Total War: Warhammer 2 adds zombie pirates in next expansion

The next expansion to Total War: Warhammer 2 is to set our spines and timbers shivering alike, as it will add the undead pirates of the Vampire Coast. Creative Assembly today announced Curse Of The Vampire Coast, due to launch on November 8th. It'll add the damned pirates of that cursed coast, who are all fighting to gain control of a giant terrible sea monster. I'm interested. Apparently their quests include finding pirate treasure and learning a magical shanty. I'm very interested. And one of their units is... some kind of mech built from shipwrecks and piloted by a ball of drowned corpses? Oh I am IN.

Yo ho chuffing ho.

This motley crew of vampires, zombies, shipmecha, mutants, and giant enemy crabs are fighting to become the most infamous pirate, not to mention gain control of the merwyrm Amanar. To tame the beastie, players will need to nab a Star-Metal harpoon and charge it with three verses of a magical sea shanty. Rival pirate captains know the verses, so you'll need to challenge and crush them to learn it. And along the way they'll upgrade their ships, establish secret Pirate Coves leeching income from defeated settlements, find treasure maps and solve riddles for serious booty, unlocking Regiments of Renown by finding and seizing golden tokens... they sound a right laugh.

It's tough to make a faction's play match their theming, but these do sound an interesting pirate-y bunch. The expansion's Steam page goes into loads more detail on how they work.

But no, this expansion will not add naval battles. As an FAQ explains, when armies meet at see and choose to fight, units will disembark to fight on island maps. This is remarkably similar to the idea of a mod released last week, a coincidence which Creative Assembly say left them "somewhat surprised (and more than a little impressed)". Dark Elf Black Arks will support sea battles in a similar way, but fighting on the surface of the Ark itself. These battles will come in an accompanying update for all Total Warhammer 2 players.

As you'd expect, as well as the Eye Of The Vortex campaign, the zombirates will also be playable in Mortal Empires, the mega-big map which combines both Twarhammers. And if you don't buy the expansion, they still might appear in your games as enemies.

Curse Of The Vampire Coast is coming to Steam on November 8th, priced at £13.99/€17.49/18.99.