Total War: Warhammer Norsca

Total War: Warhammer Norsca is an add-on for Total War: WARHAMMER that lets you lead the marauding tribes of Norsca and Wintertooth in a campaign to conquer the Old World. Norsca lies between the Chaos Wastes and the Sea of Claws, where its warriors endure blizzards, icy tundra and monstrous inhabitants. As servants of the dark gods, the tribes seek worthy foes and new lands to raid.

The Norscan campaign

Raiding and sacking are the Norscans’ main sources of income, keeping their armies mobile and frequently in conflict with other factions. You can raze settlements and raise monoliths to the four gods, represented as the Eagle, the Crow, the Serpent and the Hound. Each monolith earns their favour, bringing increasingly powerful campaign and battle bonuses and, in some cases, unique units or characters.

Pledge yourself fully to one god and secure its greatest reward to begin the road to victory. The three gods you spurn send their strongest champions to challenge you, setting off a series of quests that culminates in the campaign’s endgame. You can also bring Norscan tribes under your rule by defeating their faction leaders in battle.

Marauder Outposts in conquered coastal settlements outside Norsca offer basic recruitment and replenishment for your armies. Capturing major faction capitals outside Norsca, such as Altdorf or Castle Drakenhof, lets you build fully developed Norscan settlements and research unique technologies by plundering the former owners’ secrets.

Gods and monster hunts

After conquering a settlement, you can occupy it, loot it, or raze it and build a monolith to a dark god. The gods’ rewards grow as you raise more monoliths. Once you unlock the Monster Hunter skill in the technology tree, you can use the Monstrous Arcanum to choose hunts for legendary beasts. These multi-stage quests end in battles; defeating a monster may earn a legendary trophy to equip on a character, and some monsters can be tamed and recruited.

Norscan Ice Wolves and Ice Trolls have the passive Frostbite ability, which slows enemies engaged in melee. The Frost-Wyrm’s Chilling Aura continuously slows nearby enemy movement. Norscan armies also use Rage and Berserk abilities, and their swift, vicious forces can include Marauder infantry, Trolls, Fimir Warriors, Ice Wolves and Skin Wolves, as well as Frost-Wyrms and War Mammoths.

Legendary Lords

A Norsca campaign can be led by either of two Legendary Lords, each with a different starting position and distinct campaign and battle bonuses.

• Wulfrik the Wanderer: leader of the Norsca faction, Wulfrik is a powerful leader and duellist with unique skills, quest chains and legendary items. His Siege Attacker attribute lets him attack walled settlements without first needing siege engines or weapons. Mammoths in his army gain Melee Attack, Marauders have reduced upkeep, and his retinue causes Fear. His Seafang ability sends a far-reaching wind attack that can stagger and kill multiple enemies, while Hunter of Champions pins an enemy character in place as he fights them.
• Throgg: King of the Trolls and leader of the Wintertooth faction, Throgg is a powerful leader and melee fighter with unique skills, quest chains and legendary items. Troll and Ice Troll units have reduced upkeep, his army is immune to all forms of attrition, and those units gain Physical Resistance across his faction. Capturing Eringrad in Troll Country lets him build the Cave of the Rocky Throne, which strengthens Troll units factionwide. His Copious Vomit is a magic missile attack.

Lords and heroes

Norsca’s Marauder Chieftains lead its armies. Their personal skill trees offer specialisations aligned with the four Norscan gods, with active and passive abilities suited to each path. Chieftains can unlock a series of mounts, ending with the War Mammoth. Three new Hero types support armies and carry out actions on the campaign map:

• Skin Wolf Werekin: powerful anti-large warriors with two mutually exclusive skill paths that provide offensive or defensive combat-support buffs to nearby enemy units.
• Shaman Sorcerer: can specialise in the Lores of Metal, Fire or Death. These sorcerers also gain melee attack improvements and can ride chariots.
• Fimir Balefiend: a fighter and magic-user that casts spells and supports troops with combat abilities. Fimir have magical attacks and sunder armour; Balefiends use the Lores of Shadows or Fire.

Norscan unit roster

The roster includes the following units and abilities:

• Lords: Marauder Chieftain, focused on melee.
• Heroes: Skin Wolf Werekin for melee and combat support; Shaman Sorcerer with the Lores of Metal, Death or Fire; Fimir Balefiend with a dual role and the Lores of Shadows or Fire.
• Infantry: Marauders, Marauder Spearmen, Marauders with Great Weapons, Marauder Berserkers, Marauder Champions and Marauder Champions with Great Weapons. Their abilities include Rage, forest Hide, Charge Defence against large units, Frenzy, Berserk and immunity to Psychology; the Champions have Heavy Armour.
• Missile infantry: Marauder Hunters with javelins or throwing axes. Both have forest Hide and Rage; javelin Hunters are anti-large, while throwing axes have armour-piercing missiles.
• Cavalry and chariots: Marauder Chariots have Rage; Marauder Ice Wolves Chariots also cause Fear and have Frostbite.
• Missile cavalry and chariots: Marauder Horsemen, Horsemen with throwing axes and Horsemasters have forest Hide, Rage, Fire While Moving and Vanguard Deployment.
• Monsters and beasts: Norscan Warhounds have Missile Resistance and forest Hide. Norscan Ice Wolves add Frostbite and Cause Fear. Norscan Trolls have Cause Fear and Regeneration, while Ice Trolls also have Frostbite. The roster also includes Feral Manticores; Skin Wolves and armoured Skin Wolves; Fimir Warriors and Fimir Warriors with Great Weapons. Their listed abilities include Physical Resistance, Frenzy, anti-large attacks, Cause Terror, From the Mist, Armour Sundering and Magical Attacks.
• Rare monsters and beasts: Norscan Giants and Feral Mammoths have Siege Attacker, Cause Fear and Cause Terror. Frost-Wyrms have Missile Resistance, Cause Fear, Cause Terror, Chilling Aura and Frostbite. War Mammoths have Siege Attacker, Cause Fear, Cause Terror and anti-large javelins; the War Mammoth with Warshrine also has Favour of The Ruinous Powers and Giver of Glory.