Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay Review: No Rot Here!

It is that time once again to review the latest Total War: Warhammer III expansion, this time it is time to get grimy with Thrones of Decay. Developed by Creative Assembly and published by SEGA Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay sees new content being added for The Empire, Dwarves, and Nurgle Daemons with each getting a new sub-faction lead by a new legendary lord and a whole host of unique features and units for each of them. For the first time you can buy each of the factions’s updates separately, and for this review I shall be reviewing the whole Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay experience.

By now I am sure that everyone is well aware of the controversy surrounding the previous expansion. Players felt that it was overpriced and underdeveloped. And didn’t feature as much content as they felt it should. Thrones of Decay however has been far better received. Quite honestly this probably one of the best expansions that has graced Total War: Warhammer III since launch. And it adds a much needed boost to three factions that have needed an update for quite some time. With all that said, let us get into the review!

Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay is out now on PC and can be found on Steam, Microsoft Store, and Epic Store, each part can be purchased individually at £7.49 or as a bundle at £19.10 or your local equivalent.

Story – Familiar Tales

Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay features three short storylines, which are roughly on par with the prior expansion packs I have reviewed for this title. For better or for worse. Much like in the prior expansions all you are getting here is an animation at the start and end of your campaign. And some lore and fluff tidbits are thrown in here and there to help sell the feeling of your respective faction. All of this is done in a way that is perfectly fine but that is just about it. It doesn’t change the world, but then that is what we’ve come to expect from the Warhammer III expansions at this point. Elspeth Von Draken needs to track down the Nemesis Crown (the subject of a 2000s Warhammer campaign). Tamurkhan is gathering up allies to take on the world.

There are some decently put together in-game cutscenes.

And Malakai is going on adventures with Gotrex And Felix trying to build new machines and fulfil his slayer oath. The Expansion takes its name from the Throne of Chaos campaign that Forge World abandoned after one book. I hear from fans of Warhammer Fantasy that it is brilliantly well-written. And given that Tamurkhan and Elspeth both feature as characters in that I was expecting elements of that story here. And sadly they aren’t. Both of the character’s storylines are disconnected from each other and there is no overlap. Which is a shame. The writing as a whole I have to say is fine. But feels like it is there for the sake of being there and adding content into The Realm of Chaos mode rather than making anything too involved or intriguing.

Gameplay – Bang, Bang, You’re Dead!

Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay expands upon and adds new sub-factions to Nurgle, The Dwarves, and The Empire. Adding The Maggot Host, Masters Of Innovation, and Wissenland & Nuln respectively. As hinted at in the Story section the campaigns added here aren’t the grandest that I have played for my reviews here at KeenGamer. However, one thing that I do like is that the core of each of the sub-faction’s campaigns can be played in both Realm of Chaos and Immortal Empires. With the scale for both being adjusted properly. So if you want a smaller scale experience closer in feeling to the first Total War: Warhammer game sans the End Times timer then you are well accounted for. If you want something grander, well, you get the idea.

Thrones of Decay feels like a traditional Total War campaign.

The scale of material added is honestly rather astounding compared to previous expansions. Yes, it isn’t as much as the Chaos Dwarves expansion. But even when we exclude what we get from the recent 5.0 update there is a ton to see and use. I will grant you that some factions feel more developed than others. And bought as a whole package that scale feels even grander. But I’ll get into my feels for each of the updates in just a moment. To Creative Assembly’s credit, they have created a solid, if slightly undercooked, collection of expansions.

Amethyst Woman

In Elspeth Von Draken’s campaign your mission is to find the mysterious and powerful Nemesis Crown and either seal it away forever or use it for your ends. Yes, the Long Victory is your usual “Hold X Settlements” and “Defeat the following factions”. But that is the big focus of your efforts. The Realm of Chaos version of the campaign feels like a traditional Total War experience that is enhanced via the new mechanics that the faction has access to. On The Immortal Empires map this goal becomes a little harder. Mostly due to being in a slightly less defendable position and having more people to take you down potentially. Especially if you do take the crown as your own.

Elspeth’s dragon mount drastically boosts her power.

The overall thrust of the Wissenland & Nuln Campaign feels like you are becoming the big world-ending threat should you take it for your own. Which I am perfectly fine with. The Nemesis Crown provides the holder with some powerful buffs that can almost turn her into a one-woman army at the highest levels. Providing that you take it and keep using the wielder in battle to keep it. If you choose to seal it in the campaign it will remain gone forever, in Immortal Empires it will respawn eventually.

Praise Sigmar and Pass the Ammunition!

The big addition to this subfaction is the Nuln Gunnery School. Which can grant you some frankly ridiculous upgrades for your gunpowder units. To unlock these you need to gather Schematics. These can be gained from conquest and certain buildings and can be used to grant you the aformentioned buffs. From Hellblasters that can run to handgunners with explosive damage. There is something for everyone and for every situation. And this can help you to become stupidly powerful in the early game.

Thrones of Decay’s Gunnery School can be supremely overpowered.

And can leave some of your local rivals blasted off the map rather quickly. Which gives you more time to build up for the oncoming quest to get The Nemesis Crown. And in due course, you will unlock Amethyst units. These are a selection of super units that deal magic damage in addition to gaining a new host of upgrades ahead of the ones that you unlocked earlier. Additionally, you can unlock some single-use (though respawnable) special attacks that can be used in battle. The effectiveness of them is a tad hit or miss. But it’s a welcome addition to some maps.

Red Dwarf

Malakai Makaisson and his faction sit as a cross between the other two factions. They are focused on war machines (as far as the campaign buffs are concerned) and melee thanks to the new slayer units and the buffs that Malakai can give them. There are three major additions to his campaign, two of which are shared with the other dwarf lords and came in a recent update. Malakai’s Adventures is the main and exclusive one and sees you completing a series of objectives to gain buffs for your war machines. This system is more involved than the Gunnery School. This provides you with a collection of challenging missions and some decently written cutscenes. Granted, getting to them can be difficult given you have a very challenging start position.

I wish there was more dilemmas in Total War: Warhammer III.

I do feel that the mechanic needs a little better explaining. And in hindsight I do wish that I had started some of them before attacking certain factions; some require you to fight certain factions in certain locations and once you’ve wiped them out it can be hard to complete them. And one was slightly bugged as it didn’t recognise the trade deal that I had with Cathey. You must complete three of these Questlines to then unlock the final set of missions and take down the Skaven. However, you won’t be doing it ungunned.

Adventure Time!

Malakai is a pseudo-hoard lord. Much like the Pirates, he has a moving settlement that can grant him a reliable source of units and healing on the move. As well as a source of trade resources early on. But that’s not all! As in battle, Malakai can summon a Thunder Barge (a dwarven death blimp) to battle for a limited time. Whilst it isn’t quite the ‘be all end all that certain’ certain broadcasters online have made out to be. It can upset the tide of battle if and when used correctly. The upgrades that you can get for your war machines are great. Some are better than others, but they all make the war machines better.

Modern solutions to classic problems!

Being a slayer Malakai can provide his army with some great buffs to the new Slayer units you can recruit. I won’t lie, dear reader. Up until recently I hadn’t bothered with the Slayer Units. But playing with them in this update has turned me around on them. The new Slayer Pirate unit is added in Thrones of Decay is shockingly effective despite its limitations. And the Goblin Hewuer is, well, it as is mid as you have heard. Sure, it can do a decent amount of damage, but the fact you are getting an extra unit of Slayers with them is what makes them great. But that is a discussion for a future unit guide I feel.

Green Death

Tamurkhan’s campaign is pretty much the same as every other Nurgle faction; spread influence on the world map and grind down units in battle. This is aided by the reworked plague system. And you can gain powerful allies by defeating them in close combat. You’d be forgiven from thinking that given the fact the expansion(s) is/called ‘Throne of Chaos’ that their goal would be to take Nuln. Which isn’t the case in the Realm of Chaos campaign. There your goal is to complete three of the commander battles, though in the Immortal Empires mode you will need to take Nuln so the Throne of Chaos aspect isn’t totally ignored.

There are few that can stand up to the Maggot Lord.

The Nurgle third of this expansion feels the least developed. Whilst there is a host of new units when you subtract what was added in the free update here isn’t as much added here as in the other subfactions. Whilst the whole fealty system is neat and can provide you with some interesting heroes and access to units you couldn’t otherwise get they aren’t much to write home about. Sure, they aren’t bad. But they don’t quite hold a candle to the others that have been added. But the dilemmas that pop up now and again as each of these heroes get into arguments is a nice touch that makes them feel far more developed than they otherwise could have been.

Thrones of Decay Today!

However, Tamurkhan himself is a fantastic Legendary Lord. And it won’t take you too long before you have access to his Toad Dragon mount and can really go to town on your neighbours. Which is great give that his start can be difficult given you aren’t exactly blessed with a strong starting economy. But hey, you aren’t short on foes to raid. The new plague system, whilst not added in this expansion, is still welcome. And turns plagues into something that becomes “must use” feature. And some of the heroes you unlock as part of this expansion can make them last longer.

The missions get far easier later in your campaigns.

Much like with Elspeth’s campaign it does feel like you are building up to become a major threat to the world. Only here that is expected given that you are a Nurgle Daemon. And acquiring this set of followers helps to add to that as well. And allows you to tailor that whole experience even more. I will grant you that the final missions for them are a tad hit and miss. And if you wait long enough and build up enough of a doom stack they can be downright laughably easy. But I will say that they are a fine challenge. Even if I am in two minds on if these missions or Malakai’s are better.

One Bundle to Rule Them All?

As mentioned previously in this review Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay has been released with each faction available separately or as one bundle. In other words if you only want the Nurgle stuff you just need to buy that, if you want that and the Empire stuff you can buy both and leave the Dwarf stuff. Or any combination that you choose. I have to say that I think that this is a good idea from a consumer point of view. As to be honest if I weren’t writing this review I’d probably have skipped the Nurgle update. And that is even before I played it.

Don’t get me wrong dear reader, the Nurgle side of the expansion isn’t bad, it just isn’t as good as the others. I feel that the Empire portion is the strongest, with the Dwarven part coming second. But as a whole, I’d still honestly recommend buying any of them. Depending on how strongly or not you feel towards them; There is little point in buying the Dwarven update if you just play Empire after all. But as a whole package, I have to say that Thrones of Decay offers a fantastic amount of content. And whilst the campaigns themselves are lacking, let’s be honest, you are buying this for the Immortal Empires. And the expanded factions fit in there just lovely.

Graphics & Audio – Tones of Decay

I will be honest with you dear reader, I don’t want to just say “Everything is fine” When it comes to the graphics and audio but that is how I feel about them. The music is as well produced as ever. The new voice acting is fine. I cannot say that it is as good as in prior expansions. With the roles being performed well. But not so well they stand out to me. And the presentation as a whole is good. The new units added are fine translations of their table-top equivalents. Or close to it seeing as there never really was an official thunder barge but that is besides the point. Everything works, everything feels as it should. From the mechanical ticking of the new war machines to the thunderous thudding of TK’s mount charging across the world map.

The intro and outro cutscenes are fine, if inconsistent.

The only area of criticism I have comes to the presentation of the story cutscenes. As they aren’t consistent across the factions. Some lean into 3D models in pre-rendered backdrops where as others are 2D. Some are slightly animated where as some as frozen with only scene transitions really adding any motion. Now there isn’t anything wrong with doing this in and of itself. However I’d rather that it whatever style they were going to pick was equal across all of the factions. Go all 2D with minimal animation or go all in on 3D freezeframes. Each faction having different styles for no good reason just undermines the end effect for me.

Total War: Warhammer III: Thrones of Decay was reviewed on PC.