So, you want to know about the Total War: Warhammer III races and factions? While this was one of the biggest causes for speculation during the months immediately after Warhammer III’s announcement, plenty of information has been released since, so we can answer the question with some certainty at this point.

Developer Creative Assembly previously promised to include all 15 of Warhammer Fantasy’s eighth edition core races in its Warhammer Total War games, which at the time prior to the third game’s announcement left only Ogre Kingdoms and Deamons of Chaos. The Ogre Kingdoms were eventually announced and confirmed as the pre-order bonus race in November 2021, while the Deamons of Chaos were revealed in January 2022, fulfilling the prophecy.

We were also treated to the surprise that Grand Cathay, the most enigmatic Warhammer race of them all, would be brought to life for the very first time in partnership with Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy revival. We’ve laid out a quick summary of all of the confirmed races below, along with some additional speculation regarding future Warhammer III races we think might turn up as Warhammer 3 DLC.

The confirmed Total War: Warhammer 3 factions are:

While this isn’t technically a separate race, at the time of writing the game treats this faction as a distinct entity separate to the main four Chaos factions, so we can list it as such. Revealed in January 2022, the ninth Legendary Lord is simply called the Daemon Prince, and they lead a faction known as Legion of Chaos.

Again, the Daemon Prince and Chaos Undivided still fall under the larger Chaos banner, so not technically a wholly seperate race, but still pretty cool none-the-less and they’ll have plenty of reasons to fight the other forces of Chaos during the game.

The reveal trailer and the accompanying announcement were clear: Kislev will be a launch race for Total War: Warhammer III. Warhammer’s analogue of Russia, Kislev borders the Empire to its north and thus is the first place to get reamed whenever the hordes of Chaos in the north pole decide to beat up someone other than themselves. It’s a cold, harsh land full of cold, harsh people, sometimes scorned by the Empire as savages, but as the first line of defence against Chaos the rest of the world owes them a debt. That’s pretty badass, and has made Kislev into fan favourites.

And the official Kislev army roster reveal.

Each of the four Chaos gods will get a dedicated sub-faction. Khorne was announced pretty much straight away and has had a lot of attention, but Tzeentch has been showcased recently fighting against Cathay. Nurgle and Slaanesh got their own time in the spotlight eventually as well.

You can also read about their full army roster, and their campaign mechanics.

And here’s details on their army roster, and campaign mechanics.

And here is the army roster and campaign mechanics.

Cathay

The big news of the original reveal trailer announced Grand Cathay, the Warhammer analogue of China. It has been mentioned often enough in the lore, but it’s never had any official rules or even models.

And you can read up on details regarding their army roster, and their faction campaign mechanics, through those links.

Last, but certainly not least, the Ogres. These big bois were all but confirmed when Ogre Mercenaries were inroduced into Warhammer II, but they only got officially announced for Warhammer III in November 2021. Here’s the announcement trailer:

Technically speaking, the Ogre Kingdoms are a DLC race and not part of the base game’s offering. Anyone who pre orders Warhammer III or purchases the game within the first week, will be given the race pack for free, after which it will be made available for sale as a normal expansion.

For our final two entries in this guide, we’re going to engage in some educated speculation as to what future Warhammer III races could be introduced as DLC.

Hobgoblins are a distinctive sub-species of goblin – slightly taller, yet somehow even more treacherous (one of their units is, honestly, called a Sneaky Git). They are native to the eastern lands where Warhammer III looks to be set, and especially the eastern steppes, where, under the leadership of one Hobgobla Khan, they have built a Hobgoblin Empire bigger than any other Greenskin empire in the known world.