"You are the endgame": Total War: Warhammer's new nightmarish Chaos invasion finally gives Archaon the apocalyptic event he's been waiting 10 years for

Endgame events are a big deal for Total War players. Most of us remember the Mongols and Timurids invading in Medieval 2—both the sense of anticipation as we prepared for their arrival, and the monumental battles that took place as we tried to survive their onslaught. They're just one of the many features that make Total War campaigns so special.

The original Total War: Warhammer did it pretty well, too, teasing Archaon's arrival and the Chaos invasion before having all the Warriors of Chaos lords unite in a sweeping tide of destruction that ravaged its way through Kislev and the Empire. Still, it never felt complete while we lacked daemons and much of the expanded Chaos roster, and truth be told, it was never all that much of a threat to the world at large.

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Written by

Sean Martin

I've sunk over 3,000 hours into Total War: Warhammer over the last ten years, and while I loved Archaon's invasion in the first game, it never lived up to the true apocalyptic potential of the Everchosen. This time, though, it sounds like he's getting a Chaos endgame event that'll be a genuine threat to the whole world.

Then Total War: Warhammer 2 arrived with its Great Vortex campaign and Total War: Warhammer 3 with its spin on venturing into the Realms of Chaos. Somewhere along the way, the iconic endgame, Archaon's invasion, fell by the wayside, and we got new scenarios revolving around everyone butChaos, even including order factions like the Dwarfs and Wood Elves.

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When playing as more evil-aligned races nowadays, such as the Dark Elves, I'll often find myself allying with Chaos and Archaon to fight against endgame scenarios, which is a strange position to be in. That said, Immortal Empires endgame scenarios always felt rather bland. Despite their wide variety, they're mainly different flavors of grinding away at endless doomstacks.

That's why I'm excited for Archaon's new Chaos invasion endgame, arriving alongside the Lords of the End Times expansion. As revealed in the recent Total War livestream, as well as a rework for the Vampire Counts and our first look at the Glottkin, Archaon's invasion will now be a genuine threat to the entire world.

Thanks to a super high ward save, the Everchosen will be functionally immortal until you weaken his Chaos host by defeating his armies or taking over the invasion fortresses dotted across the world. At the same time, any settlements razed by Chaos will remain so until he's defeated. The new Lords of the End Times devastation mechanic will also come into play, transforming entire regions into blasted hellscapes as a majority of their settlements are despoiled.

It sounds significantly more strategic than simply bashing your head against an endless tide of doomstacks, a kind of damage control last stand as you try to mitigate how much of the world is destroyed, while simultaneously working to weaken Archaon for that decisive final confrontation and killing blow.

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What's even more exciting is that you can actually play as this endgame, too. As mentioned in the stream, when you complete Archaon's short victory conditions, you'll get the option to start this endgame crisis. You'll no longer be able to occupy territory, and when you destroy enough regions in a province it'll become devastated, adding to your overall power level.

Archaon will also be able to confederate every Chaos faction Norsca-style, by defeating their leader in combat, so not just the Warriors of Chaos, but every daemon faction as well. Add to that some visual updates for Archon himself, plus the Wrathmongers and Skullreapers End Times units being added to the Warriors of Chaos Warband system.

All in all, it's shaping up to be the endgame crisis that both Archaon and Chaos have always deserved, but fell short of in the original game. Now we have a significantly more fleshed out Chaos roster, as well as the daemon factions, I'm excited for all of those resources to be chucked into a proper Chaos crisis for us to try and survive.

We don't know when exactly Lords of the End Times expansion launches yet, but it's currently expected later this year.