The Golden Order

The Golden Order
Overview
Type	Playable Faction
Race	The Empire
Ruler	Balthasar Gelt
Campaigns	Mortal Empires Immortal Empires
Legendary lords	Balthasar Gelt
(Required) DLC	Thrones of Decay
Currency	Money
Special Resource	Arcane Essays
Territory
Corruption	Reduces Corruption
Climates	Suitable: Unpleasant: Uninhabitable:
Startinglocation	Mortal Empires: Pfeildorf, Solland Immortal Empires: Temple of Elemental Winds, Broken Lands of Tian Li

The Golden Order is a playable Empire faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer II. It is led by Balthasar Gelt.

How they play

General

• Imperial Authority

Faction Specific

• Colleges of Magic

Legendary Lords

• Balthasar Gelt

Starting territory

Mortal Empires

Mortal Empires start position

• Pfeidorf, Solland
• Fort Soll, Winter's Teeth Pass

Immortal Empires

• Temple of Elemental Winds, Broken Lands of Tian Li

Faction effects

Total War: Warhammer II

• Suitable Climate: Mountain
• Armour: +10 for all units
• Hero capacity: +2 for Battle Wizards
• Upkeep: -50% for Battle Wizard Heroes

Total War: Warhammer III

• Has access to the Colleges of Magic, enabling the recruitment of Wizards and special campaign actions
• Winds of Magic power reserve capacity: +5 for each Wizard Lord or Hero in the army (all armies)
• Hero recruit rank: +2 for Battle Wizards (factionwide)

Victory Conditions

Mortal Empires

Short Campaign Victory

• Control all provinces of the Empire either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies: Nordland, Ostland, Hochland, Middenland, Talabecland, Ostermark, Reikland, Stirland, Averland, Wissenland, The Wasteland
• Reclaim Sylvania either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies: Eastern Sylvania, Western Sylvania
• Destroy the following faction(s): Grimgor's 'Ardboyz, Crooked Moon
• Ensure that any military presence belonging to the following factions exists only in the Chaos Wastes region: Warriors of Chaos, Warherd of Chaos
• Continue to expand your territory, ready for the arrival of Archaon the Everchosen.
• Ensure that Archaon the Everchosen is in a wounded state.

Long Campaign Victory

• Achieve the Short Victory conditions
• Control any 7 of the following settlements either by direct ownership or through vassals and military allies: Couronne, Altdorf, Castle Drakenhof, The Oak of Ages, Miragliano, Skavenblight, Kislev, Hell Pit, Karaz-a-Karak, Karak Eight Peaks, Black Crag, Lahmia, Khemri, Itza, Hexoatl, Naggarond, Lothern, Gaen Vale, The Awakening, The Galleon's Graveyard, Sartosa
• Destroy the following faction(s): Beastmen

Immortal Empires

Short Campaign Victory

• Occupy, loot, raze, or sack 30 different settlements
• Complete 12 unique College of Magic Repeatable Actions or Unlocks

Reward

• Hero capacity: +3 for all Heroes

Long Campaign Victory

• Achieve the Short Victory conditions
• Occupy, loot, raze, or sack 75 different settlements
• Complete 24 unique College of Magic Repeatable Actions or Unlocks

Reward

• Hero recuit rank: +10 (local province) (all provinces)

Diplomacy

Diplomatic Traits

When controlled by the AI, The Golden Order will have the following diplomatic traits:

• Protective
• Imperial Authority

Starting Agreements

The Golden Order will start with the following treaties already in effect:

Mortal Empires

• War with: Black Venom and Skull-takerz

Immortal Empires

• Non-aggression pact with; The Western Provinces
• Millitary access with: The Western Provinces
• War with: Burning Wind Nomads

Strategy

• The Golden Order plays similarly to traditional Total War factions, with diplomacy playing a major role in the initial stages of the campaign (uniting the Elector Counts with the strength of their arguments or the argument of strength) and strengthening the realm against future threats. Late game focuses on frontline affairs more strongly, as the Empire comes under attack from Chaos but with a notable difference of focusing on magical spells, which is quite a different from a traditional Total War faction. They can make their magic spells as cheap as an average Skavenslave, making Battle Wizard doomstacks entirely possible, even in the early game.
• Numerous enemies, dissatisfied Elector Counts to the north, Chaos looming even further up, belligerent Orcs to the south, sinister Vampire Counts in Sylvania, vengeful treemen to the east and Beastmen all around. Bretonnia, Tilea, Estalia and the Border Princes can become your enemies should relations turn sour. Lastly, the Dwarfs and their heavily armoured warriors will stop at nothing to settle any grudges with the other factions, try not to put yours on the list. Reikland has a challenging strategic situation, especially under an AI player.
• Overall, The Empire is a very strong race in both singleplayer and multiplayer games. Infantry, especially Halberdiers and Greatswords, can hold the line well, but their ace in the hole is their war machine and cavalry catalogue. Imperial commanders can snatch up Demigryph Knights for wiping out enemy beasts and dealing with large armored threats (though fielding them against Bretonnian massed cavalry charges is a good way to get them killed) together with the Reiksguard shock cavalry (excellent against weaker opponents). The Steam Tank shines among other war machines thanks to its versatility (ram and artillery), with Karl Franz being very powerful (though prohibitively expensive in multiplayer games). Other Lord choices are good, especially Balthasar Gelt after the Lore of Metal improvements. Heroes like the Witch Hunter, Jade Wizard, and Warrior Priests round out the roster for single models, though they might be more useful on the campaign map than in battle.
• No flying units other than high level characters mean the Empire is effectively hamstrung when dealing with factions that love flying units, like Bretonnia, Wood Elves, or Vampire Counts. They have to deal with them defensively, using units such as Handgunners (accurate, high AP), Lore of Light, or the Luminark of Hysh to deal damage to the enemy. Combined with a trapping spell like Net of Amyntok enemy flyers need to be wary of wandering into imperial fields of fire.
• After being moved to Cathay, it's optional to return to the main Empire lands. Doing this will grant you several turns if -100% upkeep, allowing you to settle anywhere around the Empire that you want or to remain in Cathay.
• If you're playing as any other Empire factions, The Golden Order should be the last one that you should try to confederate, as they sit in a pretty safe area of the map with starting defensive pacts with another major faction.
• As any other factions that want to confederate with Gelt, it's possibly a good idea to let Gelt be recruited the last, as the longer this faction stays alive, the more the AI get to use it's mechanic along with the unique items that the AI can get from the Colleges of Magic, which after being confederated, you cannot obtain unless the AI has obtained it.