Creative Assembly has revealed unique mechanics for the armies in Total War: Warhammer 3’s Tides of Torment DLC, and their unit rosters too

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.

Each army in Tides of Torment also gets a bunch of new units, though the trailer’s boast of “40 NEW UNITS” is maybe over-egging it given that several are variants with different weapon loadouts. There are some much-requested units in the roster though, like the merwyrm and the eagle-powered Lothern skycutter. Here are Aislinn’s unit choices.

Aislinn’s roster

• Lord: Sea Helm
• Legendary Hero: Caradryan
• Hero: Mist Mage
• Melee Infantry: Ship’s Company
• Monstrous Infantry: Sea Elemental, Oceanids
• Monster: Merwyrm
• Flying Chariot (Ranged): Lothern Skycutter (Bows), Lothern Skycutter (Bolt Thrower)
• 3x Regiments of Renown

Like Aislinn, Dechala the Denied One handles conquered settlements in an unusual way. Hers are turned into either thrall camps, which boost the economy, tormentor’s holds, for recruitment and defense, and pleasure palaces, for advanced buildings that can serve both purposes.

Dechala earns a unique currency called Decadence that rewards her with expansions for those pleasure palaces as well as other boons, and she can sacrifice thralls for a power that causes area-of-effect damage as well as summoning a Spawn of Slaanesh on the battlefield. Her units include the preyton, which is a kind of flying mutant deer thing.

Dechala’s roster

• Lord: Chaos Sorcerer Lord of Slaanesh
• Legendary Hero: Strykarr of the Sortsvinaer
• Heroes: Druchii Anointed, Exalted Hero of Slaanesh
• Melee Cavalry: Pleasureseekers
• Melee Infantry: Devotees of Slaanesh (Great Weapons)
• Ranged Infantry: Devotees of Slaanesh (Crossbows)
• Monstrous Infantry: Champions of Slaanesh, Slaangors
• Monster: Preyton
• 3x Regiments of Renown

Finally there’s Sayl the Faithless, who joins the Norscan lineup and arrives along with a new starting province just for him called Mountain’s End. Sayl’s one of those scheming arch-traitor types, and so has a unique mechanic called Manipulations that can be used to mess with enemies on the campaign map, even disrupting their diplomacy. While Sayl unlocks more powerful Manipulations as you play, using them too frequently can backfire, which is always the way with Chaos.

He’s also got a Dark Ritual mechanic that rewards him for building Chaos Altars, each of which progress a questline that includes bespoke battles, events, and dilemmas until you unlock the ultimate arcane-power boosting ritual. His roster includes two-headed giants called Curs’d Ettin, and a Fimir Noble hero.

Sayl’s roster

• Lord: Great Shaman Sorcerer
• Legendary Hero: Beorg Bearstruck
• Hero: Fimir Noble
• Melee Infantry: Marauder Bearmen (Axe & Shield, Great Weapons)
• Shock Cavalry: Kurgan Horsemen (Dual Weapons, Great Weapons)
• Monsters: Curs’d Ettin, Curs’d Ettin (Runecaller), Chimera, Dread Maw
• 4x Regiments of Renown

Creative Assembly says it’ll have extra info on Aislinn in a new blog post on November 11, and a gameplay showcase on November 12, with a livestream dedicated to him on November 13. Similarly, Dechala will get a blog post on November 18, with a showcase then a livestream on subsequent days, though if you want more info on Sayl specifically they don’t have a date for that yet.