The Fortress Gates of Ulthuan
- Are you looking for Bastion Gates, the similar settlements in Cathay? See our page on The Great Bastion.
Fortress Gates and Empire Forts are a special type of defensive settlement that features in Total War: Warhammer II and Total War: Warhammer III.
Lore[ | ]
In lore, the Fortress Gates were constructed by the High Elves on passes in the Annuli Mountains to defend the inner kingdoms of Ulthuan from invasion by Dark Elves and other raiders.
Meanwhile the Empire Forts were constructed by the Empire in passes in the Grey Mountains and Black Mountains/The Vaults, to defend against Bretonnia and the Border Princes.
How they work[ | ]
- Fortress Gates and Empire Forts have an extra large garrison
- They only have 1 building slot which is taken up by the main settlement chain, meaning no other buildings can be constructed there.
- They are constructed in chokepoints in mountain passes. Enemies are unable to pass through, without attacking and defeating the Fort/Fortress Gate.
- While besieging, the attackers don't have the option to construct siege weapons, effectively resulting in the siege being more in the defenders' favor.
- 4 Fortress Gates exist on the island of Ulthuan, dividing the outer northwest coast of the island from the inner areas.
- Meanwhile, in the Old World, 3 Empire Forts separate the lands of The Empire from those of Bretonnia and the Border Princes.
- When a Fortress Gate is controlled by a High Elves faction, it will have a special unit called the Gate Guard, similar to Lothern Sea Guard, who cannot be recruited into armies normally.
- Fortress Gates and Empire Forts have their own unique battle maps.
List of Fortress Gates/Empire Forts[ | ]
Fortress Gates:
Empire Forts:
- Helmgart in Axe Bite Pass
- Fort Soll in Winter's Teeth Pass
- Fort Bergbres in Gisoreux Gap
Settlement building chain[ | ]
Empire Fort building tree
Fortress Gates:
- I Small Fortress Gate
- II Fortress Gate
- III Imposing Fortress Gate
- IV Grand Fortress Gate
- V Impregnable Fortress Gate
Empire Forts:
- I Small Fort
- II Fort
- III Imposing Fort
- IV Grand Fort
- V Impregnable Fort
Strategy[ | ]
They are meant as extreme defensible positions. Recommend setting their commandment to be growth related, in order to build up their building chain, and thus their garrison, faster. Use them as hard lines of defence against invading enemies.
Trivia[ | ]
- Fortress Gates first appeared in Total War: Warhammer II Eye of the Vortex campaign, in Ulthuan, upon the release of Total War: Warhammer II.
- Empire Forts were added in Mortal Empires, in The Empire Undivided Update.
- In Total War: Warhammer II, there was a bug where an attacker could siege a Fortress Gate or Empire Fort with one army, then pass through it with a second army - bypassing the defenses and defeating the purpose of the Fortress as a defensible chokepoint. As of Total War: Warhammer III Update 2.1.0, this has been fixed.