Total War: Three Kingdoms focuses on Lü Bu and Sun Ce in next DLC

A new generations of warlords will rise with the next Total War: Three Kingdoms DLC later this month, Creative Assembly announced today. A World Betrayed is its name, and it's one of those 'Chapter Pack' DLCs bringing new factions, story events and missions, and units. It'll have a new starting date too, kicking off in the year 194 when, the developers explain, "Lü Bu himself has just assassinated Dong Zhuo, Sun Ce is beginning his conquest of Jiangdong, and Liu Bei has succeeded Tao Qian." Plenty to fight about, then. You can see some of their griping in the announcement trailer below.

Lü Bu's faction will become playable in the DLC, starting out scrapping with Cao Cao's army. He's powered by points from defeating enemies himself, and can get some big bonuse from taking down legendary warriors of the era. Sun Ce's faction will start as a vassal but could rebel, and can get bonuses from ticking off personal ambitions including avenging his father's murder. They both have new story events and units of their own too.

Ten other factions are updated for this too, with new challenges befitting the new start date.

Total War: Three Kingdoms - A World Betrayed will hit Steam on March 19th, priced at £8/€10/$10. See that store page and the FAQ for more details. A free update overhauling bits and pieces for all players will launch alongside this too; details to follow.

Three Kingdoms is one of the best strategy games, sez us.