Forget High Elves, The Winner Of Total War: Warhammer 3's Tides Of...

I'm just going to come out and say it: I think Sea Lord Aislinn's campaign is the weakest of all three in the new Tides of Torment expansion. I know, I know, I was expecting the High Elves finally getting their naval treatment to appeal to the sea-faring sicko in me, after all, I did once sail 25 Black Arks across the world to sack Altdorf for 470k gold. And I consider Lokhir Fellhart's ocean-going campaign the best in Immortal Empires.

The High Elves maiden voyage should've been made for me. Don't get me wrong; Sea Lord Aislinn's campaign is a fun concept, as you focus on supporting Asur supremacy as a whole. It's a somewhat complex campaign to get your head around at first, similar to the Chaos Dwarfs, but the fundamentals are:

Still with me? It's fairly fun, as most High Elf campaigns are, and the Dragonships are definitely stronger than Black Arks (which is why you only get six of them), with more abilities and building slots.

But there's also a lot of needless complication to it, like how most outpost buildings are locked behind earning Dedication and if you don't grab the right ones early (which is likely), it throttles your Elven Trade, your ability to upgrade outposts and colonies, and so earn Dragonship Supplies. It's a bit suffocating for a campaign which should be all about sailing the high seas and going where the wind takes you. Perhaps players bored of the same old elves might enjoy the added complexity, but it felt kind of restrictive to me.

Dechala, the new snakey Slaaneshi lord, has a much better campaign I feel. She harvests thralls from minor settlements and then uses them to construct huge Pleasure Palaces, where she produces Decadence, a resource that lets her unlock special items and campaign buffs—it's far more streamlined. She can also equip two weapons since she has many-arms, starts in a fun position above Khuresh (she's likely the closest we'll ever get to snakemen), and her slithering Champions of Slaanesh might be the most powerful anti-infantry monsters I've ever seen.

For my money, though, the winner of the Tides of Torment DLC is Sayl the Faithless and the entire faction of Norsca, thanks to its long-awaited rework. Sayl has a fantastically spicy campaign start position, sandwiched between Vilitch the Curseling, Zhatan the Black, plus Miao Ying and the Great Bastion of Cathay. Depending on which direction you expand, you're close to Kholek, Grimgor, and Tamurkhan, which makes for some great early battles.

Norsca also m

Source: PC Gamer