Total War Warhammer

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Setting and Lore

The Warhammer Fantasy universe is one of rich lore, where gods, magic, and monstrous creatures are as prevalent as swords and shields. Set in the Old World, a dark and war-torn land, the game captures the essence of the Warhammer tabletop experience by immersing players in a grimdark setting filled with chaos and destruction.

Each faction in the game draws directly from Warhammer lore, with their own unique history, gods, and political motivations. The game successfully translates this lore into its campaign and gameplay, allowing players to experience the epic struggles between the forces of Order and Chaos firsthand. The attention to detail in the lore is evident, with Creative Assembly working closely with Games Workshop to ensure authenticity. The end result is a world that feels alive, dynamic, and true to its source material.

Factions and Playstyles

One of the most distinctive features of Total War: Warhammer is its diverse roster of factions, each with its own unique units, mechanics, and playstyles. The base game includes four major factions: the Empire, the Dwarfs, the Greenskins, and the Vampire Counts, with several others introduced in subsequent DLCs and expansions.

The Empire

The Empire represents the human faction, a versatile and well-rounded force that mirrors the classic Total War factions with a twist of magic and monstrous units. They have access to a wide range of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, allowing for a balanced approach to both offensive and defensive strategies. The Empire’s campaign focuses on uniting the fractured human provinces and dealing with external threats, such as Chaos invasions.

Their playstyle is flexible, allowing for a mix of traditional Total War strategies, including heavy reliance on artillery and ranged units. However, what sets the Empire apart is its access to magic, which can turn the tide of battle when used effectively.

The Dwarfs

The Dwarfs are a proud and ancient race known for their resilience, heavy armor, and unparalleled craftsmanship. In Total War: Warhammer, they are a defensive powerhouse, with units that can withstand tremendous punishment and dish out significant damage in return. Their campaign revolves around reclaiming lost holds, battling Greenskins, and pursuing ancient grudges.

Dwarfs excel in defensive play, with strong infantry and artillery units that can hold the line against overwhelming odds. Their lack of cavalry is compensated by the durability and firepower of their units, making them a force to be reckoned with in prolonged engagements.

The Greenskins

The Greenskins, consisting of Orcs and Goblins, are a savage and chaotic faction driven by the desire for war and conquest. They are an aggressive faction with a focus on overwhelming the enemy through sheer numbers and brute force. The Greenskin campaign emphasizes raiding, pillaging, and maintaining the “Waaagh!”—a momentum-based mechanic that grants bonuses when the Greenskins are constantly at war.

Greenskins are all about offense, with a variety of units that range from hordes of cheap, expendable Goblins to powerful Orcs and monstrous creatures like Giants and Arachnarok Spiders. Their playstyle rewards constant aggression and punishes any prolonged periods of peace.

The Vampire Counts

The Vampire Counts are a faction of undead necromancers and vampires who rely on fear and overwhelming numbers to achieve victory. Their armies consist of reanimated corpses, spectral beings, and powerful vampire lords. The Vampire Counts campaign focuses on spreading corruption, raising the dead, and dominating the living.

Their playstyle is unique, as they lack any ranged units, relying instead on swarming the enemy with hordes of undead. Vampire Counts also have powerful magic users who can heal their units and summon additional forces mid-battle. This faction thrives on attrition, wearing down the enemy through relentless assaults and the inability to stay dead.

Other Factions

Subsequent DLCs introduced additional factions, such as the Chaos Warriors, Beastmen, Wood Elves, Bretonnia, and more. Each of these factions brought new mechanics, units, and challenges to the game, further enriching the diversity and replayability of Total War: Warhammer.

Campaign Mechanics

The campaign in Total War: Warhammer is where the game’s strategic depth truly shines. Unlike previous Total War titles, which focused on historical conquests, Warhammer’s campaign is driven by a narrative of survival, conquest, and the looming threat of Chaos.

The Map

The campaign map is a vast and detailed representation of the Old World, divided into numerous regions, each controlled by different factions. The map is richly detailed, with forests, mountains, rivers, and ruins that reflect the lore of Warhammer Fantasy. The map’s geography plays a crucial role in strategy, as different terrain types offer various advantages and disadvantages in battles.

Diplomacy and Alliances

Diplomacy in Total War: Warhammer is more dynamic and complex than in previous Total War games. Alliances, trade agreements, and non-aggression pacts are essential for survival, especially when facing powerful enemies like the Chaos Warriors. The introduction of mechanics like confederation (where factions of the same race can merge) adds another layer of strategy, allowing players to unify their race under one banner.

However, diplomacy can be challenging, as factions with opposing alignments (such as the Empire and Vampire Counts) are unlikely to cooperate. This forces players to carefully consider their alliances and manage their relationships with other factions.

Economy and Building

Managing your empire’s economy is crucial to success in the campaign. Each faction has its own unique economic mechanics, such as the Empire’s tax system, the Dwarfs’ mining operations, or the Vampire Counts’ reliance on raising the dead. Balancing income with military upkeep, building construction, and technology research requires careful planning and resource management.

The building system allows players to develop their settlements, unlocking new units, technologies, and bonuses. Each faction has its own unique building chain, reflecting their culture and lore. For example, the Dwarfs can build mighty forges that enhance their artillery, while the Vampire Counts can construct necromantic shrines to bolster their magic.

Technology and Progression

The technology tree in Total War: Warhammer is expansive and varies between factions. Researching new technologies grants bonuses that can enhance your military, economy, or campaign mechanics. The technology tree often reflects the faction’s lore, with the Empire focusing on advancements in artillery and tactics, while the Vampire Counts delve into necromancy and dark rituals.

Progression in the campaign is tied to the development of your faction’s unique mechanics. For example, the Empire must navigate the political landscape of the Imperial Council, the Dwarfs must settle grudges and reclaim lost holds, and the Vampire Counts must spread their corruption across the land. These mechanics add depth to the campaign and make each playthrough feel distinct.

The Chaos Invasion

One of the most significant features of the campaign is the Chaos Invasion, a mid-to-late-game event where the forces of Chaos, led by Archaon the Everchosen, descend upon the Old World. This event serves as the ultimate test for players, forcing them to defend their territories against an overwhelming and relentless enemy.

The Chaos Invasion adds a sense of urgency and tension to the campaign, as players must prepare their armies and fortifications to withstand the onslaught. The outcome of the Chaos Invasion can have a significant impact on the campaign, determining whether the Old World falls into darkness or survives the apocalypse.

Battle Mechanics

The battles in Total War: Warhammer are where the game truly shines, combining the large-scale warfare of the Total War series with the fantastical elements of Warhammer Fantasy. Each battle is a spectacle of chaos and carnage, with hundreds of units clashing on the battlefield.

Unit Diversity

One of the standout features of Total War: Warhammer is the incredible diversity of units available to each faction. From the disciplined ranks of Empire infantry to the monstrous beasts of the Greenskins, every faction offers a unique roster that reflects its lore and playstyle.

The game features a wide range of unit types, including infantry, cavalry, monsters, artillery, and flying units. Each unit type has its own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding how to use them effectively is key to victory. For example, flying units can be used to harass enemy artillery or to perform devastating charges against exposed flanks, while monsters can break through enemy lines with sheer brute force.

Magic and Spells

Magic plays a crucial role in Total War: Warhammer, adding an extra layer of strategy to battles. Each faction has access to different lores of magic, with spells that can heal, buff, debuff, or damage units. The proper use of magic can turn the tide of battle, whether it’s by summoning a horde of undead to overwhelm the enemy or by casting a devastating fireball to incinerate a tightly packed formation.

Magic is a finite resource, governed by the Winds of Magic, which fluctuate throughout the battle. Managing this resource and timing your spells effectively is crucial to maximizing their impact. Additionally, certain units and heroes are more resistant to magic, adding another layer of complexity to the game’s tactical depth.

Hero and Lord Units

Hero and Lord units play a pivotal role in Total War: Warhammer, offering powerful abilities and leadership that can influence the outcome of battles. Each faction has access to a variety of Heroes and Lords, each with unique abilities and skill trees that can be customized as they gain experience.

Heroes can be deployed on the campaign map as agents, performing tasks such as assassination, sabotage, and spreading corruption. In battle, they serve as powerful combatants or spellcasters, capable of dealing significant damage or supporting their troops with buffs and healing spells. For instance, Empire Captains can bolster the morale of nearby units, while Vampire Counts’ Necromancers can summon additional undead to reinforce your army.

Lords are the generals of your armies, leading your forces into battle and often acting as the faction leaders in the campaign. Lords have access to unique skill trees that allow players to specialize them in various roles, whether as frontline fighters, strategic commanders, or potent spellcasters. Some Lords, like Karl Franz of the Empire, can even mount powerful beasts or ride dragons into battle, making them formidable threats on the battlefield.

The presence of Heroes and Lords adds a layer of RPG-like progression to the game, as you can level them up, equip them with powerful items, and customize their abilities to suit your playstyle. The loss of a high-level Lord can be a significant blow, but recruiting new ones and grooming them for greatness is part of the game’s long-term strategy.

Battle Dynamics and Tactics

Total War: Warhammer retains the core tactical gameplay of the Total War series but enhances it with the inclusion of fantastical elements like magic, monsters, and flying units. The game emphasizes the importance of battlefield tactics, unit positioning, and effective use of your army’s strengths.

Terrain and Weather: The battlefield terrain plays a critical role in combat, with hills, forests, and rivers affecting unit movement, visibility, and combat effectiveness. For example, units hidden in forests can ambush unsuspecting enemies, and high ground provides a significant advantage to ranged units. Weather conditions, such as rain or fog, can also impact visibility and missile effectiveness, adding another layer of strategic consideration.

Flanking and Morale: Flanking the enemy and attacking from the rear remains a key tactic in Total War: Warhammer. Units that are flanked or surrounded suffer a morale penalty, increasing the likelihood of them breaking and fleeing. Certain units, such as cavalry, are particularly effective at executing flanking maneuvers, using their speed and charge bonus to deliver devastating blows to exposed enemies.

Monsters and Large Units: The inclusion of monstrous units like giants, trolls, and dragons introduces new dynamics to battles. These units can smash through infantry lines, cause fear among enemy troops, and turn the tide of battle with their sheer power. However, they are also vulnerable to concentrated missile fire and certain anti-large units, so using them effectively requires careful management.

Siege Battles: Siege battles in Total War: Warhammer are intense and challenging, with players needing to breach the walls of enemy fortresses or defend their own against overwhelming odds. The game introduces unique siege equipment, such as the Empire’s Great Cannons and the Vampire Counts’ Corpse Carts, which can be used to break down walls, gates, and enemy morale. Defenders must make use of towers, walls, and defensive structures to repel attackers, while attackers need to coordinate their forces to penetrate the defenses and capture the settlement.

As the 10th version of the series with many ups and downs – Total War, Total War: Warhammer inherits the strengths from previous versions.

The gameplay of Total War: Warhammer is preserved, bearing the characteristics of the Total War series.

Choosing a race, players will participate in fiery battles on the journey to conquer and manage and develop their base according to 4X turn-based tactical gameplay.

Besides, it is impossible not to mention the unique real-time battles of the Total War series.

With full command of the armies on the battlefield, players will have various tactics to apply to their battles.

Not only inheriting the strengths from its predecessors, but Creative Assembly also brings countless improvements to Total War: Warhammer.

The battles in the game are no longer conflicts between ancient nations; instead, they are one-on-one battles between warriors, generals, and monsters in the fantasy world of Warhammer Fantasy.

So, Total War: Warhammer has marked a new milestone for the series when it first brings a completely different mechanism: magic.

Magic in Total War: Warhammer is diverse and extremely useful.

Players can cast spells from generals in real-time battles, directly impacting the war by dealing damage, creating negative effects on enemies, or increasing the power of their troops.

“Winds of Magic” – the constantly changing flow of magical energy is a defining element of the world of Warhammer Fantasy and will directly affect the amount of magic the player can use in each battle.

Equipment is a new element in the game, allowing players to increase their stats or grant new spells to their champions.

Winning battles will help the player steal equipment from his enemies.

“Corruption” is also a completely new element, born from the Vampire Count and Chaos effects on humans.

When a castle is invaded, public order will be destroyed, causing the castle’s Public Order score to drop each turn significantly, and the player may be surprised by Vampire Count or Chaos.

Players can reduce aggression through equipment or skills from the generals.

Besides, Total War: Warhammer has many new features such as new development mechanics, air units, waiting for players to experience and explore.

Total War: Warhammer offers players diversity and creativity with many unique races from the Warhammer Fantasy world. Each race in the game has separate gameplay, creating richness and newness for each game. If you want a “normal” Total War like many other versions, choose for yourself the Empire of The Empire. In general, the Empire’s army has many different “colors,” with all kinds of troops such as infantry, archers, cavalry, and cannon, strong but not too outstanding.

The Empire is “normal,” but if it comes to the rest of the armies, players will have a completely different experience.

The Greenskins, the mighty Orcs tribe of Grimgor Ironhide, is an army born to fight. Experience Greenskins; players will not stop fighting or looting to preserve Waaagh! At the highest level to maintain the strength of his army. Idleness will cause the Orcs to turn to “bite” each other, and the military will gradually lose each turn. Meanwhile, increase the Waaagh! Going to the highest level will give the player a whole new army.

Mannfred von Carstein’s Vampire Count is a bit different from an army without the Morale bar (Spirit), making the whole army an army of the undead fighting to the end on the battlefield. Vampire Count generals also can summon corpses, making it easier to restore troops. In addition, the Vampire Count possessed flying armies that could move across the battlefield but did not have a single long-range attack unit in his army.

The Dwarves, though not possessing cavalry, were masters of technology and machines. Dwarfs are a race suitable for defensive and solid play with high defense and strong ranged attack force.

Developed on the improved Warscape Engine platform, Total War: Warhammer gives players a unique and eye-catching graphics platform.

The units in the game are detailed, with the unique characteristics of each army.

While The Empire’s army is sleek with shining armor, creating a mighty force when it comes to expeditions, the Greenskins show their fearsome power through their massive, fierce, and wild armies.

The tone of Total War: Warhammer is the same, impressive with each land bringing its color.

If the Dwarf has a silvery-white tone of the mountains, the Vampire Count brings a gloomy look to the deadly swamps.

The important point is that the graphics engine in Total War: Warhammer has been improved quite a lot compared to its predecessors like Total War: Rome II, helping to minimize frame drops, providing a good experience for the player.

Although the Old World is a large world with countless unique races. Unfortunately, players can only experience four races in the official version of Total War: Warhammer, and up to 5 races with the Warriors of Chaos was released as a downloadable package. DLC is also the point where users heavily criticized the game for cutting off the key race of the Warhammer Fantasy world – Chaos.

Bretonnia, although appearing in the game, is only a sub-race and is not playable at the moment.

As for players looking forward to experiencing Elves or Skavens, they will probably have to wait for the next download package or a successor version.

Siege battles in the game are over-simplified, making most sieges just fighting on an open battlefield.

In addition, the inherent points in the AI system (artificial intelligence) from its predecessors are still there, with AI easily “wile” into a trap or unable to seize the opportunity on the battlefield.

where can you get a Total War Warhammer online

Total War: Warhammer – Savage Edition (PC) (64-Bit): Buy it now

Total War: Warhammer – Dark Gods Edition. Für Windows 7/8/10 (64-Bit): Buy it now

Conclusion

Total War: Warhammer stands as a landmark title in the strategy gaming landscape. It combines the best elements of the Total War series—grand strategy, tactical depth, and epic battles—with the rich, dark fantasy world of Warhammer. The result is a game that is not only a joy to play but also one that offers nearly endless replayability through its diverse factions, engaging campaign, and robust modding community.

Whether you’re a fan of the Warhammer universe or a newcomer to the series, Total War: Warhammer offers an experience that is both familiar and refreshingly new. Its blend of fantasy elements, strategic depth, and grand-scale warfare makes it a must-play for any strategy enthusiast. Despite some minor flaws, the game’s strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, making it a true classic in the genre and a worthy entry in the storied Total War franchise.