Awesome / Total War: Warhammer III

Time to take the fight to the Dark Gods themselves...

This is the conclusion to the Total War: Warhammer Trilogy, and you can bet that Creative Assembly and Games Workshop are pulling out all stops to make it awesome.

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• Pre-release trailers are quite awesome for this game, featuring two factions dueling each other:
  • Anouncement Trailer has Kislev led by Tzarina Katarina fight against forces of Khorne led by Skarbrand
  • Trail by Fire again pits forces of Khorne against Kislev, and THE VISAGE OF KHORNE HIMSELF shows up in the end
  • The Dawn of Grand Cathay has Cathay led by Miao Ying defend against servants of Tzeentch led by Kairos the Fateweaver
  • A Covenant with Chaos has Advisor witness swarms of Nurgle led by Ku'Gath face off against legions of Slaanesh led by N'Kari
  • Join the Ogre Kingdoms , in which the ever-hungry ogres sing a merry (and very catchy) tavern song while feasting on skinks, vampire bats, and suspiciously-human-looking body parts.
  • Chaos Undivided reveals the final (at launch) Legendary Lord, the God-Slayer, a former prince of Kislev turned into a Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided for (almost) killing the God-Bear Ursun. He's seen leading daemons from all of the Four into battle against Kislev, Cathay, and the Ogres, while also showing off his many customization options.
  • Sons of Kislev the epic promo for the prologue campaign, highlighting its story.
  • Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs showcases the twisted Dawi-Zharr at their best, displaying both their tyranical cruelty, and their skill in forging weapons and constructs, culminating in Astragoth Ironhand activating a massive K'daii Destroyer.
• Once again, the trailers that showcase the individual factions are awesome:
  • The Tzardom of Kislev
  • The Daemons of Khorne
  • The Empire of Grand Cathay
  • The Daemons of Tzeentch
  • The Ogre Kingdoms
  • The Daemons of Nurgle
  • The Daemons of Slaanesh
• The Big Four Chaos Gods are finally here to play, and with them come The Legions of Hell.
• Kislev has been Promoted to Playable, and they brought their bear cavalry with them.
• During the announcement trailer, Tsarina Katarin faces off against a Bloodthirster without a hint of fear. This is especially impressive considering how Daemons of Khorne tend to be rather resistant to magicians. Not to mention aforementioned Bloodthirster is a Greater Daemon. A creature capable of taking on whole armies by itself.
• At the end of the announcement trailer, we get a good look at a map...and on it, in focus, are the words "Grand Cathay". The knowing Aside Glance we get moments later confirms it - one of the biggest Ensemble Darkhorses of Warhammer is coming to Total War: Warhammer!
  • Even better? Creative Assembly has confirmed that they're working together with Games Workshop to create the new rosters for Cathay and Kislev, both of which will then be backported into the relaunch of the Old World. Cathay will finally be Promoted to Playable on the tabletop!
• The very premise of the game - Kislev and Cathay are launching expeditions into the Chaos Wastes. This bares repeating: The forces of Order are about to invade Hell!
  • Note that this is the first time across any Warhammer IP that the forces of Order have ever attempted this kind of undertaking^note not counting a Bretonnia campaign, where one of the possible final battles is about making such an expedition in order to defeat the Warriors of Chaos. Really shows how much of A World Half Full the Total War Warhammer-verse is, especially compared to its source material.
  • It goes a bit further than this — anytime in real life where a campaign has ended in Chaos losing (such as the Storm of Chaos or several 40K campaigns), Games Workshop has outright ignored it. Now though, we can finally, conclusively score a win against Chaos.
  • And with III being a Stealth Prequel, we know the victory sticks. Chaos got its ass kicked so hard its influence wanes to mortal cults and a few roving warbands, unable to even capitalize on races meddling with the Great Vortex (which should have thrown open the door for a much bigger invasion), a downright humiliating state of affairs compared to the zenith depicted here.
• The "Trial by Fire" trailer is awesome, as befits Khorne.
  • The trailer begins seeming as though it is narrated by a Kislevite... only for the narrator to turn out to be a Khornate warrior delivering a lengthy and accurate Badass Boast.
  • The legions of Khorne seem to initially be utterly trashing the Kislevite forces when the two challenge one another, showcasing their power and dominating the battlefield. Kislev, however, turns out to hold out surprisingly well considering the sheer power and bloodthirstiness of their foes.
  • The hellish imagery that washes over the warzone is darkly awesome; the power of Chaos is so great that it makes the entire battlefield seem like a flaming forge.
  • Tsarina Katarin rallies a giant bear and sends it straight for the enemy, turning the tide of the battle.
  • A single Bloodthirster leaps toward Katarin's giant bear, while the narrator screams the Badass Creed of Khorne until the very last moment.
  Narrator: Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!
  • In the end, after everything is gone, the last person remaining on the battlefield looks on... and sees a great, horrific fortress. Above it forms a demonic face, presumably that of Khorne himself. Oh, Crap! doesn't even begin to describe it.
• The Gameplay Trailer had a few moments of its own.
  • The To Hell and Back bit mentioned above? It is no longer just speculation - the battle in the trailer takes place outside of Khorne's Brass Citadel.
  • You can build fortifications and summon troops mid-battle in the new Survival maps.
  • An Exalted Bloodthrister shows up, and it's more than a match for any mortal. Luckily, Katarin had a giant ice bear.
  • Really, the fact you can finally fight Chaos on its home turf. Nothing Is the Same Anymore, and it is glorious.
• The Cathay reveal trailer in its entirety. The biggest Ensemble Dark Horse of Warhammer is finally Unseen No More!
  • Cathay turns out to be just as technologically advanced as the Empire, having access not only to guns and rockets, but also war balloons.
  • Said war balloons have an aerial battle with the Daemons of Tzeentch, in one of the very few examples of such in the entire franchise!
  • Cathay proves to be no slouch on the ground either, sending out giant terracotta statues and Longma riders to face the Daemons on foot.
  • The lore for Cathay claims that their emperor is a dragon. Turns out, this was not a euphemism - as Kairos Fateweaver smashes down on her doorstep, Princess Miao Ying, daughter of the Emperor, transforms into an Asian dragon to meet him in battle.
• The "A Covenant With Chaos" has an unexpected moment of awesome, when a human scholar is mentally pulled by a Tome of Eldritch Lore into a fight between Nurgle and Slaanesh's forces, with a Keeper of Secrets gleefully offering the knowledge he seeks. The scholar reaches out to the Keeper's hand... and closes the book, shutting down the vision. This man's soul came into contact with an avatar of perversity and temptation itself, and denied them.
  • It gets even better - the Keeper of Secrets making the offer was N'Kari, Chosen of Slaanesh. That man refused one of the top most powerful greater daemons in existence.
  • What could possibly make this better? It's heavily implied that this man was The Advisor - one of the Daemons explicitly states that the man serves "The Architect".^note One of Tzeentch's titles is Architect of Fate It seems even the Advisor can have moments of badassery.
• At long last, "A Covenant With Chaos" finally shows off models for Ku'Gath Plaguefather and N'Kari, Chosen of Slaanesh. After being left out of the tabletop until the Ends Times for Ku'Gath (who didn't even get a model) and not getting rules at all for N'Kari, both finally get a chance to shine.
• A villainous one - The God-slayer, Legendary Lord of Chaos Undivided, got his name from nearly killing Ursun, Bear God of Kislev. Once he learns that Ursun lives, he wants to finish the job...
  • And bear in mind this was before his ascent into a daemon prince.
• Boris Ursus was already a badass Tzar, but the introduction to his own unlockable campaign raises him to another level. He had been frozen in ice after his death, but when he hears Ursun’s pained roars and the Advisor’s offer to help rescue his Bear-God, he comes back to life and breaks himself out of his icy tomb, fueled by the sheer willpower to save Ursun and his people! This puts Boris Ursus in the minuscule rank of beings who have returned from death through sheer willpower, including Grombrindal and Venerable Lord Kroak.
• When you finally reach Ursun as Kislev, it turns out that You Are Too Late, as Be'lakor has already drained him of his life force. But then, the impossible happens — using their own faith in him, the forces of Kislev successfully manage to raise Ursun from the dead! After all the enormous victories that Chaos has won across every Warhammer continuity, it is immensely satisfying to finally give the Dark Gods the middle finger and undo one of their greatest victories.
• Even players who otherwise have a lot of issues with the game agree that the game's Prologue might be the Best Level Ever in any Total War game. Even if the story is somewhat predictable (it is, after all, a prologue) it's told very well, with solid voice acting and a gradual walk-through and explanation of the game's mechanics blended sealmessly into a mini-campaign that even veteran players agree is worth playing through once, and has a number of subtle quirks and tricks the game uses to illustrate what's happening all throughout that make the whole thing just feel right.
• Whatever can be said about the release, Warhammer III's first major content drop can only be described as staggering in its scale with the double whammy of the Immortal Empires Grand Campaign (a name first suggested by the player community) and the Champions of Chaos DLC.
  • The first part brings the game into full sandbox mode, adding in EVERY SINGLE legendary lord from the previous games (a total of 67 plus the 17, so far, from Game III) and giving many new unique start positions and working to make their campaigns distinct.
  • The next bit is the long-awaited rework to the Warriors of Chaos faction, finally bringing them up to the level of every other faction with several mechanics that emphasize the path one moves through to ascend to power and gain the favor of the Chaos Gods.
  • Several other factions also receive a host of minor tweaks to either improve their campaigns or give various units performance tweaks.
  • Finally, the Champions of Chaos DLC itself gives a huge bounty to the followers of Chaos with four new Legendary Lords, one for each of the Chaos Gods. Azazel, Prince of Damnation for Slaanesh, Festus the Leechlord for Nurgle, Vilitch the Curseling for Tzeentch, and finally Valkia the Bloody for Khorne. And each Champion also brings the God-Marked variants of many of the Warriors of Chaos units (for both the Warriors of Chaos faction and the relevant Game III God-specific factions), each with a distinct visual flair. Now it can truly be said that Chaos is ready to bring about The End Times.
• If things feel at their darkest with Chaos' full force brought to bear, consider the Immortal Empires trailer - consider the potential of what could stand against it. This trailer is the promise that began with the original Warhammer made realized.
  • For those who read the Prince of Altdorf eBook released for the first game, Franz's Rousing Speech shows just why he was seen as the needed Big Good for the coming days not by taking the lead, but by uniting those whose grudges might otherwise separate them.
    Karl Franz: ENOUGH! We must not be blinded by our own need for power! This is the moment. Your choices will decide the fate of this world, and all that inhabit it. Make the right one!
  • As Franz is giving that speech, we cut to a number of scenes showing the power of the Forces of Order standing united, including the following:
    • Louen Leoncour leading Repanse, Alberic and hundreds of other Brettonian Knights in a mass charge against an endless horde of undead.
    • Orion and Oxylotl taking on the Beastmen.
    • Gotrek and Felix staring down Skarbrand.
    • A Necrofex Colossus being taken down by a Hierotitan.
    • Settra confronting Grom the Paunch's army in the Badlands.
    • Tyrion and Grombrindal restoring the ancient alliance between Elves and Dwarfs to take on the Dark Elves and the Skaven.
    • Zhao Ming and Balthasar Gelt leading Cathay and the Empire against Queek Headtaker and Clan Mors.
    • The final shot has the forces of Chaos led by Archaon bearing down on Kislev. As a mix of mortal warriors and daemons charge toward her people, Katarin prepares to lead them into battle... and is joined by Franz and Deathclaw alongside the Empire. The End Times have come, but Order will make its stand! ^note  And this time, they can win.
• Grombrindal starts near Naggaroth, and can finally satisfy his Grudge against his former friend, Malekith. While it was possible to do in previous games, here it is your special goal!

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