The Dreadfleet


 * The Dreadfleet requires Curse of the Vampire Coast to play.

The Dreadfleet is a playable Vampire Coast faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer II with the Curse of the Vampire Coast DLC. It is led by Count Noctilus and can be found in the Galleon’s Graveyard, in the middle of the ocean, south of Ulthuan.

The Vampire Coast are undead who ply the coastlines of the world in search of plunder. Their armies consist of zombified pirates armed with cutlasses, muskets and cannons, backed up by giant crabs and other undead horrors.

Playstyle

 * Units: Large focus on large masses of lightly armed and armored undead troops, supported by midling artillery units, flying units, and strong monster units. Advanced armies will consist of regiments much fewer in number but many times greater in strength and utility.
 * Upgradeable Ships: Legendary Lords may build up their flagship to give great boons both in battle and on the campaign map.
 * Pirate Coves: Successfully besiege a settlement or use a Hero to establish a Cove that will generate Income and Infamy.
 * Infamy: Starting at the bottom of the list, win battles, draw out rivals, and kill those Rivals to recover the Lost Sea Shanty
 * Verses of the Ancient Sea Shanty: An ancient song that has not been sung as a whole in countless years. Combine all three Verses to Summon a practical Ocean God.
 * Loyalty: Manage the Loyalty of your Lords by giving them Plunder and letting them do what pirates do, lest they see you as the more profitable target.
 * Treasure Maps: Search for Gold, Treasure, and Infamy by solving Riddles found in abandoned Settlements and buried in the sands.
 * Pieces of Eight: Defeat Pirate crews who have been possessed by cursed gold, take their piece from them to summon Regiments of Renown to plunder the seas with little resistance.

Background
Count Noctilus, once known as Nyklaus von Carstein of Sylvania, was drawn to the maelstrom at the heart of the ocean to feast upon its dark magic. He performed a mighty ritual to transport himself, his castle and all his undead minions there to the Galleon’s Graveyard, a mystical place where wrecks and hulks of the seas are drawn. Reborn as Count Noctilus, he raised the shattered remains of sunken warships to form the hull of the Bloody Reaver and ride the waves of the mortal seas once more.

Unit Roster

 * Main article: Vampire Coast unit roster

The armies of the Dreadfleet consist of zombified pirates armed with cutlasses, muskets and cannons, backed up by giant crabs and other undead horrors.

Vampire Coast spellcasters can use the Lore of the Deep.

Regiments of Renown
There are eight Regiments of Renown available to the Vampire Coast factions. Instead of unlocking them by leveling up your lords, you must instead collect Pieces of Eight to unlock each of them.

Legendary lord choices

 * Count Noctilus

Faction effects
Count Noctilus’s appetite for conquest allows him to gain war-declaration missions with unique rewards and rapidly swell his ranks for the task with increased recruitment capacity for his pirate crew and reduced recruitment duration for Necrofex Colossi.

The Bloody Reaver
Noctilus' personal ship is called The Bloody Reaver.

Starting territory

 * Eye of the Vortex
 * The Galleon's Graveyard


 * Mortal Empires
 * The Galleon's Graveyard

Campaign Victory

 * Acquire the Star-Metal Harpoon.
 * Gain all 3 verses of the Lost Sea Shanty.
 * Construct the Harpoon Launcher ship building.
 * Win the following battle:
 * Battle of the Eternal Tides

Domination Victory

 * Destroy the following faction(s): Eataine, Naggarond, Hexoatl, Clan Mors, Khemri, Pirates of Sartosa
 * Maintain control of 50 province(s), either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies.

Eye of the Vortex

 * War with Caledor and The Sunken Land Corsairs

Mortal Empires

 * War with Carcassonne, Bordeleaux and Caledor

Mortal Empires

 * Aggressive - Belligerent and warmongering, their armies reach far with little regard for defence.
 * Unreliable - Agreements hold little sway. This one is not to be trusted.
 * Schemer - Constantly plots to break friendships and make others question their allegiance.


 * Naval Aggressor - Prefers attacking enemy ports settlements, even if easier targets are inland.

Strategy
Due to their vulnerable opening location, the Dreadfleet can be more difficult than the Awakened to play as. Making your way to Ulthuan can quickly take out a potential bevy of High Elf problems before they spiral out of control. Alternatively, quickly making your way to Lustria and engaging the Lizardmen fighting the Awakened can net you an early ally from Luthor Harkon. Regardless, very quickly you're going to need to take over territories so you can afford more armies. Wage war as needed to take over territories, and use Fleet Admiral Heroes to pop up Pirate Coves against enemies you don't want to fight.

Once your economy establishes itself, ease up on declaring wars. Let your Vampiric Corruption interfere with your neighbours and let them declare war against you. This helps focus your armies rather than having to fight a war on multiple fronts. Raise Dead can be used to rapidly assemble forces when and where they're needed.

Be careful at advancing too quickly. Like the other Vampire Coast members, the Dreadfleet is horrid at negotiating, which means it's very easy to find yourself at war with multiple pirate factions, minor factions and major factions, and yet completely without allies to rely on. Like all Vampire Coast factions, they cannot confederate others, so don't worry too much about making friends with everyone.

Lastly, don't be afraid to lean on Count Noctilus himself. While listed as a Spellcaster, he is surprisingly adapt at combat, especially once he takes his mount. This can be extremely beneficial in the early game when survival can be made or lost off the first couple battles.

Trivia

 * The crest design comes from a flag atop the Bloody Reaver, Count Noctilus's ship in the Games Workshop game Dreadfleet.