Why You SUCK with Katarin

[@BlakesTakes420]

I made a follow-up to this video here, should you be interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5KZdqmZndSCftk

[@i.d.k.studios235]

so kislev is like a lasagna, they have a layered army, they have three leader, one chunky, one saucy and one mushroomy, and of cource if you know what you are doing they are cheesy, and backed under extreme heat from all directions

[@sirunklydunk8861]

The opening with the bodies loaded into the wagon are the dead Kislevettes that keep showing up in my Kislev campaigns

[@BlakesTakes420]

Hopefully not anymore 😉

[@xevixeb9523]

I don't even know what I am doing here, I was just looking for some lasagne recipes, but this looks like a very addictive game.

[@turtleinvader2982]

Total war Warhammer 3. Good game I had it for less than 2 weeks and have 70 hours on it

[@marclohnhardt6420]

1,5k hours already... the mods...the mooooooods!!!!

[@Aaron-oh3yj]

You and Zerkovich are re-igniting my love for Total War Warhammer 3 despite my burnout. Your videos are helpful, entertaining, and funny

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your kind words! 🫶

[@beanboi1368]

this is the most factual comment ive ever seen

[@michaelpetrovich5353]

When i was burned out, all i did was to sleep and play warhammer 2 for 3,5 months. The doctors thought i would be out for over a year but i came back after 4 months in almost full capacity.

[@cbtcrusader7699]

wtf@@michaelpetrovich5353

[@somegoodish]

I was burnt out too. Then a day passed and I was good to go again

[@sativa-sloth6099]

Loved the WaW reference with the "Their land, their people, their blood"

[@BlakesTakes420]

That game was truly excellent. Glad you enjoyed the nod to it.

[@Fabio-wq8kt]

This series is so underrated it needs way more views

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your kind words. Much appreciated.

[@fotppd1475]

Those Victor Reznov lines made me say the words just as you where throwing these epic one liners. Nice work Tovarish.

[@edwardfontaine7108]

As one of the few people that plays Katarin like other people play Franz i approve of this video. Also that Kislev trailer is truly Rad!

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you!

[@Ahrone1586]

Wdym

[@Sonarchyy]

Another excellent guide my man, i have to say watching these made me realise alot of mistakes i was making with the game in general and has reignited my interest in it when i was in a "im never gonna get good at this" mindset and have gotten a much better understanding. However as a certified Skavenchad i must demand once more that you dedicate a video to the horned rats servants quick-fast!

[@BlakesTakes420]

I'm so glad you've found value from these. The faction for the next video has not yet been ratified... 🐀

[@hendrikfelix5876]

It's always a highlight of the day to see a new "You suck with ..." Video.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thanks for staying tuned. Appreciate your support! 🫶

[@thoriumbrother]

This video is so packed with good knowledge and layered with humor its a veritable free lasagna of information

[@BlakesTakes420]

It's in the post.

[@richardkenan2891]

Had a friend complaining about Lore of Ice and Lore of Tempest. He didn't want to use magic at all, until I pointed out that getting poor, inefficient use of your Winds of Magic is still better than getting no use of them at all.

[@EveloGrave]

Oh man this is a great weekend. So many good things. Thanks Blake!

[@BlakesTakes420]

You're a winner baby ❤️

[@simonbas6]

I'm not sure I agree with your throt strategy. I appreciate the logic, but in my own experience, you can't afford to be slow and methodical when fighting Skaven of any kind but throt especially, as he prints armies at a rate of knots so if you go slow they can and will throw infinite rats at you until they eventually wear you down. The easy way to avoid getting ambushed by skaven is to never let them attack you, so keep up the aggression and stamp the rats out quickly and violently. Strike first, strike hard, and never allow them time to recover after your first strike.

[@darkrite9000]

The issue usually is more that Skaven can often retreat further than you can move. You never want to be in forced march stance as it's a death sentence to any army fighting Skaven (unless you happen to have a doomstack of minotaurs as khorne, or war bears as kislev). The AI is often times complete cowards and will actively avoid your armies unless they can ambush them or have a large number advantage. Moving in encamp stance with at least 2 armies is generally the best way to deal with Skaven, if you can catch them without getting stuck in force march afterwards, do so. But if you can't, then it's better to take it slower rather than risk your armies getting ganked. The AI can afford more armies than you, so it's best to be more careful with your armies, always temper aggression with caution. As otherwise you'll be sending in a save to Legend and trying to get him to save your army.

[@simpleman3898]

Yes use one army to trick them into the other, stronger in ambush.

[@Dianbler]

Agreed. Azagh will usually ignore you if he's fighting Karak Kadrin and Drycha. The gold mine is nice, but not fighting Skaven mid game is even better

[@redluke8119]

​@Dianbler that was so well put 👏 🙌 👌

[@AcZe1188]

@@Dianbler I think it's more about securing a "core territory". Core territories for me are territories you practically don't need a garrison army to defend because no one's going to attack it. No one's going to attack you there and the only way inside the mountain is extremely limited. This allows you to practically develop the provinces there virtually unharmed for the most part. While Throt on the other hand is located in a very troublesome part of the world. Hellpit is situated near the chaos wastes and you will be hard pressed to defend the entire province from chaos incursions, all while you're trying to deal with azhag to the south if you don't fight him first.

[@MagicianCamille]

Another great video. This strat is pretty similar to mine except in army comp. I tend not to tech up my units until after Throt is dealt with as Kossars are actually better at dealing with a large horde of rats than Streltsi are. I'll also take a turn or two to grab some Ostermark territory to sell to Drycha to win her love so I can purely focus on the north.

[@redluke8119]

Bro ostermark territory for drycha that's brilliant 👏

[@BlakesTakes420]

That's a very clever idea. Clever girl. 🦕

[@redluke8119]

@@BlakesTakes420 facts

[@thecopecorner9648]

great video as always, looking forward to the next one as usual

[@BlakesTakes420]

More on its way! Thank you for your kind words.

[@JinxBfjv]

Thank you for your insights on the factions you have showcased so far. It helps me reconsider not all but some aspects I have missed from my first playthrough on each factions, makes me want to redo my campaigns with everyone you have showcased. I'm actually redoing a skarbrand campaign and having so much more fun with all you advices you have provided in your videos.

[@BlakesTakes420]

I love to hear it. I wish you good fortune in the wars to come.

[@masaheimoi]

I think light war sleads work as army by themselves. Just put 17 of them with patriarch, mage lord and hero with traits to decrease their upkeep. Idea is to run circles around enemy shooting at their fast and heavy units until you can change at their remaining infantry and push them to death. With 60% reduced upkeep they are very cheaper than normal armies and can deal with most 1v1 army situations. Also they are easy to replace. I also like to list cons so here they are. Keeping up micro is difficult. Personally I like to slow down things, but it is annoying. If enemy gas faster units they can get stuck and destroyed. Doggos are not scary by themselves, but they can get sleads stuck so that other units can destry them. Currently there is also a bug that makes it so that when auto resolve says that your sleds won't get destroyed it might be lying. Also trying to do major sieges with them makes me want to kill myself. But I do think they are still worth it as a cheap above average army. Because of all the cons I won't call them a "doomstack".

[@etuanno]

The auto resolve bug has been there since day one. I'm not sure if the attrition bug/feature is still in place (most likely is), if you take the slightest attrition at all, you loose a whole entity of them. So you took 5% attrition, but you start battle with 2 instead of 3 sleds.

[@paulseed1065]

I have fielded armies like that and they have been sucessfull late game. So i agree with this

[@masaheimoi]

@@paulseed1065 Any ideas how to do siege maps with them?

[@paulseed1065]

@@masaheimoi any small gaeison will lose. If rhere iz an aemy just sige em up unrill rhwy diw or aallyout. Idealy that ripe of army is neaely free so u got time.

[@BlakesTakes420]

War sleds are very oppressive.

[@someguy3763]

Thank you SO much for saving my sanity and hours of wasted time. I hope you continue to make these, this video hit all the right spots. I consider myself a “competent beginner” since I have a lot of experience in Shogun 2 and my grasp of battle mechanics and micro are fairly good. However as far as anything that has to do with staring at the map, I’m terrible, and I learn mainly by just playing and getting my butt kicked or being walked through. A lot of the other guides or videos I tried watching were too dry and long winded or too short and basic. This video met the perfect middle ground and now I’m having no trouble with pest control.

[@BlakesTakes420]

You're most kind for saying so friend, comments like this make this all worthwhile! :) I'll have another faction releasing this Saturday

[@takyondg]

Great video! Earned yourself a sub here mate. Just one quick note, when you're talking about using frost effects and magic to slow down the enemy approaches, you mention how you can use Tempest magic in a pinch to make the enemy shuffle around and delay. This is spot-on accurate! I just wanted to add that the Lore of Tempest's spellcasting passive is also a mapwide slow effect on all enemies. So, any Tempest spell will help contribute to slowing the enemy, regardless of whether they are dodging a hailstorm or not. I'm a big fan of having one of each caster in every one of my Kislev armies if possible since the two lores complement each other very well. Use Ice Sheet and an overcasted Gust of True flight and now you've: 1) Slowed 4-6 enemy units with the Ice Sheet 2) Given your whole army a touch of armor and missile block chance through the Ice passive, helping them trade projectiles more effectively. 3) Given 3-4 friendly ranged units a bunch of extra accuracy and range, again, helping them trade more effectively or giving an extra volley or two on the approach. 4) Slowed the entire enemy army (including a stacking slow for the enemies affected by #1) through the Tempest passive. The two schools of magic, while not game-breakingly powerful as some others are, both complement each other and the Kislev roster/playstyle very well. Cheers Blake!

[@mandu6665]

Great post. I hated hearing since launch about how bad Kislev's magic schools are and Tempest was the way to go over Ice. You are spot on and I think CA did a great job designing the magic to COMPLEMENT your armies instead of being just another source of damage. I already got bored of nuking armies with one OP lord in WH2!

[@edwardfontaine7108]

I prefer to Rush Throt by invading Praag than aggressively pushing Throt after. Azhag and Drycha will usually be preoccupied with each other and with Kislev minor settlements aren't really worth investing in while Praag and Kislev, being 2 of the three main cities, have very important Strategic Value over the course of a Kislev campaign anyway. Great vid!

[@jakubs.5966]

But you see. Around turn 7 if you start with Azag, there is high chance you will get nice delicious caravan near Fort Jakova. That's why I go Azag first.

[@edwardfontaine7108]

@@jakubs.5966 I think both strategies are viable.

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@jakubs.5966 I had this caravan too. Nomnomnom

[@leroiratonus]

Nice reference to Reznov's World At War speech early in the video, love this serie of video you are making. Keep it up !

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you sir! More on its way.

[@NornAArnBard]

This is excellent! I wasn't even looking for it. Not only through, concise and insightful, but clever, sharply edited, and funny.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your lovely comment!

[@TheMoonlitFaerie]

Haven't played kislev outside of the RoC campaign, but I know your advice will be as high quality as the video itself. Always a pleasure to watch, even if your finest meme got copyright struck.

[@FangofFate]

This has inspired me to give the Katarin campaign another try, I’ll absolutely be taking your advice and hoping I can finally get to Ursun this time!

[@BlakesTakes420]

Let me know how it goes!

[@OldOn3Eye]

Ah thank you for this guide, I've started a Kislev campaign for the umpteenth time and it always just withers away. I'll make sure to use these tips from now on.

[@BlakesTakes420]

You're very welcome. Let me know how the campaign goes.

[@oliverto101]

Your videos and tips build on each other like a beautiful lasagne of warhammer knowledge. Keep it up dude, you got a new sub today

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you so much for your kind and saucy words. 🫶

[@ManicPixieTransGirl]

Just finished a VH/VH realms of chaos campaign as Kislev, came to defend kossars against your slander. They’re not only the best unit on the Kislev roster but one of the best units for their cost in the entire game. There is legitimately no reason to recruit anything else, mass armies of kossars will outperform elite stacks for their price. You can afford like 3 kossar stacks for the same price as an elite stack, and they will be similar strength in autoresolve with a lot more utility since you have 3 armies instead of one. You go for one elite stack on katarin with ice guard since she can have them for less than 100 upkeep, but everyone else should be rocking kossars with maybe some globally recruited streltsi if you really need them for a particular fight, but overall you can afford two kossars for every streltsi and two kossars will outperform a single streltsi even without armor piercing. Also most of your enemies are demons and will take more damage from magic missiles than they will from armor piercing, which means katarin doesn’t really need streltsi either. You should go with bear riders on Boris though, and also like 3 bear riders for katarin too, but that’s it. The rest will be your dozens of legions of kossars autoresolving the entire map

[@НазарУкраїнець-щ1я]

And that Pirate weapons research that gives all ranged units AP damage, reload reduction and range is beautiful.

[@MotRi1986]

Ye Kossars are fantasic even into the end game, since they are recruitable in every settelment you can easily get them too one turn global recruitment time + they are very cheap and that makes them into one of the best defensive units in the game and that is crucial with Katarin and her position. I personally preffer higher tier armies when I can afford them because of the rule of cool but Kossars is by far the most important unit in Kislev roster if you want a sucsessfull campaign, even if you dont plan to win the campaign by autoresolving. I will argue that they together with high archers the best "first" tier unit in the game.

[@jeffbunnell9961]

I like to have a couple streltsi for armor-piercing, but seeing an army with like 8 streltsi of them is pretty funny. Kossars are cheap and have nice arcing shots that streltsi don't have, and both units are bad in melee. For arcing shots Ice Guard is where it's at it in the late game combined with a couple units of streltsi for some extra armor-piercing, I wouldn't spam streltsi at all. I don't believe they are a straight upgrade to kossars even given their cost increase and what they bring to the table. They are just there to snipe some more armored targets. Research and red line buffs make kossars and Ice Guard great at dealing damage to everything else.

[@MotRi1986]

@@jeffbunnell9961 with my Ice Guard stacks I don't see the need for any added armour piercing. But I do like to have a couple of Little Groms for long range support. I also use 3 patriarchs as tanks since they get a good bear mount and they can heal. The one enemy I always struggle with even with my Ice Guard stacks is Malus and here I use enough numbers to auto resolve the initial fight, aka a stak of Kossars to support my main army.

[@ManicPixieTransGirl]

@@НазарУкраїнець-щ1я another good point, clearly this guy is playing on normal or something. Can’t believe he recommends armored kossars, you should literally never recruit them

[@ComfortingColourlessLight]

So this video convinced me try again play this campaign and all your tips turned out great. One thing that made it easier is the skaven actually losing to Kostalyn. Getting a really valueble anti-norsca alliance (and money) from the chaos dwarves by giving them the northern coast settlements that are not worth constantly protecting was also an unexpected boon.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Haha I have not once seen Kostalyn be able to cope against Throt and Azazel. You have a rare campaign there friend.

[@ComfortingColourlessLight]

@@BlakesTakes420 I don't know how that happened, he did lose ground to Azazel afterwards, but he made finishing off the skaven extremely easy for me. Also my luck continued with Festus, probably the easiest faction to beat with your tips (especially because I had a hill to use in the main battle) occupying several eastern empire settlements I wanted, and the vampires loosing their armies somewhere just when I invaded.

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@ComfortingColourlessLight it happened through the magic of faith in Ursun comrade.

[@GamerGrovyle]

This video has given me a lot of good insight on how to play Katarin better. Currently 70+ turns in and on good terms with Kostaltyn who owns most of the north western half while I own Prag and all to the south. Right now I'm running away from him in the Supporter race and I really can't lose at this point from buildings alone so I'm just enjoying having him be my buffer. At this rate I'm well on my way to finish the Short Victory Campaign. We'll see about the long one, been wanting to give the CDs another choice or someone else from your vids.

[@BlakesTakes420]

I love to hear it! Well played sir!

[@toopristineproduction]

your WH guide format is amazing

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you sire. ❤️

[@simpleman3898]

Wooooooo he uploaded another one. I haven't unlocked Boris yet so this is wonderful. And I haven't played every race yet😊 Yes human factions often require more "strategy" than others. I just showed some friend's kids this game and they aced the beastmen, not sure if same thing with Kisliv😂.

[@sup1602]

Blake's takes once again teaches us total warhammer scrubs how to play the game right. You are also my new favourite youtuber I found in the last two years.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Glad to be of service.

[@martinmurphy8887]

Amazing as always, now I can enjoy some leftover lasagne and start my day off the right way 😁

[@josem.sanchezr.4280]

Damn Blake. Been waiting for a new video and it was awesome. Starting a Katarin campaign right now

[@BlakesTakes420]

Glad to be of service sir.

[@josephnoama5858]

this video really rocks, thanks for your effort!

[@BlakesTakes420]

You're very welcome!

[@michadebniak9]

the checkerboard formation, ah yes, the legend's specialty

[@Welterino]

Your sense of humor is gold man 🤣and the Runescape yellow fonts are awesome

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you so much for your kind words sir, they're much appreciated. RS4lyf

[@cass7448]

Recruiting a second army ASAP was the decision that carried me through my first successful Katarin campaign. Whichever direction you push early, you need to be able to defend the others due to the sheer number of enemies you have. No use investing money in your settlements if they're getting razed every few turns.

[@legendarykoreanbbq5116]

Kislev is like a well made lasagne. There's a lot of layers but once you master them all it all comes together. Thanks for the tips fr

[@BlakesTakes420]

I missed this comment, my apologies! Thank you for your kind words, glad you got some value from the tips.

[@bongosmcdongos4190]

Ooh I was just watching these! Great timing.

[@tutocamicha6560]

Keep up this good work man I love your videos!

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@MrManofgondor]

Love your videos so much, they manage to be very informative and entertaining in equal measures. When I played my Kislev campaign I went straight for Azhag but then killed Drycha and then the Vampires and just made sure to have a force in Kislev just large enough to defend it. Got back up north just in time to only have Throt ransack some of my smaller settlements which I quickly retook but it seemed to work out pretty much the same. I probably had a harder time with Throt but the tradeoff was that Drycha was probably easier to deal with, always thought she was a must not ignore but now I know I was only earning her ire by talking to Ostermark I might give the campaign a rego and see how it feels.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your lovely comment sir. They're much appreciated.

[@Weiswolfe]

holy wack-a-skaven what a guide! gonna keep it in mind once i finish my dwarf campaign and start with this icy popsicle ;P thank you so much keep doing this guide videos with as many factions as you can pleease!

[@tonynussbaum]

Subbed. I thought I subbed after watching your Khorne video, which was also awesome. The Sunny reference put this one over the top.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for subscribing, and welcome aboard sir.

[@tonynussbaum]

@@BlakesTakes420 Thank YOU for making such entertaining and informative videos!

[@Deadagainsback]

One thing you didn't cover is what I call the lasagne tactic, where you bait the enemy lines closer to yours and then use a reinforcing army to envelope them from behind, making layers like in a lasagne. You can then use your ranged strength to destroy them between your pasta layers with few casualties - hope this helps!

[@BlakesTakes420]

I must iron my hands for that blunder. Thank you for pointing it out. Did you know fusili pasta means spiralled like a rifled barrel and that's where we get the term fusilier from?

[@columbien10]

Bro, it's called the hammer and anvil, ancient tactic with the same name since like at least Alexander

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@columbien10 I think you'll find it's the lasagne tactic.

[@columbien10]

@@BlakesTakes420 but where is the bechamel🤔

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@columbien10 in my belly 😋

[@Breenspaz]

Awesome video as a new player this helped me realize I need more Streltsi for late game chaos instead of just ice guard deathstacks.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Ice guard need armour piercing, I think it's weird they don't have it. But yeah streltzi slap.

[@leshiq4214]

Nice! I've been waiting for that!

[@grudger95]

This video is formed like a tasty lasagna: Layers and layers of tasty info on how to improve. I definitely suck at this faction. It took me 4 tries to unlock Boris and finish the campaign. Thanks for the tasty info and thanks for the tasty info

[@jakubs.5966]

Not bad video at all. I proriorize Azag as well. I would add - remember to use multiple lords to attack caravans. 4 gives you maximum gold possible gained. You gave advice on almost anything. 10/10 video.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your kind words! Much appreciated.

[@roberttitan4497]

Just recently found your channel. I really like your videos. Your strategy of getting rid of Azhag first is spot on. Thrott while extremely dangerous the longer he is left alive. It is more important to secure your southern front first and secure those gold mines. Dratcha (sp)? And Vlad are also serious issues. BTW I have pronounced Melee wrong for years until a friend corrected me. It is pronounced may-lay. Anyways love your videos so far and i hope you continue to make them. ·

[@BlakesTakes420]

I have since addressed my scandalous pronunciation of melee in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/epaZgaSQntCUntEsi=f6hlZTnWgUXjB-OT

[@Blemmo]

The thing is for me, I kinda think about starting a new campaign and try to get some inspiration. I Like this!

[@TsarAlexander395]

I love turning the forces of Chaos into slices of cold lasagne.

[@sirtrevis]

I like the Tsar Guard way better than you do. Took out Throt first. Have not seen Azhag, yet. Throgg is a jerk who just keeps coming back. Excellent content. Subscribed.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your lovely comment sir. Welcome aboard!

[@MrNavetse]

Blakes takes are always hot. Such based, much guide.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you sire.

[@MrNavetse]

@@BlakesTakes420 it is I who thank you for your wisdom sensei.

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@MrNavetse "notice me, senpai."

[@madwookie9844]

I tried a Katarin campaign a few times before and the checkboard formation is most definitely key to your success especially early with the Kossars. My problem is by the time I've eliminated Azhag Throt has become a nearly unstoppable juggernaut and I get dragged north trying to kill him and consequently dragged into wars with Norscans and Chaos Warriors who have battered Kolstaltyn into submission and come straight to me. This is a problem because Katarin is busy and I really dont have any economy to have a second or third army up and running to deal with the invasions, and of course the Ai are gods damned cowards and attacking anything and everything that is undefended as if they somehow know which settlements to go for. But since my recent Skarbrand runs havent been to successful lately maybe it's time to play some ice again instead of fire.

[@edwardfontaine7108]

katarin, and really Kislev in general, have some of the hardest start positions in Warhammer 3 atm. it's is definitely a difficult campaign.

[@khankhomrad8855]

Oh the AI has no FoW so it is no surprise that they know which settlements are the most vulnerable.

[@madwookie9844]

@@khankhomrad8855 wait....WHAT?!! Why?! Who thought that's a good idea? That is such a huge advantage.....that explains so much.

[@jakubs.5966]

What you lack is scouting. Use your heroes and scout forwards to intercept enemy attacks with for example ambush stance. I did Kislev campaign once and start is brutal and when you open up after Praag you get second even more brutal phase as everything from Chaos Wasted pours in and second wave of Norscans come from Northern parts, Empire factions lose to Doctor in the middle and so forth. Sometimes you need standing army to just defend smaller settlements non stop. If you want my tip - farming Cathay caravans brings your game from A to S. Remember to use 4 lords to attack those, as that brings you maximum gold possible. You should be able to deal with Skaven as long as you make your 4 man hero deathball. Katrina+another caster + 2 priests, one for healing and one for attack buff. They are very strong and can deflect or even outright kill most oncoming enemies - as your archers and ranged units dish out damage, they soak in front, healing and casting spells.

[@madwookie9844]

@@jakubs.5966 Fair point, I typically put heroes in my armies and might have one or two scouts, so I should open up to more scouts. And I will keep all that in mind.

[@TNTNinja2]

Listen this video was really quite good and informative. Maybe a bit of an out there analogy but it really did feel like after struggling for weeks with a bad lasagna recipe I finally found a good one. But like, the lasagna is the most power ice witch.

[@BlakesTakes420]

goooooooooooooooooood

[@Dan-bq1dz]

Tip for any gunpowder army, but especially good for hybrid melee/ranged fellas like the Kislevites. TW3 has an odd mechanic where, if a gunpowder (it has to be gunpowder, i don't know why) is stationary in GUARD MODE and not given fire orders, there is a fair chance (like, 50%) that the 'idle' unit will continue to fire at will at any targets within its ark... even the fellas that are striking in melee. Normally, for something like Vampire Coast, this is risky as hell to do, because your just so damn squishy- but Kislev is perfect for it. Streltsy and Armored Kossars (shields) are perfect for this tactic. Literally just don't command them to do something when the lines connect. Counters: This trick relies on melee contact to be with low-mass entities like melee chaff (ex: marauders). High mass entities like cavalry, heroes, lords, monsters, etc, will wade into the formation and prevent the unit from carrying on firing. Pros: ranged damage is amplified when this is in effect because far less shooters miss their targets. Friendly fire almost never happens as in TW3 entities within a unit are immune to damage from other entities in the same unit, and ranged accuracy is determined by a projectile traveling with variation at a target; they won't miss if the target is in their face. This will make it seem like your doing even more damage up front. Plus, you get the best of both worlds; a bare minimum of your troops will fight in melee, with the reserve firing away. Cons: Assuming you manage to arrange this perfectly, you lose the ability to command contacted units lest you break up the units free-fire. Units do this inconsistently, and are at the whim's of RnGesus or your enemy. You're also forced to pick flat plains for this to work best. Units set up in this way will fight terribly in melee, and if your not getting lucky and they aren't firing their guns, you are more likely to lose the unit. Also, this tactic demands that you have strong morale- which is why vamp coast can pull this off too: squishier units, terrible in melee, but they never break ranks until they're dead. My advice, given this: Expendable corps of 3x armored kossars, arranged as the front 3rd Acies, making your checkerboard a pretty triplex Acies. Streltsy in the middle, forming the main battle-line. If they are covered by armored kossars, they are not on guard mode- you micro these at priority targets. Otherwise, if they are far from the front kossars, on flanks maybe, they are also on guard mode. Third rank bow kossars or Ice maiden archers if you can get them, 2 or 3- with spears so they can perform light anti cav duty if needed. You will routinely lose the front kossars, but they are cheap and also draw enemy missile fire with their lovely shields. Bonus tip: remember that you can muster three armies of friends at a time, and Kislev's bow kossar unit is a great expendable 'computer controlled' army asset. To get three friendly armies, make the one you care about the least (bow kossars) AI controlled. You'll control 2 armies, 40 men, and the AI will take the extra 20. You can do this to outnumber the rats. Bow kossars are good for this because they both get a spear version (light cav repellant) but they can fire over each other so the idiot AI won't stumble over itself and fail to use your more sophisticated streltsi. Cav armies (especially ungol horse archers/chariots) are also actually great AI companion corps.

[@BlakesTakes420]

This is true, but I don't know whether it's intentional or not for the unit to operate that way, it might be patched at a later date so I thought it best to leave it out.

[@ineednochannelyoutube2651]

@@BlakesTakes420 I've seen empire hand gunners do this in Warhammer 1 and 2. This is a long time for a glitch to remain in the game, so it may be intentional or never get fixed.

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@ineednochannelyoutube2651 I don't recall it working like that in warhammer 2. But I could be mistaken.

[@dominicchammas549]

Love your guides they have helped so much, I have dsypraxia so I struggle with little things in this game but I love, please do an ikit one

[@BlakesTakes420]

I'm glad you found it helpful! Thank you for the lovely comment.

[@moteleyman]

great work as usual!

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you

[@onelohan]

That beginning part of the video was brilliant!!!! 😂😂😂😂

[@1001airstrikes]

Very good! Learned a couple things. Can't wait for the next one. Ya know, I was just thinking. What would kislevites think of lasagne? I mean there's no italy faction, right? They're missing out...

[@BlakesTakes420]

Dogs of war confirmed.

[@deltarno7502]

Looking forward to your Chaos Dwarf video!

[@jakubstachurski2298]

literally one of the most funny and informative series' on yt for Warhammer I did fine with Katarin on my first ever campaign but im going for a second just cause of this

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Let me know how the campaign goes.

[@HauntingSpectre]

Gryphon Legion are great because they cause fear, and are fairly quick. Just cycle charge them into the back off the Melee and watch the entire opposing army run in terror. Opening up their backs to more hails of fire, be it Ice guard or Streltsi.

[@BlakesTakes420]

War bears cause fear, have anti large, Armour-Piercing and healing from Kossars is way more effective in them because of small entity number. They're just superior in every way. Which I think should be looked at. Give Gryphon legion bonus v infantry or something.

[@HauntingSpectre]

@@BlakesTakes420 Can get Gryphons at T3 from Praag Unique building though, where as War bears are locked into T4.

[@coolisron2041]

I can wait to watch the rest of your stuff after dinner. Got some lasagne to eat tonight

[@pascaldifolco4611]

Good advice, but my main problem in mid game was Drycha and VC, they're really hard to defeat and distract armies from the North Chaso threats

[@BlakesTakes420]

I had the same issue. Trying to avoid them doesn't always work. My advice is mass streltzi, and get a cheap stack of Kossars to accompany that army. You can counter Drychas tree an spam by deselecting control large armies.

[@vojtechquis9846]

such a great video, was just making lasagna for lunch and when you posted the video I forget on them so fast, I only remembered them when they started burning in the oven :)

[@BlakesTakes420]

Uh-oh Burnt lasagne is salveagaeble though.

[@duhund92]

found you yesterday and love your videos!

[@BlakesTakes420]

Glad you like them! stay tuned for more.

[@thethirdsicily4802]

Yet another good video Mr. Blake! If I might ask, what flavor of Ice Guard do you find more useful? I know the idea is to not let them get into melee, however should that occur would you recommend the dual sword or halberd ones? Aside from that, as a slave to aesthetics myself I must admit I use Winged Lancers and Gryphon Legion far more than their stats should allow, I wholly agree with your take on them and can only hope that the Shadows of Change DLC comes with a buff or two to them

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your kind words sir, they're much appreciated. I think the Glaive versions have more utility because of bonus versus large, but as you said, it doesn't matter too much because they should be tucked behind the front line.

[@Genesis115]

1:45 hahaha I love that COD WaW reference! I noticed there’s a character in there that seems to be the same voice actor that plays the commissar who orders the rocket strikes on Berlin.

[@BlakesTakes420]

It was such a good game back in the day. Glad you enjoyed the nod to it.

[@ilari90]

My battle report with this start: tl;dr: Excellent results, first success with Katarin on Legendary. What happened to me is that when I took out Azhag in his gold town, a chaos incursion army spawned next to me and I decided to go with Katarin to the main city of the province, while the second army of Azhag got the Ogre town. I went and took out the capital with my two armies, and next turn Lahmian Sisterhood stack was next to the city, so I decided to join war with the minor greenskin faction vs lahmian sisterhood, taking some money in the process. Went to take out Lahmian S's Silver Pinnacle with lord number 2, stack full of Kossars from Katarin's army and traded it to Astragoth for Military alliance, or defensive, don't remember which one. Then got agreements with Ungrim so he won't attack and I'm on turn 80 now and he still hasn't declared war. After that I went back and noticed Azhag was back again in the former ogre place, so I made another army in kislev with kossars like the first turns went and gave those to Katarin, who was slowly walking back in encamp stance, recruiting, and rest of them were supporting, when the fight happened. After beating Azhag, Nagelhof went to a minor Ogre faction and they striked me and took katarin out, i was able to beat full stack of ogre bulls with my full kossar stack. After that I got a mission to take out Prague, and I didn't realize it hurts devotion but at that point I had got Streltsi stack and a kossar stack, so it was easy, took out them and then came thrott with four stacks near prague... I looked at how far they can move and placed a weak army to limit of their movement so I could back off, that way Thrott had 4 stacks in a group near prague and I striked it with my 3 stacks and won, those weren't full stacks, mind you. After that marched to Hell pit to take them out. Most important thing is that you don't lose Prague at that point so they can't just skip to Kislev fast. Stay in encamp stance until you have clear walk to siege hell pit so they can't ambush-attack you, that has ruined many playthroughs. Then you start to just hold your positions, looking for target, don't develop small settlements in north, as you will occasionally lose some of them as there's just too many stacks coming from different directions, just don't lose Prague. Important thing with heroes is that you need to keep them alive for them to become viable, don't risk them. If you see enemy coming against your army and you are sure you can't win, take those heroes out of that, It's not a catastrophe but still not really fun early game to lose those.

[@BlakesTakes420]

thoroughly enjoyed reading that and glad you've soldiered through.

[@ilari90]

@@BlakesTakes420 now on turn 94 I'm sending guys to naggarond (took out 3 stacks in hag graef, but malekith was angry and launched attack after that) at the same time going against Ungrim, and this is hard, streltsi-wagon stack doesn't work at all vs quarrelels or darkshards/shades, you really need some ice guards to deal vith them, but every chaos faction is easy with Streltsi/light wagons. I have won this campaign economically so I can fart out a golden streltsi stack anywhere I want, so at least I won't lose my towns. Also I have now a new anti-dawi stack going, with one dreadquake mortar and 2 hellstorms, so welcome you suckers! Also I think you don't ever need "heavy sleds" as the stats are the same, heavies have 10% more hp and that's not much for extra turns of recruitment, so you peak at city level 3 imo And thanks a lot for this vid, this got me first time into Kislev and it's glorious. I have 20k hours in different TW games, but to figure this campaign out I needed help. I started from Shogun 1 when I was a kid way back, born in 1990.

[@alexsawchuk5371]

A fun little thing you can find is the lich bone pennant, if you put that on ice guard suddenly it doesn’t matter that they can’t do armor, they no longer need to

[@alostchattino]

As tasty as a slice of lasagnes, great guide as usual !

[@DM_Curatorr]

I suck with Katarin. I love these videos, keep them coming!

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you! More coming soon 🔜

[@Dearion89]

Great video! time to start a Kislev campaign 😆

[@BlakesTakes420]

Good man!

[@CFX992]

You overlooked a major potential enemy for Katarin early game, and one of the hardest early game challenges, if a player makes any agreements with the nearby empire subfactions, Drycha will go into war with you 90% of the time, Drycha's armies have innate missile resist, frenzy, high MA and are devastating for early game Kislev as well as her recruitment mechanic that allows her to pump out armies very quickly.

[@BlakesTakes420]

I did mention this in Reason 8...

[@CFX992]

@@BlakesTakes420 Yeah i saw, but it usually happens way before turn 60 in all the campaigns i played, around turn 20-30 in most cases. If you arent manning your borders by then there is a high chance Drycha will attack you if she is not in a war with Vlad. I came here actually looking for early game plays vs Drycha.

[@MagicianCamille]

@@CFX992 My way of dealing with her was to take a settlement off of Ostermark (after Azhag was dealt with) and sell it to her. You can also join her war against Ostermark from the get go, they aren't ever really in a position to threaten you.

[@CFX992]

@@MagicianCamille thank you for sharing!

[@skeith1543]

he literally mentioned this in reason 8.... did you not watch the whole video?

[@ancientweirdo]

came back to this, and i wonder if this should get an update. kislev got new units, and all that

[@zachariahjock91190]

Gotta love all those Boyars variants to choose from. 5:40

[@NickiNicker]

Your funny words and piping hot takes remind me of my childhood when my mother would cook a lasagna and explain to me how and why I sucked at everything I do. Very nostalgic!

[@BlakesTakes420]

Treasured nostalgia, your scrapings are in the post.

[@christophercookson3139]

Babe wake up Blake posted

[@BlakesTakes420]

Hahaha love this.

[@XDivi]

This makes me want to actually pick up Kislev as a faction now. Katarin is awesome

[@BlakesTakes420]

Let me know how it goes!

[@abumy4]

Great vid in preparation to give kislev a try, hopefully their mechanics will be more layered in an upcoming update, because without some spice and meat you can't distinguish between two K's of Kislev

[@BlakesTakes420]

Oh my, you subtle, subtle creature. You're getting a corner-piece.

[@abumy4]

@@BlakesTakes420 I like huskies

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@abumy4 I'm down to Chihuahuas and Beagles I'm afraid. I have all the huskies towing my car.

[@abumy4]

@@BlakesTakes420 ehh.. beagles it is, I'll take two then

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@abumy4 bottom of the barrel stuff I know.

[@scavenger6268]

Quick tip for you Blake Take: Empire Huntsmen Just getting three of them for allowing Ostland to live will give you solid archers that can take out Chaos cavalry, Monsters, Lords etc... Also if you have played the Marienburg mod...Ostland is poor, but a premier supplier of bacon and pork. Quite useful for your tallow makers.

[@realestchance6329]

Take a shot every time he says Streltsi. Falling out of my chair now.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Take a shot every time I mispronounce "melee". I'll get an ambulance ready.

[@nickybluepantsaltosaxophon6706]

Thanks for the guide! I had my problems with this campaigne and abbandoned it quite early. So I will now give it a another try. Can you tell me on which difficulty you play your campaigns?

[@BlakesTakes420]

You're most welcome. I play the campaign on Very Hard.

[@dwahuntur]

Im not quite sure the lasagne strat is going to work out in the actual game, but it seems nice theory crafting

[@CrazyJD100]

Everytime the bear pic showed, it absolutely killed me 😂 24:32

[@BlakesTakes420]

Glad you enjoyed them.

[@joshuacowling2237]

1:43 I Understood That Reference, Comrade🤓😎

[@Frogjuice02]

Our takes comrade.

[@oddaido]

This is a great guide with a great late game composition, but I'd like to propose a counter argument - War Bear Rider doomstacks. And considering you do not argue with an angry winged lancer riding an even angrier war bear...

[@BlakesTakes420]

Doomstacks are strong no doubt. I just find they get a bit boring fast for my own taste.

[@NobletheKnight]

awesome video! Always abLas to see your videos Agna. :)

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you! 😊

[@ionutgeanta8741]

in my campaign azag upset drycha early on, and she went full mad on him :)) . i supported her on almost every battle and soon azag was gone. and she didn;t even took his teritory, left it all for me. with throt i did exactly as you said, encamp and slow march in convoy. my biggest problem was archaon, as he was a coward. had almost 6 full armies against my 2, and refused to engage. had to bring a third one in his rear to catch his armies one by one. lost a lot of time doing this. all my armies are comprised of ice guard units (glaive), a couple of light war sleds, and artilery (+3 heroes). really like these videos, will try again some races that i suck at

[@BlakesTakes420]

Archaon is crazy strong. Wiping him out was a pleasure.

[@Níðhögg]

Great video really enjoyed it. And maybe for the future video you could do lizardmen.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thank you for your lovely comment. Lizardmen will see their time in the sun.

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

That treemen scene triggers a deep fear within me. No matter what faction, playing against any of the wood elves is such a huge pain unless u just brutally overpower them.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Wood elves are very painful to fight. 100% agree with you.

[@toobig7150]

But God forbid the pvp overlords don't see their elves being anything less than A tier. Can you imagine not having your basic archer having the range of another faction artillery!? THE HORROR

[@lordodin5755]

Oh this is gonna be fire, despite not playing anything but the green chads i still enjoy these video's now i can sit back with my piping hot lasagne and watch.

[@Mobius-ct9zq]

I wonder if we might get an update exploring some of the culture of the different factions. Like do Elves drink wine? Do Dwarves eat LASAGNA? Is there such a thing as Skaven caviar? Etc.

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

This is total war, we will absolutely not XD

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

But for the record my own answers are yes, no, and absolutely

[@BlakesTakes420]

I like this idea. And it's in the post.

[@Wolfarior]

I played several Kislev campagins since IE launched. At least 3 of them as Katarin. Sadly I have not played as Kislev since Chorfs introduction, so situation might have changed, but I find ignoring Drycha and Azhag to be quite reliable way to deal with your problems to the south (Hard difficulty or lower, uncertain with heigher difficulties). They both hate each other more then they individually hate you and if you manage to keep your faction strength high they decide to fight each other, which secures your south, east and avoids premature discovery of Chorfs in blasted lands. This gives you option to take out Throt early, before he spreads, while also rushing streltsi in Kislev city. By the time you deal with Throt you can recruit several units of armored kosars and streltci which will reinforce your attack on Azazel after which you can redirect them to take out Throg. This is what I consider Kislev early game, Throt>Azazel>Throg, after this you have you way open to do what you want. Go south? Sure those wealthy lands of Azhag, Drycha, Vlad and Festus can use a new management, and helping Karak Kadrin and Empire could secure your borders even further and give you some defensive alliances. Go Norsca? Possible, but remember you will discover enemies in Chaos wastes earlier then you would otherwise, which means a lot of invasions. Go Blasted Lands? Might be valuable, but highly dangerous, never personaly tried. Personaly after early game I go Azhag>Drycha>Vlad>Festus while defending northern border at mountain passes next to Layer of troll king and Volksgrad (don't bother with other settlements in provinces). Settlements at western oblast and east I usually trade to Kostaltyn for money and to get western border secured (remember, when you confed him you get them back). Also I recommend inviting Kostaltyn into any war you have with norsca tribes to your west, especially if he has no current wars, it prevents him to declaring war on Ostland and making enemies in Empire. I believe you underestimate Ice guard, remember Streltsi are armor piercing non magical missile infantry (good against chaos warriors), Ice guard are non armor piercing magic missile infantry. Unless you go against armor Ice guard will help you bypass any physical resistance your enemies might have, also they do not suffer from line of sight obstructions as much as streltci does. Final note when you talk about kislev being rich, you show Erengrads market building, its very missleading, because on entire map there are only 3 of these (Erengrad, Kislev, Praag). Their actual money buildings on normal settlements are not great without any buffs. Otherwise I agree with most of the things you say, it's really good guide. :)

[@BlakesTakes420]

Thos markets are excellent and can be buffed like crazy by getting natural resource buildings. Eren grads market had something like a 250% multiplier on it. Their barrel building In minor settlements as well as farm and sacred grove spam art pretty solid cash makers.

[@Wolfarior]

@@BlakesTakes420 Multiplier in video was 122%. By sheer accident I have very similar campaign (94 settlements, Boris, Kislev confederated) regular markets should have modifier around 68% and farms around 70%. Sacred Grows gives 50% bonus to farms, which is additive not multiplicative and only aplies to specific region, not entire province so when you build it to tier 3, it makes grand total of 50 g per turn (further only os GPT), not worth the build slot and money to build it imo. Also, if you get Kostaltyns Skill "Orthodoxy in action" it gives flat 10% income faction-wide, but also increases building cost of Sacred Growth by 300% (yes 3 and two zeros) making their tier 3 upgrade alone cost around 6000g. Now, turn over rate (further only as TOR) for regular Kislev money buildings is staggeringly bad. For example: tier 3 upgrade for regular markets cost without modifiers 2000g, gives 50 GPT and takes 3 turns to build. So TOR is 2000/50+3 making it 43 (63 for farms). It take 43 turns to get your money back, which is absurd in early game. For comparison: Cathay has 1500/100+3 making it 18 (33 for the other one), Empire has 1500/125+3 making it 15, Lizardmen has 1500/100+3 just as Cathay for 18 turns. Yes farms and some of the worse ones have other effects as well, but now I am talking money only. It is advisable to only build tier 1 money building during early game, leave them till you can afford those upgrades and use your money on more profitable places, like military, diplomacy, or on one of your main cities (Kislev, Erengrad, Praag). "But the resource upgrades make those buildings really good!" Yes! ...in the late game! You don't have them at the start of your campaign, which is the most crucial moment when talking about money. If you have 122% on your money building you are far from a losing the campaign. And if anyone wants to argue about it, I will argue, that Kislev has absurdly cheap starting units, because of Iron resource upkeep reductions. (All of us know this argument is ridiculous) Again, I find this guide to be one of the best ones on Katarin and Kislev in general. And I don't find anything in the video to be particulary bad. There are some arguable decisions, such as going on Azhag instead of Throt, but its not a bad decision, just different from some of ours usual one. I also very aprove of the first choice of "invocation of the motherland" people usually recommend Ursun, but I also go with Salyak.

[@schfiftyfive9680]

You're the first person I've ever seen use streltsi to any affect. I've had the best luck even in the late game by just using kossars supplemented with tzar guard and buffing their stats so they don't suck.

[@BlakesTakes420]

Now that akshina ambushes exist I'm not sure whether streltzi are the best choice now. But if you didn't get SoC, Streltzi slap if used in chequer board formation

[@schfiftyfive9680]

@@BlakesTakes420 lol any time I get an army with those in them, they get disbanded immediately. Maybe I should figure out how to use them

[@BlakesTakes420]

@@schfiftyfive9680 Unless they've been heavily nerfed since SoC (I haven't played Kislev since.) They do insane armour-piercing damage and can arc their shots whilst stalking, basically invalidating Streltzi 's role on the battlefield

[@Phijkchu_Dialga]

@@BlakesTakes420 Their armor piercing damage was indeed nerfed since SoC released. They no longer replace streltzi on that front.

[@nuh155]

Thanks for this guide

[@BlakesTakes420]

You're very welcome friend.