# Total War: Warhammer 3 Empire Campaign Guide (2026) > This plan covers the main Empire lord starts in Total War: Warhammer 3 and what each one is trying to accomplish. It is aimed at players who want a practical overview of the faction’s mechanics, early priorities, and campaign identity. - **Game:** Total War: Warhammer III - **Category:** Factions - **Author:** LongBeam (https://guides-factory.com/about) - **Difficulty:** Beginner - **Reading time:** 14 min - **Published:** 2026-08-13 - **Updated:** 2026-08-31 - **Tags:** Balthazar Gelt, Empire, Karl Franz, Markus Wulfhart, Volkmar the Grim, campaign, factions, warhammer 3 empire guide - **Adapted from:** [How to Play the Empire in 2025 | Total War Warhammer 3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moHHAyXqdhc) - **Canonical URL:** https://guides-factory.com/guides/the-empire-in-total-war-warhammer-3 --- The **Empire** offers six distinct lord campaigns in Total War: Warhammer 3, each built around unique mechanics, objectives, and early-game priorities. You will be able to choose the lord whose style fits your preferred play, understand their core systems, and see how to start and stabilize your campaign. ## Quick answer | What | Answer | | --- | --- | | Core **Empire** theme | six lords, six different campaign mechanics | | **Karl Franz** focus | **Imperial Authority** and Prestige | | Gelt focus | **Colleges of Magic** and Arcane Essences | | Markus focus | The Claim and Hostility | | **Volkmar** focus | **Books of Nagash** | | **Elspeth** focus | Imperial Gunnery School and schematics |
Check in game
The Empire now has six distinct lord campaigns. If you see references online or in guides to five lords, those may predate the latest balance patch. Always check the current lord roster inside the game.
--- ## Choose the Empire lord that fits your campaign style Selecting your **Empire** lord defines your campaign mechanics, objectives, and [army composition](/guides/empire-army-composition-guide-for-early-mid-and-late-game). Here is how each one differs: | Lord | Core mechanic | Campaign direction | Unique trait | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Karl Franz** | **Imperial Authority** and Prestige | Unify the Empire, manage electors, expand from the Old World | Unification powers, strong diplomatic tools | | **Balthazar Gelt** | **Colleges of Magic** and Arcane Essences | Build wizard economies, unlock spell buffs | Wizard spam, recruit and empower casters | | **Markus Wulfhart** | Claim and Hostility | Survive and expand in Lustria, manage expedition | Hunter hero squad, supply drops and hostile local resistance | | **Volkmar** the Grim | **Books of Nagash** | Secure desert, world tour for books | Supports powerful low-tier armies, collects books for buffs | | **Elspeth** von Draken | Imperial Gunnery School and schematics | Upgrade gun units, gunpowder farming | Amethyst units, **Gardens of Morr** for mobility | ![Campaign overview showing the Empire faction selection and the first lord summary panels.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/01-imperial-authority.jpg "Imperial Authority bonuses for Karl Franz's Empire are shown, with visible growth and control effects in the campaign interface.") --- ## Secure the Empire as Karl Franz **Karl Franz**’s campaign focuses on maximizing the **Empire**’s unity through **Imperial Authority** and Prestige.
  1. Authority tracks how much Imperial territory is under Empire control (0:31 ↗). More Authority means bonuses like growth, control, income, and increased access to elect state troops. Losing key lands applies penalties to these same effects.
  2. Prestige is earned by battle and events. It buys actions such as settling disputes, providing aid, boosting recruitment, growth, reducing corruption, replenishing state troops, spawning temporary armies, declaring war, and confederating electors (1:28 ↗).
  3. The decree panel lists concrete actions for Prestige — boost recruitment, growth, reduce corruption, create armies, replenish troops, declare war, confederate electors (2:04 ↗).
  4. Once an elector’s fealty hits 10, the Unify action lets you confederate them, though it reduces other counts’ fealty each time (1:57 ↗).
  5. Send aid, resolve disputes, and build positive relations to passively grow fealty and authority (2:26 ↗).
  6. State troops and unique items are awarded by controlling states and assigning lords; these replenish and provide stacking bonuses (2:55 ↗).
  7. Free passage through Empire lands, increased allegiance, faster army movement, replenishment in neutral territory, reduced upkeep, and enhanced XP for state troops (3:25 ↗).
  8. Clear your starter war, secure Marienburg (or consider waiting for it to weaken), then roll east against greenskins, Chaos, and vampires (4:22 ↗).
![Electoral Machinations panel with Emperor's Decrees showing options including Call to Arms, Commendation, Open the Gates, Inquisition, Conscription, Send Aid, Requisition, Casus Belli, and Unify, each with their prestige costs.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/02-elector-decrees.jpg "The Emperor's Decrees panel displays the actions prestige can buy to manage the Empire's electors and territory.") --- ## Build a wizard-heavy economy for Balthazar Gelt Gelt’s campaign is designed for intensive wizard recruitment, magic upgrades, and stacking caster economies.
  1. Wizards in your armies generate Arcane Essences through battle (4:43 ↗).
  2. Arcane Essences unlock wizard recruitment and magical buffs in the Colleges of Magic (4:51 ↗).
  3. Spend currency for army buffs, movement range boosts, cataclysm spells, caster items, and reduced spell costs (5:20 ↗).
  4. More casters in armies mean more winds of magic and bonus XP for recruited wizards. Gelt trains spellcasters faster, and grants increased armor to all units (5:49 ↗).
  5. Assemble high-caster armies, expand south toward Cathay, or return home for Imperial Authority—mod victory conditions as desired (6:19 ↗).
![Colleges of Magic menu with recruitment and action options for the Grey Order, showing arcane essence currency, repeatable actions Mass Concealment and Dance of Despair, single-use actions, and Grey Wizard recruitment cost of 100 arcane essence.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/03-college-of-magic.jpg "This screen shows the Colleges of Magic interface where Balthazar Gelt spends arcane essence to recruit wizards and unlock magical buffs.") --- ## Survive Lustria as Markus Wulfhart Markus’s expedition starts under harsh conditions with Claim and Hostility meters shaping recruitment and encounters.
  1. Capture settlements and upgrade ports to increase Claim. Early low Claim limits recruitment buildings and forces reliance on Imperial Supplies (6:23 ↗).
  2. Battling, expanding, and raiding increases Hostility, which reduces control and empowers local resistance (7:46 ↗).
  3. Complete minor objectives to unlock the Paladin, Witch Hunter, Engineer, and Waystalker. Each hero is earned and upgraded through their own quest lines (8:07 ↗).
  4. Huntsman generals get bonus XP; bow units see reduced upkeep; armies gain ambush advantages and can move through forests (8:06 ↗).
  5. Pushing the four hunter quests early stabilizes your stack, helping weather the Lustria counterattack as you maximize Claim and manage Hostility (8:52 ↗).
![Campaign interface for Markus Wulfhart showing the Claim and Hostility meters at the top, with Hostility tooltip open describing level 4 Severely Hostile (40) effects.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/04-claim-meter.jpg "Shows Markus Wulfhart's Claim and Hostility meters with an explanation of Hostility effects for managing the Lustria expedition.") ![Wulfhart's Hunters quest screen for Herwig van Hal, displaying the current objective, reward for completion, hunter specialties, and narrative description.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/05-hunter-quests.jpg "This screen displays the objectives, rewards, and specialties of a hunting companion, showing how hunter unlocks and quest progress work in Markus Wulfhart's campaign.") --- ## Use the Books of Nagash to support a Volkmar world tour **Volkmar**’s campaign revolves around sealing **Books of Nagash** and empowering his armies with their bonuses.
  1. Each book sealed grants faction bonuses, filling a meter that unlocks stronger effects over time (9:00 ↗).
  2. The books are spread across the map, so plan a world tour with a powerful stack while maintaining your homeland (9:29 ↗).
  3. Gain access to frequent powerful hero abilities to support your campaign (10:06 ↗).
  4. Volkmar buffs cheap units and makes them stronger alongside him; the Blessing of Sigmar increases control and settlement happiness (10:07 ↗).
  5. The desert is a small set of provinces and factions, so clear out undead and unholy enemies to establish your base before questing for books (10:11 ↗).
![Books of Nagash screen showing 0 out of 8 books sealed, rewards for sealing the Sixth Book, and a map of book locations.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/06-book-meter.jpg "The Books of Nagash interface displays the book sealing meter, rewards, and locations, illustrating the campaign mechanic.") --- ## Max out Elspeth’s gunpowder and Garden of Morr tools **Elspeth**’s campaign is centered on gunpowder units, schematic upgrades, Amethyst units, and map mobility through **Gardens of Morr**.
  1. Elspeth gains bonuses from Imperial Authority but does not use Prestige. Owning Empire lands increases her faction strength (10:39 ↗).
  2. Schematics are earned by gunpowder units dealing damage. Spend schematics in the Imperial Gunnery School to improve units through three tiers (11:08 ↗).
  3. Tier three grants the Amethyst tab, with exclusive upgrades and powerful army abilities for battles (11:36 ↗).
  4. At turn five, you can build Gardens of Morr in any owned or allied settlement you can see. Teleport between gardens for a cost; build unique structures for strategic effects (11:37 ↗).
  5. Reduced upkeep, double experience, fast research, and attrition immunity for vampire zones makes ranged armies especially strong (12:12 ↗).
  6. Spend the first 50 turns pushing Imperial Gunnery School upgrades, maximizing gunpowder kills and schematic farming (12:36 ↗). Use Gardens for mobility and target vampire counts for optimal progress.
![Imperial Gunnery School screen showing unit upgrade tiers, schematic costs, Imperial and Amethyst Armory tabs, upgrade options for Steam Tanks, and schematic currency total (494).](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/07-gunnery-school.jpg "The Imperial Gunnery School allows spending schematics to upgrade gunpowder units through tiers, unlocking advanced options like the Amethyst Armory.") ![Gardens of Morr settlement option screen with tooltip, left panel explaining teleport and build availability, and location details for Nuln. Teleport and build icons are visible.](https://api.guides-factory.com/media/uploads/2026/08/08-garden-of-morr.jpg "The Gardens of Morr option menu details how to construct and use teleportation and build features for mobility and powerful effects in Elspeth's campaign.") --- ## Also worth knowing
Empire mechanics - **Imperial Authority is accessible to any lord holding Empire territory.** While **Karl Franz** is the clearest case, Gelt and other empire lords also gain authority if they control settlements in the Old World. - **Balthazar Gelt can earn Imperial Authority by returning home.** If Gelt completes **[Cathay](/guides/total-war-warhammer-3-cathay-campaign-guide)** quests and then takes a settlement in the Empire, authority mechanics apply. - **Send Aid and Unify decrees can be combined.** Using both on the same turn hands the control of that aid army directly to you for that turn. This is a strong tactic for sieges or rapid attacks. - **Marienburg may be best left alone early.** Local enemies and allies can weaken it, making it easier to take later with less diplomatic fallout. Attacking early can provoke Bretonnian allies. - **Prestige powers are much stronger after tech upgrades.** The Unify action and state troops boosts get more powerful as you complete relevant technologies. - **Empire campaigns can see early collapse.** If key settlements are lost quickly, the elector count system can become largely irrelevant due to lack of surviving electors. - **Elspeth’s gunpowder campaign is a standout for fun and power.** Players report strong satisfaction with pushing schematics and Amethyst units for powerful ranged armies.
--- ## FAQ ### Which Empire lord is best for a beginner? Karl Franz is the safest starting point because his campaign is built around securing the Empire and snowballing from control of its territory. Elspeth is also approachable if you prefer gunpowder-heavy armies, but her campaign asks you to invest heavily in the Gunnery School. Markus Wulfhart is the hardest of the five because Lustria pressure and hostility punish mistakes quickly. ### How does Imperial Authority work? Imperial Authority tracks how much of the Empire’s lands are under Empire control. Higher authority gives bonuses such as growth, control, income, and more frequent use of elect state troops, while losing those lands applies penalties to the same areas. Karl Franz is the clearest lord for this system, but comments note that the mechanic can also matter for other Empire factions if they own land in the Empire. ### What should Elspeth focus on first? Her first major priority is raising the tiers of the Imperial Gunnery School and building schematics through gunpowder combat. The goal is to unlock stronger gun units, then the Amethyst tab, then the Garden of Morr network for map mobility and special buildings. The campaign rewards aggressive gunpowder farming and manual battles because kills feed schematics faster.