Total War: Warhammer - The Grim & The Grave (DLC)

The Grim and The Grave is a Lords Pack DLC for Total War: Warhammer, which means it does one thing and does it with surgical focus: it drops two new legendary lords, Volkmar the Grim for The Empire and Helman Ghorst for the Vampire Counts, each bringing new units, hero types, and campaign mechanics tied to their specific playstyle. If you are already grinding grand campaigns with either faction, this is a straightforward roster expansion. If you have not yet spent serious time with either faction, the base game gives you plenty to work through before this feels necessary. From a build-order perspective, Volkmar changes the Empire's mid-to-late game meaningfully. He anchors a more aggressive frontline faith-and-flagellant style, leaning into zealot units and warrior priest support rather than the traditional gunpowder-heavy Empire setup. The new Empire flagellant units are genuinely interesting to stack into chaff-breaking roles, and Volkmar's lord traits push toward attrition warfare. Helman Ghorst on the Counts side is less flashy but tactically useful, focusing on corpse cart buffs and undead horde reconstitution, which shores up one of the Vampire Counts' biggest weaknesses: sustaining army strength during prolonged campaigns. The unit additions on both sides are functional rather than game-breaking, which is honestly a point in the DLC's favor. Skeleton spearmen give the Vampire Counts a cheap, wide frontline that was previously missing. The Empire gets greatsword variants and upgraded flagellants that add texture to an already deep roster. None of this power-creeps the campaign into triviality, and the AI handles the new units reasonably well when you face them in battle. That matters more than most DLC pages will tell you. The criticism that earns this a mixed Steam rating is straightforward: the content volume is thin for a paid addition. Two lords and a handful of units is a modest ask compared to what later DLC packs in the Warhammer trilogy would deliver. Players who arrived late to the original game, post-Warhammer II or III, will likely find better value in the larger race packs or the full sequel. The 86 Metacritic score reflects critics who reviewed it at launch, when even incremental additions to a strong base game felt impactful. The mixed Steam reviews reflect a longer-term community that has seen what a generous DLC looks like. For newcomers wondering whether to start here: do not start here. Learn the base game first, pick either faction, run a full campaign, and then decide if you want more granularity in that faction's lord selection. If the answer is yes, The Grim and The Grave delivers exactly what it promises. The mod ecosystem around Total War: Warhammer has also grown enough that some of this content overlap gets covered by free community work, so check the Workshop before purchasing if you are budget-conscious. Diego, Scout Team