I've waited a long time to play as Nagash in Total War: Warhammer 3, but no amount of dreaming could prepare me for the real thing. To begin with, (un)life as Warhammer's first lich is surprisingly hard. Nagash's starting position is sandwiched between two greater daemons of Chaos, an angry French crusader, and Settra – fellow bone-man and Nagash's biggest hater. Most of the necromancer's nine books of power are scattered across the world, his Mortarch lieutenants are still infuriatingly independent, and to top it all off, I immediately lose the first tome I find in a pitched battle.

That was 200 turns ago. I would normally have succumbed to the urge to start a fresh campaign by now, but Lords of the End Times and its accompanying update 9.0 make Immortal Empires far more interesting in its middle and late stages. And when the titular End Times arrives – not brought on by Nagash, unfortunately, but Chaos big-bad Archaon – it feels like my campaign is broken in two.

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When Archaon arrives, I assume my campaign is coming to an end. Scores of Chaos invaders land on my southern shores, while the Everchosen commands them from the rear. Archaon is nigh invincible. Each Chaos army and unholy fortress grants him a percentage of invulnerability, so taking Archaon on requires blunting his invasion force. All the while, a ticking counter tells me how much of the world has been destroyed – settlements razed during the End Times can't be recolonized until (or if ) the crisis ends, making it feel like a true apocalypse.

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