He still provided buffs for nearby troops, but that was far from his only purpose. I built my Karl Franz character (through ability unlocks and item selection) to be the best solo combatant he could be and so most battles would see him in the thick of combat, seeking out the enemy general to slay. In Total War: Warhammer, your heroes act like heroes. In recent Total War games, your general is used largely for applying buffs to your troops, only entering combat when victory is assured, or you have no other choice.

Speaking of which, it's refreshing to actually want to throw your named characters into battle. I'm not incredibly proud to admit that, at one point, I declared war on a neighbouring human faction, largely because I wanted to see Karl Franz's new flying mount in action. We've all been guilty of auto-resolving encounters in previous games, but here there's always something fresh to play around with: a new unit, spell, or item ability. As with other Total War games, the AI still has its issues with ranged units.Īs a result, I never really stopped looking forward to the next battle in Total War: Warhammer. A late-game upgrade may see you adding a couple of steam tanks, or a gigantic arachnarok spider to your front line, and that feels way more important. Improving your army isn't just a case of replacing good infantry with great infantry, it can now be much more drastic than that. It can, at times, be a little overwhelming if you're not familiar with Warhammer Fantasy, but it's worth it in the end. I think I now understand why the tabletop game has so many rulebooks. There are infantry that specialise in taking down monstrous units and there are ranged units that can hold their own in melee combat. Alongside your typical infantry, ranged units and cavalry, there are flying war machines, giants, magic casters and legendary lords. There's never been a Total War game with a roster this diverse. In Total War: Warhammer, this seems to happen in almost every battle. In Rome: Total War, this feeling is a noteworthy exception, a rare blind spot in a game that wants you to understand its systems. But for a little while, you're not sure what to do. There is, of course, a counter to these units too a new set of rules to add to the list. Up until the point at which you stand against an elephant charge and the whole thing falls apart. The better units can defy these rules, sure, but it's almost always a good place to start. Total War, in my experience, has always played out a bit like a game of rock, paper, scissors. And then you run into Carthage, and they've got war elephants. Here you'd been, building proper Roman armies, with swords and shields and bows and arrows, designed to defeat nations with fewer resources and aging technology. If you've played Rome: Total War, you have to remember the first time you encountered the Carthaginians.

Empire total war elephants