gear due to his huge ego and arrogance. After all, he is a narcissistic megalomaniac.

[@ogrimbothesour2976]

I like to think its a deliberate mockery of his cousins "look im wearing your colours and theres nothing you can do about it"

[@zonolith5912]

I humbly submit the nickname Zhanta the Jolly with how much joy he has in his black heart. Zhatan is definitely one of my favorite lords, I honestly thought it was gonna be Drazoath for that 10% increase to armaments and K'daai buffs, but that extra train, HUGE amounts of healing and a near 35% to 50% increase on post battle captures is insanely good if you sacrifice for money.

[@Aiursfallen937]

In the immortal empires map, capturing the bastions of Cathay allows you to essentially have a pool of labor that can’t revolt and can still be used for getting money or conclave influence. A battle every other turn, or some light raiding, is enough to keep labor high enough to constantly spam the dictats.

[@zonolith5912]

@@Aiursfallen937 It's pretty great, ngl, I love it.

[@moustrout1299]

while the other lords have nasty magic. and great melee stats, zhanta the jolly is mind boggling how strong he can get in melee.

[@zonolith5912]

@@moustrout1299 Agree'd, ALL of his personal skill tree buffs the hell out of himself and gives his army insane amounts of armor and healing.

[@mueezadam8438]

1:01 this Vampire Survivors reference reawakened those long ago abused serotonin receptors of mine

[@erikthered7876]

Unreleased WFRP 1st Edition lore on the Chaos Dwarfs said that Zhatan the Black was the son of Ghorth the Cruel. Its worth mentioning that this lore was meant for Dwarfs: Stone and Steel but was held back for a "Dark Races" Supplement., this does matter as it means that GW ok'ed the this lore (what happened was that just as this Dark Races Supplement was underway, GW gave the greenlight for WFRP 2ed, so all WFRP 1st Edition was halted, sadly). Make of this what you will, just through it was worth mentioning.

[@timebrain3188]

...welp now I know which Chorf I'm doing next. Also, so glad 'Where's the Whip, There's a Way' made it in. Bravo!

[@Scarlioni]

.....We don't want to go to war today

[@privateeyety5735]

But the lord of the lash says nay nay nay!

[@0That_Guy0]

6:21 The 1978 Lord of the Rings animated movie! My man, you dug up gold for that one.

[@khylerbane4523]

Tolkien: Dwarves are to stubborn to control, and wouldn’t dream of turning to the forces of evil. They forever mine but don’t recklessly destroy nature. Chaos Dwarfs: “Hashut demands More! Profit margins don’t make themselves.” We need more supplies and resources? Just burn down the forest, fool. It’s not like it can get up and leave. Nature is a resource to be used and dominated after all. Tolkien: *gasps in horror*

[@commander_cole17]

Zhahahathan laugh is literary ripped of Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc

[@codybonds]

Just because you’re evil doesn’t mean you can’t have a good taste in music.

[@NagandEmerald]

Damn, hitting hard with the Pygmy reference there.

[@maksymkarmazin]

Lol, Cody. You're so creative and witty!

[@s4nd3rpr1m3]

Nice new editing you are doing now!

[@blackvial]

I haven't heard "Where there's a whip, there's a way" in a long time

[@MRFlackAttack1]

I feel like the innuendos in these guides are beginning to approach a critical mass.

[@RougeHound]

Nuln oil applied is the greatest joke

[@BearPawSwipe]

I am such a goober. I didn't get the name gag until a few minutes in....I thought Cody was being serious.

[@gregoryshinn9805]

Thanks for the video

[@ldg8878]

Adam Sandler in: Dont mess with the Zohan the Black

[@SlayerMathis]

Xanax the Black just sounds like your normal Walmart store manager, tbh

[@ARandomNerd88]

Pygmies? I thought Settra turned them into his private "circus of monkeys". He's creative like that.

[@lisaruhm6681]

So now, that the Chaos Dwarfs have a simmilar mechanic to the old Dark Elves, can ge get the Dark Elf economy reverted?

[@j.a.b.nijenhuis8124]

Where there’s a whip, there’s a way!

[@ohreally763]

Xanny the black is so cool

[@SBXmonster]

awesome video but is anyone else getting a weird audio level? Its like the audio version of the uncanny valley.

[@codybonds]

My early viewers, did notice anything. Can you describe what you’re heading or a timecode I can hear it at?

[@SBXmonster]

​​@@codybonds around the 1:40 mark. It's like the bass in your voice and background audio don't line up with the tempo of the rest of the audio. It's not an audio artifact or error it just sounds off. Listened back a few times maybe its reverb. Maybe I'm just losing my mind.

[@mattsterh7740]

Do they still sell the pygmy miniatures online?

[@codybonds]

Not officially. They were only sold for 2 years and GW has actively tried to remove them ever since.

[@mueezadam8438]

2:06-2:14 LMAOOOO NOOOOO 😭😭😭

[@christianweibrecht6555]

If only he had picked a color that was better than blue, such as orange

[@Chad_Maximus]

I can't believe you only pronounced his name correctly once!

[@SirNarax]

Which time?

[@goortzer4380]

I call him Zlatan...

[@p.p.wienersson]

TF is going on with the audio XD

[@sony616vm]

Me, a Latino: Satán el negro

[@YellLAG]

Drinking game every time zhatan is said differently take a drink reply at the end if u hadn’t died

[@haraxA]

its pronounced ZHATAN !

[@codybonds]

Always all caps!

[@drbluegun3965]

0:57 WOW they finally put a real communist leader into the game! Sounds interesting!

[@conorscriv9386]

zha-tahn is how its pronounced its really not that hard why call him zahhaten xD and zertahn XD made me lol tho so hats off to ya

[@ARandomNerd88]

Zah-tan. How hard is that exactly...

[@TheFirstRoyale]

Joking about his name wouldn't feel so dumb if it was harder to pronounce but as is, not a good joke.

[@quantumplatinum3029]

Honestly sad that you cant play as Gorth

[@codybonds]

You can confederate his faction at least. He’s the leader of the conclave faction that controls Zharr Naggrund.

[@DIEGhostfish]

​@@codybonds He needs to be made Legendary, but not as a starting lord. Let him be a reward. Ala RoC campaign belakor.

[@egziverpendlebury2431]

If you could be a bit less political these would be awesome

[@MoaRider]

6:30 Based black dorf.

[@batcat4136]

Zhatoran the Dark Grey is definitely my favourite Lord aesthetically. Just his sudden splash of colour among all the other drab lords is just too good to resist, coupled with the fact he seems to be one of the very few characters in Warhammer who’s actually having a good time

[@the_tactician9858]

I personally prefer Astragoth the MEC, but Zhatatan the One Who Has Complete Absense of Colour is a very good option too.

[@Lazymindflayerwithcofffee]

,,Don,t lose your head" as they say

[@savageassassin8548]

cody's noob's guide order for the chaos dwarfs is the exact oppisate of the order i played them in, also yes i was won over my Zhatan's extra convoy

[@gunslingerspartan]

feels bad man

[@benedeknagy8497]

Yeah, the extra convoy is nice. But i like his unique skills the most. Extra gold and captives from battles in addition to a 10% replenishment bonus. Really encourages aggressive, constant combat to grow and fuel the economy.

[@Derah_OG]

Writer: how many ways of pronouncing Zhatan's name do you want? Cody: Yes.

[@Arkaeus04]

Regular dwarfs must be angry that their chaos cousins and their mounts have better beards than them which is another grudge to be added into the book

[@Daktangle]

It kinda makes sense that the slaves in the Chaos Dwarf system would be called labourers. Dark Elves are arguably the cartoon villain evil slave owners, reveling in their evil and malice and how they treat their slaves. Chaos Dwarfs by comparison are essentially an old skool Games Workshop parody of industrial capitalism. They lie to themselves like real slaves owners did/do that their slaves lives aren't *that* bad, that they live better lives than they would free, see ancient Greece for example. Along side that they devastate the world they exploit, leaving it a burning ruin. I miss old skool GeeDub's parody.

[@inductivegrunt94]

Amazing Noob's Guide! I especially love how you pronounced Zhalalatan's name different every time. And with this guide the Chorfs Noob's Guides are finished. I'd still enjoy it if you do Archaon or Karl Franz for Noob's guide. They are the overall leader for the Forces of Chaos and the Ordertide respectively.

[@TheRealKevbot]

Would you consider doing a noobs guide to Ulrika?

[@codybonds]

Yes! It would be a bit shorter as there is less to cover but I feel these videos are a fun way to introduce a character and make them more than a random character in a game.

[@Mr1worldin]

Kaplan the black has definitely been my favorite of the Chorf legendary lords, now thanks to this in depth video i know how to pronounce his name properly. Thanks Cody Bonds!

[@QuestionableObject]

honestly i dont bother putting zhatan on a mount because his small unit profile with his obscene resistances makes him incredibly hard to kill. The mount just makes it easier to shoot him (also he didn't have mounts on the tabletop).

[@HurBenny]

5:48 there are mostly orcs, so I would that adjective carefully.

[@dasberk4971]

Where there's a whip there's a way🎵🎵

[@sovereign9708]

Zaheer the dark seems so weird with his armor, everyone else is Mordor while he is Mordor 1977

[@jonathanwatson4484]

Agreed, I think it can be improved with more metal armour stil, props for staying close to the Canon design

[@SweatyDynamite]

The use of Wind Waker Ganondorf's laugh is pretty much how I first envisioned Zortahn the Not-So-Black sounding like before I first heard him. Great Noob's Guide as always

[@EyebrowsGaming]

Zipzapzoobidybap the Black is definitely my favourite thematic Chorf lord

[@dangles0]

Woah woah woah! Seems like Cody is a secret Slaanesh worshipper with all these sexual innuendos 🤣 May Sigmar purify his soul

[@Notilc]

I'll just go ahead and drop the like now save me the trouble later

[@webchef3038]

yeah but this vid is a good one

[@Caragoner]

Good god, from the buffs Ive seen so far Zhatan might be one of the few melee lords who can 1v1 Grimgor

[@Ghouleh3133]

This was a bad video. Really, just a waste of time and effort, a bit of data on KZbin's servers that it will never get back... ...because the opportunity to call him Arkhan the Black was right. There. RIGHT. THERE, CODY-

[@rainerfrickanisce2485]

Am I the only one who wants to see how Aranessa would fare in this series? Even if it needs the Nenu mod I'd have quite a laugh at the realization of her inspiration. XD

[@codybonds]

Look at her stuff. Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you say her rosters complete?

[@rainerfrickanisce2485]

@@codybonds HEHEHEHEEHE! I shouldn't have doubted you, sir!

[@GrayFolxy]

I might missed it but why is Zhatan bigger than other dwarves ?

[@codybonds]

He’s not. All legendary lords in Total War are larger than their generic troops. It’s meant to make them easier to see during battles. There are many mods than remove this as it looks wonky.

[@GrayFolxy]

@@codybonds huh ok ... because I saw a meme saying big for dwarf and so on , well got jebaited I Imainge and from perspective I thought maybe Zhatan was some kind of mutant/magic enhanced dwarf maybe Thanks for the answer

[@omegon2540]

I could only imagine what the rest of the chaos dwarfs would look like with zhatans coulors

[@rb4863]

The preferred nomenclature is "prisoners with jobs"

[@akumaking1]

Are there mods that give Chorfs taller hats yet?

[@ImperatorZor]

yes

[@gunslingerspartan]

Cody also made one to make Zhatan's axe head made of obsidian instead of just the handle

[@buttqueef9900]

​@@gunslingerspartan is in the video

[@gunslingerspartan]

@@buttqueef9900 video wasn't out when I made this comment

[@QuestionableObject]

You can only trade armaments or gold for slaves, materials or gold. (Always go for slaves as you can sell them for more gold then you'll ever get raw and will produce more materials than you can ever trade for)

[@Nomadith]

It took me until the 4th zhatan pronunciation to realise you were fucking with us Well done sir

[@jonathanwatson4484]

2:47 if GW make that laugh canon then i will be absolutely terrified at the mere existence for such a brutal tyrant. In simple words: best evil laugh that fit the charecter

[@lukepavitt4603]

I find the minor or non-existent faction armies a bit unfair, because they get a load of stuff made up for them, leaving others staring at hobbits on chickens as the only new option.

[@DIEGhostfish]

The cockriders are great. They just need the Cockatrice as an upgrade.

[@Praetorianofdorn]

Throne of Tamurkaan technically acts as the 8th edition Chaos Dwarf Army Book.

[@krzysztofratajski9218]

"But the Lord of the Lash says : Nay, nay, nay"

[@ondrastonis2944]

Are you gonna do gorduz backstaba

[@Mgauge]

Zordon the Off-White's colorful malice make him seem almost like an incredibly evil "normal" dwarf.

[@kaptainmanslaughta7887]

Now ya just gotta cover the legendary hobgoblin hero and ya got all the chaos dwarf characters covered.

[@guyd7924]

This episode is almost marxist, good job comrade!

[@codybonds]

He’s going to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by Capitalism… Space!

[@KrimzonFlygon1]

Extra caravans? Praise Hashut, a larger influx of laborers… Seriously, the Dawi-Zharr go through them like coffee filters…

[@austinlawless8999]

Did anyone else get war declared on them by grimgore by turn 10 or was it just me?

[@codybonds]

I did. Last mistake he ever made.

[@austinlawless8999]

@@codybonds after 4 attempts I was able to take out the norsca and tzeentch factions by the starting point before grimgore came at me

[@trollman_2345]

Imagine being strong enough to make the fucking ORKS say "Yeah, imma not fight this git, not worth-it".

[@Cyiel568]

That scene from Hot Fuzz. I like it.

[@Corndog_Enthusiast]

Zahatin‘ the black? Followed by *oppressing workers?* I‘m not so sure where this is going now. 0:55

[@zriiksparks5637]

I'm not gonna lie you were overdid the name joke after the 23rd time its not funny it kinda make it hard to watch and made all the other jokes unfunny

[@GreenHoneydew1]

Man, Zach Efron the Ooposite of Light seems like a super cool lord now.

[@kayeka4123]

Zei-ten? Zha-tan? I just call him "giggles".

[@elliottgaal9774]

Clever use of nomenclature for his name And the old swap of model and new ones.

[@jonnyboy7941]

good at beating people off? You think you can just sneak that one by us? 😆

[@bahamut12th]

anyone else hear a odd sound in his voice is some parts of the vid?kinda like static

[@FlyingDutchmanSims]

Good video, audio was crackling some times, but regardless, good video as usual

[@bradypus55]

ok but was he named "the black" because he used to chew on "jusesh" root, which stains the teeth black when consumed regularly?

[@codybonds]

GW’s mom said they couldn’t make another “the Black,” as they already had a “the Black” at home. But it was this one.

[@Wesuwius]

Sounds like my former boss.

[@RichyN25]

pretty sure the audio broke at some point on this video lol

[@NateCummings]

MORE LIKE ZHATAN 100% MY DAD

[@dwreanchinotan]

2:15 "human cost" i mean, i only see orcs so...

[@Puffersworkshop]

Robot voice🤖Was that intentional?

[@TheRadude]

WHERE THERE'S A WHIP!

[@SleightCreative]

THERES A WAY

[@ZCid47]

Zardos the Black is my favorite

[@snakebolt2459]

At 1:08 the audio gets a little static

[@JamesFordMusic]

Love the hot fuzz part!