Puppets of Misrule is a playable 
Warriors of Chaos faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer III. It is led by Vilitch the Curseling.
How they play[]
- Dark Fortresses: Establish bases of power to vassalise and recruit followers of Chaos.
- Gifts of Chaos: Purchase god-aligned units and bonuses aligned to strengthen your faction in various ways.
- Warbands: Gather warriors and upgrade them into more powerful units.
- Path to Glory: Upgrade your lords and heroes, dedicate them to a Chaos God, and even transform them into Daemon Princes
- Souls: A unique resource gained by fighting non-Daemonic factions
- Dark Authority: Each Lord has separate authority levels over marked and undivided units, conferring bonuses.
- Eye of the Gods: A recurring dilemma which occurs more frequently the more Gifts of Chaos you have.
- Units: Lightly armoured marauders backed up by elite heavy-armoured warriors and huge monsters. Most factions have few ranged options.
Legendary Lords[]
| Name | Lord Effects | Starting Army - Immortal Empires | Starting Army - The Realm of Chaos |
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 Parasite: Vilitch leeches strength from everything around him just as easily as he leeches the very willpower from his drooling brother.
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Starting territory[]
The Realm of Chaos:
- Near Altar of the Crimson Harvest, Trollheim Mountains (map)
Immortal Empires:
- Near Red Fortress, The Red Wastes (map)
Climate preferences[]
- Suitable:
- Unpleasant: None
- Uninhabitable: None
Faction effects[]
- Vassals gain increased barrier hit points and spread Tzeentch’s corruption
- Has access to Changing of the Ways
- Forces receive benefits for having high Winds of Magic
- Converts a portion of own battle casualties into Souls
- Has access to the Tzeentch teleport stance
Victory objectives[]
Realms of Chaos[]
Complete the survival battle at Zanbaijin
Immortal Empires[]
Short Campaign Victory[]
- Control the following 5 settlements either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies: Red Fortress, Bloodwind Keep, Fortress of Eyes, Wei-Jin, Nan-Gau
- Occupy, loot, raze, or sack 35 different settlements
Long Campaign Victory[]
- Achieve the Short Victory conditions
- Occupy, loot, raze, or sack 80 different settlements
- Control at least 13 of the following settlements either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies: Ancient City of Quintex, Altar of the Crimson Harvest, Black Rock, Black Fortress, Brass Keep, Bloodwind Keep, Daemon's Gate, Dagrak's End, Doomkeep, Fortress of the Damned, Karak Dum, Karak Vlag, Konquata, Middenheim, Monolith of Borkill the Bloody-Handed, Nuln, Okkam's Forever Maze, Praag, Red Fortress, Tower of Gorgoth, Zanbaijin, The Challenge Stone, The Crystal Spires, The Godless Crater, The Forbidden Citadel, The Frozen City, The Howling Citadel, The Lost Palace, The Monolith of Katam, The Palace of Ruin, The Silvered Tower of Sorcerers, The Tower of Khrakk, The Twisted Towers, The Writhing Fortress
Diplomacy[]
Immortal Empires[]
- War with Imperial Wardens
Starting agreements[]
Immortal Empires[]
None
Strategy[]
Immortal Empires[]
Vilitch starts on top of Red Fortress, one of the most defensible locations on the entire map. It cannot be approached by sea, and it has a single long land approach that Order factions will take attrition from. His nearby foes are also fairly weak and spread out, making him overall a laidback campaign and a strong choice for a beginner to the Warriors of Chaos (although note that the Long Victory conditions are particularly obnoxious for him to complete given how far he starts from most of the locations listed).
Once Red Fortress is taken it is important to go west and secure Dragon's Crossroad as soon as possible. If you do it early enough you should be able to take Bloodwind Keep, the other Dark Fortress in the region, before The Warhost of Zharr does.
Whether you then attack Zhatan is a key early choice. He should be friendly with you since he will also be at war with Cathay, and as an ally he will secure your western flank whilst taking him out may leave you vulnerable to Grimgor's 'Ardboyz. Engaging him will also give the Cathay factions more time to organise themselves, and if The Northern Provinces are able to confederate the minor ones you will have a tougher time getting over the wall. On the other hand Zhatan is sitting on another valuable Dark Fortress, and Chaos Dwarfs are far easier to take out at this stage of a campaign than later, since their armies will be mostly composed of chaff.
Once you're into Cathay, you should be able to make allies out of Clan Eshin and/or The Blessed Dread. Think carefully about who you make agreements with though since ideally you want to own both Nan-Gau and Wei-Jin, and you don't want to tank your reliability by taking those off someone you have a NAP with. Shang-Yang is also a Dark Fortress settlement, so be sure to head westwards to grab that as well.
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