WMG / Total War: Warhammer III

Cathay's neighbors

Now that the Grand Empire of Cathay has been confirmed to be a playable faction, it may only be a matter of time before we see some of the other races around them who were at least relevant enough to get some lore.

• Chaos Dwarfs
  • Seems very likely, given that they are the last Warhammer Fantasy faction not in the game that ever had an official army list (not for several editions but the same could be said of Kislev). Also their home citadel, Zharr-Naggrund, is already on the map.
  • Confirmed — the Chaos Dwarfs will be the first non-preorder DLC race for the game.
  • And while playing I just got a loading screen lore snippet referencing Hashut and ending "We are coming." Yeah, calling it now, Chaos Dwarfs soon.
• The Ogre Kingdoms
  • Confirmed - The Ogre Kingdoms will be the first DLC race for the game.
• The Hobgoblin Khanate
  • 'Yes and No, the Hobgoblins are part of the Chaos Dwarf roster, and their character rep. is a legendary hero unit.
• The Hung
• The Kurgan
• Kingdoms of Ind
• Nippon
• Snakemen of Khuresh
  • All three jossed for now. In the new interview Andy Hall revealed a bit more info about these kingdoms but said that they are not in WHIII roadmap currently.
• Nagash's Undead Legion

Eshin Campaign in Grand Cathay

As the only Skaven Great Clan who has a heavily invested presence and interest in Cathay (and Nippon), Clan Eshin will once again play a major role in a future DLC.

• Both yes and no for now. Eshin is the main starting enemy of Zhao Ming with their base being in Warpstone desert and Deathmaster Snikitch personally leading their forces. But they are not playable in the WHIII campaign.
  • Confirmed for Immortal Empires.

Oxyotl's Debut

As the only living Chameleon Skink who escaped the Realm of Chaos after exacting a heavy toll on countless daemons, Oxyotl will have a crucial role to play in repelling the daemonic incursions and conducting a Lizardmen expedition into the Chaos Waste as was foreseen and interpreted from several sacred plaques.

• Confirmed, came in The Silence and The Fury

Thanquol at long last

The most infamous of the Grey Seers and the living definition of being comically incompetent and always deflecting blame upon someone else will be involved in a Skaven scheme that will capitalize on the background static of the daemonic incursions.

• Would be strange to play as a character whose defining trait is failure. Not saying that's a reason not to do it, just would be odd.

The main goal of Kislev campaign will be closing Chaos Gates once and for all

Yes! One of the most notorious victims of Chaos invasions and the first victim of the End Times will get a honour of finishing the threat and save the entire Warhammer world forever.

• Jossed; All factions are fighting to reach Ursun in the Forge of Souls, with Kislev's concern merely being to rescue their captive deity from certain destruction.

Cathay may possibly get an Expy of somebody from Romance of the Three Kingdoms or possibly real life incarnation of them. Who might get in.

• Cao Cao seen by many historians as probably the best person to call the protagonist at least in his lifetime.
• Guan Yu he's somehow became worshipped in China.

The Minor Races that could become playable.

Now that Cathay SOMEHOW become a playable race (a core one at that!) there are many, MANY smaller factions that could become playable (including the above WMG neighboring Cathay, but not them alone).

Including the above WMG, the following factions could theoretically be made playable (as, again, Cathay's inclusion has pretty much made any race possible.).

• Halflings (Whether they would be considered an Empire Faction or play Different is up for debate.)
  • The Halflings ARE part of the Empire and they don't make armies of their own. But adding them to the Empire roster could be a thing.
• Lustria Colonies (Would probably be considered part of Southern Realms.)
  • Already pretty much covered in 2 as an Empire faction.
• Southern Realms
• Dogs of War (Of note, it's possible Dogs of War and the Southern Realms could be one race, but also easily be separate, for the sake of simplicity, they have been listed on this list as separate.) (Also of note, the Rogue Armies could be made into the Dogs of War race, given that Mengil's Manflayers, are a group of Dark Elf Dogs of War in canon). Distinct in due to the sheer number of Mercenary Captains of various backgrounds, has potentially the largest possible number of Legendary Lords and thus factions.
• Araby (They said they wouldn't before, but given Cathay anything is possible.)
  • Currently Jossed, as Creative Assembly have outright and explicitly said there are no plans for Araby.
• Ind Beastmen (Who are significantly different from regular ones... to the point of wondering if they even are Beastmen.)
• Norse Dwarfs (Whether or not they'd just be tied into regular Dwarfs is unknown, but they are different enough with enough unique units, including possibly non-Chaos Northmen, that it's theoretically possible.)
  • Seems unlikely but Chaos Dwarfs are a very real possibility. Right part of the world too.
• Amazons (Could theoretically be a Dogs of War faction.)
• Marienburg (Whether it would be unique or considered a Southern Realms, an Empire faction, or a Dogs of War faction is unknown.)
  • Too similar to Empire. There's no reason they'd play differently.
• Eonir/Laurelorn Forest (Fairly different from the other Wood Elves, although could easily just be a Wood Elf faction.)
• Sea Elves
  • This one is fairly unlikely, chiefly because they technically already are in the game — older editions made a distinction between the inland-dwelling, reclusive High Elves and the coastal, trading and exploring Sea Elves that was discarded later on; the distinction between the inner and outer kingdoms of Ulthuan is what's left of that. Yvresse is what would have been called a Sea Elf faction when that was still a thing.
• Ape Men (Would have to be done from scratch due to their lore being "Super smart apes living in trees in the Southlands, may or may not be a kind of Beastmen" and that's it. On the flipside, this could encourage CA to come up with some fun/crazy new lore for them.)
• Malal/Malice (The chances of this is probably the lowest, due to potential copyright issues.)
  • Not a hope. Wizards of the Coast would sue in a heartbeat.
• Forest Goblins (Would likely be thrown under the Greenskin roster, but they may or may not be different enough to be separate.)
  • Already here. The spider riding Gobbos are Forest Goblins.
• Fimir (Could also be a faction under Warriors of Chaos or Norsca.)
• Trolls (Could also be possibly a faction under Greenskins.)
  • Not generally smart enough to make armies on their own, nor varied enough to be interesting.
• Gnomes (Yes, they are a thing in Warhammer Fantasy.)
• Jungle Halflings (A faction that taken hadn't been in Warhammer as of yet which was initially planned to be added in the Warmaster game, pictures of their miniatures exist), made to replace another race as its spiritual successor, made up Incan-esque Halflings who can ride Cold Ones. As they haven't been added and were designed to replace another race, CA would basically have to make them from scratch, making them easily (save perhaps Malal/Malice) the least likely.
• Lakemen (A variant of Beastmen that don't get along with the regular kind.)
• Fishmen (Supposed Fishpeople who inhabit the sunken Lizardman Temple-City of Chupayotl.) Unknown if they are real or not in lore, but CA could theoretically make them an army.
• Albion
• Gnoblar Horde
• The Tong
• Nippon
• The Hobgoblin Khanate (Mostly integrated with the Chaos Dwarfs in tabletop, but there is a possibility they could get an expansion a la Norsca in the first game.)
• Mordheim
  • That's a location, not a faction. And anyway it was from around 500 years before the games.
• Screaming God Child
  • Wasn't that a 40K thing?
• Sharkmen

Arianka will make an appearance in the Kislev campaign.

One of the long-forgotten Chaos Gods of Order, Arianka, goddess of discipline, was imprisoned by an unnamed Chaos God (thought to be Tzeentch) in an indestructible gromril coffin. The location of the key(s) to this coffin isn't known, but the Skaven found the coffin itself in Praag, one of Kislev's core territories. She'd have quite the bone to pick with all four of the prime Chaos Gods if she ever got freed, and a disciplined army like Kislev's would be exactly the tool she'd use for that job. Not only that, but it would mean Kislev would be in possession of a way to permanently deal with the Chaos Gods... after all, it already worked on one of them.

• Jossed she plays no part in the game whatsoever and given she was created by the same guy who came up with Malal it‘s safe to say GW and CA will stay clear of her. (Also her lore isn‘t only heavily outdated, Arianka also wasn’t a chaos god but a god of order, wich have since been established to work entirely different from chaos gods in general being survivors of the previous world and much weaker than any true chaos god.)

Daemons and aligned Chaos Warriors who will be legendary lords

• The Glottkin Brothers (Otto, Ethrac and Ghurek) for the Nurgle roster.
  • The Great Unclean One shown briefly in the announcement trailer might be Rotigus, who would be a Canon Immigrant from 40k and Age of Sigmar.
    • Jossed GW apparently vetoed the inclusion of Ao S characters in the game.
  • Ku'Gath is a likelier choice for a Great Unclean One character, as he's already a Fantasy character and has a preestablished rivalry against another faction (he really doesn't care for the Dwarfs, specifically), which would make it easier to design a specific campaign for him.
    • Confirmed for Ku'Gath.
• N'kari (who was already heavily teased at in II).

  • Confirmed for N'kari.

  • Sigvald the Magnificent being moved from the vanilla Warriors of Chaos roster to join the Slaanesh roster. His old spot could be filled by a someone like Egrimm van Horstmann, since the Warriors conspicuously lack a playable Squishy Wizard character.
    • If Sigvald were to be moved to the Slaanesh roster, by that same logic Egrimm van Horstmann would be a better fit for the Tzeentch one, since that's the god he follows, than the regular Warriors of Chaos faction.
    • Both yes and no: Sigvald got his own faction with ability to use some Slaanesh mechanics but he is still in WoC. He can be used as a Slaanesh LL in multiplayer, though.
• Skarbrand and Valkia the Bloody, for the Khorne roster. Ka'Bandha has also been thrown around due to his association with The End Times and the Bloodthirster Katarin faces down looking similar to his design.
  • Confirmed for Skarbrand.
  • Both yes and no for Valkia, as another Warriors of Chaos legendary lord.
• Kairos Fateweaver and Vilitch the Curseling for the Tzeentch roster.
  • Confirmed for Kairos.
  • Both yes and no as again, Vilitch is leading warriors instead of daemons.
• Be'lakor the Dark Master as an unaligned antagonist, commanding either a hybrid daemon faction or a faction of the regular Chaos Warriors.
  • Confirmed. Be'lakor is the Big Bad and part of the "Daemons of Chaos Undivided" race, alongside the playable God-slayer.
• Since heralds are confirmed to be a lord type, rather than mere heroes, we'll probably see the named heralds at some point: Skulltaker, the Masque, Epidemius and the Blue Scribes.
  • Blue Scribes confirmed; however, they are a legendary hero rather than a faction leader.
• A Champion of the Screaming God Child.
  • There is no such thing as a "Screaming God Child" in the setting, making this highly unlikely.

Cathay will start the game in the midst of a huge civil war

There is no way CA will let us play as the entire Cathayan Empire at the start of the game. No other faction in TWW history starts with that many provinces. Instead, we will play as one of the warring Cathayan factions with the goal of uniting the empire.

• It would make perfect sense as there are at least three separate camps: Cathayans who worship Tzeentch, Cathayans who are uncorrupted, and the Monkey King who is allied with the Skaven.
  • Sort of. Blogs state that the siblings don't get on and are willing to resort to civil war over their conflicting ideals, and there will likely be separatist or enemy-occupied provinces to keep the early game interesting.

Total War: Warhammer III will allow the Forces of Order to avert the End Times

Kislev and Cathay will be launching expeditions into the Chaos Wastes, likely with the goal of closing the Chaos gate at the pole. This is in contrast to the canon End Times where both factions were overrun fairly early on. In all likelihood, this change of fortune is due to the events of Warhammer II. In this alternate timeline, the Skaven attempt to gain control of the Great Vortex was a miserable failure, which left them weakened and unable to play a major role in the End Times. As a result, the Forces of Order were able to focus more of their attention on the growing Chaos threat in the north, which leads to Kislev receiving enough support to hold Chaos at bay. Cathay is also in a much stronger position in this timeline due to the Chaos and Skaven invasions being much weaker, which means they aren't destroyed by Grimgor's WAAAGH. Still, the situation is dire enough that both factions decide on a bold all or nothing strategy to cut Chaos off at the source by launching an invasion of the Chaos Wastes.

• Jossed; the plot of III does not adapt The End Times at all, and the actual story of the game is instead a rescue plot involving Be'lakor and the god Ursun.

Other nations of Men will appear in future DLCs.

While Kislev and Cathay have finally made an appearance and are playable, there are other human civilizations that are still untouched by the Total War games. In the future, Araby, Estalia, Ind, Nippon, and Tillea will be added in future DLC's to be playable factions.

• Semi-jossed. It has been stated that no faction that requires the same amount of making from scratch as Cathay is on the roadmap, and that they shouldn't be expected to come. Tilea and to a lesser degree Estalia might not count as requiring that (a bit more, and more modern, lore than the others thanks to being located closer to the area with the most focus, had some on-table representation through the Dogs of War), but Araby, Ind and Nippon certainly does.
  • Plus Ind and Nippon would require extending the map even more.

Kaldor Draigo will make a cameo appearance.

The Warp is a strange place, and there have been a few incidents over the years that have shown that 40K and Fantasy inhabit the same universe (such as the Skaven panicking after accidentally calling the Eldar via Farsqueaker). The most infamous, though, was the appearance of a 'giant of a man' in 'silver armor' who had a bunch of inexplicable superpowers in the Realms of Chaos, a man who helped a group of adventurers rob Nurgle and wound up incapacitated but not killed, with the Wood Elf leading the expedition noting that Chaos was incapable of killing him. This man is strongly implied to be Kaldor Draigo. In a different novel, it's mentioned that Draigo sees a world 'ruled over by a self-styled god-king' where 'magic blows on the very winds,' implied to be Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. If Creative Assembly is considering working on Total War Warhammer 40,000 then Kaldor Draigo just might make a cameo appearance in the Realm of Chaos.Jossed Their is no sign of Draigo but a chainsword does appear in the realm of Khorne, hinting at a possible 40k Total War

Legendary Lords and Heroes for the Various factions.

Here we shall make predictions for what Legendary Lords for the various factions introduced in Total War: Warhammer 3.

• Empire:
  • Boris Toddbringer
  • Steffan von Kessel
  • Elspeth von Draken
  • Kurt Helborg
  • Genevieve Dieudonné
  • Hisme Stoutheart: If they don't get their own race pack, Hisme would probably lead the Moot.
  • Fassbinder the Strong: Same deal as Hisme. Granted, he'd probably lead a different faction than the Moot.
• Greenskins:
  • The Black Goblin: A Legendary Goblin whose entire shtick is to annoy the Dwarfs by killing and stealing from them, he is the Goblin equivalent to the White Dwarf Grombrindal.
  • Grumlock and Gazbag: The Leaders of the Bloody Sunz tribe, a Orc and Night Goblin with an unlikely friendship who were enhanced by Malekith to attack the Dwarfs so they cannot come to the Empire's aid.
  • Snagla Grobspit: A Forest Goblin chieftain. While primarily anti-Empire, he could be placed in any forest really and would be yet another distinct variety of Greenskin faction (that being Forest Goblins) and could be placed in any area in the Darklands/Cathay/Kislev that has a forest.
  • Gorbad Ironclaw: One of the most famous Orc Warbosses of all time, and an inspiration to all Greenskins. Could start anywhere, but probably in a new settlement in the Badlands.
  • Sporctacus, Possibly Leading a Unique Faction of Mostly Greenskin former slaves, but also former Slaves of other races in a bid to get justice on the Dark Elves, creating a weird Hybrid Tribe and in turn Waaagh!. See entry below in Dogs of War.
• Vampire Counts:
  • Neferata
  • The Red Duke
• Dwarfs:
  • Bugman
• Beastmen:
  • Ghorros
  • Moonclaw
  • Taurox the Brass Bull
    • Jossed — he was added in The Silence and The Fury to cap off Total War Warhammer II.
  • Ungrol Four-Horn Might even have a slightly altered roster to have Mutants and the like and more Ungors rather than the traditional roster. Perhaps even a strange Hybrid Roster to account for his hate for other Beastmen.
• Norsca:
  • Sayl the Faithless
  • Surtha Ek
  • Hildr the Reaver
  • Birna Blacktongue
  • Ulricsson Haargald, notable in that he'd probably be an Anti-Chaos Norscan faction due to being a follower of Ulric.
  • Valbrand Fireblade
  • Yngve Aarseth
  • Rakka, Meargh of Grat Moshka
• Warriors of Chaos:
  • Thorgar, the Blooded One
  • Lothar Bubonicus
• Wood Elves:
  • Oreon, although he might be part of a Dogs of War faction instead.
• Bretonnia:
• Lizardmen:
  • Oxyotl: A Chameleon Skink that was trapped in the Warp for millennia and killed many daemons. It would make too much sense for him to appear in the Warhammer 3 campaign.
    • Jossed — he was added in The Silence and The Fury to cap off Total War Warhammer II.
  • Tetto'eko: As the Chief Astromancer of the Temple of the Eclipse in Tlaxtlan, Tetto'eko is a very powerful Skink who has some significant backstory. Considered a very strong candidate due to being widely known as the last major Skink character in the lizardmen lore.
  • Chakax: Prime Guardian and Eternity Warden of Xlanhuapec. Chakax is the oldest and strongest Temple Guard in existence. Also considered a strong candidate due to being widely known as the last major Saurus character in the lizardmen lore.
  • Inxi-Huinzi: A skink champion of Hexoatl who rides and fights atop a Horned One named Xltzhpctli.
  • Tlaco'amoxtli'ueman: A Slann Mage-priest.
  • Xltloc: A Slann Mage-priest of Itza who sent several armies against Luthor Harkon.
  • Lord Xtli: A Slann Mage-priest and ruler of Tlax. Noted for making friendly contact with Marco Colombo and receiving his help in fighting Dark Elves and Norscans.
  • Itzi-Bitzi: A Skink hero who destroyed numerous expeditions into Lustria from various nations including Araby, Cathay, the Dark Elves, High Elves and Norsca.
• Dark Elves:
  • Tularis
  • Lilaeth
• High Elves:
  • Aurelion
  • Korhil
  • Sea Lord Aislinn: Given the location of the Lost Isles and Warhammer 3's focused area, he's fairly well suited as a lord.
• Skaven:
  • Thanquol, AT LONG LAST!
  • Ska Bloodtail: An interesting example of an unusually rare pedigree, Ska Bloodtail is a larger-than-normal black-fur skaven who literally towers over the other Stormvermin of the Red Guard, the elite unit that he controls as Queek's lieutenant. Not only does he have the strength and tenacity to match his size, he also has the rare privilege of being the only other skaven that Queek can fully trust. And because of his larger-than-normal size, Ska's armor had to be gradually improvised from reforged plates of scavenged gromril to fit around his impressive frame, resulting in a mish-mash appearance.
• Tomb Kings:
• Vampire Coast:
  • Skretch Half-Dead: Unique even amongst the other Lords in that he's an undead Skaven, which could lead to quite a unique campaign.
• Forces of Khorne:
  • Skarr Bloodwrath
  • Vorgaroth
  • Valkia the Bloody
    • Confirmed as of the Champions of Chaos DLC, but for Warriors of Chaos.
• Forces of Nurgle:
  • Valnir the Reaper
  • Glottkin
  • Tamurkhan
  • Lothar Bubonicus
• Forces of Tzeentch:
  • Aekold Helbrass
    • Confirmed as a Legendary Hero
  • Tchar'zanek
  • Egrimm van Horstmann
  • Sarthorael the Everwatcher, Promoted to Playable.
• Forces of Slaanesh:
  • Dechala the Denied One
  • N'kari, following up on the foreshadowing in the second game.
    • Confirmed
• Kislev:
  • Baba Yaga
    • Confirmedish. Baba Yaga herself is no longer kanon. But her "replacement", Mother Ostyanka, became a Legendary Lord
• Cathay:
  • Monkey King
  • Dragon Emperor
    • Jossed, as the new lore establishes the Dragon Emperor as a godlike being who's too aloof to get involved in mortal affairs and too powerful to represent in-game, sending his children to rule in his stead.
  • Ding Ch'ing
  • LL based on the Nanman.
  • LL based on the Yellow Turbans.
  • LL based Cao Cao
  • LL based Guan Yu

For speculated factions;

• Dogs of War:
  • Menghil Manflayer: He's already on the map as a Rogue Army (for that matter, Rogue Armies could be re-categorized as Dogs of War).
  • Oreon: See the Wood Elf suggestion above, might make more sense for him to be a Dogs of War faction.
  • Al Muktar
  • Arsanil the Dragonlord: High Elves are fairly popular in the playerbase so he'd be a good choice.
  • Beorg Bearstruck
  • Golgfag Maneater
  • Kheciss: Would also work for a possible Albion race pack.
  • Long Drong
  • Lumpin Croop
  • Oglah Khan
  • Ruglud Bonechewer
  • Richter Krueger the Damned: Has the potential to be a fun campaign, especially given he'd be an Undead Faction who HATES the Undead.
  • Morgan Bernhardt: He is a very popular character who even has a beef with another popular Skaven Leader (Thanquol) so he could even get a pack dedicated to the two fighting, as well as a Nagash pack against the Dread King.
  • Tichi-Huichi: The last survivor of the ruined Temple-City of Enxiladan, Tichi-Huichi is an elder Skink who bore witness to a spawning of Skinks that were destined to become Cold One Riders. Becoming their life-long mentor and leader, Tichi-Huichi taught them well in the lore of Enxiladan and after a psychic communion with the Slann Mage- priest of Zlatan, understood the purpose that the Old Ones intended for him and his spawnkin who would now be known as "Tichi-Huichi's Raiders": To travel across the world and fight in the service of foreign races in countless and unfamiliar locales in order to reclaim many lost artifacts of the Old Ones.
  • Anaconda: Either Dogs of War or their own race.
  • Fassbinder the Strong
  • Sporctacus: The Orc slave freed from the Dark Elves by the Sisters of Twilight who leads an army of rebel slaves. Given the slaves could easily be from all races (the Dark Elves are big slavers after all), he could be argued to be a Dogs of War faction over a proper Greenskins faction, although he could theoretically could also be a Greenskin faction with a handful of non-Greenskin units to show his army is a ragtag bunch of former slaves. While it makes the most sense to start in Naggarond, it could be argued they fled... well, anywhere really, so they could be put in the Warhammer 3 areas if needed.
  • Player Made Character ala Daniel/Godslayer.: Due to the Nature of Dogs of War, perhaps the player will be allowed to make a Legendary Lord, from the various races (Humans both Chaos and Not, Greenskins of various Kinds, Elves (High, Dark, or Wood, or anything else.), Ogres, Minor Factions (Amazons, Albion, Halflings, etc.) like they did with Daniel/Godslayer for want of a nail.
• Norse Dwarfs:
  • Possibly Grombrindal being moved to lead one of the Norse Dwarf Karaks.
    • Jossed: he got his own subfaction but was moved to Nagarrond for Immortal Empires.
• Ogre Kingdoms:
  • Greasus Goldtooth
    • Confirmed
  • Golgfag Maneater
  • Bragg the Gutsman
  • Skrag the Slaughterer
    • Confirmed
  • Ghark Ironskin
• Chaos Dwarfs:
  • Lord Astragoth
  • Drazhoath
  • Zhatan the Black
  • Gorduz Backstabber, if the Hobgoblin Khanate doesn't become its own faction.
    • All four confirmed, though Gorduz is a Legendary Hero rather than a Lord.
• Nagash:
  • Uh... Nagash.
  • The Dread King: Could be included in a pack against Morgan Bernhardt.
• Albion
  • Kheciss: Would work for either Albion or Dogs of War.
• Amazons
  • Anaconda: Either Amazons or Dogs of War.
• Hobgoblin Khanate
  • Gorduz Backstabber
  • Hobgobla-Khan
• Halflings
  • Hisme Stoutheart
  • Fassbinder the Strong
• Nippon
  • Possibly a LL based on the legendary African samurai Yasuke.
  • A LL based on Oda Nobunaga.
  • A LL based on Tokugawa Ieyasu.
  • A LL based on Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
  • A LL who leads a faction based on the Ainu.
  • A LL who leads a faction based on the Ryukyu.
  • A Bakemono LL.
  • A Oni LL, possibly mixed with Yokai.
  • A Yokai LL, possibly mixed with Oni.
• Malal/Malice
  • Be'lakor: The two might strike a bargain (Or just an Enemy Mine) in order to take on the Chaos Gods.
    • Jossed as Be'lakor is given his own faction of Chaos Undivided in Immortal Empires.

  • Ungrol Four-Horn So full of hate for his fellow Beastmen who mistreated him so save perhaps those who chose to follow him... perhaps Malal could persuade him to his service. Perhaps also... Malal-touched Beastmen.

New units (Because everyone has to have something fresh and innovative to offer at the table).

• Empire:
  • Marienburg Landship: When you want to flaunt your seemingly limitless wealth with a stupidly big war wagon that might or might not pay for itself. Essentially a weaker but cheaper and faster Steam Tank.
  • Wizard Lord — the empire currently lacks a magical lord option, so now might be a good time to add one.
  • Golden Wizard — the only battle wizard that currently isn't in the game, aside from Gelt.
  • Master Engineer — A ranged sniper/support hero that can buff the Empire's many missile and artillery weapons, filling a similar niche to the Dwarf Engineer and Gunnery Wight. Also, they can have the notorious Mechanical Horse as a mount.
• Bretonnia:
  • Non-flying monstrous cavalry — one of the few major types of cavalry the Bretonnians don't currently have. An option might be a form of questing beast riders, who on besting their quarries tamed them as steeds instead of killing them.
• Dwarfs:
  • Thunderbarge: What's the best way to make cannons more effective in uneven terrain? Put them on an airborne platform!
• High Elves:
  • Lothern Skycutter: A flying artillery platform that is armed with an Eagleclaw Bolt Thrower. What more can you ask for in terms of kiting?
• Lizardmen:
  • Skink Priest (Lore of Life): A compromise between the expensive Slann Mage Priest and the cheap Bastiladon Revivification Crystal.
    • Zigzagged — The Skink Oracle is able to heal friendly units and hold up well in battle.
  • Chameleon Skink Pathfinder: Elder Chameleon Skinks who are masters of infiltration and subversion.
  • Skink Braves: Hardened veterans who are more adept at fighting due to being full-time warriors rather than part-time workers.
  • Troglodon: Imagine a Carnosaur offshoot that is aquatic, much nastier, can move while hidden and detect concealed enemies. Oh, and it can spit poison as well.
    • They were added in the final DLC for II, The Silence and the Fury.
  • Thunder Lizard: A very rare endgame unit that dwarfs the Dread Saurian in size and power.
    • Seems kind of pointless as the Dread Saurian is already a rare endgame unit that dwarfs everything else in size and power so going even bigger would be overkill.
• Warriors of Chaos:
  • Chimeras — a powerful flying monster, stronger and more reliable than a manticore.
• Vampire Counts:
  • Coven Thrones — A model variant of the Mortis Engine that would fit well with a DLC led by Neferata and the Lahmians.
  • Abyssal Terrors — A flying monster mount for heroes, who lack an equivalent to the high-end mounts available to lords.
  • Spirit Hosts — Physical-resistance tarpits, more resilient than zombies and skeletons but vulnerable to magic.
  • Simulacra — Slow-moving but heavily armored statues possessed by the spirits of the dead, associated mainly with Kemmler. Stone Wall-style monster infantry.
  • Barrow King — Wight Kings as army lords, able to upgrade to a chariot mount.
• Skaven:
  • Warp-Lightning Rifles: Ikit Claw has finally invented Skaven Laser Rifles.
  • Advanced Ratling Gun: As seen in Vermintide, this new Ratling Gun model is light enough to be operated by one rat and fires faster.
  • Advanced Warpfire Thrower: Also seen in Vermintide, it is an improvement pioneered by Clan Skryre that offers the same performance at a lighter weight and cheaper cost.

The advisor has the ability to make copies of himself or teleport.

This is mostly for my headcanon, the advisor has the ability to either be at the side of each faction's leader at the same time, or has the ability to teleport when needed, making all the opening canon to a campaign. This leads the whole campaign to be a gambit on his part to make the various factions race to the forge of souls for Ursun. He promises each faction leader that he will lead them to their goal, he never promises that he will lead only them, and it explains how all the factions know how to cross the Maelstrom.

• made a slight edit due to a writing mistake I made
  • I feel that players overstate the Advisor's need to be in every place near-simultaneously. Think of it this way: how often do you really hear from the Advisor, in a narrative sense? Not very often. How long does a turn actually represent? At the very least weeks, but possibly months or more (really they're elastic abstractions representing "long enough" for each activity, but ignore that for a moment). Take them together, and the Advisor doesn't even need to rush, let alone teleport or be in multiple places at once. Even the prologues don't have to happen at the same time, if we assume the faction spends some time in initial preparations before Turn 1.
• While either of the above suggestions might work on many of the faction leaders N'Kari and Kairos would, by their natures, know he was pulling a fast one on them and I doubt they'd stand for it. Also splitting his focus like that would be rather counter to his goals, since the factions are competing with or directly fighting each other, making it less likely any one of them will succeed and less likely they'll be in a fit state to defeat Be'lakor if they do.

Be'lakor was originally a High Elf.

According to the cinematic, Be'lakor was the very first Daemon Prince, the first mortal to fall to the temptations of Chaos. The High Elves were one of the first groups of mortals present in the world, along with the Lizardmen and the Dwarfs, and of those three are the most likely to fall to Chaos. Additionally, the cinematic shows the daemons scything through the High Elves while speaking of Be'lakor's betrayal, implying he was one of them. It's also telling that Be'lakor's cardinal sin is arrogance, which is basically a High Elf racial trait. Looking closely at him during cutscenes shows that he even has pointed ears, like an elf.

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is coming next.

The popularity of 40k has made this a guess or rumor for a long time, but what's notable this time is that Warhammer III puts a lot of focus on the cybernetic Soul Grinders who are one demon usually associated with 40k. While the Realm of Chaos has always allowed for such things, they're usually more in the realm of Easter Eggs (like the Chainsword you can find in Khorne's Realm). Perhaps the Soul Grinders are a roundabout tease not too dissimilar from the ogre mercenaries in Warhammer II foreshadowing ogres as a full army in Warhammer III.

• Really hard to see how the Total War style would work with 40K. I suppose they could set it on a single planet with some reason for everyone to show up there, a la Dawn of War Dark Crusade.

The Total War: Warhammer trilogy is in reverse chronological order.

As the campaign introduction and advisor's new appearance along with the ending revealing the cause of his blindness in Warhammer I suggests, Warhammer III is a prequel to, at least, Warhammer I. Knowing this and the implications of an Order victory in this game, it's possible that having Warhammer II take place between III and I explains both the Advisor's presence in II and the lack of High Elves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen, or Skaven in I. After the Advisor breaks the curse on him from the Book of Fates, Tzeentch sent Sarthorael to continue to control him.

With the forces of Chaos weakened and the minions of the Horned Rat preparing to deceive the forces of the New World into feeding a ritual using the power of the Vortex, the ensuing battle would result in either the Horned Rat gaining immense power or the Skaven being temporarily crushed and the other powers of the New World being too weak to aid in the battles against Chaos in I. If the advisor gave any advise in II, this would also fit Tzeentch in a way: while the Vortex's destruction would benefit Chaos as a whole, he has the least to gain from the Skaven winning as the events of III would leave his forces too weak to capitalize and it would likely interfere with his plans. As a result we can assume that II would take place between III and I.

If this is the case, the respective grand campaign maps (Mortal Empires in II and whatever will be in III) could represent either a world where the main campaigns didn't happen or an extended version of the events of I where the respective factions in II and III have had enough time to recover and join the battle for the fate of the world on their respective side.

• It's more than likely that the order goes Vortex Campaign, Realm of Chaos Campaign and then Mortal Empires. The various rituals conjured up in the Vortex Campaign disrupt the vortex and thus make it easier for the Daemons of Chaos to manifest in the mortal plane. This is apparent in the Lizardmen and Tomb Kings where it is implied N'Kari can now act more freely. This of course leads to the Daemons of Chaos to swarm over the northern realms and capture Ursun and drag him to the Forge of Souls, blanketing Kislev in an endless winter. This also explains why the Advisor is absent, its before he is free of the tome and the opportunity to free himself has not arisen until after the war over the Vortex.
  • But the Advisor does appear in 2, he just has no real role in the story. Pretty sure the Vortex campaign is meant to be happening at the same time as the first game's campaign, which is why the High Elves are not sending help like the usually do during Chaos Incursions; they're too busy with the Vortex. We can probably consider Immortal Empires to be the Grand Finale though. And not railroaded into a Chaos victory this time, unlike the tabletop game, which is nice!

The Kislev victory in Realm of Chaos is canon.

In the first game, which happens after the third in-universe, Kislev is still there and still strong. And not ruled by a mad demon god. Any other ending other than Kislev would make this very unlikely. Even if the winning faction never directly attacks Kislev Ursun's death should leave the Tzardom to crumble as it eventually reaches Endless Winter.

• Apparently confirmed by Champions of Chaos.

The dragon sibling is meant to be a sequel hook

A corrupted Cathayan dragon as a Warriors of Chaos/Daemons of Tzeentch legendary lord.

"Of the nine (dragon siblings), four have been lost to time and enmity", sayeth the Advisor. Well, there happens to be a pre-existing, Chaos-corrupted eastern dragon who Archaon battled during his quest to become the Everchosen. Named Yien-Ya-Long, they were aligned to Tzeentch and terrorized Cathay for over a thousand years before being defeated, and apparently cheated death by becoming something resembling a daemon prince. If recontextualized to be a fallen member of the royal family, he'd make an excellent Evil Counterpart to the playable Cathayan dragons.

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