Exiles of Khorne, the playable faction of Khornate daemons in Total War: Warhammer III, offers a wide array of powerful melee units that will claim many skulls for Khorne's throne. Skarbrand the Exiled leads the Exiles of Khorne in a quest to claim the bear-god of Kislev Ursun's skull for his master's throne. In ages past, Skarbrand was Khorne's greatest Bloodthirster until, in his hubris, he attempted to overthrow Khorne, and struck a blow against his god. As punishment, Khorne choked out all aspects of Skarbrand's personality except his rage and threw him from the brass citadel. The fall ruined Skarbrand's wings, making him the only Bloodthirster who can't fly. He has wandered ever since, trying to win back the favor of the god he betrayed.
Like the other factions in the main campaign of Total War: Warhammer III, the Exiles of Khorne must journey to the Chaos Realms to claim four daemon souls and unlock the path to the Forge of Souls. Their empire-building pattern is unique because most territories the Exiles of Khorne take will want to be razed instead of occupied. Their special currency, skulls, is collected by fighting armies and razing settlements and must be spent to occupy settlements, in addition to unlocking tech and providing faction wide buffs. When Exiles of Khorne have a settlement in a region with ruins, those ruins will be automatically settled for free after some time, so the generally best course is to burn a region down, occupy one settlement, and move on. They can also summon temporary armies by razing, which reinforces the already monstrous strength of Khorne's armies.
The playstyle of the Exiles of Khorne, the unit's stats don't compare to Skarbrand or the Exalted Bloodthirster, the Herald of Khorne is the only lord option that is an infantry unit, not a monster, so it doesn't have the same vulnerability to ranged attacks. The two available heroes, the Bloodreaper and the Cultist of Khorne are both melee fighters. The Bloodreaper is a slightly lower-power version of the Herald of Khorne ad functions similarly. The Cultist of Khorne has higher armor, a shield, and an interesting once per battle ability that allows him to summon a unit of Bloodletters. Unlike all other Khorne characters, the Cultist of Khorne lacks armor-piercing damage, so should be fighting lower-tier opponents.
Total War Warhammer 3: Exiles of Khorne Army Guide
Early in Total War: Warhammer III, a combination of Chaos Warriors of Khorne, Bloodletters, and Chaos Warhounds will make up the majority of the Exile of Khorne's armies. Though if Chaos Dwarves come out they'll be a challenger, Chaos Warriors of Khorne are some of the best all-around front-line troops available in-game, especially in the early stages. They're durable with high health, armor, and shields, making them very hard to shift, with the only downside being they are relatively slow. There are also the dual weapon anti-infantry and halberd anti-large variations.
The dual weapon version will cut through any unarmored infantry, and the halberd variation will protect the rest of the army from monster and cavalry charges. Bloodletters and Exalted Bloodletters are the Khorne's damage dealing infantry of choice, with good speed and armor-piercing damage, but they can be vulnerable to missile attacks. They should be used to take on elite enemy infantry and can tussle with heroes if need be.
Chaos Warhounds are generally fairly weak in Total War, but their major draws are speed and vanguard deployment. They will do their best flanking missile and artillery units of factions like Cathay that rely more on missile troops. Flesh Hounds of Khorne are a direct Chaos Warhounds and will do the same job a bit better with some additional durability. Another option for missile harassment is the Chaos Furies, which have flying, very fast, and vanguard deployment, making them the fastest unit available to Khorne. Unfortunately, they are also the weakest and may struggle with even some missile troops. Chaos furies are essentially fodder that can be used to buy time for more important units.
Khorne's cavalry options are the Gorebeast Chariot, Bloodcrushers, and Skullcrushers. All three have somewhat low melee defense and so should be kept cycle charging for maximum damage and survivability. The Skullcrushers can get away with prolonged melee longer than the competition because of their armor, but with a massive charge bonus of 70 they will be missing out on a lot of hits if they aren't consistently charging, unlike other cavalry like the War Bear Riders of Kislev. All Khorne cavalry have armor-piercing and anti-infantry, so if managed efficiently only infantry with charge defense should pose a threat to them. Two other large options for carving up infantry are Chaos Spawn and Minotaurs of Khorne.
Chaos Spawn have a somewhat poor defensive profile, but are cheap with huge weapon strength and unbreakable, making them a good choice against any unarmored infantry. Minotaurs of Khorne will cut through any infantry with their high weapon strength and armor-piercing damage. Their great weapon variation has anti-large and is a great option for taking down monsters, cavalry, and mounted heroes. As with all large monstrous units, the biggest threat to Minotaurs of Khorne and Chaos Spawn is missile and artillery fire. The two single model monsters available to Khorne, the Soul Grinder and the Blood Thirster are both big damage dealers. The Soul Grinder is one of the only units with a ranged attack and can fight almost anything, making it a great all-around monster to put down on the field and trust it will hold its own.
The Bloodthirster in Total War: Warhammer III is the best monster hunter Khorne has. With anti-large, fly, armor-piercing, and massive weapon strength, it has the mobility to catch any enemy monster and the strength to put it down. Khorne's two war machines, the Blood Shrine and Skullcannon, are nothing especially to write home about. The Blood Shrine is a buff machine that regenerates in melee, and while it does have decent stats in its own right, players will probably get more use out of its mount version than as an independent unit. The Skullcannon is useful as the only artillery available to Khorne and regains ammunition by fighting in melee. Though somewhat gimmicky and requiring a decent amount of micro to use effectively, the Skullcannon's role in providing a reliable ranged option can make it worth taking.
Unsurprisingly, Exiles of Khorne is an aggressive melee faction in Total War. The vast majority of units are made to be cycle charged, and the Chaos Warriors of Khorne are some of the sturdiest infantry available to the early and mid-game. The lack of ranged options means players need to be constantly attacking, and for players who enjoy creating chaos on the battlefield while maximizing the efficiency of their units through a large amount of micro, Khorne is unmatched.
Total War: Warhammer III is available on PC, Mac, and Linux.
