Total War: Warhammer 3’s Tides of Torment DLC adds 40 new units, for a generous definition of the word ‘units’

Total War: Warhammer 3’s long-awaited Tides of Torment DLC is finally due on December 4, and like other recent expansions it’ll be available as three separate add-ons—each containing a new legendary lord and army—and as a bundle combining all three at a discount. Those three seem like they’ll play quite differently, as Creative Assembly’s latest blog highlights.

Sea Lord Aislinn, a High Elf legendary lord, leads the Sea Patrol naval horde, who don’t conquer settlements in the usual way. Instead, they hand control of defeated settlements over to their High Elf allies to earn favors, while maintaining outposts within those settlements that allow for limited building rights. Instead of getting upgrades from settlements, the Sea Patrol have self-sufficient dragonships—basically mobile cities with their own infrastructures and economies. It sounds like a combination of the Vampire Coast’s pirate coves and the Skaven’s under-cities, with the Dark Elf black arks thrown in.