Broken Axe

To play as Broken Axe and Grom, you must own The Warden and the Paunch paid DLC.

Broken Axe is a playable sub-faction of the Greenskins introduced in Total War: Warhammer. It is led by Grom the Paunch and can be found in a couple of different locations, depending on campaign. See below for more details.

These unruly warriors dwell in the Badlands, mountains and other wild areas and love nothing more than a good fight. From time to time, they will come together in a great “Waaagh!” - an invasion of civilised lands. Armies of Greenskins feature masses of poorly-disciplined infantry, alongside boar-riding cavalry and monsters like trolls and giant spiders.

Background[]

The Broken Axe tribe is a clan of Goblins that live at the eastern side of the Worlds Edge Mountains occupying one of the countless tumble-down fortresses that line the craggy and tunnel strewn passes.

Some time around 2400 IC a Goblin named Grom engaged in a now infamous eating contest, ingesting a plate of raw Troll steaks. After weeks of fevered indigestion and almost terminal flatulence, Grom's stomach managed to digest the Troll flesh as fast as it regrew, making him grow quickly in size and power.

Within ten years he had conquered the other tribes along the Mad Dog Pass and subjugated the Night Goblin tribes that lived around and under Thunder Mountain. For some years, the Broken Axe tribe wandered west and north, conquering the Orc and Goblin tribes of the southern Worlds Edge Mountains and the Badlands.

Some time around 2410 IC Grom led his horde over the Black Fire Pass, defeated the Dwarfs at the Battle of the Iron Gate, invaded the Empire and eventually built a ramshackle fleet. This led the Waaagh! to the shores of Ulthuan and its eventual defeat before the walls of Tor Yvresse.

Grom's name lives on through the tribe's war songs, as do his tactics, making full use of war machines, cavalry and massed Goblin infantry. They still deserve the fearsome reputation that Grom carved out for them.

Faction effects[]

Warhammer 2[]

Has access to Grom's Cauldron
Suitable Climate: Temperate Island
Diplomatic relations: -80 with High Elves
Waaagh! has a chance to contain Snotling Pump Wagons (all armies)
Global recruitment duration: -1 for Goblin units

Warhammer 3[]

Has access to Grom's Cauldron
Diplomatic relations: -80 with High Elves
Waaagh! has a chance to contain Snotling Pump Wagons (all armies)
Upkeep: -20% for Chariot and Pump Wagon units
Charge bonus +15 for Chariot and Pump Wagon units

How they play[]

Broken Axe generally plays like the other Greenskins factions but with a larger focus on gobboz, chariots and pump wagons.

In battle[]

Broken Axe uses the Greenskin roster. This includes content available via free DLC and paid DLC such as The Warden and the Paunch, and The King and the Warlord.

Making Grom's Cauldron dishes on the campaign map can give Grom the Paunch special abilities in battle, such as Regeneration on all gobboz, breath attacks on Grom or explosive attacks on ranged units.

In campaign[]

Broken Axe generally plays the same as other Greenskins factions, however the major differences are listed below. For general Greenskins information see Greenskins.

Starting territory[]

The starting territory for Broken Axe changes depending on the campaign, and which faction the player is playing as.

Eye of the Vortex

When playing as Yvresse: Karag Orrud
When playing as Broken Axe: Karag Orrud
When playing as another faction: Southern Yvresse (Ellisaeli and Cairn Thiel)

Mortal Empires

When playing as Yvresse: Misty mountain and near Karak Azul
When playing as Broken Axe: Massif Orcal
When playing as another faction: Yvresse (province) (Ellisaeli and Shrine of Loec)

Immortal Empires

Massif Orcal, Barrows of Cuileux

Grom's Cauldron[]

Grom's Cauldron is a campaign mechanic unique to Broken Axe. See the main article for more details.

Victory objectives[]

Eye of the Vortex[]

Defeat Yvresse

Mortal Empires[]

Immortal Empires[]

Short Campaign Victory

Occupy, loot, raze, or sack 30 different settlements
Control the following settlement either directly or through vassals and military alliances: Tor Yvresse

Long Campaign Victory

Occupy, loot, raze, or sack 75 different settlements
Destroy the following factions: Black Venom, Bloody Spearz, Broken Nose, Crooked Moon Mutinous Gits, Red Eye, Red Fangs, Scabby Eye, Skullsmasherz, Teef Snatchaz, Top Knotz

Diplomacy[]

Diplomatic traits[]

Aggressive
Destroyer

Starting agreements[]

Mortal Empires:

?

Immortal Empires:

War with Aquitaine

Strategy[]

Warhammer 2[]

When not playing as The Broken Axe or Tor Yvresse, The Broken Axe begins in south Ulthuan. Due to their negative terms with the high elves, The Broken axe is usually wiped out early game as they start surrounded by High Elves.

When playing as the Broken Axe in eye of the vortex, they begin their campaign in Southlands World's Edge Mountains. They begin at war with Arachnos and are surrounded by a fair bit of enemies. The first order of business is to take out Arachnos and then Karak Zorn in order to take full control of your starting province. Sacking Karak Zorn is recommended in order to get an ingredient for Grom's Cauldron, and then occupy the settlement. From their it is advisable to take out the Last Defenders as they will eventually declare war on you. Using the underpass is advisable to go through the mountains and take their capital to cripple them. Occupy the southern Area's of the south lands as soon as possible in order to secure your position. The Knights of Caledor serve as a threat early on due to your poor relations with High elves. Take them out as soon as you can as they will do the same to you at the first opportunity.

Once the southern Southlands are secure, move north to take the rest of the continent. Khemri will generally not mind your presence, however, by this time they will own a fair bit of land. Declaring a WAAAGH! on them is advisable to get a fair bit of rewards. North of Khemri is a few settlements containing savage orcs. Occupying them is of great use to you for stronger troops. Do be aware you start at war with Yvresse and Eataine will follow suit. Be aware they may, at any point send an army to come and contest your power.

Once the Southlands are occupied, head north to Ulthuan to finish your campaign. Declaring a WAAAGH! on Eataine is recommended as at this point they will dominate southern Ulthwan and be a prime target for a WAAAGH!. Once Eataine has either been destroyed, or is no longer a threat, move in and take out the forces of Yvresse. The player must cook 12 recipes in order to be able to commence the final battle. Once you are ready, complete the final battle, and victory will be yours.

Warhammer 3[]

In Immortal Empires, Grom is surrounded by hostile factions, with only Clan Skryre as a potential ally amongst a sea of Bretonnians, Wood Elves and Vampire Counts. In a way this suits you, because Greenskins should never not be scrappin; however in order to survive you have to move quickly, and may have to give up ground to secure some short term non-aggression pacts. Remember that settlements are much more valuable to other factions than you; your main income is going to come from sackin, raidin and lootin, so you can use settlements to buy off potential enemies without feeling you're giving up much. You'll be sackin em all over again soon enough anyway.

Once you've dealt with Aquitaine, a good move may be to roll straight into Bastonne to your north east. They're easy to wipe out and will give you some valuable Waaagh momentum and bargaining chips with which to buy off Kemmler or even Louen. You'll want to do this because the priority is wiping out Carcassonne, who are inevitably going to declare war on you within the first 10 turns. Early game Bretonnia armies are very poor and you can flatten the majority of them with your Snotlings, which you should be recruiting plenty of; you just need a plan for dealing with Morgana's Grail Guardians. Hitting them with artillery, swamping them with Goblins (Spears) and/or setting your Stone Trolls on them will all slowly do the work.

The reason to focus down Carcassonne is that this will secure your southern border, since the Skaven and Beastmen are most likely to leave you alone. You are now free to pick targets at your leisure, with Athel Loren, northern Bretonnia, the Empire and Ulthuan all providing different flavours and stature of opponents for you. Yum!

Trivia[]

Broken Axe was added in The Warden and the Paunch DLC.
The trailer for the Warden and the Paunch features Grom and his horde rolling through the desert on top of chariots and pump wagons. This is likely a reference to the Mad Max movies.