Creative Assembly followed the same fine structure several times: a major update is released along with free content (FLC) and some paid content (DLC). There are new units, heroes, commanders, and updates to parts of the game that are slightly unbalanced, so some factions may be a little more balanced.
This time it's Khorne, the Ogre Kingdoms and the Greenskins that have been updated, and as someone who once played two of the three in real life, I think I'm in a pretty good position to judge.
The first piece of meat on the table is Golgfag Maneater, a truly accomplished mercenary who, unlike many others, is 100% playable as a contracted mercenary army. And since ogre camps can now be moved, it can really work for those of us who need to play as them. There are several new units: yetis, goblins riding other goblins, vultures and a legendary hero – for those who are used to playing with characters, this is the equivalent of a special character. It's a significantly different way to play and a nice change from the game's other campaigns. You don't have to spend days managing 119 cities, and if you don't like playing Sim City while fighting, this is a great way to play.
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This time there is also a free general, Arbaal the Undefeated. I have a soft spot for him for the simple reason that I once played Khorne with him as the main general. Its mechanics go hand in hand with the new Khorne system and, above all, with a more logical technology tree. He's all about killing specific armies and generals, and he can even travel directly to them for a fee. This is rewarded in the form of blessings, such as greatly reduced costs for new units over several rounds. He also has a number of characteristics that make him a fierce fighter. It gets stronger the more enemies are nearby, can cause explosions, and, my favorite, the Eye of Khorne, which can instantly kill an entire unit and turn survivors into chaos monsters. Arbaal is the pure Khorne experience and bonus points for that.
The other Khorne general is not free. He's called (rather generically) Skulltaker, and since Khorne has been slightly redesigned, one can imagine whether a demon general should base his campaign on humans or demons. His “thing” is that he increases his powers after killing others. Not in the normal way, where killing certain generals grants you a specific power-up, but through a collection system – that's right, skulls – that makes your cape more powerful. It's not much, but then again it can teleport those who would be fun to kill. It just takes so many resources that it's not always worth it. It's too reminiscent of an old Norsca mechanic and also the gameplay of Arbaal, and the boosts you get are too small and should benefit your army and not just the general to stand out from the existing mechanics in the game . On the other hand, you get nine new units, and one of them is another familiar monster in the form of Scyla Beginning Grimm.
The Greens have a wise orc – no, that's not an oxymoron, but relative to an orc, Gorbad Ironclaw is actually so intelligent that he can use various strategic contexts. For the rest of us, this would be a cognitive ability at the level of a five-year-old, but for an orc, it's close to true genius. However, this often requires specific combinations of units as they need to be actively used for the tactic to work, and this often leads to specific power-ups. Each of them can be strengthened and is available in different levels. There are also new units. The funniest are the Mangler Squigs – skigs tied together with chains – and among them is a huge squig. I don't know how they explain why he doesn't eat the rest of the army. Gorbad is really fun to play and the new units add some variety and flexibility that I missed. As a former Ork player, it's also fun to see how the range of the many different units is really utilized.
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You can buy the pieces individually or as a bundle for just under £25. That's a lot of money to play the Immortal Empires campaign three times. I realize it's suddenly not that much per hour of entertainment, but it's still enough for three extra generals and a few extra units.
