From time to time the games industry is met with a videogame concept so obvious it makes you wonder it hadn’t been done before. Some of these titles might offer an innovation that shifts the way an entire genre is played, some utilise licences or settings well suited to gaming while others – as is the case with Total War: Warhammer – are simply a perfect marriage of a reputed developer, a particular style of game and a franchise that has been waiting to be used in such a fashion. So the concept here should be pretty obvious from name alone: this is one of the Total War games that we’re all already so familiar with, combined with the fantasy setting of Game Workshop’s tabletop miniatures board game Warhammer. Even if you haven’t played either of these, both names transcend any need for hands-on experience.
If you’re concerned that such an obvious idea might not work out, then worry not. On the Total War front it’s much the same as it ever has been, with the campaign view for building and maintaining your army and economy and the battle mode for real-time strategic melees largely unchanged – at least on a mechanical level. In that sense the Warhammer setting merely provides a veneer through which you can use that traditional Total War gameplay. You’ll pick a faction, raise an army, vie for control over the campaign map and ultimately achieve victory – or not, depending on your abilities as a commander. The setting does come with its own elements, rules and particulars that need to be learned, and in that sense there’s perhaps more to learn for a veteran Total War player than usual. With that said, the core features are so similar it’ll quickly become second nature.
What is most interesting is how the Warhammer theme affects the way the game plays out. Total War became the name it is today by gamifying history, by turning the methodical nature of classical warfare into something more mechnical, more manageable, more amusing. But here, with a board game as its base, it’s not having to gamify nearly as much; Creative Assembly has had a bit more freedom with which to have some fun and it makes for a compelling release for the series. It still ties heavily into the familiar rock-paper-scissors format of unit control that has proved so consistent for the franchise, but with enough subtle changes that things aren’t quite as simple to grasp as they once were.
Take, for example, the varied races open to you from the start: by being free of historical accuracy there is so much more difference between the different factions that each one will provide a distinctly different playstyle. The Dwarves, for example, feature ‘Grudges’, essentially quests that guide the player towards particular actions. Have too many of these at any one time and dissonance will grow among your civilization, impacting your cities, their growth and – ultimately – leading to rebellion that will need to be tackled. The Orcs, however, feature a system that penalises them for failing to participate in battle, with any given army’s ‘Fightiness’ dropping over time, ultimately leading to in-fighting and reducing numbers. This results in a far more aggressive playstyle than the rest of the factions, and highlights the contrast each faction has.
There are some issues with this, admittedly. Early on it can be difficult for some races to counteract armies with more advanced units, not due to their strength but their play style. Early Dwarf armies are slow and heavy, and it will be a while before the likes of gyrocopters are to hand to help take out faster enemy units. It can be frustrating to find yourself encountering the same army numerous times simply because you weren’t able to fully chase down and eliminate waves of mounted units, and that awkward balancing requires relearning a little of the way Total War should be played.
The fact that each faction has its own individuality alone should make for a much more fulfilling campaign experience, but there’s a greater sense of storytelling here too. In lessons learned from Rome II, Creative Assembly has built a much more robust set of story missions, with each faction – and even units within those factions – having their own specific battles to deal with. Some cross over with one another, but the result is often the same: a particular challenge to overcome under certain conditions. Often they guide the overall campaign away from your own plans and can sometimes feel a little throwaway, but at least provide enough of a distraction to add some variety and help to build in the deep lore of the Warhammer setting.
Outside of these wider changes there are myriad other tweaks and alterations to the typical Total War experience. Hero characters have a greater impact than just morale boosts, counting as much more integral units on the battlefield, often with important abilities and even spells to help turn the tide of war. Spells in particular offer a huge impact, and smaller armies with access to powerful spells – and in situations where the Winds of Magic allow – can easily hold their own against a full-stack 20-unit army.
Alterations to building construction and research trees again have their own faction flavours, but are implemented in an simpler fashion – an important feature when considering everything new that a Total War fan will need to figure out. In truth, as a Total War game it doesn’t do anything all that new, but something about this pairing just works – as we all expected it would. It’s a testament to the game’s design that, no matter whether your a fan of Total War or Warhammer, you’ll get something new and fresh out of this.
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