Despite having been available as a playable race since the very start of the series, The Empire received surprisingly few updates over the years. Aside from The Grim and the Grave in Warhammer 1 and The Hunter and the Beast in Warhammer 2, The Empire got almost no love from Creative Assembly so far. And, unfortunately, the two DLCs it did get, are average at best.
The good news is that The Empire still has plenty of missing units and characters that haven’t been introduced to Total War: Warhammer yet despite appearing in the Warhammer Fantasy Battles tabletop game, the Warhammer Fantasy RPG, the books, and various other official sources. Judging by CA’s previous track record, we can expect most if not all of these missing units and characters to make their way to Total War: Warhammer 3 and be playable in Immortal Empires at some point in the future.
Legendary Lords
The Empire currently has four playable Legendary Lords, but there are quite a few more that can be introduced via DLC. Considering there are races with seven or eight Legendary Lords, it’s safe to say that Creative Assembly will probably add at least a couple more for The Empire by the time they’re done with Warhammer 3.
Kurt Helborg
Kurt Helborg is the Reiksmarshal of The Empire and Karl Franz’s right-hand man. He’s the most popular character from the 8th Edition army book that hasn’t been added to the game yet, so we’re bound to see him in Immortal Empires sooner or later. The character has his own unique mount called Krieglust and has access to two unique pieces of great: the Solland Runefang and the Laurels of Victory.
Marius Leitdorf
Known as the Mad Count of Averland, Marius Leitdorf is another popular character from the tabletop that’s technically already in the game, and has been for some time. However, the Mad Count is only available to the AI and doesn’t have his unique warhorse, Daisy, or his unique sword, the Averland Runefang. There are a number of Warhammer 3 mods that make him playable, but it’s not the same as an official release. According to the lore, Marius Leitdorf is dead by the time Immortal Empires takes place, however, that’s never stopped CA before.
Boris Todbringer
Speaking of characters that are already in the game, we of course also have to mention Boris Todbringer. Boris is the most fleshed-out of all the Elector Counts and already has access to Legbiter, his trusty sword, and comes equipped by default with the White Cloak of Ulric, an item similar to his second unique piece of wargear, the Talisman of Ulric. Boris Todbringer doesn’t show up in the latest tabletop army book but given his popularity with Total War: Warhammer players and the fact that he’s already available in custom battles, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him become a Legendary Lord before Kurt Helborg or Marius Leidorf.
Elspeth von Draken
Elspeth von Draken is a powerful magisterix who’s long been rumored to be a vampire and is generally portrayed as being an antihero in the lore. That said, few would openly question her loyalty to The Empire as she played an important role in defending the city of Nuln from the Chaos Lord Tamurkhan. Elspeth rides into battle atop a massive red dragon known as Carmine and has access to two unique pieces of gear: the Pale Scythe and the Death’s Timekeeper.
Emil Valgeir
Emil Valgeir is the high priest of Ulric and fulfills a similar role as Volkmar the Grim within The Empire, albeit his allegiance is to Ulric rather than Sigmar. Much like Boris, Emil is tied to Middenheim, so it might be hard for CA to add him to Immortal Empires without causing some overlap between the two. On the bright side, if they manage to fix the problems related to his starting position, the implementation itself should be easy since the character already has a model and a number of special items, including the Ice Dagger, Wolfplate Armor, and the Fang of the Winter Wolf.
Legendary Heroes
Aside from the dynamic duo comprised of Gotrek and Felix, The Empire doesn’t have access to any Legendary Heroes. You can recruit a bunch of unique heroes while playing as Markus Wulfhart, but those don’t really count. Ulrika Magdova will be the first true Legendary Hero available to The Empire with the release of Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, but there are several others that could also be introduced further down the line.
Ludwig Schwarzhelm
Nicknamed The Emperor’s Champion, Ludwig Schwarzhelm is Karl Franz’s personal bodyguard and standard-bearer. If CA decides to follow the lore and tabletop rules, Schwarzhelm will most likely be exclusive to Reikland where he would provide defensive bonuses to Karl Franz when the two are in the same army. The character would also have to come equipped with the Sword of Justice and the Emperor’s Standard magic items.
Luthor Huss
Luthor Huss, the Prophet of Sigmar, is a renowned Warrior Priest and the last major character CA could use from the 8th Edition army book. In gameplay terms, the character is more or less just a supped-up version of a standard Warrior Priest that gets access to an additional Battle Prayer known as Unbending Righteousness. He doesn’t get access to a special mount or special wargrear on the tabletop, so the developers would have to get inventive in order to make the character more interesting. As it stands, Luthor Huss wouldn’t be a very compelling Legendary Hero.
Theodore Bruckner
Theodore Bruckner is the Judicial Champion of Nuln and plays an important part in the Throne of Chaos campaign where he and Elspeth work together to take down Tamurkhan. A good chunk of the campaign revolves around the two, so it would make the most sense to have them both introduced in a Tamurkhan-themed DLC. Ideally, the two would receive a bunch of bonuses when in the same army similar to Vlad and Isabella. Theodore has a neat Demigryph mount known as Reaper and gains access to three pieces of wargear: the Liarsbane, Stormlance, and Baleflame Amulet.
Lords
While not as important as Legendary Lords, generic Lords serve an important role in Total War: Warhammer 3 and are vital during lengthy Immortal Empires campaigns. Most of the generic Lords available to The Empire are already in the game, however, there are a couple of major ones that haven’t made it to Warhammer 3 just yet.
Grand Master
Grand Masters are leaders of Knightly Orders and their abilities mostly revolve around buffing cavalry units. The Empire has quite a few cavalry units and Grand Masters would finally make cavalry-only armies viable, at least outside of sieges. Given that Kurt Helborg is a Grand Master himself, it would make perfect sense to add the generic Lord option alongside the Legendary Lord.
Wizard Lord
Wizard Lords are another strange omission considering how important magic is in The Empire. There are no less than eight different variants of Wizard Lords, each specializing in a particular Lore of Magic. Empire players can use generic Heroes that have access to most of those Lores of Magic, but proper Wizard Lords would be even better.
High Priest of Ulric
High Priests of Ulric are generic Lords that will most likely be introduced alongside Emil Valgeir. Technically, there can be only one High Priest of Ulric in The Empire at any one point, but the same can be said about High Priests of Sigmar. Since we already have Volkmar the Grim and generic Lord variants of him known as Arch Lectors, there’s nothing stopping CA from making generic variants of Emil Valgeir. They might change their name from ‘High Priest of Ulric’ to something else, though, just like they did with the Arch Lectors.
Heroes
There are only two generic Hero options missing from Total War: Warhammer 3, one of which is quite similar to an already existing hero type. You can probably guess which one. In addition, we’re also missing a Wizard variant that many consider to be very important.
Warrior Priest of Ulric
If we’re getting Emil Valgeir and generic High Priests of Ulric, it only seems fair to also introduce Warrior Priests of Ulric to complete the trio. Much like the High Priest Lord, the Warrior Priest Hero will have access to the Divine Lore of Ulric and should play quite differently compared to Warrior Priests of Sigmar.
Gold Wizard
As mentioned earlier, Wizard Lords have access to eight Lores of Magic and the same applies to generic Wizard Heroes. Seven of these have been available for years, but for some reason, we’re still missing the Gold Wizard. Gold Wizards can wield the Lore of Metal just like Balthasar Gelt and should have been added ages ago. Considering The Empire doesn’t have Wizard Lords either in Immortal Empires, you’re pretty much forced to play as Balthasar Gelt if you want to use the Lore of Metal. At least for now.
Master Engineer
This last one is pretty self-explanatory. Empire Master Engineers fulfill a similar role to Dwarf Master Engineers are and all about buffing artillery and ranged units. Visually, they’re definitely the most interesting-looking generic Heroes still missing from The Empire roster, especially the 8Th Edition version that, among other things, gets access to a mechanical steed.
Units
There are quite a few units from the tabletop that still need to be added to Total War: Warhammer 3 via DLC. In fact, there are enough units for a couple of DLC, excluding the Regiments of Renown. Some of these are variants of existing units, but there are a couple of unique ones as well.
Celestial Hurricanum
The Celestial Hurricanum is an Arcane Battle Altar that’s somewhat similar to the Luminark of Hysh in terms of functionality. However, the Hurricanum comes with its own spells and auras, and will likely act more like a Wizard than a magical artillery piece.
Nuln Ironsides
Nuln Ironsides are ranged gunpowder units that act more or less like Imperial Handgunners. The main difference is that Nuln Ironsides are equipped with heavy armor, deal more damage, and have a longer range. In other words, they’re an elite version of regular Handgunners.
Warriors of Ulric
Warriors of Ulric are lightly armored infantry units that come across more like a loosely organized militia than a proper military regiment. It’s hard to say what they could bring to the table considering The Empire already has a bunch of low-tier infantry units, but they will probably be added just for the sake of it if CA ever makes a Cult of Ulric-themed DLC. The same goes for the Wolf-kin, another Ulric-themed unit similar to Flagellants.
Teutogen Guard
Teutogen Guard are another type of infantry unit associated with the Cult of Ulric, but these bad boys are quite a bit stronger than the regular Warriors. This is a heavy infantry unit clad in full plate armor and wields massive hammers. The Empire currently doesn’t have the best infantry units in Immortal Empires so something like the Teutogen Guard would be a very welcome addition indeed.
Knights of the White Wolf
The Knights of the White Wolf are one of the many Knightly Orders of The Empire, much like the Knights of the Blazing Sun. Most of these Knightly Orders are only present in the lore and don’t have models for the tabletop, so we’re unlikely to see them in-game. However, there are a couple of exceptions, with the Knights of the White Wolf being the most famous one. In essence, they’re just Teutogen Guard on horseback.
Knights Panther
The Knights Panther are the only other Knightly Order we’re likely to see in Immortal Empires. This is a secular order that doesn’t serve any of The Empire’s major cities. Instead, the order’s sole purpose is to eradicate Chaos wherever it can find it. Seeing as how much of Immortal Empires revolves around Chaos, it’s easy to see how the Knights Panther would fit right in.
Land Ship
Officially known as the “Marienburg” Class Land Battle Ship, this war machine is easily the most bizarre unit missing from The Empire roster. Marienburg isn’t part of the Empire during the time when Warhammer 3 takes place, so the Land Ship could be difficult to justify lore-wise. But here’s hoping CA finds a way because The Empire could use more strange contraptions on the battlefield.
Hunting Hounds
Hunting Hounds are pretty basic hound units used for scouting and harassment. The Beastmen, the Skaven, Norsca, and several other races have similar units and the Hunting Hounds would presumably work much the same. They’re not the most exciting thing on this list, but Hunting Hounds could be an interesting addition if CA finds a way to make them stand out from the plethora of similar units found in the game.
