Realm of the Wood Elves is the latest premium DLC pack for Total War: Warhammer. Roughly the same size as July’s Beastmen DLC, it will add a new playable faction (the Chaos Dwa – no, wait, the Wood Elves) to the campaign map, replete with new Legendary Lords, exciting new units and monsters, and a new lore of magic (the Lore of Life). Read on for more details.
There will probably always be a Total War game on our list of the best strategy games on PC.
In Warhammer lore, the elven race first split when they were driven out of the Old World by the Dwarfs. A few refused to leave, and broke from their kin to linger in the forest of Athel Loren, which current Total War: Warhammer players can see on the campaign map in the southeast of Bretonnia.
The Wood Elves DLC will move Loren’s residents in and divide the forest into several new regions, each inhabited by a different Wood Elf clan, so as with other races you’ll need to start with a little fighting or negotiating to unify your people. Besides adding the elves to the normal campaign mode, the DLC also contains a narrative mini-campaign, entitled The Season of Revelation.
As in the tabletop game, the Wood Elves are an agile, glass cannon army with some of the best archers in the game. Some of their troops can shoot in 360 degrees, while moving, from horseback or even while riding a giant hawk. They can also equip variable arrowheads for different damage types. And yet, their sometimes-frosty alliance with the sentient trees who share their home (Athel Loren is averyatypical forest) means they can field some deadly combat units too: trees pack a punch when they’re angry.
We got the chance to try the Wood Elves for ourselves and ask about their development, so if you’d like to know more, check out our Wood Elves preview for a comprehensive breakdown of their unit roster, playstyle and strategic mechanics.
Realm of The Wood Elves will launch on December 8th, but pre-orders have gone live todaywith a 10% discount on the usual price of £13.99 ($18.99 US) if you’re already sold.