Southern Realms(DOW), Launch Race (+Araby)

Riskafish · October 2019

At first I didn't want to believe it, but dam... Southern Realms (DOW) could easily be a launch race and if not is virtually guaranteed to be a race DLC or pre-order bonus. The amount of presense Southern Realms has just in its current in-game members (Tilea,Estalia, Border Princes, New World Colonies) is insane and made even greater when you consider that most of the these minor factions are the inhabitants, providers, or recrutiers of the DOW.

Southern Realms and DOW COULD technically be two races but for the for the purposes of this thread, I will be treating DOW and Southern Realms as the same faction however there is actually enough OFFICIAL lore with the DOW and the minor factions to make them independent factions.

I have a few pictures with factions using there in-game colours for most part. White= ruins. Pink = Province border.

Southern Realms is big in game 1 and has potential for more?

Game 1 sub-factions,provinces, settlements)
Estalia - 1 province, 3 settlements Tilea - 1 province - 2 settlements Border Princes - 2 provinces, 4 settlements
New World Colonies - 1 province (contended) - 2 settlements

Total = 4 factions = 5 provinces (LL starting locations) = 11 settlements

As you can see we already have ALOT of territory to manage however there are several other potential additions from Game 1.

Since some of the provinces are 2 settlements only, other cities like Trantio, Pavona, Remas and Verezzo could be added aswell.

Marienburg
Lore: Marienburg official bribed itself out of the Empire and has a large concentrations of mercenaries due to tis status as a
colonial power. It is also inhabited by a wide area of races with Nipponese and Ind having districts within the city.
Marienburg also has a presense in Nippon and Cathay as traders.

In-game:Wasteland expanded to 4 settlements (3cities+1fort) which could be planning for DOW introduction.
Introduction of new enemies within Empire such as goblins+wood elves to break up "Empire clone block".
Slyvania can be returned to Empire control so another faction starting with control is not a issue.

Halflings
Lore: Halfings were OFFICIALLY part of Empire roster and only add "hot pots" and "archers". Presense only in the Moot and 1
small community serving ogres in Mountains of Mourne as servants.

In-game: Same reasons as Marienburg in-game reasons.
Huntsmen fufill the role of stealth archers for Empire which is what halflings are famed for.
Potential role in Southern Realms as stealth archers/scouts

Albion (UNLIKELY)
Lore: TBH don't know much about these guys except they apparently have fimir, giants and creatures based no North
Mythology. The fact that Norsica has fimir as a unique unit also make this unlikely, although not impossible .

In-game: Albion expanded in game
Owning faction (Verrglings?) owns six factions as a place holder?
Nakai being there alreadys suggests its not a starting location (CA: 1 Lord per province approach) BUT could still be
used to add giants/ maybe fimir

I would just like to finish this off by the saying Kislev's Gryphon Legion, while sworn to return to defend Kislev in times of need, is also a mercenary unit serving in the DOW.

Southern Realms/DOW in game 2

New World Colonies - potential for a crossover but probably placed there as trade partner that you can't confederate with. There is however much better alternates.

Araby

What is known about Araby: Not planned as a race for foreseeable future
7 active settlements, 3 could be used for other things. Arkhan=Palace. Empire DLC?=Suddenburg.
Bretonnian FLC lord?
Divided land with no single government
Araby soldiers frequently join DOW

Note:
I would just like to say that Sudenburg in the game is where Antoch (major ruined crusader settlement). Suddenburg should be further south near the "Plains of Tusker (Dune Kings) settlement.

How DOW could help Araby. Adding several DOW settlements could help represent the divided nature of the land
Several Araby themed units would have a legitimate reason to be included in game
Other DLC/FLC options have a high chance of using the area and its normally 1 lord per province
Theagean Errantry and Knights of the Flame could be moved to Sorceror Isles (new crusade) or
Copher, regarded as the most intendent state.

Amazons

Lore: Tribe of zealot women with priestesses present west of Txalltlan but no specific settlement given.

In-game: No changes but suspicious gap left in north-west of Lustria in area associated with Amazons.

Southern/Realms/DOW in game 3

Darklands, Pigbarter and the Sentinel

Two trading posts in the darklands where Ogres, Gnobblars and humans live together. Ogre merceneries and Gnobbalrs can be purchased form here. Just want to say that Pigbarter also has pig-jousting xD.

Dragon Isles

Not much to say with this, Tilean explorers go into the jungle fighting the feral lizardmen (lizardmen without a slann).

Shang Wang (hope I said it right)

Settlement (fortified) along the silk road (northern path),north-west of The Grand Bastion and East of Mountains of Mourne. Robbio and Ricco Tilean expedition encountered it and guard it ever since to maintain the trade route with Cathay. This also gives DOW a reason to have Cathay style units and since its location is not SPECIFICALLY shown on any map, it could be placed further west if they don't do Catahy.

The Kingdoms of Ind

South is already populated by beastmen, vampire varients and even has a potential wood elf start because of world roots.
The Kingdoms of Ind (multiple kingdoms) don't have a army list however they are said to be the fantasy version of India and so could have sabre styled infantry like Araby. There are also Clestial Dragon Monks who train in the mountains xD. The Kingdoms of Ind also trade with Araby and are far enough west that you could include them even without dealing with Cathay. The tower of the sun which is right next to Ind is also ready in the Vortex campaign near Tor Elasor.

How they could work

Simple, you start with a solid but fairly basic army

To unlock the elite DOW units, you do a quest for a minor faction e.g. (DOW Amazons). After you have done the quest, you are allowed to recruit 2-3 of there units. This could also be used as a confederation mechanic.

Summary

I hope that after reading this and seeing you like me are convinced that the Southern Realms/ DOW actually stand a very good chance to be the "good" race for Warhammer 3. It has the potential to include a lot of fan favourite units in a way that is true to the source material BUT has the potential to have new original units added aswell.

The main features of past launch races have been...

Strong theme
Potential Starting Locations
Significant World Presense
Potential themed lord packs

Southern Realms (renamed DOW) has all of these and blows all the competition out of the water by a mile.

Bonutz#3949 · October 2019

In the lore there are multiple city states within Tilea. I’m really hoping that CA expands this part of the map by adding these city states similar to how they did it for the Empire rework. It would make that part of the map more interesting and would make the ongoing Tilean civil war more prominent. There is plenty of space to do it. Each city state could have one 6-10 slot city.

Borgio the Besieger could start in Miragliano.
Lucrezzia Belladonna could start in Magritta or Tobaro.
Lorenzo Lupo could start in Luccini.
4th LL could start somewhere in the Border Princes or New World Colonies

Bonutz#3949 · October 2019

Also to your point, OP. I think Southern Realms/DoW are very likely to make it in. Most likely as the preorder race. They have tons of hints in game already.

1. Miragliano is a 10 slot city with a unique building chain. Definitely a placeholder.

2. References to Southern Realms in Norsca, Wood Elf, and Empire tech trees.

3. The Fay Enchantress campaign intro that mentions Tilea and their mercenaries specifically.

4. Southern Realms have their own special category and voiceover lines in diplomacy just like Kislev.

5. Certain popup events mentioning mercenary armies specifically.

6. Capturing Miragliano is a victory condition.

All the signs are there. Just a matter of when, not if.

urbanmech · October 2019

Shang-Yang

Mountains of Mourn

Tennisgolfboll#5877 · October 2019

The Dogs of War shall come as foretold by Dogbert.

Mad_D0c_#1516 · October 2019

Like in the real world Britain conquered India, DoW could easily take over Kingdim of Ind.

Long go I thought after Araby comes for game 2, Araby would a good placeholder for Ind. Now DoW is the leftover hope.

But yeah DoW could get a lot of Araby units, even a Araby LL under DoW is well fitting, maybe with 2 exclusive Araby units. With those units and some more mercaneeies CA could easily create an Araby AI faction with some settlements . Then there is no need for the faction as their own. And with araby subfaction and Ind taken over DoW could get easily war elephants.

Riskafish · October 2019

@Bonutz619

I heard of the city states but didn't know where they were in Southern Realms, really cool map.

They could do the DOW factions are in competition with each other for contracts and soldiers. Maybe there would be a shared global recruitment pool so wiping out the other sub-factions would give you a greater share of the mercenaries.

I initially thought they would be a good pre-order but they are way more widespread then Kislev and have way more official units.(Kislev has 2 LL, 4Units, 1 ROR). I mean they could even make DOW and Southern Realms separate with Southern Realms being focused in game 1 and DOW being focused in game 3. There is just so much content available for it.

Mad_D0c_#1516 · October 2019

Riskafish said:
@Bonutz619

I heard of the city states but didn't know where they were in Southern Realms, really cool map.

They could do the DOW factions are in competition with each other for contracts and soldiers. Maybe there would be a shared global recruitment pool so wiping out the other sub-factions would give you a greater share of the mercenaries.

I initially thought they would be a good pre-order but they are way more widespread then Kislev and have way more official units.(Kislev has 2 LL, 4Units, 1 ROR). I mean they could even make DOW and Southern Realms separate with Southern Realms being focused in game 1 and DOW being focused in game 3. There is just so much content available for it.

Right. DoW would be a poor choice for pre order, there is so much potential, they could easily be game 3 core and can get 2 LP and up to 6 LL.
Maybe a LP or a chaos faction as pre order would ve better.

Sir_Godspeed#8395 · October 2019

Bonutz619 said:

In the lore there are multiple city states within Tilea. I’m really hoping that CA expands this part of the map by adding these city states similar to how they did it for the Empire rework. It would make that part of the map more interesting and would make the ongoing Tilean civil war more prominent. There is plenty of space to do it. Each city state could have one 6-10 slot city.

Borgio the Besieger could start in Miragliano.
Lucrezzia Belladonna could start in Magritta or Tobaro.
Lorenzo Lupo could start in Luccini.
4th LL could start somewhere in the Border Princes or New World Colonies

Huh. Wood Elves in Tilea. I wonder what product this was released for, and who made it. Not the Dogs of War Army Book I think, maybe a WHF Roleplaying source book?

Tennisgolfboll#5877 · October 2019

Unknown6203 said:
CA loves to drop hints when they update, i for onw know that the next DLC will be Skaven Vs Dark Elves... i made a discussion about ti look it up.

as for Southern Realms they are very likely to happened, there about 5 factions and more could be added, also it would be very easy to animate since they are all humans, i think they will drop in a similar way as Norsca.

You know? Lol

Sheikh_Nimr#9382 · October 2019

There's no room for launch races, all the places, dlcs included, have been taken by the 4 chaos gods, ogres and chaos dwarves. The scenario proposed by the op is unrealistic for preorder, and anyway CA already said that Araby is out of question. Preorder will probably be kislev.

SeanJeanquoi#3490 · October 2019

Southern Realms are so big that making them one faction would be a travesty.

CA should expand on the area as they did with the empire: making it bigger and adding a few more settlements.

Every settlement should be made into its own major settlement, or at least a minor one with walls like the Moot is.

The border princes should be split in 2 or 3 pieces and the Black Citadel should be added.

Tilea and Estalia should have its own roster, with a heavy reliance on DoW and the Legendary Lords should go like this:

Lorenzo Lupo in Luccini

Borgio the Besieger in Miragliano

Lucrezzia Belladonna in Pavona (new settlement)

Isabella Giovanna in Magritta (Estalia)

Then the border princes could have a roster closer to the dogs of war with units from surrounding super powers like the empire, bretonnia and kislev. they'd have Gashnag the Black Prince in his Black Citadel and Leopold the Black in Akindorf or the other one.

The Dogs of War themselves should replace rogue armies where you get all the mercs + some units from their parent faction + outlaw/pirate units and limited units that are available to the Border Princes and Tileo-Estalia.

They could be ruled by:

Asernil the Dragonlord (High Elf)

Mengil Manhide (Dark Elf)

Gilaed Lothian (might be better as a Gotrek + Felix wanderer for elf factions)

Ulther Stonehammer (Dwarfs)

Neodeinos#5871 · October 2019

Unknown6203 said:
CA loves to drop hints when they update, i for onw know that the next DLC will be Skaven Vs Dark Elves... i made a discussion about ti look it up.

as for Southern Realms they are very likely to happened, there about 5 factions and more could be added, also it would be very easy to animate since they are all humans, i think they will drop in a similar way as Norsca.

Do you share your crystal ball ?

SeanJeanquoi#3490 · October 2019

CA could expand this out even further with future DLC like

Edvard Van Der Krall + Marienburg, and

Pirazzo's lost Legion + Sven the Magnificent (would be a story based thematic campaign that could allow you to pick sides. Start off as a Wulfhart esc expedition in lustria and you have to recruit Sven and choose to side with the Lizardmen or stay loyal to back home)

The Dogs of War would be a content goldmine for CA and all these factions would share a decent amount of their units/use reskins of already existing units.

I don't think it will come until they've done the Ogre Kingdoms and stuff though, unless they're prepared to continually update the roster.

(DoW is so big already that, even if we don't get the Amazons or Albion, they should not be squeezed in half assed because it would take away from the uniqueness of each of the DoW/Southern Realm faction.

SeanJeanquoi#3490 · October 2019

TheGreatPamphlet said:
There's no room for launch races, all the places, dlcs included, have been taken by the 4 chaos gods, ogres and chaos dwarves. The scenario proposed by the op is unrealistic for preorder, and anyway CA already said that Araby is out of question. Preorder will probably be kislev.

If the preorder was Kislev then that would mean we'd have like 0 good guys on launch aside from the empire and dwarfs maybe.

Acting like there is certainty on the issue is a mistake: this will be CA's biggest undertaking and there is no guarantee that things will go on as expected. For all we know the monogods might be the DLC because of how gargantuan their rosters are.

SeanJeanquoi#3490 · October 2019

Unknown6203 said:
CA loves to drop hints when they update, i for onw know that the next DLC will be Skaven Vs Dark Elves... i made a discussion about ti look it up.

as for Southern Realms they are very likely to happened, there about 5 factions and more could be added, also it would be very easy to animate since they are all humans, i think they will drop in a similar way as Norsca.

They aren't all humans, they are made up of every other race in the Warhammer world, including 5 races that aren't even in the games yet. Many of them are also new kinds of units like Great crested Skinks on Horned ones, Grenadiers, people with Leonardo da Vinci flying machines, cannon carriages etc.

Sheikh_Nimr#9382 · October 2019

It's not a mere hypothesis, it's based on a leak, which so far has been confirmed 100, with only one exception. Not absolutely certain, but highly likely.

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