Crusader Kings 3 saddles up for a long-awaited return to the east with its first Asian DLC, Khans of the Steppe

Grand strategy RPG Crusader Kings 3 is finally headed eastward. Yesterday, Paradox Interactive announced the game’s next expansion, beginning the fourth chapter of its long-term expansion plans. It’s starting its ambitious map expansion across Asia with the Mongolian steppes, giving players the chance to start out as a nomadic Khan on April 28th.

Judging by reactions across social media and Reddit, players couldn’t be happier to saddle up and sack Byzantium.

Paradox has broken things down in a 13-minute overview video, above, starting with a look at the Khans of the Steppe expansion, letting players lead an itinerant tribe on the Great Steppe and building on the features introduced in the fantastic Roads to Power expansion, such as the introduction of landless nobility.

The primary feature of this new expansion is the new nomadic government style, letting players run a migratory kingdom, unbound by borders and ready to pack up and roll into pastures greener whenever they feel the need to move.

Gold is less important to these cultures than raw resources, which are represented by a new ‘herd’ currency representing your total livestock. While usable for trade and diplomacy, your herd can be directly converted into Horde Riders, your basic military unit, used to establish your dominance stat, representing just how feared and respected you are across the plains.

The Khans expansion is just the tip of the iceberg, with the real meat of the chapter pass being the upcoming All Under Heaven expansion, which is ambitiously expanding the game across all of Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.

There’ll be simulated Shogunates, Dynastic Cycles and the Mandala Government, as well as trading across the Silk Road. It’s a lot, and possibly the most ambitious thing Paradox has done with the game so far. Each of the cultures represented will have their own set of governing rules, with China getting systems to simulate the ever-shifting mandate of heaven, and who gets to be in charge of the absurd wealth of the imperial treasury.

But Paradox hasn’t forgotten the European side of things, also unveiling the next event pack, a smaller chunk of DLC focused solely on coronations and their political ramifications. The big day when the crown passes to a new leader tends to be a big diplomatic event, and how well things go during the celebrations can decide what kind of footing a new ruler starts off on, and whether your next monarch is going to be immediately applauded, or whether they’ll have to chop off a few heads before people start clapping. One more set of mechanics added to the pile, and slowly getting Crusader Kings 3 back to the mad ambition of its absurdly expanded predecessor.

The Chapter 4 bundle is available to preorder now on Steam for a minor king’s ransom at £37.15/$43.99. Khans of the Steppe rides out on April 28, with individual pricing yet to be announced. Those who commit to the whole bundle do get a little bit of cosmetic DLC adding new crowns (including some rather impressive turbans), hairstyles and beards to glam up your monarchs, but it seems like a drop in the ocean compared to the overall scope of this round of updates.