u/Critical-Hold-3078

Given that with the release of bashivam it is highly unlikely that areas like Ind and Khuresh will be added, or at least there is currently no indication pointing in that direction, the optimal solution to enhance gameplay is increasing the internal density of currently underutilized areas. The goal is to populate dead zones that lack unique visual assets, without changing the shape of the map or needing any new 3D assets/models.

This approach is specifically structured to keep CA's required workload to the absolute minimum, otherwise they will never do it; it is completely obvious that their development resources are already fully utilized and allocated elsewhere. In line with this, it is core to this proposal that if an inaccessible area contains high-quality environment art or intricate landscape features, it must remain completely untouched and unmodified, fully preserving the original aesthetic work.

This proposal relies on the following mechanical and technical pillars:

1. Distance, Maneuver, and Terrain Attrition: New settlements should be positioned at a distance requiring more than a single standard movement turn, or at least nearly a full turn, to prevent excessive proximity. Please note: some of the proposed additions might visually appear very close on the map; however, the placement factors in the movement attrition caused by existing environmental variables (swamps, mountains, jungles, etc.) that drastically reduce campaign movement range. Consequently, the actual distance in movement points is much higher than it appears visually.
2. Populating Dead Zones: This might sound counterintuitive since many regions of the current map are highly dense with nodes; however, specific other areas (though fewer in number) present the exact opposite condition, remaining completely empty and cut off from the core gameplay loop.
3. Campaign Variety and Faction Balancing: Several factions currently start in restricted or geographically penalized provinces. Adding these intermediate nodes will increase their economic and military replenishment capacity, ensuring long-term viability.
4. Zero Impact on End Turn Times: A potential counter-argument concerns the slowdown of turn processing due to map expansion. This issue does not apply here: the new settlements would be assigned exclusively to already existing factions, without introducing new factions (independent AI entities).
5. Lore Names, GW Approval, and Map Placement: All proposed settlement names are taken directly from official Warhammer lore. To make this project more easily acceptable for Games Workshop (GW), names have been recovered whenever possible from the mini-campaign maps of Warhammer 1 (Wood Elves and Beastmen campaigns) or from the few settlements removed in Warhammer 2. Their placement follows the flexibility already used by CA themselves: across the trilogy and within Immortal Empires, many official settlements have already been slightly shifted from the official lore by CA themselves to improve campaign balance and gameplay.

COURONNE MARCHES

Giving the King his actual starting realm by populating the coastal and border dead zones, using official names taken directly from Games Workshop’s The Old World map website.

• Reaver's Point (West): Coastal outpost on the peninsula to intercept Norsca maritime raids.
• Tancred Castle (East): River border node towards Marienburg to consolidate the King's early economy. The river makes the journey long between settlements.

COAST OF LYONESSE

• Barley Motte: Positioned right at the limit of a single turn's movement range; the surrounding forests and marshes guarantee this operational distance. Source: Official The Old World map.

BRIENNE RIVER

• Turris Vigilance (Basso/Bottom): Nearby city placed where official lore originally locates Castle Bastonne, as CA relocated it. Source: official The Old World map.

CARCASSONNE

• Château D'Epee (Top): Rivers guarantee sufficient distance. Source: official The Old World map.
• Summersfall Fort (Bottom): Rivers guarantee sufficient distance. Source: official The Old World map.

SOUTHERN JUNGLES

• Mangrove Port (Left): Positioned at the coastal marker.

Placement is speculative due to the absence of exact cartographic coordination in the primary source. Location inferred from the narrative text. Source: Gotrek and Felix: The Serpent Queen.

THE JUNGLE OF THE GODS

• Enxilada (Right): Positioned at the inland marker.

Fallen Lizardmen city from ancient times; exact geographical coordinates are unmapped in official source material, justifying speculative placement at this position. Historically linked to the deployment of the mercenary Skink contingent (Tichi-Huichi's Raiders). Source: White Dwarf 232.

NORTHEN YVRESSE

• Sardenath (Purple Cross Marker): Positioned at the island chain cluster between Yvresse and the mainland. This settlement was officially present within the campaign map design of the Eye of the Vortex mode in Total War: Warhammer II.

GREAT DESERT OF ARABY

• Elven Ruins / Elf Colony (Purple Cross Marker): On the southwestern coast, below the Wizard Caliph's Palace. This re-adds the High Elf colony that was originally present in the Eye of the Vortex campaign map during Total War: Warhammer II.

IRON FOOTHILLS

• Kaerla (Purple Cross Marker): Located in the mountains west of Naggarond. This settlement was already present in the Eye of the Vortex campaign map during Total War: Warhammer II. Adding this third region corrects Malekith's current configuration, where he only has two regions. Although the position appears close to the other settlements, the terrain is highly rugged and requires more than one turn of movement to reach.

VANAHEIM MOUNTAINS

• Fortress of Viksjoergsberg (Purple Cross Marker): Positioned on the southern coastal projection of the peninsula, south of Troll Fjord and west of Pack Ice Bay. This addition introduces a verified third regional asset to the Vanaheim Mountains province. In case Wulfrik the Wanderer needs to return to his starting province, this settlement provides him with a strategic third region to secure his home base.

The Blood Marshes

• Forge of Souls (Purple Cross Marker): This settlement comes directly from the Old World map and serves as a fourth region for Archaon's starting province, expanding his initial territory

Averland

• Legendfeld (Purple Cross Marker): This settlement functions as a third region for Averland, expanding the province even though Marius is not currently present in the game (Marius will be happy). Although it appears spatially close to neighboring settlements, the zone is surrounded by rivers with no bridges, making the actual movement and traversal times highly restrictive. old world map

The Silver Road

• Khazid Vosk (Purple Cross Marker): This settlement comes directly from the official Old World website and serves as a fourth region for the Dwarf King. Implementing this requires opening up the mountain mesh slightly, but since there are currently no notable visual assets or features in that specific spot, it fits perfectly.

Karak Eight Peaks

• The Beast Stone (Purple Cross Marker): This settlement must be added as a third region for Karak Eight Peaks. It is completely unacceptable and immersion-breaking that one of the most iconic, lore-heavy, and fiercely contested locations in Warhammer history is limited to just two regions.

Southern Sylvania

• Leichberg (Purple Cross Marker): This addition is absolutely critical to transform Southern Sylvania into a complete, full-density four-region province. Sourced directly from the official 8th Edition Vampire Counts Army Book maps. a. Adding this fourth region officially expands the territorial weight of the province, granting Vlad and Isabella a legitimate, lore-backed "holiday home" to consolidate their power base before marching on the Empire.

I wanted to reach 30 settlements, but I am stopping at 17. This took a massive amount of time and I am exhausted. For anyone who wants to contribute further ideas, please stick to these rules: the location must take almost or more than a full turn to reach from another settlement; you must provide the exact settlement name and an official GW source; and it must require no major map mesh overhauls or destroy relevant visual assets. I will also paste this in the very first comment, because 95 out of 100 people will not read this far!

Technical question:

Preview stream of the Bashiva DLC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk0IEPD-Wo0&t=105s

The Dragon Crossbowmen go from 26 strength to 190 missile strength. I saw the Gate Master's bonuses but I can't understand how it's possible to increase the strength up to 190, considering the new technologies, rank 9, and the Lord's red line skills. It's more than 700% buff

The Gate Master bonus is +15% missile strength and -12% reload time, plus an ability that grants +25% armor piercing damage within 35 meters (if I remember correctly). But there are only 2 Gate Masters in this army... this means that 190 missile strength could be much higher.

Has anyone seen preview videos explaining this stat?

After speaking with u/Key_Discipline_6002 (thank you), I can say I understand that the statistic is real. And the reload time remains at its maximum of 4 seconds. Crossbowmen have 26 + 30% missile power from the TWO gate masters,
Then there are many stacked bonuses, from heroes and abilities, to lower the cooldown and animation time to its maximum of 4 seconds.. As you can see at minute 5 and 27, their power per shot is 38 but they fire two shots so 76. This is the damage every 4 seconds which corresponds to 190 every 10 seconds. Adding gate masters and using other buffs will only increase it. The damage is correct AND already INCLUDES the maximum reload time.

If anyone was expecting some extra abilities for the Dragon-Blooded Shugengan Lord, they will be disappointed.

He won't receive any abilities, he will only be able to choose from his 4 infused spells and just one, as it has always been.

Looking at all the caster lords of the other factions that have received a rework (by now almost all of them), they all have their dedicated line.

All others Cathay lords and heroes have it, they will have their unique abilities, but he was the only one left out.

What a pity.

Look the others...

With all their new abilities the Achemist and Astromancer are incredible compared to him!
In my opinion, even too much..

Considering that Miao Ying and Zhao Ming didn't receive anything, no new mechanics, compared to other recent faction reworks... they could have at least given the Dragon-Blooded Shugengan Lord four basic abilities.