Blood for the Blood God. It's the catchphrase we all know, but honestly, it doesn't pay the bills in the early game. If you're playing as Skarbrand in Total War: Warhammer 3, you've probably realized that your economy looks absolutely nothing like the Empire or the Dwarfs. You don't sit back and wait for farm income to tick up. If you try to play Total War the "normal" way—building tall, securing provinces, and playing defensively—you will go broke. Fast.
Learning how to make money as Khorne Warhammer 3 requires a total mental shift. You aren't a king; you're a shark. If you stop moving, you die. Your bank account isn't filled by taxes. It's filled by the smoking ruins of Altdorf and Karaz-a-Karak.
The Post-Battle Loot Loop
Skarbrand is a one-man stimulus package. Most of your "income" isn't actually income in the traditional sense. It's loot. After every single battle, you're presented with choices that would make a regular faction weep. You can take the skulls, or you can take the favor (money).
Early on, you need favor. Badly.
The trick is staying in the "March" or "Bloodletting" sweet spot. When your armies are constantly fighting, your upkeep actually drops, and your replenishment goes through the roof. I've seen players try to pause for three turns to recover after a tough fight with some Savage Orcs. Don't do that. Use the "Casualty Replenishment" option after a battle if you're thin, but if your coffers are empty, always lean into the favor. A single victory against a major settlement can net you 20,000 to 30,000 favor in one go. That’s your "quarterly earnings" right there.
Razing for Profit vs. Skulls
This is where people get tripped up. Do you raze for skulls, or do you sack for money?
Basically, you should almost always sack a wealthy settlement before you raze it. It's a two-step dance. Sack it on turn one to drain the treasury. Then, on turn two, raze it to the ground to get those precious Skulls or to trigger the "Blood Host" mechanic.
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Blood Hosts are the real secret to how to make money as Khorne Warhammer 3. These temporary armies don't cost traditional upkeep in the same way your main stack does, but they do have a "decay" mechanic. However, every time a Blood Host fights, they generate their own loot. If you have four or five Blood Hosts roaming the map like a locust swarm, the sheer volume of post-battle loot outweighs their cost. You're basically running a deficit-spending model where the "spending" is just more violence.
The Province Paradox: Why You Shouldn't Own Land
Khorne’s building income is pathetic. Seriously, it's garbage.
A fully upgraded Tier 5 Khorne settlement might give you a few hundred favor. It’s a joke. You shouldn't be trying to paint the map red in the traditional sense. Instead, focus on the "Destruction" buildings. Khorne has a unique mechanic where ruins can automatically be settled by your faction if you own the capital of that province.
Let the game settle the land for you. Don't spend 2,500 favor to manually settle a minor town. That's a waste of capital. Keep that money for higher-tier units like Bloodcrushers or Bloodthirsters. Your main source of "passive" income actually comes from the Battle Debris and Fighting Pits building chains, but even then, they are just supplements.
What about the Great Game?
The Unholy Manifestations and the Great Game mechanics can sometimes give you buffs to your loot or reduce costs. If Khorne is ascendant in the Warp, you'll find your economy breathing a bit easier. Always keep an eye on that meter at the top of the screen. If you can trigger a manifestation that grants extra favor from battles, time your biggest sieges for those turns.
The Best Targets for Your War Chest
Not all enemies are created equal. If you want to get rich, stop fighting Skaven. They are poor, they live in filth, and their settlements aren't worth the effort.
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Go for the High Elves, the Empire, or the Dwarfs.
Lothern is a gold mine. If you can get Skarbrand across the ocean to Ulthuan, you can fund your entire campaign just by sacking the inner circle. The Dwarfs are also great because they tend to build high-tier structures early, which increases the sacking value. Honestly, catching a legendary lord like Thorgrim or Karl Franz with a full stack is like hitting the lottery. The post-battle favor from a "Heroic Victory" against a high-tier army can easily reach 10,000+.
High-Risk, High-Reward Techs
Check your tech tree. There are several nodes specifically designed to increase "Income from Post-Battle Loot" and "Sack Value."
- Insatiable Bloodlust: This is a core tech for a reason.
- Trophy Taker: Makes every victory more profitable.
Focus your research on anything that incentivizes aggression. Anything that boosts "Income from Buildings" is a trap in the early game. You won't have enough buildings for a 10% buff to matter. But a 10% buff to a 20,000 favor sack? That’s 2,000 extra gold for free.
The Hidden Cost of Peace
The moment you aren't at war, your economy will tank. Khorne’s "Bloodletting" mechanic rewards constant combat. If your Bloodletting meter drops, your growth slows down, and your global recruitment costs go up.
If you find yourself in a pocket of the map where everyone is dead, force a war. Declare on a neighbor. If you have to, trespass on an Ogre Kingdom's land just to get them to swing at you. You need the incoming armies to feed your treasury. Think of enemy armies as mobile ATMs that you have to break open.
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Putting it All Together
To truly master the Khorne economy, you have to embrace the chaos. You will often see your "income per turn" in the red—sometimes -5,000 or even -10,000.
Don't panic.
As long as you have 50,000 in the bank from your last three sacks, you're fine. You are living on the "float." You spend the money you haven't even made yet, knowing that the next city you burn will cover the debt. It’s a high-stress way to play compared to the steady growth of Cathay, but it’s the only way to field multiple Bloodthirsters before turn 50.
Practical Steps for Your Next Campaign:
- Stop building economy buildings in minor settlements; focus on walls and recruitment so your Blood Hosts can replenish.
- Sack first, Raze second. Never leave money on the table unless you desperately need the movement range.
- Hunt Legendary Lords. Their armies are worth more favor and provide better traits for Skarbrand.
- Prioritize the Blue Skill Tree for Skarbrand to get the "Renowned & Feared" skill, which slashes upkeep and boosts loot.
- Ignore "Safe" Play. If you aren't sieging a major capital by turn 15, you're falling behind the curve.
The Khorne economy is a literal engine of war. It consumes gold and skulls and spits out more war. Keep the engine running, keep the axes swinging, and you'll never have to worry about favor again. The world is your piggy bank; you just have to crack it open.
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