With their Steam page now live, the new Norscan faction have been revealed for Total War: Warhammer. They’re free if you pre-order Total War: Warhammer II, but won’t actually appear in the sequel, so only pick them up if you own the original game.
Get the lowdown on the sequel: here’s everything we know about Total War: Warhammer 2.
Consumer advice out of the way, let’s talk Norsca. They’re an aggressive army full of monsters and marauding raiders. They can field quick and hard-hitting troops, such as chariots, warhounds, and ice wolves, as well as agile missile cavalry.
Some of their units have vanguard deployment, and all but the biggest can hide in forests to set up ambushes. The marauders themselves also get a unique rage mechanic, which apparently enables them to “tear through” their enemies, though it’s not clear how this will work. Don’t expect much in the way of armoured troops, shock cavalry, ranked archery, or artillery, however.
Rather than make the Varg or Skaeling tribes playable, the Norsca DLC adds two all-new tribes, each led by new legendary lords with new starting positions. Wulfrik the Wandererleads the new Norsca faction – he’s a fearless duellist who roams land and sea seeking the world’s strongest monsters and warriors to kill. One of his Chaos gifts is the ability to issue an irresistible challenge in any language – accordingly, one of his skills enables him to pin enemy characters in place while he fights them.
Throgg the Troll Kingis your second legendary lord. Chaos mutations affected his mind rather than his body, granting him a rare intelligence among his otherwise immensely stupid race. He leads the Wintertooth faction, buffs all troll units and reduces their upkeep, and gets a unique building if he captures Eringrad, a settlement in Troll Country. He also has a special magic missile attack called Copious Vomit.
Creative Assembly have released the very first video of the faction in action, and you can watch them at the top of this page.
Lords
- Marauder Chieftain (melee lord, have four upgrade paths aligned with each of their gods, can choose several mounts including a War Mammoth)
Heroes
- Skin Wolf Werekin (melee/support hero, can confer offensive or defensive buffs as they level up)
- Shaman Sorcerer (magic hero, uses lores of Metal, Death, or Fire, may be mounted on chariots)
- Fimir Balefiend (melee and magic hero, uses lores of Shadows or Fire)
Infantry
- Marauders (sword infantry)
- Marauder Spearmen (spear infantry)
- Marauders with Great Weapons
- Marauder Berserkers (sword infantry with frenzy, berserk, immune to psychology)
- Marauder Champions (armoured sword infantry)
- Marauder Champions with Great Weapons
- Marauder Hunters with javelins (missile infantry)
- Marauder Hunters with throwing axes (missile infantry, armour piercing)
Cavalry & Chariots
- Marauder Chariot
- Marauder Ice Wolf Chariot (causes fear and frostbite)
- Marauder Horsemen (missile cavalry, vanguard deployment, fire while moving)
- Marauder Horsemen with throwing axes (missile cavalry, vanguard deployment, fire while moving)
- Marauder Horsemasters (missile cavalry, fire while moving, vanguard deployment)
Monsters & Beasts
- Norscan Warhounds (missile resistance)
- Norscan Ice Wolves (missile resistance, frostbite, cause fear)
- Norscan Trolls (cause fear, regeneration)
- Norscan Ice Trolls (cause fear, regeneration, frostbite)
- Feral Manticore (missile resistance, cause fear and terror)
- Skin Wolves (physical resistance, cause fear, frenzy)
- Armoured Skin Wolves (physical resistance, cause fear, frenzy)
- Fimir Warriors (cause fear, from the mist, armour sundering, magical attacks)
- Fimir Warriors with great weapons (cause fear, From the Mist, armour sundering)
- Norscan Giant (siege attacker, causes fear and terror)
- Feral Mammoth (siege attacker, causes fear and terror)
- Frost-Wyrm (missile resistance, causes fear and terror, chilling aura, frostbite)
- War Mammoth (siege attacker, causes fear and terror, anti-large javelins)
- War Mammoth with Warshrine (siege attacker, causes fear and terror, Favour of the Ruinous Powers, Giver of Glory)
You can check out Norsca on Steam here. They’ll launch on August 10 and cost you £7.99 ($9.99), but you’ll get 10% off if you pre-order them, and you’ll get them free if you pre-order Total War: Warhammer II. That’s due to launch on September 28.