I’m terrible at Total War, but that doesn’t stop me from embarking on a new campaign every time the latest piece of Warhammer 3 DLC drops. Whether it’s a new Dwarven character or an Orc contraption, there’s always something fresh to test out, or somewhere else to explore.
Total War: Warhammer 3 is the best way of experiencing the Old World. Despite Warhammer Fantasy Battle returning to the tabletop, Games Workshop’s plastic releases for the system have been underwhelming. Where’s the Jabberslythe and Necrofex Colossus? Where are the Thunderbarges and Toad Dragons?
Maybe this is my 40K-pilled brain wanting the biggest monsters and coolest creatures. Maybe Old World players just love seeing ranks of regular troops stand in long, regimented lines across the battlefield. But I to see what Creative Assembly could do with the Empire of Mankind or a Waaagh! of Ork Boyz.
Creative Assembly Has Done Wonders With The Old World
I played a fair bit of Warhammer Fantasy as a kid, but never really cared for the lore. I loved other fantasy settings – Middle-earth, the Disc, even Hogwarts – but I could never really get into the Old World. I knew the basics, I read some novels, but mostly I just liked smushing my Swordmasters of Hoeth into whatever menace my friends had brought to the table that day.
However, through its numerous campaigns, exciting characters, and beautifully animated creatures, the Total War: Warhammer series has immersed me in the Old World more than any other medium. This is unusual for me; I usually like reading my lore and my stories in books. You know, those things made of paper and glue. With words in?
Total War expands on throwaway ideas from Warhammer lore and creates unique creatures that fit perfectly within their armies but feel fresh and new. On the tabletop, the Old World is just rehashing ideas from the ‘80s, but in digital form, Creative Assembly is pushing the boundaries of what Warhammer Fantasy can be.
Warhammer 40K Deserves The Total War Treatment Next
Now do it for something I care about more deeply. Do it for the grimdark 41st millennium. Please, Creative Assembly. I would do anything (read: pay about 50 quid) for you to expand on the Empire of Mankind like you have the Old World.
I want to see Titans take to the battlefield, I want to know how a T’au Manta moves. I want to see the most messed up daemons your twisted minds can possibly conjure and the most mind-bending contraptions the Orks can cobble together. I want to see the brutal grace of a Harlequin Troupe systematically dismantling their foes in a beautiful, fatal dance. Necrons can be involved too, I guess.
I know it’s not that easy. You can’t just reskin Total War: Warhammer 3 and say it’s a brand new 40K game. You’ve got the map to think about, for starters. A game of this scale couldn’t take place on one planet. You’d need a galaxy map, invasions taking place across light years of space. The scale would be bigger in every sense, from the armies on the battlefield (people will want to field entire Chapters of Space Marines), to the countless worlds they invade. But I believe it’s possible.
Now, I’m just wishlisting here, but I’ve got previous. I asked for Warhammer 40K Power Wash Simulator DLC, et voila. But now that I’ve cleaned the dirt off my Land Raider, it’s time to get it mucky again. I need to crush xenos skulls beneath its tracks, and I need Creative Assembly to facilitate that.
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