Total War: Warhammer adds individuality to the Total War formula

I’m continually shocked that it took this long for Total War and Warhammer to team up. It’s just such a perfect pairing and one that I think will get supporters on both sides of the fandom incredibly excited. While the developers keep insisting that the core gameplay is distinctly a Total War game, more details keep pointing at the individual nature of this installment.

During Gamescom, Ars Technica got to try out a new section of the game, a quest skirmish battle that revolved around Karl Franz and how he got the titular Warhammer. I thought he was “just” the leader of the Empire and was already impressed that the game now allowed leaders to give rallying speeches at the start of the battles. However, it seems to go much deeper than that:

Lords such as Franz are coupled with skill trees of the kind typically seen in RPGs, allowing you to level them up and customise them in a way that matches with your own battle style, as well as those of other troops operating in the field. That sense of individuality of skills is matched by his presence in battle as he stalks around separately from his army. Admittedly, seeing certain units moving around the battlefield by themselves is unlike Total War, but within the context of Warhammer it begins to make sense.

While the core fundamentals of intelligent positioning, well-timed advances, and understanding an enemy’s weak points remain key to victory, putting the talents of your special units to good use is essential.

Meanwhile, outside of battle, the Total War policies of diplomacy, land grabbing and inter-factional relationship building remains. So, if you prefer to just simulate your battles because you can’t handle the strategic stress, you can do that and instead concentrate on running a kingdom.

Of course, the identities within Warhammer’s factions are much more sharply defined and divided, which will impact diplomatic options available to the players.

Total War: Warhammer is coming to PC, Mac and Linux in 2016 and will launch with four playable races: Greenskins, Empire, Dwarves and Vampire Counts, chosen primarily because of their geographical proximity to each other according to Warhammer lore.

I know that I tend to favor Greenskins, although this really is a nice selection for players across a range of interests and play styles to find their preferred army. I’m just curious to see if there will be DLC rat or lizard men, or it Creative Assembly and the Games Workshop will focus on the 40 000 universe next.

Last Updated: August 24, 2015