Shaping up to be the single most distressingly awesome grand strategy game on the market, it takes merely a fleeting look at the pandemonium that are Total Warhammer 3 factions to get giddy with excitement. Today, we're here to celebrate that particular bit of hype!

That's right - today's topic is that of faction variety, and specifically that of TW3 faction variety. Because - yes - we might be getting almost all the faction content from previous Total Warhammer games, but that's not to say there's nothing cool about the all-new content, either.

Quite the opposite, even. Total War: Warhammer 3 is going to be the first time we see a number of these races in action. At least, as far as SEGA and Creative Assembly's TW goes. There's much to be excited about, trust us. Down below, we've got short overviews of each of the game's seven starting playable factions. Enjoy!

Pre-order Total War: Warhammer 3 to get access to the exclusive Ogre Kingdoms race.

Total Warhammer 3 Factions List - Confirmed Races

Nurgle: plague-bearing legions of the half-dead

The disease-ridden deity of decay, despair, and end of all that is good, Nurgle has long been associated with plague-bearers of all sorts. Entropy given form, Nurgle offers his "gifts"  to the forsaken and the downtrodden and seems to genuinely have a modicum of affectation for his followers.

So far, precious little has been revealed about Nurgle's forces, though it's a reasonably safe bet to expect them to be tightly interwoven with poison subtypes and plague spreading. Expect a lot of zombie-adjacent body horror and a very particular kind of combat style that favors spreading "gifts" as far and wide as humanly possible.

Interestingly, in Warhammer lore, Nurgle also represents the concepts of rebirth, survival, and perseverance. Whether this will be represented in-game, we do not know. With how careful Creative Assembly's been with Warhammer lore, however, we feel that it's a pretty easy guess.

Playable sub-factions and Legendary Lords:

• unknown

Kislev: ice magic and arctic beasts

The Kingdom of Kislev is one of the few human civilizations that have managed to eke out a living in the Old World. These warlike peoples are primarily inspired by old Slavic societies, with a dash of prominent ice magic added to the mix. Y'know, for good measure.

Though human, Kislev is no pushover. Mighty beastmasters and hardy warmongers, one and all. Their forces field cutting-edge war-tech alongside powerful magic to deal with most threats. War-sleds, firearm-rearing cavalry, and bear riders are just the start of it. Saber-tooth tigers are also a neat touch, we feel.

Kislev seems to be the primary counter-driver to Khorne's berserker. There's a joke in there somewhere about a song of fire and ice, but we'll steer clear of it for the time being.

Playable sub-factions and Legendary Lords:

• The Ice Court, Tzarina Katarin
• The Great Orthodoxy, Kostaltyn

Tzeentch: abject madness and chaotic destruction magic

The literal avatar of change and trickery, Tzeentch is arguably the single most capable Ruinous Power of all time. Really, the only thing that stops him from twisting all of reality into submission is that he is pure chaos. Nobody really knows what Tzeentch is planing. In fact, nobody's truly equipped to comprehend his (its?) plans in the first place, if there is such a thing as a plan in the first place.

Far as Total Warhammer 3 factions go, though, Tzeentch is a very promising deity. Players using his troops will field Lovecraftian monstrosities and basically attempt to turn the world into an eldritch horrorscape.

In gameplay terms, we know that Tzeentch will pursue knowledge more than anything else. Players will need to collect so-called Grimoires and spend them on the 'Changing of the Ways' feature. These are supposed to be major pivots in one's approach to playstyle and objectives, essentially a practical incarnation of what Tzeentch is all about.

Playable sub-factions and Legendary Lords:

• Oracles of Tzeentch, Kairos Fateweaver

Khorne: berserker god and patron of slaughter

Khorne is the most direct and single-minded of all Ruinous Powers. Focused on sheer brutality and the relentless slaughter of everything that is weak and cowardly, Khorne perseveres where there is killing. A simple premise for a simple god, generally speaking.

The gameplay mechanics attached to Khorne seem to reflect this apparent simplicity, too. Khorne's forces include large, powerful berserker mutants and demons - ones that excel in melee combat and have an element of magic resistance to them. With each killing blow they deal, Khorne will grow more powerful. On paper, this sounds like an easy way to grow incredibly overpowered, but we'll need to wait and see how it meshes with in-game balancing.

Funnily enough, Khorne will use neither Money nor Favour resources, as most other factions do. Instead, their currency will be skulls. Skulls that are, obviously, gathered from fallen enemy forces. Could make for a fun playthrough! Blood for the Blood God, eh? Or was it Skulls for the Skull God? Hmmm.

Playable sub-factions and Legendary Lords:

• Exiles of Khorne, Skarbrand

Grand Cathay: anti-Chaos dragon magic and literal dragons

The single most powerful human kingdom in all of Warhammer Fantasy, Grand Cathay draws its inspiration primarily from ancient China - Ming Dynasty most specifically. It's a massive, sprawling empire that is deeply allied with Order and nominal factions, such as those of High Elves and other human societies.

Curious, however, the rulers of Cathay aren't actually human. Instead, they're literally dragon shapeshifters. This grants Cathay access to an immense wartime resource, with incredibly powerful dragon and dragon-adjacent beasts being used for anything and everything, should push come to shove.

Cathay will be more strategic than many other Total Warhammer 3 factions in regard to gameplay. Their Ivory Road feature will allow them to establish trade routes for income, and they'll also need to balance on a knife's edge for their Harmony feature, which is essentially a Yin/Yan alignment. This will, in turn, provide various bonuses depending on where a player's alignment may lie.

Playable sub-factions and Legendary Lords:

• The Northern Provinces, Miao Ying
• The Western Provinces, Zhao Ming

Slaanesh

Potentially the most horrific and disturbing of all Ruinous Powers, Slaanesh is a force to be reckoned with. The problem with this particular deity is that Slaanesh is made stronger where there is excess, obsession, and hedonism. I.e. anywhere where there is life. Any amount of desire and decadence helps bolster Slaanesh in this way or the other, which is an obvious issue for most other pretenders.

Given that Slaanesh instills both joy and suffering, both creativity and horror, its gameplay mechanics are bound to be... interesting. Nothing's been revealed about this particular faction just yet, but our bet would be on it balancing beauty with horror in the worst way possible.

Mechanics-wise, we may be looking at hedonistic excesses and slow, methodical corruption of the mind. A spy-oriented playstyle that favors infiltration, perhaps? We'll need to wait and see.

Playable sub-factions and Legendary Lords:

• unknown

Pre-Order Exclusive: Ogre Kingdoms

Effectively a pre-order bonus, the Ogre Kingdoms will also be made available post-launch as optional DLC for players who might be joining in later on. Anybody who places a pre-order on the game or purchases it within the first week of launch, however, will snag this faction at no additional cost!

Consisting almost entirely of Monstrous Infantry and Beast units, Ogre Kingdoms will offer a more mercenary-like playstyle than most players will be used to. For example, Ogres have the option of taking on contracts from other factions they aren't engaging in open warfare. This will lead to various rewards down the line, offering an alternative progression path.

They will also have access to Ogre Camps for immediate settlement functionality, though they won't be especially good at holding/upgrading existing cities in the first place. Their unique resource is - predictably - meat. Wonder what that could be used for, huh.

Playable sub-factions and Legendary Lords:

• Goldtooth, Greasus Goldtooth
• Disciples of the Maw, Skrag the Slaughterer

Closing Thoughts

And there you have it! With over half-a-dozen all-new combatants in the fray, the meta is bound to shift, and the players will go alongside it. There's no telling yet how will it all mesh in practice, of course. If you'd like to get a head start with previous games' best DLC, though, we've got a guide summarizing your best choices ready to go. Either way, we're looking at a huge amount of variety already. To say nothing of upcoming DLC post-launch.

Of course, Total Warhammer 3's rendition of Mortal Empires won't be the only thing worth playing. The game's admittedly massive Campaign Mode alone will offer hundreds of hours of playtime for sure, and none of the previous games' factions will play any sort of role there.

There's really not much else to say right now, other than to invite you to check out our technical overview of Total War: Warhammer 3 in the first place. Featuring release dates, pre-order content, gameplay trailers, system requirements, and heaps more, it's your one-stop shop to get as much core information about the game as quickly as possible. Neat and handy, if you ask us!

The game is set to launch on February 17th, 2022. We'll be seeing you on the battlefield!