Over the course of September, we learned quite a bit about one of Total War: Warhammer III’s new factions, Grand Cathay. We’ve gotten a hint at the strategy game‘s unit roster and met Cathay’s two legendary lords, the celestial dragons Miao Ying and her brother Zhao Ming. A new trailer that debuted today provides a look at how they’ll all work together in a massive siege.
In the new trailer, the forces of Chaos march against a fortified city built into the base of Cathay’s Great Bastion, a mighty wall hundreds of miles long that protects the nation’s northern border from nomadic tribes and, more importantly, the daemons who live in the Chaos Wastes. Cathay’s forces take to the field to meet them, and the new clip shows off some of the faction’s coolest new hardware and magic.
One of the cool things we noticed was a magic user casting a spell that appears to have deflected an incoming volley of missile attacks on a nearby formation of infantry. Another spell summons a whirlwind that lifts up a large Chaos unit, spinning it around before slamming it into the ground.
Here’s the trailer:
There’s also the towering terracotta automaton, and a unit of arquebus missile troops whose front rank is composed of soldiers holding stout tower shields that act as rests for the guns held by the troops behind them.
The star of the show, of course, are Miao Ying and Zhao Ming, who transform from dragon to human form and back again over the course of the battle. The winds are definitely not blowing in Chaos’ favour during this siege, which doesn’t look like it’s even going to reach the city gates.
The Total War: Warhammer III release date is coming early next year.