Total War: Warhammer III - It's Me, I'm Cathay, I've Come Home

Total War: Warhammer III is finally here, so let's dive straight into a Grand Cathay campaign, discuss all the exciting new features, and take down any demons dumb enough to invade my territory...
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Fanfare for Space, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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[@PtolemyofEgyptI]

Potentially one of the greatest video titles you have ever done!

[@ManyATrueNerd]

I have been cackling about it all day.

[@Rateus_Johanson]

@@ManyATrueNerd Poor tabby ;-)

[@sneedchuckington]

@@ManyATrueNerd its me, I'm cathay, I've come home, pop the kettle on have a lovely cup of tea - Bill Bailey

[@JeanLucPicard85]

I didn't get it until I saw someone mention Kate Bush. Such a retro reference but an amazing one.

[@Rateus_Johanson]

@@JeanLucPicard85 it's before my time and Jon is younger than me. Just born aged 35 as Matt is fond of teasing. The song came out in 1978.

[@fr-of1et]

If you can recruit from other races I can already see the army abominations you can create if you have good enough relations. Just imagine gelt with some gyrocopters or sky junks and maybe some ratling guns for the true nam experience

[@Nanaman720]

Then attack a wood elf forest settlement in order to experience the true terror of speaking trees

[@trashpandapaladin8989]

Personally, I can't wait for the daemons of Chaos to press in. The people will cry out for a hero to defend them, and above the din, we will hear... "You rang?"

[@SaURoN-lh1dl]

With the changes to diplomacy and sieges, playing as Cathay kinda feels like Total War: Warhammer 3 Kingdoms

[@ickyfist]

I wasn't interested in playing Cathay before but this sold me so hard. I love the wall/defense focus of a faction bordering demon ghetto land where you don't want to just conquer it since it makes no sense to but you also have to deal with that constantly threatening you.

[@BewareofTarps]

I'll probably play it like the Empire with Norsca and just conquer it anyway. It's worth capturing and fortifying just so I don't have to deal with the hassle of constant raids and incursions, even if it's not at all worthwhile economically.

[@JB-xl2jc]

Something about setting up excellent defenses and playing kind of "tall" has always appealed to me. And Total War very rarely does that well- its typically more about painting the map , haha. That said... I'm cautiously optimistic now, because the Cathay campaign looks very fun!

[@JB-xl2jc]

Aaaand I just reached the part where Jon says basically exactly what I did early on. Hah!

[@rueisblue]

roman germania border vibes

[@JeanLucPicard85]

The only true way for Jon to play WH3 is to lead an army of Slaaneshi hedgehogs.

[@Lady_Amelia-Eloise]

Is slaanesh in this war hammer I thought she was 40k war hammer?

[@JMartinni]

@@Lady_Amelia-Eloise The Great Chaos Gods are the same in Warhammer Fantasy/Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40k. Also they're more "it" than he/she, Slaanesh in particular is depicted as either/both.

[@JB-xl2jc]

Jon strikes me as more of a Tzeentchy kinda guy

[@JB-xl2jc]

@@JMartinni Yes, hermaphrodity for MAXIMUM hedonistic pleasure too! Also I think in both timelines, the Elves essentially fucked Slaanesh into existence via such EXTREME hedonistic energy being created that it more or less achieved divine sentience, that then coalesced those energies within the warp into a god made of hedonism. Maybe that was only 40k though.

[@imikari2583]

"These random nobodies" - that's no way to talk about your father, Jon - aka the Celestial Dragon Emperor. Your filial piety leaves much to be desired!

[@brandedelemental]

I would love to see a full series with this faction once the embargo is lifted

[@jiado6893]

31:17 That Victory message is laying it on pretty thick. That feels like it should be reserved for the Heroic Victory.

[@Kimbie]

Such a small thing, but upkeep reduction on "Missile Units" is a godsend, applying to a unit *type* instead of a particular unit. My god, that's just instant *Chef's Kiss* 👌 from me. Hope they do some re-wording/working on previous lords too!

[@JB-xl2jc]

100% agree. So many cool characters get terrible general/faction traits because they do things like make Tier 1 units stronger/cheaper. I mean that's cool for about 15-20 turns... until you replace them all and its completely utterly worthless. Ditto for characters that boost useless things like most cavalry. To see a TYPE boosted, that's infinitely more actionable and useful.

[@CH-ml4rz]

I’m very excited for small re-works on WH1 lords for ME2 once they get around to that.

[@BLINDrOBOTFILMS]

I didn't know I could be more excited for Warhammer III, but here I am. I'm way more interested in Cathay than I thought I would be, the whack-a-mole campaign style looks like really good fun.

[@jiado6893]

24:46 I've wanted a warning system for so long, just for my own armies. I would get penalized for being in someone's territory, even though the AI had JUST settled or captured it.

[@BBaumBBaum]

I'm here solely because the title is so good

[@bastiwen]

Probably one of the best video titles on the entire website !

[@jakublederer1257]

I am glad that CA has the divine generosity to not only stop striping basic features, but to also add back stuff Rome 1 had. Perhaps in 30 years time we’ll see the return of multilayered defenses from Medieval 2.

[@KahaniKhalifa]

Looking good so far. The yin/yang mechanic feels as though someone has watched Jon's previous playthroughs and is desperately trying to find a way to force him to use more than one unit at a time. Not convinced about allied recruitment though. One of the best things about Total Warhammer is that factions feel so much more distinct than in the historical games. Letting everyone recruit every unit spoils that, and risks letting you just build the same army every game no matter who you play as.

[@MostlyClueless]

You can't do that thankfully, there's a limit to 4 allied units per army.

[@cochemoche]

33:05 I could've sworn you were about to say "No. No no no no no, I'm not going to fight them in the streets 'cause... I'm going to fight them in the sheets!" Lol 😆

[@Alderus]

I've been burnt out on Total War: Warhammer for a couple of years now, but this seems real fun!

[@Evil_Hypnotist]

Cannot wait for this. Just started a swan song Mortal Empires co-op campaign on TW:Warhammer 2 with Brets and Wood Elves to get us in the mood. All praise to Grandfather Nurgle!

[@blackwoodknight4913]

I don't know how I feel about the immediate attrition for defenders, especially for the walls, it needs a bit of a buffer for walled cities and you know the Wall that holds Chaos back the get supplies and be immune as long as it's connected to friendly territory at least as you can't surround it just come from one side.

[@FailcopterWes]

And with that title, the song comes back, along with memories of my English teacher blasting it to the class while we studied Wuthering Heights. 10/10 title.

[@avrovulcan8524]

We did Macbeth and my English teacher still blasted it. It's a good song though.

[@guardsman-against-the-chaos]

Going to be honest that yin yag mechanic sounds really annoying when you're playing but the fact there's defensive wars sounds good that was always my favourite part of Rome and medieval (didn't in warhammer games tho.) Also the sige looks promising.

[@gargoyles9999]

Perfectly balanced as all things should be

[@Nekomancer69]

So Jelly you get to play it early.

[@metagreen1931]

This feels like a mixed bag. The sieges and diplomacy are at least a return to form from older titles, but things like yin/Yang feel artificially advantageous, like you don't get bonuses to your archers from being close to melee due to the inherent benefits of each unit, but rather the game just gives you a boost for playing how it wants you to play it. Still, it's fun to watch someone play, so I'd definitely want to see a series of it

[@dummythicc6660]

thats how warhammer is, the game wants you to use artillary and such as skaven, you can go all infantry but the game will punish you... At least here it doesnt make you play out of unit stats but out of actual formations, but i definitly see your point

[@metagreen1931]

@@dummythicc6660 yeah it's part of why I don't play Warhammer stuff anymore, it feels a bit too soreadsheety

[@cory6266]

Jon, Jon, seriously. Jon. Ogre Kingdoms.

[@johnferrara9624]

What a title!

[@Ryu_D]

Thank you for the video.

[@MrLeafeater]

Best video title, evar! Glad I sub'd, every day!

[@silverfoxdelta290]

barely even finished a warhammer campaign, and i have 1 and 2, but i may get this for the quality of life changes. i too hate the random probability of diplomacy, the fact you are seen as an aggressor when attacking raiders, everything that has to do with seiges, attacking walled settlements

[@silverfoxdelta290]

also, if i have a non aggression pact with someone who attacks my ally, will i be called a traitor for siding with my ally? i'm pretty sure that happens in WH2

[@silverfoxdelta290]

@@Sletchman couldn't agree more. i also love the system of settlement trading. my allies have often lost settlements to enemies, leaving me to take them back, but i dont want them, so im left to raze the settlement and hope my ally takes it back. or i may have a capital and all but one minor settlement in a province. then i either have to try to confederate the whole faction, or go to war with it. all for one small settlement. i also hope cavalry are better in this game

[@silverfoxdelta290]

@@Sletchman i play mostly high elves so cav is basically useless. reavers are glass canons and die if you have some archers, and silver helms are so armored and slow they get bogged down. dragon princes are the closes thing to usable, but they are expensive and come so late in the game.

[@silverfoxdelta290]

@@Sletchman i also like the way seiges work with how the defenders take attrition right away. in WH2, seiges were so boring i would even auto resolve a Pyrrhic victory. since it took 6-12 turns before attrition even kicked in, and so long for seige equipment to be built, it gave the enemy all the time in the world to send a relief force.

[@silverfoxdelta290]

@@Sletchman i see what you mean, and i have thought about how it might be a bit too much in the attackers favor. maybe it would make more sense to have 2 turns before attrition kicks in. after all, attrition, at least in seiges, represent people dying to starvation. having 2 turns before attrition would represent the city making use of stored food, which would realistically be in any city. or it could stay and be an incentive to not take too many settlements too fast, instead trying to upgrade the settlements and bolster the garrisons first. in WH2, i always make sure to have walled settlements, as well as landmarks where possible, to get the best possible garrison. or you could have a small army, about 10-12 units, in every province to work as an instant relief force, though that would get expensive after a while.

[@TheNamesDitto]

woah it's like Warhammer's version of Feng Shui

[@dool889]

If only this was on the strategy vote. I know historically the videos didn't do well but I still would have loved this series.

[@shadowblade5656]

It's been so long since I've been so thoroughly hyped for a new game release. Cathay has been my favored faction since they were revealed, and everything I see about their campaign, I get more excited. It's like giving the Dawi magic, cavalry, Jezzails, and Dragons. The diplomacy rework is looking so good! Outposts are gonna be amazing to deal with, and I literally had no idea they were adding in the "Stop raiding me and get out of my territory" thing for the neutral factions until this video, which is gonna be a godsend. I also didn't know that they retouched starving out in sieges too; that's gonna be so nice to not have to sit there for ages before seeing a change. Though I wouldn't mind if certain buildings made it so you could have a couple turns before attrition kicks in. And that's not even considering the potential for the FULL map experience coming later down the line. I'm gonna love this so much

[@richardurwin4432]

Warhammer Pokemon challenge run: field as many signature units from as many factions as possible. Got to catch them all!

[@Oliolli3]

39:17 That Chaos Lord is named "Soren Kalsarikannit" Suomi mainittu..?

[@Zephaeon]

The initial stuff released about Cathay and Miao already had me excited, and this definitely pushed me over the edge. Tempted to give the second game another playthrough :D

[@sniperwiper09]

me: oh jons doing more warhammer 2 stuff... also me: whai a flipping second...

[@Elefantebailarin]

This title is magnificent

[@gobackhome2]

next time they invite you over the Dev's house to play do me a favour and mention that the world of the Redwall books would work great for a fantasy setting. thanks!

[@Jacob_Tribal]

It's coming to Xbox game pass in February. I can't wait so excited!

[@Hazlius]

Cathay are a combo of Dwarves, High Elves, Tomb Kings, and Empire. What a magnificent bunch

[@TheNzFox]

don't let them hear you say that :P they apparently view the high elves with disgust due to the way the Asur treat dragons. In Cathay society its unimaginable that someone would want to ride a dragon

[@sabalos]

I really wish I could like a Total War game. Been trying on and off for twenty years now.

[@21films92]

Try total war Rome 1, it’s a classic and simple. I actually picked it up on mobile and have been addicted ever since

[@TheNzFox]

I was the same until the fantasy games. A combination of the magic, the setting, the RPG style lords and the fact you can watch a giant 't-rex' fighting a dragon made it much more engaging for me than other total war games. I wish I could enjoy the more traditional TW games, and I am envious of people who do as more games=more fun, but watching one group of humans fighting another almost identical looking group apart from some weapons just does not engage me

[@sabalos]

@@TheNzFox I do love Warhammer flavour, but I like medieval (and shogunate/classical/etc) flavour too, that's never been the problem. Just in the actual battles, I never feel like I'm achieving anything - even in the tutorials, it never feels like I'm having an effect with any of my orders.

[@jonhillman871]

wuthering wuthering wuthering heights

[@MTCason]

I came for the Kate Bush reference. I stayed for the Warhammer III gameplay. :D

[@CH-ml4rz]

LegendOfTotalWar will be streaming several hours of Khorne today for anyone interested.

[@officialteaincorporated243]

Well my sleep schedule is gone now! BLOODFORTHEBLOODGOD!!

[@Lady_Amelia-Eloise]

SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE

[@TheNzFox]

"Skarbrand hates GOING OUTSIDE! and going INSIDE! Skarbrand shall STAY IN THE DOORFRAME! He hates it slightly less..."

[@JhenMaster]

Jon, if you liked the subtle balance management of this campaign, you might enjoy Amazing Cultivation Simulator. Yes that is a weird transition and it's a honestly wildly different game with some vague parallels, but I definitely think it's up your ally considering how much you enjoyed RimWorld as well.

[@lordrosemount]

Blowed if I'm letting you in my window-ow-ow-ow.

[@Petter1900]

Cathay will be my home too as it becomes a Tzeentchian nightmare realm! Can't wait for this. Together with Elden Ring its gonna be one spicy febuary in gaming. Let's hope we don't get a world war to spoil it before then.

[@thirdvect0r]

Jon, your misdeeds are known from Ireland to Cathay

[@InstInctico]

Was hoping to see your video on this today as well, looking forward to this!

[@wardop123]

Did not expect a Kate Bush reference

[@geekbeat13]

Okay

[@alexisauld7781]

A Horror, a Bloodletter, and a Daemonette walk into Cathay. They try to order donuts, but get turned away.

[@sophiew757]

It's nice to see proper siege battles including barricades are coming back from earlier in the main series. Weird thing to leave out imo

[@NickMunch]

I'm looking forward to more of this.

[@joeystringfellow4466]

Cathy no way home

[@codingentity]

No game can be this good on (almost) release. Clearly you have been sent all the creative assembly women.

[@sweepingtime]

I should have started with WH2 because it came out with my favourite faction, the Tomb Kings, but something about Warhammer as a Total War game rubbed me the wrong way. Well, the third game in the series is a good time to jump in I guess, as it looks to be the most complete version of the series yet.

[@outerik90]

A WALL!!!

[@MentalSpidec]

Jon got access to WH3 and decided to play 3Kingdoms instead lol

[@steliokontos3935]

I can't wait to play as Cathay with a full army of Warplock Jezzails from my best friend Ikit Claw.

[@TheNzFox]

they already get that unit though, they don't have ratling guns

[@fudgeyman99]

I can't wait to see more!

[@konpekinogomi]

This really has three kingdoms graphics

[@exquisitemeat5845]

... I miss Three Kingdoms :(

[@JRufu]

It looks very impressive.. still odd you can siege out Daemons though and they take damage...

[@GeeZedKay]

Oh how I love this! I absolutely cant wait!! I just hope they reworked the sieges for the WHOLE map! Altdorf, Karaz-a Karak etc... I CANT WAIT!!!

[@Hazlius]

I wouldn’t expect a full mortal empires for a loooooong time with how many updates to the old games they’ll need to make. Honestly I’m preparing myself to have to wait a year

[@GeeZedKay]

@@Hazlius yeah, I remember for warhammer 2 there was a month (I think?) for the mortal empire campaign to release.. but one can only hope! Hopefully it's not as long as a year! Whatever the wait, I'm sure it'll be well worth it!

[@Hazlius]

@@GeeZedKay yeah I’m not complaining I know it will be worth it. My far fetched hope is that they’ll wait a year, but it’ll be a HUGE map including places like the kingdom of Ind

[@GeeZedKay]

@@Hazlius I could see that.. And Nippon!! I can already see the DLCs that I'm gonna throw my money at! Thinking of all this makes me wonder/hope that they'll make a globe type map for mortal empires..

[@shadowjezzter]

I wonder if the ai tried to establish outposts in your bases. Because if so that would be amazing

[@ChulioRCHulio]

Total Warhammer let´s go!

[@ArninoStorm]

The Caravan system looks so cool, is it just Cathay or for everyone?

[@magmakojote1663]

only Cathay

[@onchristieroad]

I've got visions of Daemon Caravans now.

[@dumont7478]

The yin-yang stuff sounds really annoying to deal with. So I probably will try it out once and never touch Cathay again.

[@Umu_Eri]

Im new to warhammer How can their be antiquiry-medieval era armies/weapons/tactics in a far future?

[@Safetytrousers]

It's not set in the future. Warhammer started as a tabletop game of high fantasy Lord of the Ringy type armies, and that is what the video game Warhammer is. The future version of Warhammer is Warhammer 40K.

[@TheNzFox]

as safety said, its warhammer fantasy as opposed to warhammer 40k. It can be confusing for a new person as even though a huge amount of lore is effectively copy/pasted from one to the other they are officially not related and things that may at first glance be identical are actually quite different, for example, the 'Empire of man' is very different from the 'Imperium of Man' even though at a surface level they have a lot in common. I don't want to go into the differences too much as its something better watched in a video, but basically fantasy came first and tends to have more nuance with its characters and race relations while 40k was designed to be a over the top sandbox where anything and everything goes and everyone, as in EVERY faction, is absolute monsters. Oh yeah, and then it gets more confusing as technically the fantasy world is destroyed and no longer being developed (although they are bringing it back due to the popularity of the total war:warhammer games), and there is strong indication that the 40k setting is about to go through some kind of reboot as well.

[@konpekinogomi]

Well the yt notifs completely gone kaphut.

[@Raycheetah]

So, Warhammer Fantasy Texas. Got it. ='[.]'=

[@Killix_Games]

Do you think you could do a challenge run with this team, only building and using 1 side, only yin or yan. It would make such an interesting thinkfest.

[@nicklange2962]

Yes

[@devondomingo2310]

Series?plz

[@leejohnson3270]

Well Im already sold for the game

[@gmmg3879]

Dragon animations look super raw. Might as well be T-posing and menacingly sliding towards enemy.

[@EGRJ]

So, if you get...let's call them 'imported' units, do they have their own Yin/Yang qualities?

[@theoriginalcheebamech]

BLOODFORTHEBLOODGOD!!! Oh, hi Jon

[@dungeonkeeper42]

I can't find this expansion for warhammer 2?

[@zeus04]

Playing against Heathcliff then?

[@tmage23]

A Kate Bush pun? Very nice.

[@Safetytrousers]

Let me into your Windows.

[@Schnaqer]

i would be so hyped for wh3 if the battle AI actually was a bit better so you dont get the same old messy battles where they instantly break formation and you just slaughter them

[@marcelogonzalezdanke]

Hey Jon what are the specs of your PC?

[@Kr0noZ]

Soooo... it's Shogun 2 siege mechanics? Good. Still don't quite like the newer art style (including Troy and 3 Kingdoms but also Shogun 2). I'd prefer them going back to actual history and use more grounded graphics; say, Empire or Napoleon - something without the overloaded UI.

[@richardsonrym]

They're so coold, let them through your big gates.

[@Dedrich]

Please tell me there are still Dwarves!

[@andrewwarwick6145]

There are dwarves on the map but they aren't playable. Someone mentioned they saw a number of wh1 and wh2 legendary lords around.

[@TheNzFox]

there most likely is Dawi around somewhere as minor factions, but to play them we will have to wait for the combined map which should be 3 ish months after launch. You need to own all 3 games for that though and I have absolutely no idea how that works with 3 being on the gamepass or if you only own 2 and 3, personally I would like everyone to have access to that map but you only play whatever factions you own but atm you need to have all 3

[@shacklock01]

Makes me wonder a little how much 3 kingdoms assets they semi used. But yeah honestly, should be good, i'll play it but honestly I'm just hoping after this they can really nail down the next great leap forward in the proper historical total wars that Empires was MEANT to be and that honestly so far the warscape engine hasent really delivered. Then of course i'm somewhat worried sexy warhammer has broke the historical angle forever cos investors ;p Then again, tap into great national epics like with Three Kingdoms n China...still big money hrmmm

[@KashouWannabe]

While I would love a fantasy Total War I'm just not into Warhammer. Troy is kinda fun, but would love a proper Ancient Myth (not just Greek) TW showdown.

[@librarianseth5572]

Day 603 of requesting Zoo Tycoon. I'm looking forward to this game, oh so very much. You don't see GW updating lore often, and this game's already done it - what other magic is in store?

[@lordofspades9222]

21:04 They just worship Nuffle. What is wrong with that?

[@tite93]

Why is it not an option in the Democracy Week? Jon did a playthrough of previous parts iirc

[@officialteaincorporated243]

It could be that he's going to play it as a series anyway so didn't put it in with the votes.

[@fudgeyman99]

Very likely wasn't able to talk about it

[@rueisblue]

maybe the game wont be out by the time he wants to start the new series

[@rueisblue]

@@fudgeyman99 he could have just waited a few more days if that was the case

[@tite93]

@@rueisblue it's out in February, so it could definitely be a contender

[@hamhamson7740]

Egg

[@magnuspetersen2989]

Wow! They added features Total war had 18 years ago.

[@Scott_Forsell]

Quite weirdly, I have been fixated on Kate Bush all day. Hitting repeat on many songs most notably This Woman's Work and of course Wuthering Heights. Serendipity. My 58 year old male baritone voice butchers her lyrics, but I sing along anyway.

[@madthundercat]

I was hoping for an option to decrease battle sizes to lets say 15vs15 units or less to reduce micromanagement and give people time to enjoy the visuals :/

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

: D

[@VictorTheLegend]

Please bring back Total War 3 Kingdoms too!

[@AaronCorr]

Still salty about Games Workshop changing their IP guidelines and killing fan animations...

[@dezthedapper1181]

Oh shit, are the KZbinr editions out?