While the majority of his foes in Warhammer 2 were angry metalheads, he’s now able to face off against all manner of Warhammer 3‘s new demons with his guerrilla band of skinks and it finally feels like the grand world-saving campaign he always deserved. From his new isolated start position on the fringe of the world, Oxyotl can teleport his forces across the world like a scaly XCOM, to fight a far tougher cadre of Chaos than he’s used to. Speaking of which, Oxyotl – the Lizardmen’s version of Doom Guy – is a brilliant example of a lord that’s been enhanced by everything Immortal Empires brings. Two particularly brilliant campaigns center around Volkmar The Grim and Mannfred Von Carstein’s competing race to find the books of Nagash, which has taken them to the far south – a region now bursting at the seams with demons, Tomb Kings, and Lizardmen.

Though most eyes will be on how Warhammer 3‘s new factions gel with the rest of the trilogy, new starting positions and the occasional fresh mechanic means that there are several older lords that are worthy of your time. Immortal Empires has a whopping 86 legendary lords to start with, a mix of base factions from the trilogy and DLC that’s been added over time. The real draw for most Total War (or Games Workshop) fans is what’s contained within. In terms of scale, Immortal Empires is a behemoth that towers over any of Creative Assembly’s prior Total War campaigns, but size isn’t everything. The Chaos Wastes, once the Old World’s minuscule naughty step for mutants and mischief-makers, is now a vast and menacing expanse that stretches from one corner of the globe to the next while the mountainous East now opens up to the lush plains of Cathay.

READ MORE: The 6 best strategy games you should play todayĪs you can imagine, the addition of an entirely new game to Warhammer 2‘s Mortal Empires campaign map brings vast new lands to conquer.

That campaign, Immortal Empires, is finally here – and even in its beta state, it’s everything a strategy fan could hope for.

Years ago, developer Creative Assembly shared a lofty vision for a trilogy of Warhammer games, fused into one vast campaign map. Total War: Warhammer 3 was always destined for greatness.

Warhammer conquest & chaos save file