Creative Assembly have announced a release date for Total War: Warhammer 3 expansion Lords of the End Times. Consisting of four new legendary lords, each with a distinct retinue, campaign and battle map abilities, it’s billed as “the biggest DLC that we’ve ever released in the series 10-year history”. It’ll accompany another, reportedly gargantuan free update with yet another legendary lord, the Vampire Queen Neferata, together with a rework for the Vampire Counts and Archaon The Everchosen, some new endgame scenarios, and updated victory conditions.
There are over a hundred legendary lords in Twarhammer 3 at this point. I feel like the legendariness is at risk of being diluted. Can we organise some kind of spin-off game where every Warhammer army consists entirely of legendary lords? How about the legendary lords all go live on a big New England college campus and solve mysteries together? How about a Warhammer legendary lord adaptation of Guess Who?
The new expansion’s star is Nagash, necromancer supreme, who’s out to collect magic books and gather his Mortarch lieutenants so that he can reign over a world of dusty bones. To do that, he’ll have to outmanoeuvre new skaven legendary lord Thanquol, aka the grey seer, who rides around on a rat ogre and can enact masterplans, such as heists and evil rituals, to sabotage opponents. As is the way of mega rodent initiatives, these masterplans do occasionally backfire.
The Empire have a new elector count, who rejoices in the name of Boris Todbringer. He will Bring the Tod to any and all enemies of the wolftod wolfgod Ulric. Defeat enemies, and you’ll raise fervor that is used to build a big wolf temple, enhance its sanctuaries and perform winter rites that make your armies better at killing stuff. Boris also has a sword called Legbiter, which I assume can be used on body parts besides legs.
But will that be enough to see off the Glottkin, Befouled Brothers of the Chaos god Nurgle? These lads excel at spreading corruption, turning settlements into plague gardens that give them access to “a higher proportion of Daemonic Nurgle units than any other Warriors of Chaos faction”. There are three of the Befouled Brothers – one wields a scythe, another a staff, and they both ride around the shoulders of the third. I do love Nurgle bodymodding. All those extra mouths and tentacles jammed into every spare inch of skin. It’s like when too many kids try to decorate an Xmas tree.
Again, all this is hitting your plate on 24th September. Again, I can’t say I think Total War: Warhammer 3 particularly needs any extra people or things right now. You can barely move for Boar Boyz and Phoenix Guards already. I’m more interested in the forthcoming Total War: Warhammer 40,000, which appears to be dropping an Exterminatus on a few long-standing Total War conventions.
