Total War: Warhammer 3’s eighth faction transforms the game into an RPG

polygon.com:

Spectral bears, flesh-eating ogres, horny cyclops minions — the previously announced seven factions for Total War: Warhammer 3 were already a rogues gallery of bombastic fantasy creatures. And now, with just under a month until the strategy game’s release, developer Creative Assembly has revealed yet another playable faction: the Daemons of Chaos.

Last week, I spent several hours with the turn-based/real-time strategy game, during most of which I commanded the newest faction. And although the third entry has yet to even release, it was some of the most fun I’ve had in the trilogy to date.

The demo gave me access to the first 50 turns of Warhammer 3’s campaign, which follows various warring armies in their quest to gain access to the ethereal Realms of Chaos. Each faction leader has their own reasons for the journey, and the ensuing fighting, intrigue, diplomacy, and backstabbing take place on an absolutely massive map that’s twice the size of either in the first two games. Put simply: Total War: Warhammer 3 is huge. By turn 50, I had only seen about a fifth of the world, judging by the fog covering the rest of the mini-map.

As the name might imply, the Daemons of Chaos can mix and match units from all four other chaos factions (the previously announced Nurgle, Slaanesh, Tzeentch, and Khorne), making for some fascinating army compositions. For my first few battles, I fielded my melee-centric Khorne warriors at the center of my army, while pestering the enemy’s archers with airborne Tzeentch units. Slaanesh’s brutal torture machines made quick work of the enemy flanks, and as my troops whittled away at the enemy’s front lines, I sent in Kharn, my Daemon Prince, to mop up the rear guard.

In keeping with the asymmetrical