Tlaqua

Tlaqua is a playable Lizardmen faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer II as part of the Doomsayers Update. It is led by Tiktaq'to, and can be downloaded free from Steam by clicking here.

Previously, they were a minor, non-playable faction.

How they play
A summary of Lizardmen gameplay. See the main Lizardmen page for more details.


 * Units: In battle, Lizardmen have strong melee units, powerful magic users, and many monsters. However, their ranged units are just average.
 * Blessed Spawnings: These are elite Lizardmen units in limited supply, similar to Regiments of Renown.
 * Rampage: Overall, Lizardmen have good leadership. However, many of their units can potentially rampage and go out of control in battle.
 * Rites: Lizardmen can perform several rites in campaign to bolster themselves or recruit Slann Mage-Priests.
 * Astromancy Stance: A unique army stance which increases map vision and ambush chance.
 * Geomantic Web: Lizardmen settlements are linked by the magical Geomantic Web which makes their commandments more powerful.
 * Lord Kroak: Lizardmen factions can embark on a quest to recruit the unique hero Lord Kroak.

In battle
Tlaqua play similarly to other Lizardmen factions, aside from a few different abilities on Terradons.

In campaign
The information listed here is specific to Tlaqua. For more general information on Lizardmen campaign mechanics, see the main Lizardmen page.

Legendary lord choices

 * Tiktaq'to - an extremely mobile damage dealer who starts with a unique Terradon mount, Zwup

Unique faction effects

 * Skink Chiefs and Skink Priests have immediate access to a Terradon mount.
 * All characters gain 25% to their campaign line-of-sight
 * The unique Rite of Tzunki, when performed, immediately resets the campaign movement range of all Tlaqua’s armies and characters
 * Terradons gain a unique ability in battle: Drop Rocks of Chotec, in addition the normal Drop Rocks

Rite of Tzunki
The Rite of Tzunki replaces the Rite of Sotek for Tlaqua. It resets campaign movement range for all Tlaqua's armies and characters. It can be extremely useful for getting out of, or into, strategically advantageous situations. This is similar to how Har Ganeth has the Sacrifice to Drakira, which replaces the regular Dark Elves Sacrifice to Hekarti.

Tiktaq'to lord effects

 * Upkeep -50% for Terradon Riders and Ripperdactyl Riders units (lord's army)
 * Melee attack +10 when in foreign territory

Starting territory

 * Eye of the Vortex campaign
 * Western Jungles (Tlaqua only)


 * Mortal Empires campaign
 * Western Jungles (Tlaqua only)

Victory objectives
Vortex Victory: Domination victory: Short Long
 * Eye of the Vortex
 * Complete all rituals
 * Win The Final Battle
 * Destroy the following factions: Naggarond, Clan Pestilens, Clan Mors, Khemri, Lothern
 * Mortal Empires
 * Maintain control of 14 provinces either through direct ownership or vassals and military allies, including the following: Land of Assassins, Land of the Dervishes, Great Desert of Araby, Land of the Dead, Great Mortis Delta Southlands Jungle, Kingdom of Beasts, Southern Badlands, Sartosa, Skavenblight
 * Destroy the following factions: Clan Mors, Pirates of Sartosa, The Bloody Handz, Followers of Nagash
 * Control any 8 of the following settlements: Couronne, Altdorf, Castle Drakenhof, Oak of Ages, Skavenblight, Kislev (settlement), Hell Pit, Karaz-a-Karak, Karak Eight Peaks, Black Crag, Lahmia, Khemri (settlement), Itza (settlement), Hexoatl (settlement), Naggarond (settlement), Lothern (settlement), Gaean Vale, The Awakening, The Galleon's Graveyard, Sartosa
 * Ensure that Archaon the Everchosen is in a wounded state
 * Same as above but 17 settlements instead of 8, and include Vampire Counts and Greenskins in the list of factions to destroy.

Diplomatic Traits (as AI)

 * Compliant
 * Cold-Blooded Logic

Strategy
In campaign, Tiktaq'to favors an aggressive and mobile army that ranges far in enemy lands. He gets +10 melee attack for his army and has a special rite that resets all faction armies movement, allowing him to play quite aggressively. In a very real sense, it gives your military forces a second turn, allowing them to strike constantly at the enemies of the Master of the Skies.

Your first enemy is Sudenburg, but Clan Eshin and Clan Mors both lie close by (in Vortex). One strategy that works well is to make peace with Sudenburg once you've removed them from the Western Jungles. Ignore the northern half of the Southlands in their entirety - get non-aggression pacts or defensive alliances with Khemri and/or the Knights of Caledor, they tend to be quite reliable. Arkhan may try to be your friend, but don't go any further than a NAP. Getting too friendly with him risks pissing off Settra. You are unlikely to be attacked over the Gulf of Medes, except by the inevitable Chaos and Skaven incursion forces. Make a NAP with the Bowmen of Oreon. It shouldn't be difficult, as they have affinity toward you. DO NOT enter any form of alliance with them. They are still Wood Elves, and will almost inevitably start wars with any other neighbors they have, including Khemri or the Knights of Caledor. Oreon's Camp isn't a very good settlement for Lizardmen, so it's not worth the trouble to take it.

With your north secure, head south. Wipe out Clan Mors, confederate the Last Defenders, and take over the entire south end of the continent. If Kroq-Gar proves stubborn, don't hesitate to declare war on him. He'll never establish diplomatic relations with the Lizardmen in Lustria, so they won't hold it against you. Once he's weak, he will definitely take a confederation as long as you're not unreliable. Go on to conquer the Sea of Dread, then the Fortress of Dawn. If it's available, the Rite of Tzunki is an excellent way to avoid taking deep sea attrition over the endturn. Use the Fortress of Dawn as a staging point for your invasion of the southern Tip of Lustria.

If they're still alive, confederate the Cult of Sotek. Tehenauin's Plaque and the Blade of the Ancient Skies both confer +3 public order factionwide, meaning that with both you will likely never have to worry about public order issues again. The Spirit of the Jungle may be in the are as well - you should hold off on confederating them, as the regions you receive from the Defenders of the Great Plan will all be tier 1 and nearly indefensible. Wait until you've built a strong foothold in the region. Once you have, keep pushing north - take Oyxl and get it to tier III ASAP. The Shrine of Birds Landmark synergizes exceptionally well with Tlaqua's flight-based playstyle. From there, try and confederate Itza as you purge Lustria of the warmbloods and the undead. Despite having the dissonance trait, this isn't usually too difficult, as your relationship with Itza will likely be quite high do to all the slaughtering you have done to some of Gor-Rok's least favorite people. Don't stress too much about trying to confederate Mazdamundi - he's a bit far and likely hasn't shared any common enemies with you, so unless you want to declare war on half of Naggaroth or bribe him with thousands of gold per turn, he likely won't be willing to confederate. Besides, he's an excellent buffer state, and will keep you from having to deal with the Dark Elves. Most of Naggaroth is frozen and thus inhospitable to the Lizardmen, so it's simply not worth invading.

While it is absolutely possible to play Tlaqua the same as other Lizardmen factions, to do so is to forego the faction's greatest strength. Tlaqua grants all of its Terradon Riders a "Drop Rocks of Chotec" ability on top of their normal drop rocks. This ability sunders armor as well as causing damage. Between the two drop rock abilities, only the most heavily-armored enemy infantry units will be able to survive a Terradon bombing run. Normaly, Terradons are scarcely useful as anything but early-game support units, but Tlaqua will find use for the well into the lategame. With practice, your Terradons will easily be scoring 100+ kills per battle against enemy full stacks. The only thing you have to watch out for is enemy missile spam, but this can be countered with clever flanking, Stegadon support, or assistance from mages.

As Tlaqua begins the campaign with a Terradon Hatchery, you should focus on recruiting Terradon Riders exclusively. A near-full stack of them will dominate absolutely anything you run into early-game - first with their rocks and missiles, and then using their decent melee stats and fear inducement to rout any survivors. Be sure to keep at least one unit on the ground, as the game gives a harsh morale penalty to an army of only flying units. Your starting Cold One Riders will be sufficient until you can attach Kroak or a Hero on a dinosaur. Keep them hidden - without any perceived available targets, the AI for enemy melee units will become frantic and disorganized, often blobbing up and becoming perfect targets for your drop rocks. Of course, you should prioritize eliminating enemy missile units first. The upkeep reduction granted by Tiktaq'to to his army makes each Terradon unit as inexpensive as a Skink Cohort. The cash this frees up will certainly come in handy, especially in the early game. As you expand, add a few units of Ripperdactyls and recruit the regiment of Renown one as well - the Anti-Large bonus will definitely come in handy.

As the game goes on, you should recruit more diverse armies, but the extra drop rocks make 3-4 Terradons a worthwhile inclusion in almost any army composition. Do note that Norscan and Chaos Warrior armies have no real counter to an all-flyer army, so there is little need to turtle up for the first few chaos incursions. Keep a Terradon Hatchery in every third province or so. When the incursion armies appear, make a judgment call as to what settlements are likely to be attacked. Quickly hire a Kroxigor Ancient and recruit as many Terradons as possible. Hide the Kroxigor and deal as much damage as possible, prioritizing the destruction of any hellcannons should they be present. If you aren't confident of your ability to rout the enemy in melee once you run out of ammo, simply retreat. You haven't taken any casualties, and will be able to finish them off next turn. If, however, the enemy is sufficiently weakened, draw them over to where you have hidden your Kroxigor and begin the melee. Incursion Skaven armies are a bit trickier, but the early ones don't usually have many missile units except perhaps gutter runners. The incursion Skaven armies use no DLC units, so you have no Jezzails or Ratling Guns to fear.

Later incursions are trickier, and should be dealt with using beefier armies and walled settlements. It is recommended that you check what settlements will be performing the ritual, then spend a few turns positioning your forces before beginning the ritual. If you've kept up relations with the southlands factions, and taken over most of Lustria, you may well not have any active fronts, and can thus focus entirely on defending your settlements for the Vortex rituals.

While this is going on, never stop keeping an eye on Clan Eshin. If Eshin ever manages to take over the Northwest Southlands, they will likely turn their attention on you next. Worse still, the great power bonus in relations they will get will likely put them on good terms with Khemri. This can even potentially lead them to forge an alliance. If you see Eshin start to snowball, take them out. ASAP. Fortunately, they often struggle against Bretonnians and Greybeard's prospectors, so you will likely have many dozens of turns of turns before this is necessary. Whether or not you settle the area is up to you - if they're still alive, settling will almost certainly lead you into conflict with the Bretonnians. Should you wish to avoid this, simply raze every Eshin settlement instead. Settra will likely take over the regions after this, and he is an extremely reliable friend once you become a great power.

Unfortunately, the Vortex Ritual diplomatic maluses will almost certainly lead to conflict with Imrik if the Knights of Caledor are still alive. Keep an eye on your relations and prepare to strike after he calls off your NAP. Taking over his territory is usually fine, as he will usually only border Khemri and the Bowmen of Oreon by this point, who as we've established, are total bros. The Karak Zorn province is quite valuable and provides a number of useful trade goods, making it a good reward for culling the warmbloods.

The final Vortex battle is quite easy with Tiktaq'to's stack as described above, though you should consider adding a pair of Saurus Scar-Veterans on Carnosaurs to protect Kroak on the ground and keep enemy infantry blobbed up for the Deliverance of Itza.

While leveling up Tiktaq'to, be certain to get Lightning Strike. You only get two drop rocks per Terradon per battle, meaning that while his army is highly effective at fighting single stacks, it is not so effective against multiple stacks. Also be certain to put points into his unique skills buffing lying units, as well as into the red line skills which do the same.

His Skink heroes may also be mounted on Terradons immediately to further augment his army's mobility. Chiefs on Terradons are particularly good at sniping enemy lords. Priests will also enjoy the mobility granted by the Terradon, but they should be swapped for an Ancient Stegadon Engine of the Gods as soon as they become available.

Tiktaq'to is among the fastest lords in the game, but he cannot stand up very long in melee fights on the ground. Zwup isn't huge but he is still somewhat large, meaning that Tiktaq'to will get cut to pieces by infantry if left in melee too long. Don't use him as a melee beatstick like Gor-Rok. Focus on hit-and-run attacks, swooping, and destroying enemy artillery. That being said, his high melee attack and defense makes him one of the best airborne duelists in the game, and he is quite capable of challenging most enemy fliers if not under fire from the ground. Should the enemy field a flying lord such as Luthor Harkon on his Terrorgheist or Morathi on Seraphon, don't hesitate to engage them if they let themselves get exposed. He will not defeat tougher lords on dragons such as Malekith or Imrik (unless supported by the RoR Ripperdactyls), but he can certainly keep them distracted while you take apart the rest of their armies.

Finally, if you are cheese-inclined, Tiktaq'to's high speed and missile resistance make him one of the best candidates in the game for wasting enemy ammunition. Doing so will greatly increase the longevity of your flyers. Just don't let him fight Sniktch, because stalk makes wasting enemy ammo impossible.