Total War: Warhammer II

Total War: Warhammer II expanded the scope of the trilogy dramatically when it launched in 2017, introducing players to the New World continents of Lustria, Naggaroth, the Southlands, and Ulthuan. The base game featured four new playable races - High Elves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen, and Skaven - each with completely unique mechanics and playstyles. The Vortex campaign told a focused narrative story as factions competed to control or destroy the Great Vortex, the magical maelstrom that has protected the world from Chaos for millennia.

The Mortal Empires campaign, available to owners of both games, combined the maps and factions of the first two titles into an enormous playground for conquest. This combined campaign became the standard way to experience the series, offering unprecedented strategic scope. Each race brought distinctive mechanics to master - the High Elves' influence system, the Dark Elves' slave economy, the Lizardmen's Geomantic Web, and the Skaven's undercities spreading corruption beneath other factions' settlements.

Warhammer II received extensive post-launch support, with numerous DLC packs adding legendary lords, new units, and complete race overhauls. The Tomb Kings and Vampire Coast arrived as standalone race packs, while lord packs fleshed out the base game factions with beloved characters from the tabletop game and army books. Free updates continuously improved existing factions, ensuring that even players who didn't purchase DLC benefited from the ongoing development.

The game represented a massive step forward in production values, with improved graphics, more detailed battle maps, and enhanced campaign mechanics. The magic system felt more impactful, the siege battles were larger and more dramatic, and the quest battles for legendary weapons became memorable set pieces. Total War: Warhammer II proved that Creative Assembly's vision for the trilogy was sustainable and that each installment would meaningfully build upon its predecessors.