Holy early Christmas, Batman! Total War: Warhammer 40K, long rumored successor to the wildly successful trio of Total War: Warhammer games, has been announced. Let’s take a look!
I see you, Sega, you wily devils, you crafty cretins! I watched (well, skimmed through) that whole bloated, painfully scripted Total War 25th Anniversary Showcase last week and it was… definitely something you posted online. There was a little content announced for Total Warhammer 3 (End Times, the thing all Warhammer players love!) and also the truly exciting reveal that Medieval 3 is in the works, or, in line to get worked on. There wasn’t a lot of substance there. Anyway, excellent head fake, well done. I truly did not expect to have to wait an extra week to see the REAL announcement behind all the meat of that showcase. Total Warhammer (yes, that should be it’s name) 40K is confirmed, in the works and coming to us all… “a little way off in the future,” according to Warhammer Community. I’ll take it!
Jokes aside, this is a really interesting move for Sega and the Total War franchise. Every Total War game to date has focused on eras dominated either by black powder weapons or non-firearms. The most historically adjacent game to the modern day is set in the 16th Century with DLC that brings you up to the 19th Century. There are no Total War games set during the World Wars (though I would play them). The reason this matters is that, though the game system has changed dramatically over the years, it is still largely based on large groups of soldiers packing together into ranks, either to hack and slash their way to victory or deliver volleys of musket fire. Armies in 40K, in theory, should fight in a way that is so different to these time periods (and Warhammer Fantasy) that is could very likely require a different engine.
So what are we going to see, apart from 40,000 DLCs over the next ten years? Well, the announcement trailer did give a little glimpse of pre-alpha game play that showed off orks and space marines, which feels obvious. There was also a very brief suggestion of Eldar, and some Imperial Guard Astra Militarum units in the background. There were loads of tanks and vehicles, as well as a freaking Stompa, which is truly exciting, as I am currently nuts for Legions Imperialis and pining for Epic’s faction variety. Actually, the scale of this game will almost certainly make it more like Epic than 40K, just based on army size alone.
There was a lovely, though brief, look at several space marine factions. In a very quick moment a group of marines cycled through several paint schemes, with accompanying wargear, in a clip that is already broken down the Warhammer Community. Of course a hallmark of any Total War game is a dizzying number of primary and minor factions, so this comes as no surprise, but it would be neat if there were any sort of army painting mechanic. A boy can dream!
How groundbreaking will this be? Listen, I know that 40k is not WW2. I realize that many of the far future’s armored vehicles are just melee berserker delivery machines. This feels like a measured jump from historical (and Fantasy!) games, focused on linear warfare, toward something more resembling modern combat. A baby step, if you will. Honestly, if the announcement had been Total War: WW2 I would have bought it, but my hopes would not have been as high as they are for 40K. How about yours? Sound off in the comments!
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