At a glance
- Type
- Legendary Lord
- Battlefield role
- Ice spellcaster and army leader
- Content pack
- Total War: Warhammer III (base game)
- Race
- Kislev
- Faction
- The Ice Court
Availability
Content pack: Total War: Warhammer III (base game). Immortal Empires ownership
- Included with Total War: Warhammer III. Select this Legendary Lord in Immortal Empires or The Realm of Chaos when starting a new campaign.
Faction and campaign
Choose Kislev, then The Ice Court, to play Katarin. Immortal Empires puts her in the wider struggle for the Warhammer world. The Realm of Chaos gives Kislev a story campaign tied to the fate of Ursun; its objectives differ from the sandbox.
Katarin's faction shares Kislev's Court & Orthodoxy politics. Build support, consider the balance between institutions and make room for province management alongside the front-line army.
Patch 6.1 reshaped Ice Court training: trait choices arrive in a fixed sequence, letting you develop a supporting Frost Maiden toward a job in your army. Court & Orthodoxy Boons are a separate political system from training individual spellcasters.
How to use Katarin
Katarin is an Ice spellcaster. Keep her where she can influence the engagement without becoming an easy target for concentrated missiles or a strong enemy duellist. Magic is most useful when the rest of the army can exploit the time and damage it creates.
Let Kossars start the exchange with arrows and keep Streltsi firing through clear lanes. War Bear Riders can threaten the enemy's side or meet large attackers. Your lord supports that formation; she cannot make blocked firearms shoot through friendly infantry.
Choosing supporting heroes
A Patriarch adds battlefield support around the infantry. A Frost Maiden offers another caster, with Ice and Tempest as different choices. Consider what the second caster adds before spending resources on overlapping roles.
Katarin also has a separate story: her claim to the throne, the power of the Ice Court and the legacy of her father explain the character behind the campaign.
Choosing another Kislev campaign
Kostaltyn leads The Great Orthodoxy as a religious support leader, while Boris Ursus offers the Ursun Revivalists and a melee lord. Both belong to the Warhammer III base game. Mother Ostankya's Daughters of the Forest add a separate Shadows of Change campaign built around witchcraft.
The Golden Knight is also Shadows of Change content. Her connection to the Tzarina makes her a fitting bodyguard for Katarin, but she joins through a mission chain rather than replacing a Frost Maiden's training or a Patriarch's recruitment.
Graham McNeill’s Ambassador Chronicles follow an Imperial envoy at the Ice Queen’s court. Black Library spells her title Tsarina on those jackets. The novels are Fantasy fiction about that court, not the result of an Immortal Empires campaign.
Unlock, campaigns and start position
Katarin is included with Total War: Warhammer III and leads The Ice Court in both Immortal Empires and The Realm of Chaos. In Immortal Empires she starts in the city of Kislev.
She is an Ice spellcaster. Her Ice Court Sled mount is available to every Warhammer III owner since Patch 8.1; it no longer needs Shadows of Change.
First turns and early targets
Unite Kislev first. The Kislev factions around you are candidates for confederation rather than conquest, and the Empire to the south is usually better as a trade partner or ally than an early war. The real pressure comes from the north and east, where Norsca, Chaos and Greenskins meet your border.
Court & Orthodoxy shapes the politics from turn one. Building support for the Ice Court earns Boons, while ignoring the Orthodoxy creates an imbalance you will have to manage later; plan both alongside the field army.
Questions
Is Tzarina Katarin free?
Yes. She is included with Total War: Warhammer III and is playable in Immortal Empires and The Realm of Chaos.
Can Katarin ride her sled without Shadows of Change?
Yes. Patch 8.1 made the Ice Court Sled available to players who do not own Shadows of Change.
Where does Katarin start in Immortal Empires?
In the city of Kislev, at the centre of the Kislev provinces.
Sources
- Patch 8.1 notes — store.steampowered.com
- Immortal Empires starting positions — totalwar.com
- Immortal Empires DLC Ownership Guide — SEGA Support — support.sega.com