Choose Thorgrim and Karaz-a-Karak
Thorgrim Grudgebearer leads Karaz-a-Karak. Total War: Warhammer, the first game, unlocks him and Ungrim Ironfist for Immortal Empires. Own it on the same storefront as the rest of the collection. He is a melee lord carried on the Throne of Power, and the army around him is armoured infantry and guns.
Dwarf ground troops are slow. Choose the ground before you commit the line, and make the enemy walk into the shooting.
Build the karak you can defend
Secure the holds you already have before you march the only throng over ground it cannot recross in time. After a new settlement, look at who can reach it and whether the army can get back.
Patch 5.2 adds The Deeps to every Dwarf faction. Build the Great Gate in a settlement to open an underground building tree under that hold. The notes describe the dig as costly: it asks for the High King's permission and for time to clear blockages. Fund the army that guards the gate before you treat the Deeps as the whole campaign.
Settle a grudge you can reach
The free Dwarf grudge rework ships with the race, including for players who already own a Dwarf lord. A hostile act against the Dwarfs puts a grudge on that faction. Beating an army or settlement that carries grudges awards them. Ages of Reckoning set a target of grudges to settle. A strong result brings rewards, including Grudge Settler troops, and the highest result can add a temporary Grudge Settler army. A weak result brings penalties.
Legendary Grudges are larger missions for the whole culture. The introduction gives Skavenblight and Hell Pit, and rebuilding the Karaz Ankor, as examples. Confederation with another Dwarf Legendary Lord can come through the Book of Grudges once you have settled more grudges than that lord, plus the extra margin the panel asks for. Read that panel before you accept. A confederation adds land you then have to hold.
Pick the next grudge you can reach without uncovering Karaz-a-Karak.
Infantry in front of the guns
Dwarf Warriors anchor the line. Irondrakes are the short-range guns: keep a lane, and keep that fire off friendly troops already around Thorgrim. Put the king where the infantry needs him. A throne surrounded while the guns fight somewhere else has left the army.
The warriors will not reposition quickly. Keep a regiment close enough to meet whatever comes around the flank.
Other Dwarf campaigns
Ungrim also comes with the first game and leads Karak Kadrin with a Slayer focus. Belegar Ironhammer is The King and the Warlord. SEGA lists Grombrindal and Thorek Ironbrow with the first game and with that pack. Free content follows ownership of the race. Malakai Makaisson is Malakai – Thrones of Decay. The new-player guide points at him when you want an engineering campaign.
Garagrim Ironfist is a Legendary Hero from Malakai's pack. He joins an existing Dwarf army through a recruitment mission. He is a hero in someone else's campaign, not a second start.
Replace the role, then read the book
After a battle, check casualties, the grudge panel and the hold you left behind. Replace warriors or irondrakes for the job you lost. A Legendary Grudge can wait until that karak is quiet.
Zhao Ming, Tyrion and Mannfred are the other first campaigns once you own their games. Katarin and Karl Franz remain the supported-line lessons in Warhammer III and the first game's Empire.