​It’s time to bring up this story again—the birth of Cathay truly embodies a perfect alignment of timing, opportunity, and a touch of fate.

Many might not know that when I presented the map as a gift to CA back then, I actually prepared two copies—one for CA and one for GW.

On the first night of my arrival in the UK in 2018, Matt from CA, who was hosting us, was utterly stunned when he saw the map. His expression was a mix of disbelief and awe. Internally, CA had just begun discussing whether Warhammer III should take on the massive undertaking of creating Cathay, and they were grappling with how to convince GW (since, unlike Norsca, Cathay would require entirely original lore and designs—a daunting challenge). Fate, however, intervened perfectly: the timing of gifting the map coincided exactly with this critical juncture. After seeing the map, Matt immediately arranged an additional itinerary for the next day to visit Nottingham and deliver the second copy to GW’s headquarters.

(The full behind-the-scenes story will have to wait until after the Total War 10th Anniversary Trilogy concludes… some details are still sensitive.)

The birth of Cathay was a convergence of "right place, right time." As the finale of the trilogy, Warhammer III would have felt hollow without a major Order-aligned protagonist faction like Cathay, mirroring the narrative weight of the first two games. Yet pursuing Cathay required GW to make a "painful" decision.

This move symbolized GW’s renewed commitment to revitalizing the Old World IP, shifting away from its previous strategy of mothballing the setting entirely (even after Total War: Warhammer’s success, GW had initially planned to keep the Fantasy IP dormant for tabletop). Instead, GW adopted a model akin to the Horus Heresy-40K relationship, launching The Old World as a prequel-esque revival while allowing AOS to inherit and evolve the Fantasy legacy. This dual approach let both IPs coexist, bridging the old and new.

At this pivotal moment of creative ignition, the passion of Chinese players acted as a subtle yet crucial catalyst.

Even years from now, this serendipitous tale will remain a joy to revisit.

​

kaiki#4128 wrote:

​It’s time to bring up this story again—the birth of Cathay truly embodies a perfect alignment of timing, opportunity, and a touch of fate.

Many might not know that when I presented the map as a gift to CA back then, I actually prepared two copies—one for CA and one for GW.

On the first night of my arrival in the UK in 2018, Matt from CA, who was hosting us, was utterly stunned when he saw the map. His expression was a mix of disbelief and awe. Internally, CA had just begun discussing whether Warhammer III should take on the massive undertaking of creating Cathay, and they were grappling with how to convince GW (since, unlike Norsca, Cathay would require entirely original lore and designs—a daunting challenge). Fate, however, intervened perfectly: the timing of gifting the map coincided exactly with this critical juncture. After seeing the map, Matt immediately arranged an additional itinerary for the next day to visit Nottingham and deliver the second copy to GW’s headquarters.

(The full behind-the-scenes story will have to wait until after the Total War 10th Anniversary Trilogy concludes… some details are still sensitive.)

The birth of Cathay was a convergence of "right place, right time." As the finale of the trilogy, Warhammer III would have felt hollow without a major Order-aligned protagonist faction like Cathay, mirroring the narrative weight of the first two games. Yet pursuing Cathay required GW to make a "painful" decision.

This move symbolized GW’s renewed commitment to revitalizing the Old World IP, shifting away from its previous strategy of mothballing the setting entirely (even after Total War: Warhammer’s success, GW had initially planned to keep the Fantasy IP dormant for tabletop). Instead, GW adopted a model akin to the Horus Heresy-40K relationship, launching The Old World as a prequel-esque revival while allowing AOS to inherit and evolve the Fantasy legacy. This dual approach let both IPs coexist, bridging the old and new.

At this pivotal moment of creative ignition, the passion of Chinese players acted as a subtle yet crucial catalyst.

Even years from now, this serendipitous tale will remain a joy to revisit.

Thanks for sharing this. 

That looks like an Ogre operating that Fire Rain Rocket Battery. 

​

Funzo#7954 wrote:

​

kaiki#4128 wrote:

​It’s time to bring up this story again—the birth of Cathay truly embodies a perfect alignment of timing, opportunity, and a touch of fate.

Many might not know that when I presented the map as a gift to CA back then, I actually prepared two copies—one for CA and one for GW.

On the first night of my arrival in the UK in 2018, Matt from CA, who was hosting us, was utterly stunned when he saw the map. His expression was a mix of disbelief and awe. Internally, CA had just begun discussing whether Warhammer III should take on the massive undertaking of creating Cathay, and they were grappling with how to convince GW (since, unlike Norsca, Cathay would require entirely original lore and designs—a daunting challenge). Fate, however, intervened perfectly: the timing of gifting the map coincided exactly with this critical juncture. After seeing the map, Matt immediately arranged an additional itinerary for the next day to visit Nottingham and deliver the second copy to GW’s headquarters.

(The full behind-the-scenes story will have to wait until after the Total War 10th Anniversary Trilogy concludes… some details are still sensitive.)

The birth of Cathay was a convergence of "right place, right time." As the finale of the trilogy, Warhammer III would have felt hollow without a major Order-aligned protagonist faction like Cathay, mirroring the narrative weight of the first two games. Yet pursuing Cathay required GW to make a "painful" decision.

This move symbolized GW’s renewed commitment to revitalizing the Old World IP, shifting away from its previous strategy of mothballing the setting entirely (even after Total War: Warhammer’s success, GW had initially planned to keep the Fantasy IP dormant for tabletop). Instead, GW adopted a model akin to the Horus Heresy-40K relationship, launching The Old World as a prequel-esque revival while allowing AOS to inherit and evolve the Fantasy legacy. This dual approach let both IPs coexist, bridging the old and new.

At this pivotal moment of creative ignition, the passion of Chinese players acted as a subtle yet crucial catalyst.

Even years from now, this serendipitous tale will remain a joy to revisit.

Thanks for sharing this. 

That looks like an Ogre operating that Fire Rain Rocket Battery. 

Yas my lored.

​

kaiki#4128 wrote:

​

Funzo#7954 wrote:

​

kaiki#4128 wrote:

​It’s time to bring up this story again—the birth of Cathay truly embodies a perfect alignment of timing, opportunity, and a touch of fate.

Many might not know that when I presented the map as a gift to CA back then, I actually prepared two copies—one for CA and one for GW.

On the first night of my arrival in the UK in 2018, Matt from CA, who was hosting us, was utterly stunned when he saw the map. His expression was a mix of disbelief and awe. Internally, CA had just begun discussing whether Warhammer III should take on the massive undertaking of creating Cathay, and they were grappling with how to convince GW (since, unlike Norsca, Cathay would require entirely original lore and designs—a daunting challenge). Fate, however, intervened perfectly: the timing of gifting the map coincided exactly with this critical juncture. After seeing the map, Matt immediately arranged an additional itinerary for the next day to visit Nottingham and deliver the second copy to GW’s headquarters.

(The full behind-the-scenes story will have to wait until after the Total War 10th Anniversary Trilogy concludes… some details are still sensitive.)

The birth of Cathay was a convergence of "right place, right time." As the finale of the trilogy, Warhammer III would have felt hollow without a major Order-aligned protagonist faction like Cathay, mirroring the narrative weight of the first two games. Yet pursuing Cathay required GW to make a "painful" decision.

This move symbolized GW’s renewed commitment to revitalizing the Old World IP, shifting away from its previous strategy of mothballing the setting entirely (even after Total War: Warhammer’s success, GW had initially planned to keep the Fantasy IP dormant for tabletop). Instead, GW adopted a model akin to the Horus Heresy-40K relationship, launching The Old World as a prequel-esque revival while allowing AOS to inherit and evolve the Fantasy legacy. This dual approach let both IPs coexist, bridging the old and new.

At this pivotal moment of creative ignition, the passion of Chinese players acted as a subtle yet crucial catalyst.

Even years from now, this serendipitous tale will remain a joy to revisit.

Thanks for sharing this. 

That looks like an Ogre operating that Fire Rain Rocket Battery. 

Yas my lored.

There's someone pretty unique in the foreground. He's got a beast's skull attached to his shield(?) and he's wearing fur armor. 

Bless the Chinese Warhammer chads, keeping the torch lit in a time of darkness.

Wow, great! Looking forward to learn more.  Cathay is one of my favourite. 

Anyway, is there someone else skillful and dedicated to make map of Nippon? With that cool red-ink stamp?

The minis are going to sell like hotcakes over there

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talonn#7575 wrote:

The minis are going to sell like hotcakes over there

Lets hope GW sees the economical success and also does Nippon or Khuresh at some point.