Total War: Warhammer 3's dwarfs will be able to turtle properly in the next update, and the other reworks seem decent too
Creative Assembly's 17-minute chat about "What's next?" for Total War: Warhammer 3 in June explained that updates between DLC for its blend of grubby fantasy and grand strategy would be more substantial, and we're seeing that now with a dev blog for the 5.2 update. Dwarfs are getting a new feature, Chaos Cults are being reworked, Cathay's Ivory Roads are being updated, and a "mini feature" called Unusual Locations is being added, all of which sound pretty neat.
The blog post notes that, yes, the Dwarfs did just receive an update, but apparently the feedback Creative Assembly received was that it encouraged a much more expansionist playstyle. I have fond memories of my first Dwarf campaign climaxing with an epic siege in which I was the defender, and the new feature being added seems like it will make turtling a more viable option for those Dwarfs who want to pretend to be a fake fish that lives in a rock and swims around. It's called the Deeps.
The Deeps will allow Dwarfs to expand their settlements down as well as up by constructing a Great Gate that gives access to the Deep Roads, er, I mean the Deeps. All kinds of bonuses come with expanding into the Deeps, like Guild Foundries, which boost your income and research rate, and the Seal the Hold! strategy, which lets you ignore siege attrition and gives bonus defensive supplies and ammunition in siege defenses. Both of these are balanced by having reduced effectiveness based on how many settlements you own. My Dwarf nation having shrunk to, like, four holds will finally pay off. Time to delve greedily.
The mini feature for everyone in the 5.2 update is called Unusual Locations. These can be flavorful landmarks or even organizations that spring up in your settlements during the campaign and provide a Warhammer-ish trade-off. The first example given is a Grail Knight Grave, which boosts control and reduces corruption as well as providing a garrison and giving characters who stop there a chance to earn a trait if control is over 75. Nice for Bretonnians. The second is a Grand Illuminator's Residence, which provides a home for the Cult of Illumination in the Empire. This has a chance of increasing the fealty of your Electors and gives prestige every turn, but at the cost of bumping Chaos Undivided corruption in the region.
These kinds of additions enrich your campaigns, and make it tempting to try out factions you've ignored or taken a break from. I've been interested in giving Dwarfs another shot after being inspired by the recently released Dwarfen Mountain Holds army for Warhammer: The Old World, and this is just what I need to bump them up to the top of the list for my next campaign.