Total War: Warhammer 3 has now been officially announced and will grace our screens with its long-awaited presence later this year. A new title means a whole new set of races, and now we have a better picture of what we can expect to see at launch.
Creative Assembly previously revealed the then-full map for Total War: Warhammer 2, when it revealed the Skaven a few years ago. This map, along with details we gleaned from the Total War event we previously attended to get a hands-on with the Skaven Campaign as well as an interview with the developers, led us to the conclusion that the in-production Total War: Warhammer 3 will be set in the East of the Warhammer world. This is the case, at least to some extent.
What will we see in Total War Warhammer 3?
In the event, we attended a presentation on the complete Mega-Campaign for Total War: Warhammer (named later Mortal Empires), which allows you to combine both the first game and the second game together so to play the entire series as any race from either game. The whole Total War: Warhammer map so far was shown… which showed a blank area to the East of the mountains that run alongside the Badlands and the Empire. We were asked to draw our own conclusions about where the third game would be set.
Most importantly, this also makes sense too. The combined map of Total War: Warhammer 1 and 2 covers the entire Western side of the Warhammer map, leaves only the Eastern areas for Creative Assembly to use for the next game. Let’s have a look at the world map:
The Red area in the middle is the map of the first game, including DLC. The Blue area. which is mostly water and so is why it’s so large, is the campaign map of Total War: Warhammer II which you can see in more detail in the map at the top of this page.
The Purple area can only be the setting of Total War: Warhammer III. This area comprises the Dark Lands, the Ogre Kingdoms, Nippon, the Kingdoms of Ind, Grand Cathay, and the Hinterlands of Khuresh. If you can see the analogy in the map, these are places based on India, China, Japan, Russia and more.
The Total War: Warhammer 3 announcement later confirmed that its map stretches “from the mysterious Lands of the East to the daemon-infested Realms of Chaos.” It sounds like we’re also going a bit beyond just “east.”
In November 2021, we got our first look at the shape of Total War: Warhammer 3’s campaign map, which is also included as a bonus physical item in the game’s two boxed editions. While it’s difficult to make out the names of all territories and their terrain, the realms of the four Chaos Gods wait in the north and it seems like we’ll be up to less sailing than in Warhammer 2.
Reddit user cwbonds posted a bigger version of the map that more clearly shows the outlines of its territories.
In December 2021, Creative Assembly gave us a better look at Total War: Warhammer 3’s campaign map, highlighting territories belonging to Kislev, Cathay, and the Ogre Kingdoms.
At a first glance, it looks to go for more stylized visuals that, nonetheless, easily differentiate between the wintry lands of Kislev and Cathay’s emerald rivers. Perhaps the most striking sight so far is The Great Bastion separating Grand Cathay from the Chaos Wastes beyond.
Total War: Warhammer 3 Races
Total War: Warhammer 3 will launch with a total of eight races, the most of any base game in the trilogy. Five of its factions are dedicated to the Chaos Gods, two represent the defenders of the mortal realms, with the last being a bunch of massive and very hungry ogres.
Khorne: Associated with war, brutality, and bloodshed, Khorne is arguably the most straightforward of Chaos Gods. Juggernauts, Bloodletters, and Bloodthirsters were present in the CGI trailer for Warhammer 3 and will be part of the daemonic roster accessible by players who choose to collect Skulls for the Skull Throne.
Nurgle: Nurgle deals in disease and decay and is likely older than the other Dark Gods. The cycle of death and rebirth plays heavily into his campaign mechanics, while his unit roster has cute frogs and many other daemons eager to spread plague across the world.
Slaanesh: Although one could argue that the god of obsession and excess has more influence among the more civilized and refined, he’s no less prone to revel in slaughter than his peers. Deadly Daemonettes and Keepers of Secrets are but a few of the units led into battle by N’kari.
Tzeentch: The Changer of Ways also deals in deceit and lies. We got a taste of what a Lord of Change can do in the original game through Sarthorael the Everwatcher. Flamers, Pink Horrors, and Burning Chariots are but a few of the shielded units the race can field, focusing on hit and run tactics.
Daemons of Chaos: Fighting under the banner of Chaos Undivided, the faction is led by a customizable Daemon Prince and can recruit units from the rosters of all four Chaos Gods, which should allow for some very interesting combinations. Its Legendary Lord can not only be named, but also have its body parts switched around in between battles, giving him the ability to fight a siege as an plague-spewing melee killing machine, before turning into a nimble, ranged caster for the next fight.
Kislev: If you ventured north of the Empire, you might have already noticed Kislev acting as a bulwark against Chaos. In Warhammer 3, it’s getting the full faction treatment. Led by Tzarina Katarin Bokha, Kislev enters battle with one of the game’s most versatile rosters.
Grand Cathay: The largest human empire in the Warhammer world was fleshed out by Creative Assembly in collaboration with Games Workshop for Total War: Warhammer 3, boasting a balanced unit roster that receives bonuses when achieving harmony.
Ogre Kingdoms: Total War: Warhammer 3’s pre-order bonus is the Ogre Kingdoms, a race that relies on monstrous units and a more straightforward approach to battles. Ogre units first made their way into Total War: Warhammer 2 and their mercenary nature seeps into the final game of the trilogy, as they’re constantly seeking mercenary contracts to ensure that their bellies always remain full.
Total War Warhammer 3 Bonus Pre-Order and DLC Race
Creative Assembly has confirmed that players who pre-order Total War: Warhammer 3 or purchase it during launch week will get an additional Race Pack for free. The additional faction was revealed in November 2021 to be none other than the Ogre Kingdoms.
Previously, we spoke to Scott Pitkethly, Lead Programmer on the Warhammer series and he told us why and how the Total War: Warhammer Trilogy was conceived:
“We’ve certainly said from the beginning that we wanted to do Warhammer as a trilogy, and that’s because we looked at the content and said that you can’t do justice to the license in just one game. There’s no way we could’ve done that with all factions in one game, so we knew we’d want to break it up into three games so we can do proper justice to all factions. Personally I’m a Daemon Chaos player!”
The third entry in the trilogy is taking longer to come out than the second game did, as suggested in our interview with Scott and Matt Davis.
Total War: Warhammer III launches on PC on February 17. You can grab it from Fanatical, other major storefronts, as well as Xbox Game Pass.
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