I’m obsessed with Warhammer lore in the lead-up to Immortal Empires

I’ve tweaked my morning routine these past couple of weeks. I’ve been reading short stories, doing some Sudoku and sneaking in a little bit of exercise. Apex Legends before work, I’ve been drinking my coffee while I stare at this:

Image: Creative Assembly/SEGA

It’s a map of the Warhammer fantasy world in Total War: Warhammer 3. Since June 28, Creative Assembly adds more colorful icons to the map once a day. Immortal EmpiresDLC is a way to combine the three campaign maps with every faction in the strategy trilogy. It will create one big brawl. Those icons represent the starting location for each Legendary Lord — the playable leaders within each of the series’ 19 factions. At the DLC’s launch, there will be 86 Lords to choose from.

Immortal EmpiresIt is possible to ambitious DLC.

And a Lord’s starting location is a big deal. It not only impacts the geographical features they’ll have to contend with, but also the factions they’ll encounter in the early turns of the campaign. Helman Ghorst for example, a leader with the Dracula inspired Vampire Counts party. The blue rose and white shield that mark his starting point on the Sea of Dread are the symbols of Helman Ghorst. This location tells us that he’ll not only be battling the demonic hordes of Nurgle as they stream off of that island to the southwest, but also the ranks of the Ogre Kingdoms as they march out of the mountains to the north. Ghorst must also contend with forces from the High Elves on the coast to west and Cathay’s armies to the northeast. These are all four distinct factions that have very different mechanics and strengths.

Tomorrow will mark the final reveal in this starting-location news cycle, and honestly, I think I’ll miss hearing about these reveals every day. I’ve visited the Total War subreddit every morning over the past couple of weeks, and it’s been a blast to read players’ reactions, whether to the fact that the Southlands — the large continent in the bottom half of the map — is going to be an absolute shitshow, or to the news that Creative Assembly placed the dwarf leader Grombrindal Next The map’s northwest corner shows the Dark Elf Malkith. If you’re a football fan, that’s the equivalent of the NFL moving the New York Giants to the AFC East so they have to play the New England Patriots twice during the regular season. That changes everything.

As an unexpected byproduct of this morning routine, I’ve become obsessed with Warhammer fantasy lore. The matchup of Grombrindal & Malekith. It’s basically the grudge match to end all grudge matches. Grombrindal, you see, is rumored to be the vengeful spirit of a Dwarf of legend, returning to punish Malekith for instigating the War of the Beard and causing the deaths of thousands of Dwarfs (as it’s pluralized in Warhammer) back in the day. (Warhammer is so stupid. It’s So, so dumb. Und es kicks ans.

Total War: Warhammer 3 These starting points are as exciting for players because of the narrative context as their gameplay implications. Since the beginning of the week, Total War has been overflowing with proper nouns. I was confused until I navigated into Warhammer’s wiki and discovered more. It was time to learn why Nagashizzar’s fortress is so beloved. I did some research while I was doing it. Absolutely read up on Skarbrand’s exile from the Blood God’s Domain. This rat-man’s name is Queek Headtaker? I’m ready to fuck you up.

It may seem a bit rough at the beginning of August, but it will get better with time. Immortal Empires can’t come soon enough. I’m eagerly awaiting details on the Warriors of Chaos’ rework, and I’m already planning my first foray into the DLC’s massive world. (Grombrindal is the only choice, really, but Lokhir Fellheart’s new location above the Jade Sea is tempting.)

Plus, it’s been a blast enveloping myself in the sprawling, strange, never-ending lore of one of the biggest fantasy worlds out there. I love strategy games for how their systems grant players just enough big-picture context to find emergent stories of their own, and it’s a testament to Creative Assembly’s craft that it can get such a huge community excited about the placement of a few PNGs every day. I’m sure I’ll want to learn infinitely more about Warhammer lore once I actually get my hands on the DLC.

This map is enough for the moment.