| “ | This Iron Daemon carries the Skullcracker attachment with it – a constantly moving amalgam of blades and points fiendishly designed to mash the enemy to a bloody pulp. | „ |
Skullcracker – Dreadquake Mortar is a 
Chaos Dwarfs war machine unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer III with Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs.
Recruitment[]
Unlocked with: Manufactory Complex
Description[]
One of the latest designs to see widespread service within the Chaos Dwarf empire is the Iron Daemon, a compact, armoured steam-driven traction engine, designed for hauling heavy armaments and munitions to the battlefield and to work pressure-fed weapons such as cannonades and wall-breakers. In addition to those it tows to the battlefield, the Iron Daemon may be equipped with weapons such as the Skullcracker, designed for crushing fortifications and walls – a hissing, grinding arcane-mechanical conglomeration of iron hammers, hacking blades and brutal picks to pulverise and shred anything unfortunate enough to be caught in front of it.
Attributes[]
- War Machine
- ▲ Unstoppable!: This unit has an improved effectiveness at knocking back enemy units upon collision.
- ▲ Hell-Forged: This unit can be restored in battle by the Daemonsmith's Reforge ability.
- ▲ Armoured: Armoured units can block damage from any source apart from Armour-Piercing damage.
- ▲ Armour-Piercing: The damage of armour-piercing weapons mostly ignores the armour of the target, making them the ideal choice against heavily-armoured enemies. They are often heavier and attack at a slower rate though, making them less efficient against poorly-armoured targets.
Abilities[]
Active Abilities[]
Passive Abilities[]
Strategy[]
This variant of the Dreadquake Mortar is only available in campaign.
Dreadquake Mortars coupled to warmachines are insanely expensive in two separate ways: There's not only the gold cost to consider, but the fact they require two army cap purchases in the Hell Forge. Bear in mind that though this is the game accounting for the fact they're effectively two units, in battle they are very much one unit, and if it gets destroyed it gets destroyed. Unless you concentrate heavily on raw material production, rush a settlement to level 5, then switch much of your industry over to armament production, you will not be able to get these lavishly destructive units out until the late game.
Coupling a Dreadquake to a war machine greatly increases its mobility and ability to defend itself. The fact it can fire while moving is by itself astonishingly powerful, and with micro means it can dodge counter battery fire. Greenskins, Skaven, Cathay and Dwarfs - Chaos Dwarfs' most likely opponents in campaign - all have access to highly effective artillery of their own, so this is by no means a theoretical advantage. It also increases its effectiveness in siege situations, easily able to move up and continue bombarding positions.
A difficult to utilise warmachine on its own, the Skullcracker makes far more sense attached to a Dreadquake, becoming a horror for flankers, flyers and summons to try and attack it. You also will not have to deal with the problem of less ammunition that the Iron Daemon – Dreadquake Mortar does.