Custom Units for WH3

Hello! My name is Casualfield, welcome to my guide for creating custom units in WH3.

Requirements

First and foremost you need the latest version of RPFM, which you can download from here. Second you need the Total War: Warhammer 3 Assembly Kit, which can be downloaded in your Steam library under the tools section (keep track of where you install it). That's it! Since most people reading this will be beginners, I highly recommend going to https://tw-modding.com and reading through the guides and tutorials.

Setting Up RPFM

Open rpfm_ui.exe (I'd create a shortcut and or pin it to your start/taskbar now) and at the top left go to PackFile > settings, or hit Ctrl + P, and set up the paths for WH3 and The Assembly Kit, usually C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Total War WARHAMMER III. Now in the same window go to the settings tab in the top left. Under the UI Settings set the Default Game to WH3, I recommend unchecking "Delete empty folders" and enabling Dark Theme. Now under Table Settings I recommend enabling Tight Mode and Right-Side Markers. Read through the rest of the settings and change what you want and hit save when you are done.

Now back to the top left, go to Special Stuff > Warhammer 3 > Generate Dependencies Cache. This is extremely important and you will need to do this every update. This insures the game files are loaded and updated so RPFM can run diagnostics and you can import the game files into your packfile. Next, go back to the top left, View > Toggle Global Search Window. I recommend dragging this window far left and 50/50 splitting it with Pack Contents as this is the bread and butter window which you will be using constantly. Under View > Toggle on Dependencies Window, I recommend dragging this window to the left of the Diagnostics window. Done! Let's make a new unit!

The Juice

First we need to go to PackFile > New Pack, or CTRL + N, to make a new Pack and then we need to save and name it, CTRL + SHFT + S or PackFile > Save PackFile As. Now the default location should be in the Total War WARHAMMER III\data folder. You can save here or if you want another copy of your pack for backup or other reasons save at another location and click PackFile > Install, or CTRL + SHFT + I to install it into the data folder EVERY TIME you want to test the mod in-game. Regarding the name DO NOT end the name in a number or any table file names in a number to avoid....issues. It's best practice to put your name/initials in front, so cf_new_black_guards.pack.

Find a Base Game Unit to use as a Base

So, going into the weeds a little here, I HIGHLY recommend to always base a new unit off a base game unit as creating new units from scratch is very time consuming and will leave you with loads of empty columns and a single empty key won't always trigger diagnostics and your game will CTD with no error leaving you on a horrid needle in haystack search, plus you need to reference a base unit anyways to see where and how it's added in-game.

So, let's say I want to base my unit off the Dark Elves Black Guard. We need find that units key in main_ units or land_units. USUALLY the units are named after their screen name so in the Global search window type black_guard, make sure the source is game files and both DB & loc are checked and search. Now we have all the tables with "black_guard" in them. If you can't find your unit search the in-game name "Black Guard of Naggarond" and find the key in the .loc files, i.e. land_units_onscreen_name_wh2_main_def_inf_black_guard_0. The unit key is after "land_units_onscreen_name_ so delete and search wh2_main_def_inf_black_guard_0.