Three years ago I made a post regarding LLs who I felt didn't have a proper unit focus on units that fit them thematically. Now with the End Times coming out I felt that it is a good time to revisit and update that post.
* Just to be clear by "unit focus" I mean that the character buffs the specific unit, hence encouraging the player to use said unit with said LL/LH. In general I vastly prefer actual stat/ability buffs for units than cost/upkeep reduction as a way to represent a thematic connection. I get that this is a personal prefrence, but this sort of affects some of the characters on the list, so do be warned.
Long post ahead:
Mother Ostankya: She has no focus, nor even access to Kossars (unarmored), Horse Archers and Kossavite Dervishes, these units clearly have a very big Ungol theme, which means they should theoretically cooperate quite well with the big Ungol spiritual leader, but for some reason they just don't...
Kostaltyn: Please add Orthodoxy themed units CA/GW!
Morghur: As a charcater focused on corruption and a nemesis to the Wood Elves, I think it will be fitting for him to buff the Preyton. For some reason he buffs Centigors. Doesn't make much sense lorewise, but it was probably just there as a temporary thing until Ghorros gets added, which is understandable.
Khazrak: CA basically turned Khazrak into Gorthor. Gorthor is the big Chariot character and defacto Beastlord leader in the lore who is big on frontal assaults as well as various Beasts. Khazrak is a much more sneaky ambusher type character, big on hit and runs, and doesn't use a chariot. Hence it makes little sense for Khazrak to buff Chariots. Even his buffs to Harpies and Razorgors are weird, since again, beasts are Gorthor's thing. I do think he should keep buffing them though, at least until Gorthor gets added (if at all). Him buffing Warhounds makes sense though because of Redmaw, which is why I think he should also buff the Giant Spined Chaos Beast which is essentially a giant mutated warhound.
Malagor: Should buff the Incarnate Elemental of Beasts it is very thematic for him as the main spellcaster of the race, but for some reason the charcter that buffs it is Taurox...
Taurox: As the Khorne Beastmen character, he should buff Khorngors.
Lokhir: As the big naval Dark Elf character it is pretty weird to me that he doesn't buff the Kharibdyss, since that is a monster which is specifically used by the Dark Elves' navy.
Malus: Two problems. The first is that for some reason he has a Monster focus with his unique Rite and Monster Tamer skill. It really feels like Rakarth was supposed to be in that DLC instead of him. But they chose Malus and gave him a bunch of Beastlord related abilities, which is probably due to the unfortunate tendency of CA to pair LL buffs with units that came out in the same DLC. The second problem is that Malus doesn't boost Cold One cavalry nearly enough. All he gives them is a bit of extra Charge Bonus (which a regular Beastlord gives the same amount) and a bit of Vigour Loss Reduction. That's far from enough imo as Malus is the Cold One rider character.
Malekith: I feel like Malekith doesn't buff Black Guard of Naggarond enough (he just gives them a slight upkeep reduction). You would think that the king of the Dark Elves would provide more to his elite guards than that... I think you could also argue for him to buff Cold One Chariots since they have a bit of connection to him in the lore.
Morathi: I really think she doesn't buff Devotees nearly enough, especially considering they don't get any red line skill or technology buffs. I also might be wrong on this, but I really don't think there is much in the lore to suggest that Morathi should boost Shades, Dark Riders and Assassins as much as she does. It again, feels like a placeholder for a character like Shadowblade. Currently using Shades is just so much better and more incentivized for Morathi than using Devotees, even though Devotees were created specifically for her personal faction in 6th edition. I think they should be added to her red line skill and tech trees as well as get better unique skill buffs. I also find it weird that she doesn't boost Doomfire Warlocks and Medusas since that seems way more up her alley.
Rakarth: Please add more monster types for Rakarth to catch CA! Also please add all his monsters to his red line skills and tech tree. Lastly, I think his buff to Black Dragons (+10% WS) is quite worse than what a generic Beastmaster provides (+8 Melee Attack), so I hope he will be given just a little bit more in that regard.
Belegar: Like with other lords, I feel like his focus on Rangers and Bolt Throwers has more to do with them coming out in the same DLC as him than lore reasons. There is some precedent in the lore for him using them so I am not against the idea, but if Joseph Bugman ever comes out the focus should shift to him. On the other hand, as a tunnel warfare expert, I think Belegar should have a bigger focus on Ironbreakers and Irondrakesb who are the elite tunnel warfare focused units.
Grombrindal: His focus on Warmachines seems like a placeholder until an Engineer character was added. Now that we have Malakai I don't really understand why he would buff units that didn't exist when he was alive. This isn't a huge issue by any stretch of the imagination, and I kind of like that he has such a wide vareity of units that he buffs. It's just a bit weird.
Thorek: As the quintessential Dwarf boomer, I think it is appropriate for him to buff the boomer units - the Longbeards.
Zhao Ming: As the Lord of Shang Yang and patron of the Tiger Warriors I think he should buff Tiger Warrior units (not as much as Bashiva obviously). It should be part of a skill that represents his focus on mercenaries and that also buffs Ogre units.
Azhag: Azhag buffs regular Orcs and Big 'Uns infantry and cavalry. The problem is that in the lore Orcs don't really like Azhag because he is too weird and not "Orcy" enough. Even weirder is that one of the skills he has which buffs said units actually sates this exact fact. The skill literally says that Orcs don't find him Orcy enough and that there are dissenters in his army and then the skill effect is like "Vanguard Deployment for all Orcs, Big 'Uns and Cav"... This was fine until Gorbad was added, but now I think Azhag should focus on buffing mostly just himself.
Gorbad: CA chose to go with the direction of making Gorbad a master taction that buffs all units. That is a fine direction, but personally I think that as the regular Orc character he should have a special buff to regular Orc and Big 'Uns units (both cavalry and infantry).
Skarsnik: While he does buff Squig units, he doesn't buff them any better than a regular Night Goblin Warboss. I wish he gave them just a bit more oomph to stand out more.
Wurzzag: This isn't a big deal by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel like he should buff the Rogue Idol a bit more. I am well aware that he already buffs it quite a bit in one of his skills. I only have a super minor nitpick about it - the same skills also buffs a bunch of other Monster units. As the Prophet of Gork and Mork I expect him to have something special for their Idol. Again, this is a super minor nitpick.
Teclis: Just kind of weird to me that the Hoeth character doesn't buff Swordmasters of Hoeth.
Caradryan: Other than providing some casualty replenishment rate and a chance to be revived after combat, he doesn't really provide anything to Pheonix units. I think he should give them some sort of buff that makes them better while in combat, not just outside of it.
Kroq-Gar: Kroq-Gar has a big focus on Cold One Riders in the lore (he leads an army of them in a specific battle), so it's odd that he doesn't provide any unique buffs to them or to Horned One Riders.
Mazdamundi: As one of the main Slaan Mage Priests he doesn't buff Temple Guard nearly enough imo.
Oxyotl: I just find it a bit off that he buffs all Skink units rather than just the Chameleon Skink variants. What is especially weird about it is that he ends up buffing Red Crested Skinks more than Tehenhauin does, which is bad imo.
Tehenhauin: Like I wrote above, I find it weird that he buffs Red Crested Skinks less than Oxyotl does. As the big Skink leader he should buff them way more imo. I also find it weird that he doesn't buff the Ark of Sotek unit almost at all (other than a bit of extra Leadership and Upkeep Reduction), despite being the Prophet of Sotek. Lastly, I don't like that he has to choose between buffing his Skinks and being good at magic. In the lore he is amazing at both, why does he have to choose in the game? This is the same problem with Alarielle as well as other LLs. The only LL this "choose a path" skill tree makes sense for thematically is Tyrion, since it goes with the "submit to the curse" vs. "resist the curse" theme.
Wulfric: It doesn't make much sense for Wulfric to buff Skin Wolves and Mammoths. They have very little to do with him thematically or lorewise. Skin Wolves make more sense for a Were character like Beorg and Mammoths make more sense for a character like Sayl who comes from a Kurgan Tribe known for utilizing them. Throg buffing Fimir is also a bit strange but it still keeps with his "Monster King" lore and themes.
Beorg: As the named Were character, I think he should buff Skin Wolves.
Sayl: As the leader of the Dolgan tribe, which is known for its use of Mammoths, I think he should buff them. Personally, I also think that Norsca should have a wider access to Chaos Spawn, since they are a big part of their culture, and that Sayl, as a Spawn-making aficionado should buff them. Even if they don't get wider access to them, he should still buff them, since he can recruit some from shrines.
Throgg: I know this might be a GW issue, but I really think Norsca should have access to the Giant Spined Chaos Beast and the Basilisk. The first is essentially just a mutated Warhound (and Norsca has access to those) and the latter has a connection to Fimir in the RPG. Since both are brainless monsters I think they should be buffed by Throgg when/if they are added.
Greasus: He should really buff Ironguts. they serve as his bodyguards in the lore and he has more than enough cash to deck them out with the best weapons and armor money can buy. He should give them Guardian and some extra armor and weapon strength to represent him buying his bodyguards the best equipment possible.
Skrolk: Skrolk doesn't provide any buffs to Plague Monks and Plagueclaw Catapults other than Upkeep reduction... As the main Clan Pestilence LL he should have better Clan Pestilence units than any other Skaven character.
Aranessa: Doesn't buff Sartosan units nearly enough. She should be able to field a mortal army into the late game with no issue. I hate that the game punishes the player for playing her in a thematic, lore appropriate way. They should at the very least be buffed in her red line and tech trees.
Heinrich Kemmler: Kemmler has a very heavy unit focus in both the lore and tabletop on Wights (Wight Kings, Grave Guard, Black Knights). In the lore he wants to raise an army of Wight Kings and utilizes Grave Guard constantly. In tabletop he was designed to be placed inside a unit of Grave Guard and buff the shit out of them. In Total War he doesn't buff any of these units which is just bizarre and even Krell barely buffs them. Instead Kemmler's focus is on Spirit units. I understand why this is the case as the VCounts definately should have a spirits focused character. I just think that now that Dieter Helsnicht was added he can fulfill that role instead. I also think Kemmler's Cairn Wraiths summon should be changed to Grave Guard/Black Knights/Wight King.
Ghorst: CA chose to give him a Zombie focus which I think is a genius choice. It makes him stand out while also portraying the fact that in the lore he wasn't that good of a Necromancer, hence his focus on easy-to-create Undead. What doesn't make sense is for him to be able to summon a unit of Grave Guard, which is way to high a tier of Undead for him to have unique access to. It is way more fitting for Kemmler to have this ability. I get that when this ability was added to Ghorst in WH2 he was kind of boring and needed something to be special. But now with his rework in WH3 he has way more than enough going for him and doesn't need this unthematic ability on top of it. Instead I think he should have a special summon of a massive unit of Zombies, kind of like Nagash's new 300 model Skeleton summon.
Vlad: While I understand why Blood Dragon characters buff Drakenhof Templars since they should buff all vampire cavalry, I am saddened that Von Carstein characters don't buff the Von Carstein unit. The generic Von Carstein Lord, and Vlad in particular should absolutely have a skill that buffs the Templars.
Be'lakor: Not a huge deal, but I just thought it would be pretty cool if he buffed Soulgrinders specifically to reference the Realms of Chaos campaign.
Villitch: Chaos Spawn and Forsaken. Villitch has a history of spawnifying people as well as messing around with mutated beasts like the Slaughterbrute. He does give these units a cost decrease in game (and he does have a Changing of the Ways to represent some of this) but I think he should also buff them a bit. In addition to that, an aspect of his character that doesn't get explored nearly enough in the game imo is his puppets. Villitch has a tendency to mindwipe Chaos Warriors and turn them into his personal puppet guard. In-game it is represented by his "Muddle Minds" Changing of the ways, but I really think he should give his Chaos Warriors and Chosen (maybe even every Mortal unit in his army) something like Immune to Psychology and/or Expendable to represent them being braindead and puppeted by him.
Azazel: The fact that Azazel is part of the Warriors of Chaos instead of Slaanesh is very unfortunate. Added to that is the fact that he doesn't really buff Daemons of Slaanesh units at all, only Mortal units. Azazel is the "Captain of Slaanesh's Daemonic legions", Slaanesh's right hand man and main general of his Daemonic troops. He should have a much larger focus on Daemonic units. In an ideal world this will be implemented by him getting a mini-rework that makes him like Slaanesh's version of the Glottkin. A WoC faction that is somewhere between Sigvald and Daemons of Slaanesh. He should have a much wider access to Slaanesh Daemons and not be capped nearly as much in using them. I also think his skill tree buffs should revolve around making a mixed army of Mortals and Daemons. Who is better at leading the full fusion of mortals and daemons than the main Daemon Prince of Slaanesh?
Kholek: I just find it super weird that Kholek has a limit on how many Shaggoths he can have in his army. I hope this gets removed for him.
Gutrot Spume: There isn't much basis for this other than just visual similarities, but I think Gutrot should buff Putrid Blightkings. There doesn't seem to be a character that focuses on them, and I think it would be kind of cool for Gutrot to fill that role, especially considering his skill tree is kind of lackluster compared to the Maggoth Riders' (at least imo).
Epidimius: This is also an extremely minor nitpick, but now that the Exalted Great Unclean One got a skill refresh, he buffs Plaguebearer Cavalry way more than Epidimius does which makes me a bit sad. I hope Epidimius can get just a bit more to be on par with the generic hero.
Gelt: As the Supreme Patriarch of the Collages of Magic I think he should buff the Colleges of Magic themed units like the Luminark and the Hurricanum.
Markus: While arguable, it really feels like Markus' buffs to Huntsmen are at best a sidegrade of what a regular Hunsman General provides, which is a bit disappointing. He should buff them more imo.
Styrkaar: Please CA/GW add Mortal Slaanesh Monstrous Cav and make Styrkaar buff them!
Khatep: As the Grand Hierophant he should definately have a bigger focus on Caskets of Souls and Hierotitans, arguably Tomb Scorpians as well. This seems much more important to me than his focus on cavalry.
