Total War: Warhammer III (2024)

Total War: Warhammer III is the third title in the Total War: Warhammer series of PC games by the British game studio Creative Assembly.

It was officially announced on 3 February 2021, via a cinematic trailer. It was originally to be released in 2021, but was delayed until 17 February 2022. Like previous titles in the series, Total War: Warhammer III is set in the Warhammer universe's Known World, roughly around the time of the reign of the Emperor Karl Franz in the early 26th century IC, though its single player campaign stories are independent of other Warhammer canon and essentially represent an alternate timeline.

Gameplay[]

• Turn-based strategy gameplay on the campaign map, plus real-time strategy and tactics during battles.

• Total War: Warhammer III is a standalone title, with its own self-contained campaigns, including a prologue campaign telling the story of the Kislevite prince Yuri Barkov's fall to Chaos to become the Daemon Prince known as the Godslayer, which acts as a tutorial.

• "Immortal Empires," a massive single-player campaign which contains every faction and all the continents combined from all three games, was made available to everyone, even those who only own Warhammer III. Players must purchase the previous games and/or their DLC to access more than the content that came with Warhammer III however.

• Additionally, owners of previous games (and DLC) will find all the content they own playable in multiplayer in the third game.

• The campaign can be played in single player, or co-operatively with up to 8 players.

• A new multiplayer battle mode, Domination, has been added.

• Magic is notably more destructive and powerful, but harder to use compared to the previous two games in the series.

Playable Factions[]

• Kislev - Katarin Bokha leads the Ice Court, and Kostaltyn leads the Great Orthodoxy. Boris Bokha leads the Ursun Revivalists and can be unlocked via an event when playing as Katarin or Kostaltyn, after which you can begin a fresh campaign as him if you wish. However, he is available as a Legendary Lord from the start in the Immortal Empires campaign. Mother Ostankya leads the Kislevite faction known as the Daughters of the Forests.

• Grand Cathay - The Storm Dragon Miao Ying leads the Northern Provinces, and the Iron Dragon Zhao Ming leads the Western Provinces. The Jade Dragon Yuan Bo leads the Jade Court of the Central Provinces.

• Daemons of Chaos - The Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided Godslayer leads the Legion of Chaos, and can remain dedicated to Chaos Undivided or pledge loyalty to one of the four major Ruinous Powers.

• Nurgle - The Great Unclean One Ku'gath Plaguefather leads the Poxmakers of Nurgle. The Chaos Lord Tamurkhan leads the Maggot Host. The Herald of Nurgle Epidemius commands the Tallymen of Pestilence.

• Slaanesh - N'Kari leads the Seducers of Slaanesh.

• Tzeentch - The two-headed Lord of Change Kairos Fateweaver leads the Oracles of Tzeentch. The ever-mutable Herald of Tzeentch known as The Changeling leads the Tzeentchian faction called The Deceivers.

• Khorne - The Exalted Bloodthirster Skarbrand leads the Exiles of Khorne.

• Warriors of Chaos - Azazel leads the Ecstatic Legions, Festus the Leechlord leads the Fecundites, Valkia the Bloody leads the Legion of the Gorequeen, and Vilitch the Curseling leads the Puppets of Misrule. The first Daemon Prince Be'lakor, the Dark Master, is rewarded as a unique Legendary Lord to any faction that completes the main campaign, but in the Immortal Empires camapign he is available as a Warriors of Chaos factional Legendary Lord from the start, leading the Shadow Legion.

• Ogre Kingdoms - Greasus Goldtooth leads the Goldtooth Tribe, and Skrag the Slaughterer leads the Disciples of the Maw.

• Chaos Dwarfs - Astragoth Ironhand leads the Disciples of Hashut, Drazhoath the Ashen commands the Legion of Azgorh, and Zhatan the Black leads the Warhost of Zharr.

DLCs[]

It should be noted that all DLC (downloadable content) and Free-LC content will still appear in campaign and battles/multiplayer to fight against, even if the player doesn't own the paid DLC or hasn't downloaded the FLC.

• Ogre Kingdoms - A paid DLC available on release which added the Ogre Kingdoms, with playable factions led by Greasus Goldtooth and Skrag the Slaughterer. However, it was free for players who either: preordered the game, or bought the game within the first week after release. After this point, players who didn't already own the Ogres can buy them separately.

• Champions of Chaos - This was a lord pack that added four new playable Warriors of Chaos factions, led by Azazel, Festus the Leechlord, Valkia the Bloody and Vilitch the Curseling as Legendary Lords, with new units and unique gameplay mechanics. Most of the new units in this DLC are also available to the Nurglish, Slaaneshi, Tzeentchian and Khornate factions.

• Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs - This race pack added three new playable Chaos Dwarf factions with their own Legendary Lords and overarching faction mechanics. It also adds a Legendary Hero, Gorduz Backstabber.

• Shadows of Change - This lord pack added three new playable Legendary Lords for Kislev, Grand Cathay, and Tzeentch, along with new units, regiments of renown, and unique faction mechanics. It also adds a legendary hero, the Blue Scribes.

• Thrones of Decay - This lord pack adds three new Legendary Lords and three new Legendary Heroes for Nurgle, the Empire, and the Dwarfs. Nurgle gains Tamurkhan as a new Legendary Lord and Kayzk the Befouled as the Legendary Hero. The Empire gains Elspeth von Draken as their Legendary Lord and Theodore Bruckner as their Legendary Hero. The Dwarfs gain Malakai Makaisson as their Legendary Lord and Garagrim Ironfist as the Legendary Hero. The FLC Nurgle Legendary Lord Epidemius was added in an update at the same time. Additionally, the content for each faction is available for purchase as three separate DLCs for players who have no interest in certain factions and wish to pay less than the full price all the DLC's content.

Campaigns[]

The game features several campaign maps, each with a different plot:

The Lost God[]

This story-driven campaign follows a Kislev expedition led by Prince Yuri Barkov. It serves as a tutorial for new players, and as a prologue story that leads into the main Realm of Chaos campaign. The campaign is singleplayer only.

Realm of Chaos[]

The main campaign is called "The Realm of Chaos" and the plot revolves around Ursun, the Great Bear-God of Kislev, who has been mortally wounded and captured by the nefarious Daemon prince of Chaos Undivided Be'lakor. Each of the various mortal races has a motivation to aid or harm the great bear. For instance, Grand Cathay wishes to aid Ursun in return for information on the whereabouts of the missing Cathayan Dragon Shen-Zoo, while Nurgle wishes to use the Great Bear's body to create a disease that will kill even gods, a "God Pox", and the Ogres simply want to eat Ursun. This campaign can be played single player, or with up to 8 players in co-op.

The 4 Warriors of Chaos factions in the Champions of Chaos DLC, have a different goal, as they must reach the city of Zanbaijin in the Far East and this story takes place after the Ursun storyline. It was revealed that Katarin Bokha's story in the Realm of Chaos campaign, is the canonical ending to the campaign, with her Kislevite faction ultimately rescuing Ursun from the clutches of Be'lakor.

Immortal Empires[]

In the "Immortal Empires" campaign one can play as any playable faction/Legendary Lord from all three Total War: Warhammer games, including all free and paid DLC from the entire series, on one huge map which covers the entire Known World. There were over 23 playable races on release, divided into over 80 separate playable factions each led by a Legendary Lord.

To start an Immortal Empires campaign the player must own Total War: Warhammer III to play as the third base game's races and Bretonnia. To play as the other races (or host a multiplayer Immortal Empires campaign) one must own Total War: Warhammer, Total War: Warhammer II or the DLC. For example, to play as the High Elves or Greenskins one could either purchase Total War: Warhammer, Total War: Warhammer II or the Warden and the Paunch DLC that will allow the player to use the Greenskin FreeLCs and the High Elven FreeLCs, though the other Legendary Lords for both factions must be acquired separately on the same online store front.

Immortal Empires was originally released only as a beta on 23 August 2022, several months after the game released in February 2022. The Immortal Empires campaign received its full release on 16 February 2023 with patch 2.4, which also made the campaign playable for those who owned only Total War: Warhammer III. Before this patch, Immortal Empires could be played only by those who owned all three games in the series.

Darkness and Disharmony[]

This multiplayer campaign is centred around Grand Cathay. It is a free-for-all where the factions of Grand Cathay, the forces of Nurgle, Tzeentch, Khorne, Slaanesh and the Ogre Kingdoms all vie for control of Cathay's settlements. It is designed to be a free-for-all, played with up to 8 players.

Something Rotten in Kislev[]

This multiplayer campaign is centered on trouble within Kislev, and only Kislevite factions are playable. It is designed to be completed in a single session. Up to 3 players in co-op.

Multiplayer[]

Players can play multiplayer battles with and against each other over the internet. Various battle types are available such as pitched battles, sieges, minor settlement battles, free-for-all and more.

Games can be private custom games between friends, or ranked matchmaking.

Domination is a new mode where players pick an initial army, and a reinforcement army. Beginning with their small initial army, they fight for control of 3 capture points. Holding these points accrues tokens, and also supplies which can then be spent on summoning in units from the reinforcement army. The first player to 5000 victory tokens wins.

In multiplayer, players who own content from the previous 2 games in the series (including free races and DLC), will be able to play that content in multiplayer.

Videos[]

Sources[]

• Official Announcement Trailer
• Official website
• Total War Warhammer Wiki - a wiki for the Total War: Warhammer game series