‘Total War: Warhammer 3’ reveals the entirety of Grand Cathay’s roster

Creative Assembly has shared the first full reveal for Total War: Warhammer 3‘s Grand Cathay unit roster after previously showcasing it in a trailer last week (October 1).

In a blog post released on Friday (October 8), Creative Assembly has detailed every unit that Grand Cathay will include with the launch of Total War: Warhammer 3.

As well as the two legendary lords already detailed, the armies of Grand Cathay will be led by Lord Magistrate or Dragon-Blooded Shugengan Lord units. Players will also be able to use Alchemists and Astromancers as their heroes in the factions. Alchemists will have access to limited magic and will focus on buffing other units, while Astromancers will use the lore of Heavens at “an expert level”.

The lower-tier backbone of the army will be made up of Peasant Long Spearmen, who have “fantastic charge defence” and are expendable. Meanwhile, the Jade Warriors will be expected to hold a line for longer and can adopt a unique defensive stance. The Celestial Dragon Guard are Grand Cathay’s elite infantry, whose presence alone buffs the morale of nearby fighters.

Grand Cathay has several options for missile infantry. While there are peasant archers – which are also expendable – players can recruit Iron Hail Gunners, who carry “the closest we can get to an Old World shotgun”. The Crane Gunners are a two-man firing team which, save artillery, “will outrange anything on the battlefield”. Finally, there are options for both Jade Warrior or Celestial Dragon crossbowmen.

The faction will also have three types of cavalry to use, with the elite Great Longma Riders using flying mounts. Armies can also be supported from above by Sky Lantern and Sky Junk units, which fire at enemies from the sky.

As seen in the trailer, Cathay also has access to gigantic Terracotta Sentinel units, “the ultimate in Cathayan defence of their settlements and armies”.

Artillery comes in the form of the Fire Rain Rocket or Grand Cannon units, which use gunpowder to fire from afar. Finally, the Wu-Xin War Compass is “a mounted spellcaster with access to unique, long-range spells that deal extreme damage to enemy formations”.

Several factions have not yet been revealed for Total War: Warhammer 3, including another three Chaos factions.

In other news, Amazon Game Studios has backtracked on support for region swapping.