Total War: Warhammer has reached the End Times. The campaign mode Immortal Empires, which stitches together three games worth of content, now includes the Lords of the End Times expansion. And the twist is that the hated lore of The End Times has been rewritten. Players can now crush Nagash at his Black Pyramid instead of sacrificing the Fay Enchantress to bring him back. The expansion launched today, and it costs $9 (£7.49).
Rewriting The End Times
The End Times were a controversial period in Warhammer Fantasy. Thirty years of characters and lore were ended abruptly, with beloved figures dying off-screen or fading into mere mentions. The campaign originally required owning all three games, then just the third installment, before landing at this current price. Now you can pick any one of four characters — Boris, Thanquol, Nagash, or The Glottkin — to step into the campaign.
The genius of the expansion is that it lets you rewrite the whole thing. Dislike what happened to Volkmar or Balthasar Gelt? Want Karl Franz to win against The Glottkin instead of losing? Want Grimgor to beat Archaon? Want to kill Mannfred again and again? The expansion’s greatest trick is letting you subvert the fate of The End Times endlessly. It is officially the end of The End Times.
The Chaos Invasion
The expansion includes long-awaited endgame scenarios. Archaon, the Everchosen, finally gets a proper Chaos invasion after ten years. He rallies every Chaos-aligned lord behind him and is functionally immortal until you destroy his invasion fortresses and weaken his Chaos host. But every settlement he razes stays razed until you defeat him, which means you are on the clock. The world is transforming into a hellscape, and you have to stop it.
There is also the Great Ritual of Nagash and the Skaven Vermintide. If you want an undead apocalypse or a rat-flavored one, both are available. You can even run them all at once for the most loreful version of The End Times. And if you are playing as Archaon, you can become the endgame yourself. Activate the Chaos invasion when you grow powerful enough and set about bringing ruin to the world.
What Still Needs Work
Creative Assembly is still working on campaign AI issues, and factions like Bretonnia need a rework to catch up with others. There is still promise of more characters, units, and campaign support in the future. For someone with 3,212 hours in this trilogy, $9 seems like a pretty good value entry point for what they consider the greatest rendition of Warhammer Fantasy’s world put to code.
The expansion is a cherry on top of the mouth-watering cake that is Immortal Empires. It is not the end for Total War: Warhammer. The campaign continues, with more support expected down the line.
The Verdict
The Lords of the End Times expansion is a bold move. It takes a period of Warhammer lore that fans hated and turns it into a playground for subversion. The Fay Enchantress can crush Nagash instead of being sacrificed. The Glottkin can lose. Mannfred can die again. That is the kind of fantasy that makes the expansion stand out.
It is also a technical achievement. Three games worth of content, 110 legendary lords and factions, are now accessible through a single purchase of a single character. That is a lot of world to explore for $9.
The endgame scenarios add weight. Archaon’s invasion is scary, and the Skaven Vermintide adds a second apocalypse to the mix. The ability to rewrite the lore is the real draw, though. It is officially the end of The End Times, but it is also the beginning of a new way to play them.
KEY FACTS BOX
– Cost: $9 (£7.49)
– Original requirement: Own all three games
– Current requirement: Purchase any one character (Boris, Thanquol, Nagash, or The Glottkin)
– Characters included: 110 legendary lords and factions
– Campaign mode: Immortal Empires
– Endgame scenarios: Chaos invasion, Great Ritual of Nagash, Skaven Vermintide
The expansion is a celebration of the fantasy of rewriting history. It is a chance to see the world of Warhammer in a new light, one where the hated lore of The End Times is replaced by a version that suits you. That is a fantasy worth having.
Source material: “Lords of the End Times' greatest fantasy is letting us rewrite the most hated lore in Warhammer's history,” PC Gamer.
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