Total War: Warhammer's battle designer on blood and badass magic

Wes Fenlon

On the final day of E3, I had a chance to watch one of the show’s most exciting demos: a scripted run-through of a Total War: Warhammer battle. Orc shamans called down giant comets to crush whole units of troops. Giants stomped across the battlefield. Goblins rode on spindly war spiders. The battle was just a taste of the whole Warhammer package—I didn’t get to see any of the world map strategy layer or skill trees or politics—but Warhammer is first and foremost about battles, and these battles look like a blast.

After the demo, I chatted with Creative Assembly’s Simon Mann, Total War: Warhammer’s battle designer. It was the most enthusiastic conversation I’ve had about orcs since my days of memorizing every bit of lore in Blizzard’s Warcraft II manuals.

PCG: So, we just got to see the demo and the first question I asked, which maybe you can’t answer, is where’s all the blood?

Simon Mann, battle designer: I mean, it’s been quite traditional in previous Total War games that we don’t strictly release with all the blood and gore in there, and it’s largely age ratings. It’s something we always explore and we’re always looking into, but I think you’ll find it will be similar to the previous Total Wars, where it’s something that's an option and it's something that you’re able to bring into the game.

PCG: I was trying to remember, because I’ve played a lot of Shogun and a lot of Rome, and I thought that was in there by default, but maybe it’s a thing I’ve always check-boxed.

Mann: Actually, it was a pack that you would download, so you get the blood and gore DLC packs like in Rome 2 and Shogun 2.

PCG: Clearly, it’s just instinct for me.

Mann: I think you just got it straight away and went, ‘Yeaaaaah!’

PCG: I just want to see the gladiators just chopping dudes’ heads off.
 
Mann: I find it more fun, I have to [turn it on].

PCG: So, what we saw looked great. I loved all the animation that he mentioned had to all be hand-done, because you can’t mo-cap a giant spider and stuff like that.

Mann: No, they’re really, really tempermental to mo-cap. 

PCG: It seemed like there's a pretty big variety of units.

Mann: It’s huge! I mean, seriously, you look at previous Total War titles and it’s very much man versus man. Even though different factions would be quite unique themselves, you’ve still got a lot of commonality between them for the unit types that you would see in battle. Now, that commonality is gone. The Warhammer world embraces the differences between all the units. You look at the models and all things are different shapes and sizes and styles. We’ve really been trying to bring that to life in the game and literally the amount of animations that’s required, the amount of new animation skeletons—the skeletal rigs for the different creatures—all new in ways that we’ve never done before. As you said, an eight legged spider, that’s not something we’ve ever done before.

PCG: What are the factions that are going to be in the game?
 
Mann: So the four races that we have available in the tentpole release are going to be the Vampire Counts, the Dwarves, the Greenskins, and the Empire. This is the start of a trilogy for us, so this is the first game and there’s going to be two more expansions. The idea is that they’re all standalone, but you can kind of bring them all together, so if you own all three it’ll be increasing the size of the world, the races you get, and things like that. And we’re also going to be releasing DLCs and free DLCs to come along with it. We started small so we can concentrate, and as you saw the amount of detail and work we’ve gone into with each of these races basically means, with these four, we can give them that depth, that kind of attention, but then as we continue we’ll expand out and get larger.

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Total War: Warhammer E3 impressions

Tim Clark

Why send a single writer to see the most hotly-anticipated strategy game on PC, when you could send two (with wildly differing background knowledge) instead. Hardware editor Wes Fenlon is a long-standing fan of the Total War series, whereas old man global editor-in-chief Tim Clark grew up playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle on a converted ping pong table in his bedroom. (And once got headbutted at a Games Day in the Birmingham NEC over a rules dispute, but that’s another story.)

At E3 they had the chance to see a choreographed demo of Total War: Warhammer, in which the Orc horde clashed with Karl Franz’s Empire forces. Here, Wes and Tim give their impressions of that in the form of a cosy fireside chat. Roll the brandy around ostentatiously in your glass and let’s begin…

Wes: I’m going to be a downer and start with the bad first: a scripted flythrough of a Total War battle, with perfectly constructed armies carrying out their coolest attacks right when the camera is on them, isn’t quite indicative of the experience of playing a Total War game. I would’ve loved to see the world map, politics, construction, planning… all the stuff that goes into making Total War a 4X series.

Okay, now that that little dose of reality is out of the way—my god, this looked cool. It’s the kind of perfect, dream franchise mash-up that makes so much sense it seemingly never happens. I could almost feel the liberated creativity bursting out of the artists and animators as they finally got to drop historically accurate archers and legionnaires for orcs and gryphons and goblins riding on really creepy spiders. I didn’t care about Warhammer as a setting before this demo, and I’m now really psyched for it as the playground for the next Total War.

Tim: Damn you, Wes, and damn your reality check. For me, seeing the camera zoom (okay, yes, suspiciously cinematically) over the warring armies was the realisation of the dream I’ve had since it sunk in that, no, I probably wasn’t ever actually going to finish painting the two dozen heavy cavalry which I’d persuaded mother to buy me for Christmas. I’ve waited patiently for over two decades to see a decent video game version of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, (hell I even sunk hours into Warhammer: Dark Omen), and given Creative Assembly’s heritage I’m confident that Total Warhammer is going to be a lot better than decent.

I think what I liked most about the demo we saw was the diversity of units on show. If I’d been making a shopping list of what a greenskin army ought to include, trolls, boar and wolf riders, a wild-eyed shaman, plus a giant boss on a wyvern would have all been high on the list. Maybe more importantly, the creature models are packed with detail and don’t feel too cartoony. I would place the art style between the colorfulness of World of Warcraft and the ‘realism’ of Shadow of Mordor. (I know orcs aren’t real. Stop ruining this.) I guess my concern, though, is whether coming in relatively cold to the series, I’m going to be overwhelmed by trying to manage an army of this size on the fly. Does it look significantly different to previous Total Wars in terms of systems? I guess magic is the major addition…

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Mordheim: City of the Damned - Lore and Gameplay

LORE

The game is set in the Empire city of Mordheim, from Imperial Year 1999, some 500 years before the present day in the Warhammer World time line. The Empire was a place torn: it had been in civil war for years – there was no Emperor sitting on the throne, and various powers were vying for control. In the Imperial year 1999, a great comet was sighted in the sky – a twin tailed comet, the sign of Sigmar.

Astronomers predicted that it would fall in the city of Mordheim, where his convent of Sisters stood. It was believed that it would herald the return of Sigmar, which he would restore the land to its former glory and usher in a new golden age. Everybody traveled to Mordheim, filling the city well beyond its capacity. Such were the times that lawlessness soon grew out of hand. The citizens of Mordheim quickly degenerated to moral debauchery, giving themselves over to their own worldly temptations, living in an increasing state of anarchy.

As time drew closer to the comet’s arrival, more and more people made the journey to Mordheim, and the situation became unbearably worse. As people gave in to acts of depravity, demons walked the streets like men, the seeds of Chaos and corruption long since having claimed the souls of the pitiful thousands who now called Mordheim their own.

The comet fell on the first day of the new era, but it was not to be the coming of Sigmar as predicted. It smashed into the city, instantly killing those who had gathered around it. Word got out that Sigmar had passed his judgment, that he had smote those who he deemed unworthy. The place of Mordheim became a place of fear and paranoia. Soon after, word spread of a mysterious stone that lay scattered about the city, known as Wyrdstone, which had all manner of reputed qualities. It was discovered that factions would pay incredible amounts for this precious stone, whatever their motivation. So Warbands began traveling to Mordheim, now dubbed The City of the Damned, hoping to find this precious stone and make their quick fortunes...

GAMEPLAY

Choices decide your fate

Your first step in the game will be to pick a Warband from classic Warbands (Reikland Mercenaries, the ninja like rat specie of the Skaven clan Eshin, the corrupted Cult of the Possessed and the all-female warband of the Sisters of Sigmar). Then, configuring your Warband by selecting a mix of classes and attributes will allow you to tweak it to whatever play-style you choose. You could maybe need a band specialized in range combat, melee combat or have a balanced strategy!
More than the choice of every unit composing your roster, the choice of the warband itself will be decisive. Each warband has got their own strengths and weaknesses, so do not underestimate the importance of getting prepared before you get through the streets of Mordheim.

A truly dynamic turn based world to explore and conquer

Unlike many traditional turn-based tactical games, Mordheim features an intuitive initiative ladder, which controls the order by which units will be able to act, depending on their initiative ratio. Turns are not taken in their entirety team by team, so much as through the initiative ladder per unit, dictated by the amount of initiative points each unit have.

Units initiative points are determined in part by the unit type, how you configure them (weapons, armors and skill points investments...) and are affected by certain stances they can take on the battlefield. For instance, a swiftly configured Skaven will have the initiative ratio required to get a head start on the initiative ladder, to the detriment of their strength, or toughness.
The initiative ladder system allows you to strategically alter yours and your opponents’ position on the ladder using one of many skills, such as changing your stance, or tossing out a dirty trick.
In Mordheim, your units are not fixed to a grid. Take control of your units to explore the map, searching for Wyrdstones and enemies, with more freedom than any tactical game out there.

Manage, customize and hire mercenaries to fight merciless battles!

Recruit new units, equip them with better gear and customize your squad in order to have the most optimized tactics. Use the experience points you've won in the battlefield to improve your mercenaries. Form your perfect warband by handpicking each unit. Make your strategy your best ally and use every unit's skills to perfection. But proceed carefully though, if some units are being put “out of action”, they might lose a limb or even die. Keep in mind that in Mordheim: City of the Damned, a dead unit is lost forever!

Exploit tactical approaches in varied and strategically designed maps

Explore each corner of the legendary city. Unveil its treasures and put your hands on powerful artefacts. Take advantage of building structures, ruins and back alleys to give your troops a step ahead. While the procedural maps will ensure your multiplayer games incredible variety, you'll enjoy discovering passionately crafted iconic locations of the city like the Temple of Sigmar. Set up ambushes to spread apart the enemy forces or focus your fire power on the most deadly target in your opponent's crew to claim the victory! Setting up a flawless strategy is almost as important as having some luck during the battle's key moments.

Do you have what it takes to relentlessly harvest the mysterious Wyrdstones whilst avoiding the dangers of one of the most risky place in the entire Warhammer World?

Mordheim: City of the Damned

Mordheim: City of the Damned is the first video game adaptation of Games Workshop's cult classic tabletop game Mordheim. Set in the Warhammer World's decimated Empire city, Mordheim: City of the Damned is a turn-based tactical game where you lead warbands into bloody and lethal skirmishes. The game blends RPG elements, fast-paced tactical combat and intricate unit customization in a time wrought by chaos and rivalry where only the strongest survive.

After a twin tailed comet crashed on Mordheim, the City of Damned turned into a terrifying battlefield where rival warbands fight fiercely for the control of key neighborhoods, looking for glory and fortune by acquiring the very valuable Wyrdstone fragments.

Mordheim: City of the Damned is the first video game adaptation of Games Workshop's cult classic tabletop game Mordheim. Set in the Warhammer World's decimated Empire city, Mordheim: City of the Damned is a turn-based tactical game where you lead warbands into bloody and lethal skirmishes. The game blends RPG elements, fast-paced tactical combat and intricate unit customization in a time wrought by chaos and rivalry where only the strongest survive.

After a twin tailed comet crashed on Mordheim, the City of Damned turned into a terrifying battlefield where rival warbands fight fiercely for the control of key neighborhoods, looking for glory and fortune by acquiring the very valuable Wyrdstone fragments.

Choose from iconic Mordheim warbands - Sisters of Sigmar, the Cult of the Possessed, Skaven, Mercenaries from the Empire (Reiklanders) - and lead your troops to battle. Recruit new units, equip them with enhanced gear. Evolve and customize your warband with the experience gained from each successful mission, transforming them into a terrifying force on the battlefield.

Devise the best strategy to annihilate your rivals. If you fail, some of your units might lose a limb... or worse. Keep in mind that in Mordheim: City of the Damned, a dead unit is lost forever! Consider the environment when formulating your battle strategy, exploiting the unique buildings, ruins or the layout of the streets. Deploy your troops carefully and anticipate the actions of your adversaries to set up ambushes! Organize ingenious battle plans where the talents of your units will be as important as your own luck during key moments of combat.

Loot items and weapons hidden in the ruins, or steal those of fallen opponents. Survive the dangers that abound in the City of the Damned and collect as many Wyrdstones as you can, but remain ever vigilant. Mordheim is one of the most treacherous places in the Warhammer World!

In these epic battles where fame and glory await, your strategy will definitely be your best ally! Visit the four corners of the City of the Damned to complete multiple missions in the solo campaign, or challenge other players in enthralling multiplayer modes.

Fully customize your Warbands
Choose from a multitude of classes with unique abilities to create unique strategies
Take your troops to battle and test their synergy on the field
Gain experience to unlock Player's special abilities
Spend the Wyrdstones to acquire powerful items and unlock more choices and features
Face other Player's Warbands in head to head skirmishes and compete to own the leaderboards

Factions like Skaven and Tombkings on the campaign map - how to make them fit into the concept and technical limitations of human empires

The purpose of this thread is to discuss the inevitable problems which occur when trying to depict non-human races as a faction on the TW campaign map.

I want to begin with the Skaven, but the discussion is open for any kind of input.


ISSUES (gameplay-relevant differences to human societies)

1. Skaven do not generally live on the surface and build or maintain settlements above ground
2. Skaven maintain extensive underground networks and espionage which allow them to see without beeing seen
3. Skaven have no diplomatic dealings with other races, temporary alliances of convenience at most
4. Skaven do not peacefully trade with other races and have no monetised economy
5. Skaven soldiers are not payed, they fight because they are dominated by stronger Skaven or because they lust for plunder and murder
6. Skaven hardly have any use for industrial products or luxury goods besides what can be eaten or made into weapons
7. Skaven reproduce a lot faster than humans and don't really need housing
8. Skaven are hardly affected by plagues due to their short lifespan, high reproductive cycle and general resistance, but carry plagues everywhere they go

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

1. Possible motivation to hold cities after conquering them: Using the inhabitants as slaves. Upon a successful siege, Skaven should not have the option to "occupy", only to "plunder" and "exterminate". They should keep civil order through fear alone, maybe have the option to "sacrifice" (read: massacre) inhabitants to restore order
2. Skaven could be able to recruit spies at (almost) no cost and receive huge bonuses for them, maybe even disable FOW completely for them?
3. Make it impossible for Skaven to have alliances
4. Make it impossible for Skaven to maintain trade agreements. If possible, restrict trade to Skaven settlements
5. No idea yet
6. If possible, restrict trade to raw materials and basic food
7. Use an "underground colony" building which can be upgraded and radically improves pop-growth
8. Give all Skaven characters traits which increase their chance to become infected. Make Skaven settlements immune to plague effects or counter them by balancing them with higher pop-growth.

[1] The Sundering: Rise of the Witch King - Sons o - Mod DB

The Sundering: Rise of the Witch King

The Sundering: Rise of the Witch King is a mod for Medieval 2: Kingdoms and based around the fantasy world of Games Workshop's Warhammer universe during the civil war between the Elves.

The mod's campaign opens with the Death of Bel Shanaar in -2751 IC. It features completely new units never before seen in a Medieval 2: Kingdoms mod, includen noble Griffon Riders, vile Hydras, and even the all powerful Dragon Princes of Caledor. Alongside these mystical creatures will be the Elves themselves, from the lowliest Elven Spear unit to the powerful Phoenix Guard, and from deranged Cultist to the Knights of Anlec.

Also included is a new strategic map of Ulthuan, the homeland of the Elves, including new models for Elven cities, generals, and monuments (such the Shrine of Asuryan). The campaign is an unscripted and epic journey through almost fifty years of the war that shattered the Elves forever, featuring new custom messages to fully immerse the player in the lore and culture of the Elves. Will you lead Nagarythe forward in it's bid to conquer Ulthuan and install Malekith as the new Phoenix King? Or will you lead one of the other nine Elven Kingdoms in their battle to protect their homelands? Or perhaps you will follow neither path and forge a new destiny for your people! The kingdom is yours to command, whether it be rich maritime Eataine or the martial powess of Caledor and its dragons. And while you forge a new empire for your people, you must be wary of the all corrupting influence of the Cults of Pleasure and Excess who would seek to undermine your position, though perhaps the Cults could be used to your own advantage if you play your cards right!
This is the most pivotal moment in Elven History, and one of the most destructive wars that the Warhammer universe has ever witnessed. You are now part of that history! Will you change that history for better or worse? That is for you to decide...

Official Campaign Rules – Dark Tide

This thread is for up to date Campaign rules only. If you have rules questions, post them here. No battle reports or requests to join are to be put here. Let keep this thread for rules discussion only.

Welcome to the Dark Tide online campaign! Below, you will find the "House Rules" we have set forth to ensure fair, and fun gameplay! The campaign will run for 8 weeks. During this time each side will attempt to destroy or defend the Kingdom of Kislev.

Precampaign: Participants sign up for the Campaign. Each must choose an army type. This army type will define which side you will fight for. Evil: Chaos, Skaven, Greenskins Good: Empire, Elves, Dwarves Once all generals have been given a side to fight for, they will be split into Eastern and Western contingents. Eastern is for Europeans, etc. Western is for the America's, etc. This will help make scheduling games easier.

At the beginning of the Campaign, each general is assigned a starting city. For the Good side in the east, it is Praag. For the Good side in the west it is Velsk. Evil is located in the encampments. Eastern Evil side may attack Chazask or Volkologsk. Western Evil side may attack Krovask or Murmagrad. Neither side is required to have a Commander. It will be totally voluntary for Generals to work together and have a leader. None will be assigned.

Each General has one attack action and one defend action per week.

Attacking: You may attack any city that is linked to the city you are currently in. If the city you attack is taken at the end of the week, it becomes your new assigned city. If it is not taken, you retreat to your previous city. If your previous city is now in the hands of the enemy, you may choose a linked friendly city.

Defending: You may defend any city linked to the city you are currently in. If the city you are currently assigned to is lost, you may choose a linked friendly city to move to.

Once all attacks are announced, then the defend actions can be announced.

As you can see, only by attacking, or losing the city you are currently in, will you move to another city. There is only one exception to this rule. If you do not Attack at all during the week, you may instead move to a linked city. You may still Defend any city linked to your current city that week. It is assumed you meet your attackers enroute to your new city. It is possible for generals to be all over the map, depending on how the war goes.


Army Composition: No more than 20% of your army gold can be spent on heroes. This can change if certain battle sites are taken. No Siege Engines, unless the battle site calls for it. When it does allow Siege Engines, only 25% of your gold can be spent on them. Also you cannot have more than 2 of any one type of siege unit. No more than two flying units. This does count any flying Hero units. Lastly, no more than one unit of allies may be taken. This unit cannot be a hero. For example, Chaos can have one orc unit, but not the orc hero, etc.

"Cheese" armies will not be tolerated. The restrictions above are so that we can somewhat balance the armies. Unfortunately, we cannot guess at all the army set ups, so personal honor is expected. Play
fairly, and others will also!

A word about Maps:

You may use any map that the participants agree upon. Under no circumstance should you take a reinforcement area, or buy reinforcements during a game. There are no restrictions on maps, except the siege maps. Siege is obviously for the towns where siege engines are allowed.

You MAY use refill areas to heal your troops! These are considered places of power. Both participants must agree on the map chosen.

DWARVES

Dwarves are now able to use siege engines in any battle they wish. They must still follow the rules for siege engines.

As a temporary fix to people having different forum and game names, the MoC Other channel will be our Official channel. Once you set up a time to meet, meet there.

Example Battle report

Battle Report (Match time 5:30CST)
Location: Krovas
Winner: Ironwarrior51 (Evil) Score: (23090)
Loser: Shard (good) Score: (18640)

The battle group of elves silently creeps through the forests surrounding Krovas. Ahead heading through a narrow valley is a chaos warband walking right into the elves ambush. With archers perched above the cliffs the signal is given to wait till the enemy comes into range. All of a sudden the army stops and a lone spellcasters ventures forward to investigate.

"He can sense us" whispers Elriron "archers ready your bows"

Slowly the chaos spellcaster comes closer to the elves location, then, with a gasp he realizes what is before him. It is that very moment that more then 2 dozen arrows fly from the shadows as well as a devastating magical assault. Moments later the spellcasters lies dead pierced by no less then a dozen arrows. The army is at first stunned and no one moves for a moment. Then with a great cry the warband charges the elves position.

"Leave behind a rear guard to fend them off, this battle will not be won this day." says Elthiron

With that much of the elven army flees into the night awhile a few brave and surely doomed souls hold back the tides of chaos.

On the "Other" side of Krovas...

Clementus: Dark Runners: 40345
Azztec123: High Elf Defenders: 24530

"Snikk snikk.. thats how you do it!" the burly rat states as he finishes chewing on the large femur while he caresses the bone with his tail.

"Elven prince think he good. Thinks he clever! But we has Kraftit! He cleverer He is!"

"That Elven prince.. he move quick but our sneaky runners sees him they do and we get behind hims. Jezzails is shoot shooting the pointy ears as the elves move into position on hill hill"

The rat turns throwing the bone onto a large pile of bones amidst a burning bonfire. An elf screams as the fire licks up at his ankles and cries out to his gods to take his soul.

The rat stops for a second and winces before removing an arrow lodged in his shoulder..

"Elves's on hill was not nice! they shoots us and shoots us good. We was lucky that Kraftits warpstone shield protected the globe throwers we was and they lead us into a charge on the pointies! Then we had fun fun.. Die Die! elfies and ratties in big fight!"

"But princey ran! he wanteds to recover he dids but we got him! I keel him! Die Die! he did! Die Die!"

(Good game though sheer numbers proved the winner and managing to catch the elves rear as they moved meaning archers could be picked off)

Worth us saving Replays btw? got mine and can host it if people care.