Unit Roster & Recruitment

Build your armies in Total War: Warhammer II. Master unit rosters and the recruitment system to dominate the battlefield with powerful Legendary Lords.

Mastering your unit roster and recruitment process is paramount to success in Total War: Warhammer II. This section will guide you through the intricacies of acquiring and enhancing your armies, focusing on actionable strategies and a deep dive into recruitment-boosting mechanics.

Understanding Recruitment Buildings

Recruitment in Total War: Warhammer II is heavily influenced by specific buildings within your settlements. It's crucial to distinguish between two primary types of buildings that impact unit and hero recruitment:

• Rank-Boosting Buildings: These structures directly increase the starting rank of newly recruited units. This is a significant advantage, as higher-ranked units possess better stats and are more effective on the battlefield from the moment they are recruited.
• Recruitment Capacity Buildings: These buildings increase the number of units you can recruit per turn from a given province. While not directly impacting unit quality, they are vital for rapidly replenishing losses or raising new armies.

Early in your campaign, it's easy to get confused by the sheer number of recruitment-related buildings. A common mistake for new players is to assume all recruitment-boosting buildings stack universally. This is not always the case, and understanding their specific effects is key to efficient empire management.

Optimizing Recruitment Ranks

Achieving maximum recruitment ranks for your units provides a significant strategic advantage. Here's a comprehensive approach to maximizing your unit quality from the moment they join your ranks:

1. Specialized Recruitment Buildings

Certain buildings offer faction-specific bonuses to unit ranks. For the Empire, for example, these include:

• Warhorse Breeder's Stables: Boosts the starting rank of cavalry units. Strategically place these in provinces where you plan to mass cavalry.
• Woodworkers' Shops: Enhances the starting rank of missile units. Essential for factions relying on ranged firepower.
• Master Swordsmith's Forges: Provides a significant boost to the starting rank of elite melee infantry. These are rarer and often tied to specific, high-tier settlements. Prioritize building these in your core military provinces.

Actionable Tip: Don't build these indiscriminately. Identify your primary military provinces and focus these specialized buildings there. For instance, if you plan to heavily utilize Reiksguard Knights, ensure your main cavalry-producing province has a Warhorse Breeder's Stables at its highest tier.

2. Lord Skills & Traits

Your Lords are not just battlefield commanders; they can also be powerful recruitment enhancers. Invest skill points wisely:

• Blue Line Skills: Many Lords have skills in their blue (campaign) skill tree that directly increase the starting rank of specific unit types or all units recruited within their local region. Look for skills like "Recruitment Master" or "Martial Training."
• Lord Traits: Some Lords begin with or acquire traits that provide recruitment bonuses. For example, a Lord with the "Disciplinarian" trait might offer a global recruitment rank bonus.

Actionable Tip: When recruiting a new Lord, check their starting traits. If you're looking to quickly raise a high-quality army, prioritize Lords with beneficial recruitment traits. As they level up, prioritize blue-line skills that enhance recruitment in your primary recruitment provinces.

3. Captain Skills (Heroes)

Certain hero types, such as Empire Captains, can also contribute to recruitment rank bonuses when embedded in an army or stationed in a province. Look for skills that grant "Recruitment Rank" bonuses.

Actionable Tip: Station a Captain with recruitment-boosting skills in a province where you are actively recruiting. This can provide a crucial extra rank or two to your new units.

4. Research

The technology tree often contains research options that provide global or faction-specific recruitment rank bonuses. These are long-term investments but offer significant returns.

• Example (Empire): Researching "Military Academies" might provide a +1 starting rank to all infantry units.

Actionable Tip: Regularly review your research tree and prioritize technologies that enhance unit quality, especially if you find yourself struggling with early-game unit effectiveness.

5. Items & Followers

Lords and Heroes can equip magical items and acquire followers that provide recruitment bonuses:

• Items: Look for items with effects like "+1 Recruitment Rank for all units" or "+2 Recruitment Rank for ." These are often found through quest battles, defeating enemy Lords, or random drops.
• Followers: Followers like "Drillmaster" or "Quartermaster" can provide small but impactful recruitment rank bonuses when assigned to a Lord or Hero.

Actionable Tip: Always check newly acquired items and followers for recruitment benefits. Assign them to the Lord or Hero who will be leading your primary recruitment efforts.

6. Offices (Empire Specific)

For factions like the Empire, assigning Lords to specific offices can provide global or regional recruitment bonuses. For example, appointing a Lord as "Grand Marshal" might grant a bonus to all newly recruited units.

Actionable Tip: Carefully consider which Lords you assign to offices, balancing their combat prowess with their potential to enhance your empire's recruitment capabilities.

Provincial Specialization for Recruitment

Not all provinces are created equal when it comes to recruitment. Some provinces offer unique building slots or resources that make them ideal for specialized recruitment centers.

Identifying Key Provinces

• Unique Buildings: Certain provinces have unique building chains that offer unparalleled recruitment benefits. For the Empire, this might include provinces that allow for the construction of the "Grand Cathedral of Sigmar" or other high-tier military structures.
• Resource Buildings: Provinces with specific resources (e.g., Iron, Horses) can unlock higher-tier recruitment buildings or provide bonuses to units related to that resource.
• Strategic Location: Consider provinces that are centrally located or well-defended, allowing you to safely recruit and consolidate forces before deploying them to the front lines.

Building Strategy

1. Designate Core Military Provinces: Identify 2-3 provinces early in your campaign that will serve as your primary recruitment hubs. These should be well-developed and secure.
2. Focus Recruitment Buildings: In these core provinces, prioritize building all available recruitment-rank boosting structures (e.g., Master Swordsmith's Forges, Warhorse Breeder's Stables).
3. Balance with Economy: While recruitment is vital, ensure your core military provinces also have a strong economic base to support the upkeep of your elite armies.
4. Outlying Provinces: For less critical provinces, focus on recruitment capacity buildings to quickly raise basic garrisons or replenish losses, rather than investing heavily in rank-boosting structures.

By carefully planning your provincial development and leveraging all available recruitment enhancers, you can consistently field high-quality armies that are ready to dominate the battlefields of Total War: Warhammer II.