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This guide covers the Tomb Kings campaign in Total War: WARHAMMER II. The Rise of the Tomb Kings DLC is also listed by the official store as playable in Total War: WARHAMMER III’s Immortal Empires, but campaign rules, balance and interface labels can vary by edition and version.
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What “free armies” really means
Tomb Kings units do not consume gold when recruited and do not generate regular upkeep. That is the faction’s defining economic advantage: once an army slot and the required unit capacity exist, adding another regiment does not create the recurring wage problem faced by most races.
It is not unlimited recruitment. The faction can field only a limited number of armies, and most advanced units are restricted by capacity supplied by buildings. The Total War Academy summarizes the army-slot problem directly: “The Tomb Kings have a limitation with the number of armies that they can field at one time, and must awaken more Tomb Kings to command further armies.” Gold remains necessary for construction, settlement upgrades, growth-supporting infrastructure and the wars that secure new territory.
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The three limits to track
- Army capacity: determines how many commanded armies you may maintain.
- Unit capacity: determines how many copies of many higher-tier units can be recruited.
- Development: growth, treasury and building slots determine how quickly you can reach those caps.
Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Spearmen are the two limitless starting unit types identified by the official campaign guide. They are the dependable way to fill a new army while you develop the infrastructure for elite troops.
Where the economy actually comes from
Because soldiers do not drain the treasury each turn, Tomb Kings income is best treated as development capital rather than a payroll. It pays for construction, settlement tiers, infrastructure and expansion. A large treasury with underdeveloped settlements leaves you unable to unlock the units that make additional armies worthwhile; a well-developed realm can support broad recruitment even when routine income is less impressive than that of other races.
Start with inexpensive income infrastructure
The Total War Academy recommends cheap income buildings throughout the realm. Use those buildings to create a reliable base before filling every settlement with military structures. Early cash should normally fund the next growth or income improvement that advances your chosen recruitment plan, not a collection of disconnected barracks that each unlock only one early option.
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- Place basic income buildings widely enough that new settlements contribute to construction costs.
- Keep enough treasury for emergency repairs, diplomatic payments and the next capital upgrade.
- Do not assume that a zero-upkeep army can finance an underdeveloped province; building and growth costs still accumulate.
Choose a capital-led development plan
When your objective is a higher recruitment tier, concentrate growth in the faction capital. The official guidance warns that attractive early military buildings can stifle growth and delay access to stronger units. Minor settlements can receive inexpensive income infrastructure, while the capital receives the growth and tier investment needed for advanced buildings.
Holding growth in reserve is sometimes correct. If a capital is close to a tier threshold, spending growth on unrelated minor upgrades can postpone the unit building that your main army needs. Plan the capital’s chain first, then use spare slots elsewhere for income and defensive coverage.
Unit capacity: recruit by protecting the building, not just the army
Higher-level unit buildings both unlock units and add capacity. This makes a building an ongoing strategic asset rather than a one-time technology purchase. Before constructing one, decide which army role it supports—front-line infantry, missile support, monsters, chariots or another roster category—and whether the settlement can be defended.
Why settlement defense affects recruitment
If you lose a settlement containing a unit-capacity building, your faction’s capacity for that unit falls. Existing armies are not deleted, but you may become over the current cap. The immediate army survives; the long-term recruitment pipeline does not. Reclaiming or replacing the settlement becomes part of restoring the roster.
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- Keep capacity buildings in settlements that can be reinforced quickly.
- Use walls, garrisons and nearby armies to protect the province that supplies an important cap.
- When deciding between two provinces for a military chain, favor the one you can realistically hold through the next war.
- Do not count on replacing losses in an over-cap unit until capacity is restored.
Build only the capacity you can use
Capacity is finite and building slots are valuable. If your current campaign plan needs a broad skeleton line with a small number of elite pieces, do not delay growth by constructing every military chain at once. Add the next capacity building when an army is ready to use it or when a future war clearly requires that unit.
Army slots: dynasties, jars and research tempo
The Tomb Kings’ second hard limit is the number of commanders available. Six major Nehekharan dynasties can be awakened, and dynasty research can grant another army slot. The slot itself has no upkeep, but obtaining it is not free in strategic terms.
The research trade-off
Researching a dynasty makes the next dynasty take longer to research. That means an extra army now can slow the arrival of later army slots and dynasty benefits. Capturing settlements—especially major settlements—improves research progress according to the official guide, so territorial expansion can compensate for some of the time pressure.
Choose a dynasty by comparing the value of its immediate army slot or other unlocks with the delay imposed on the following research. If a second front is about to open, the slot may be worth the slower queue. If your existing armies are still waiting for capital tiers and capacity buildings, delaying research for another commander may produce a larger short-term cost than benefit.
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Canopic Jars come from battles, settlement gains, dilemmas, missions and buildings. They can fund Mortuary Cult items, Legions of Legend, rites, dynasty-related unlocks and an additional army option. Treat jars as a second campaign currency, not as spare money.
| Current bottleneck | Use to consider | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| You cannot open another front because commanders are capped | Additional army option through the available dynasty or Mortuary Cult path | Expands strategic reach, but competes with other jar uses and may interact with dynasty research timing. |
| A key army lacks a specialist or support character | Hero-related capacity or recruitment option | Improves campaign utility when another full army would be premature. |
| Your roster has the capacity but lacks a decisive elite piece | Legion of Legend or a relevant Mortuary Cult item | Converts jars into immediate battlefield quality instead of another commander. |
| A planned operation needs a temporary faction-wide effect | A rite | Spend only when the timing of the effect matters; jars committed here cannot serve a later unlock. |
There is no universal best jar purchase. Compare the cost with the specific obstruction you face: army breadth, hero utility, elite quality or a time-sensitive rite.
A practical campaign sequence
- Secure a cash base. Construct inexpensive income infrastructure across your starting territory and avoid filling every slot with early military buildings.
- Define the next army’s job. Decide whether it is a frontier garrison, a raiding force, a settlement taker or reinforcement for the main stack. This determines which capacity buildings deserve priority.
- Develop the capital. Direct growth toward the capital when the target roster requires higher settlement tiers. Keep growth available for the threshold that unlocks the next important chain.
- Build protected capacity. Add the military buildings for the selected units in settlements you can hold. Record which province supplies each important cap.
- Research with the next two dynasties in mind. Weigh the immediate army slot against the longer research time that follows. Expansion and major settlements can improve research progress.
- Use basic limitless units to launch the army. Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Spearmen let you field a functional force while advanced capacity catches up.
- Collect and assign jars deliberately. Take jars from battles, settlements, dilemmas, missions and buildings, then spend them on the current bottleneck rather than automatically selecting another army.
- Replace slow casualties intelligently. When a wounded, inexperienced unit would take too long to replenish, the official guide advises considering disbanding it and recruiting a fresh unit instead. Apply this to disposable troops, not irreplaceable capacity-limited elites.
How to decide between another army and a better existing army
An extra commander is most valuable when geography is the problem. A second army can guard a capacity settlement while the first attacks, cover a distant border, or occupy a newly conquered region. It is less valuable when your only army still lacks the buildings and growth needed to defeat the next serious opponent.
| Question | If the answer is yes | Preferred direction |
|---|---|---|
| Are two regions threatened at the same time? | Your current force cannot defend one without abandoning the other. | Prioritize the next army slot, provided the capital and capacity plan can still progress. |
| Can an existing army recruit the units it needs? | The required buildings and capacity are already online. | An additional army can convert the free-recruitment advantage into map control. |
| Is the capital below the tier needed for your main roster? | Growth is the immediate blocker. | Invest in development before adding another military chain or commander. |
| Would losing one province erase a critical cap? | The capacity building is exposed or isolated. | Strengthen defense and settlement control before expanding the roster. |
| Are jars needed for a near-term elite, hero or rite? | A planned operation depends on that purchase. | Reserve jars rather than converting them automatically into army breadth. |
Early, middle and late campaign priorities
Early campaign: turn free recruitment into a foundation
Use the limitless skeleton options to absorb routine losses and secure nearby settlements while the economy develops. The objective is not to build every military chain immediately; it is to establish income, identify the capital’s target tier and secure the provinces that will provide future capacity.
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Middle campaign: widen the map without outrunning infrastructure
Once a few capacity chains and a stronger capital are online, use additional armies to cover separate objectives. Major settlements are valuable not only for territory and income but also because settlement capture improves research progress. Keep a written or mental map of capacity provinces as borders expand; an army that appears free to maintain can still be stranded if the settlement that enables its specialist units falls.
Late campaign: preserve the pipeline
Late wars often spread armies over a larger territory. Protect the settlements that supply advanced capacity, maintain income buildings in safe regions and use jars for the upgrades that improve the campaign’s decisive operation. If a province is impossible to defend, avoid making it the sole source of a unit type you expect to replace repeatedly.
Common mistakes and the correction for each
“Zero upkeep means I can ignore income”
Correction: income pays for growth, construction and expansion. Build inexpensive income infrastructure and reserve enough treasury to reach the next settlement tier.
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Correction: military chains can consume slots and delay growth. Build the capacity that matches a defined army role, especially when the capital is near a valuable tier.
“A lost capacity settlement only affects future armies”
Correction: existing units remain, but the faction can sit above its reduced cap. Defend or recover the province before planning additional copies of that unit.
“The first available dynasty is always the best choice”
Correction: each completed dynasty affects the research timing of the next. Compare the immediate army slot and dynasty benefit with the delayed future unlock.
“Canopic Jars are just another way to buy armies”
Correction: jars also support items, Legions of Legend, rites and other unlocks. Spend them where they remove the current campaign bottleneck.
“A damaged unit must be kept until it replenishes”
Correction: the official guide specifically suggests disbanding wounded, inexperienced units and recruiting fresh replacements when replenishment is slower. Do not apply that shortcut to rare units whose capacity is difficult to restore.
Edition and DLC notes
The Rise of the Tomb Kings DLC page on Steam identifies the add-on as requiring Total War: WARHAMMER II or Total War: WARHAMMER III, and lists Immortal Empires among the supported WARHAMMER III content. The DLC description lists four playable Legendary Lords, four unique Tomb Kings rites and nine cursed Books of Nagash in the Eye of Vortex objective. Those content counts describe the release and mode listing; they do not establish that every campaign balance value is identical between games.
For this reason, use the in-game building, capacity and dynasty tooltips in your installed edition as the final authority for current costs, turns and labels. Historical community guides may show older jar costs, research penalties or build orders that no longer match your campaign.
A compact decision checklist
- Have I built enough inexpensive income infrastructure to fund the next upgrade?
- Which settlement tier unlocks the units my next army actually needs?
- Which province supplies each important unit-capacity building, and can I defend it?
- Is another army solving a real geographic problem, or am I adding a commander before my main force is ready?
- What research delay follows the dynasty I am considering?
- Should my next Canopic Jar purchase be an army, a hero option, an item, a Legion of Legend or a rite?
- Would replacing a slow-to-replenish basic unit be faster than waiting?
The Tomb Kings economy rewards planning around bottlenecks rather than income totals. Free soldiers become decisive only when development supplies the right capacity, dynasties open enough command slots and protected settlements keep that capacity available.
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