Total War: Warhammer III - Omens of Destruction

The current flagship of The Creative Assembly is Total War: Warhammer III, which, after some difficulties, continues to be supplied with DLC. As recently with Omens of Destruction, where the developer and publisher try to learn from past mistakes. This is the second DLC pack in which the Legendary Lords can be purchased individually.

With over 42.5 million units sold, Total War is The Creative Assembly's most important franchise. Founded in 1987, the studio has offices in West Sussex, UK and Sofia, Bulgaria, and employs a team of over 700 people. It is owned by Sega Europe Limited, the European distribution arm of Sega Corporation, based in Tokyo, Japan. Sega wholly owns the video game development studios Two Point Studios, Sports Interactive and Hardlight too. Until a few weeks ago, Relic Entertainment and Amplitude Studios were also part of the group, but both studios are now independent again.

Apart from the Total War series, The Creative Assembly is known for Halo Wars 2 and Alien: Isolation. The latter is even getting a sequel, but the studio was in the headlines at the end of 2023 for the cancellation of the multiplayer shooter Hyenas and the resulting job cuts. Things weren't quite so smooth for Total War: Warhammer III, one of the most successful games in the series and more popular than the later Total War: Pharaoh. For the latter, the original DLC plan was completely abandoned and a major free expansion was released in July. But back to Total War: Warhammer III.

Released in 2022, the game's The Realm of Chaos campaign didn't go down too well with the community, especially in comparison to its predecessor, but the team continued to work on improving it. After all, most players had been waiting for the Immortal Empires campaign, which combined the world maps of the two previous games into one giant playing field, with all factions and DLC content available - the beta took place six months after release, followed by the full release a year later. Since then, the team's focus has been on this mode, but the price of the DLCs has gone up. Okay, that was a quick recap.

Starting with Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, but topped by Shadows of Change in August 2023. At the time, the DLC and the main game were inundated with negative reviews on Steam due to the pricing policy, especially in relation to the prices of previous DLCs. Many of these DLCs focus on Legendary Lords, who are the leaders of one of the Warhammer factions, and come with units, special powers, and traits that usually go hand in hand with a unique play style. By way of background, two Legendary Lords for Total War: Warhammer II sold for a total of €10. Forge of the Chaos Dwarves with three Legendary Lords costs €25, but also introduces a whole new faction as a campaign pack. But Shadows of Change had "only" three Legendary Lords for €25. The development team initially defended themselves, citing higher development costs in a competitive environment, before releasing a new statement in December apologising for the DLC's failure to meet expectations. As a result, new content has been added to the DLC and the complete DLC release process was changed.

The Legendary Lords are no longer sold exclusively as a bundle, but individually for €9 each. In terms of price, the DLCs are still significantly more expensive than their predecessors, but now players can choose exactly which Lord they want to buy, and the scope is more clearly defined. The first three Legendary Lords (Thrones of Decay) were released at the end of April and could be used in both the Chaos and Realms of the Immortals campaigns, as well as in custom games. Now the latest DLC triple pack has been released: Omens of Destruction - featuring three Legendary Lords for Khorne, Orcs & Goblins, and the Ogre Kingdoms, but only available in the Realms of the Immortals and in custom battles, and no longer in the Realm of Chaos, which has already been criticised. The Creative Assembly has also released an update to version 6.0 that adds the 100th Legendary Lord, Arbaal the Undefeated, the Champion of Khorne, for free. Alongside this, the Ogre Kingdoms, Khorne, and Orcs & Goblins factions have also been revamped. These are the factions that received a new Legendary Lord in Omens of Destruction.

Three Legendary Lords

Now, what do the Lords from Omens of Destruction have to offer? Skulltaker, the Hero Slayer (Khorne), must seek out and defeat powerful enemy lords. With each skull added to his cloak, new abilities and traits can be acquired and upgraded. He excels at hunting down and dueling with enemy lords before cutting through the ranks of troops. His Cloak of Skulls passive ability grants increasing spell resistance and ward saves the more he kills. New units from the Blood God's domain include the two legendary heroes Skarr Bloodwrath and Skyla Anfingrimm, followed by a host of acolytes including the Bloodspeaker, Slaughterbrute, Bloodbeasts, Wrathmongers, Skullreapers, and Khorngors.

Gorbad Ironclaw, the Brutal Unifier, is a tenacious and brutal tactician for an orc. Following 'Da Plan', he must experiment with battle strategies such as combining different units in his army to unlock synergistic bonuses such as abilities, attributes and campaign perks - encouraging creative army composition. He rides into battle on his warboar Gnarla, and his 'Da Great Leader' ability boosts the melee attack and defence of troops in his vicinity. New units include the legendary hero Snagla Grobspit, accompanied by warriors such as the Savage Orc Great Shaman, Night Goblin Big Boss, Black Orc (Axe & Shield), Mangler Squiqs, Colossal Squig, Arachnarok (Flinger), and Bolt Throwa.

Golgfag Maneater*, the Mercenary, (Ogre Kingdoms) is all about mercenaries. He helps client factions settle their warring disputes by taking on all their wars. When a contract is signed, he must earn points by committing acts of aggression against the enemy within a specified turn limit, and once he has achieved his goal, the contract is complete, granting a payout and rewards such as Meat, Maneater Banners, and ancillary items. He is an anti-infantry killer using barbaric weaponry, but his globetrotting has given him some exotic abilities such as Dead Eye, which allows him to fire a powerful shot from his pistol. New units joining Golgfag's mercenary brigade include the legendary hero Bragg the Gutsman, as well as the Ogre Paymaster, Bruiser, Golgfag's Maneaters, Pigback Riders, Blood Vultures, Yhetees and Thundertusks.

Conclusion

Even if the balance of the new Legendary Lords is not yet perfect, they are a good addition to Total War: Warhammer III, despite their high price. The play styles and ideas behind the Lords are fine. Nevertheless, it is about time that the missing regions of the Immortal Realms were added ...

Features

• Three legendary lords with unique mechanics and new units
• Better content package despite higher price
• Updates to the Ogre Kingdoms, Khorne, and Orcs & Goblins factions