Total War: WARHAMMER II

I have color-coded spreadsheets for less complex games than this. Total War: WARHAMMER II is the kind of strategy title where every session produces a decision you will replay in your head the next morning - whether that was timing the Skaven's fifth ritual a turn too late, or burning your Dark Elf slave reserves on the wrong army. Released in September 2017 and still with an active player base, it sits at an 87 on Metacritic and earns it. The structural loop is classic Total War: turn-based campaign map management layered on top of real-time tactical battles. What WARHAMMER II does differently, and better than most entries in the series, is make every faction feel mechanically alien from the others. The four base campaign races - High Elves, Dark Elves, Skaven, and Lizardmen - each carry unique resource systems and win conditions tied to the Great Vortex. Dark Elves accumulate slaves through raiding and pillaging, feeding gold into their empire at the cost of public order pressure that only unlocks relief through higher-tier buildings. Skaven spread corruption and operate from a position of manufactured chaos. Lizardmen field Carnosaurs and Saurus Warriors in a roster built around frontline aggression. The High Elves lean on a trade-dependent economy and Silver Helms cavalry you will inevitably blow on a flank charge at the worst possible moment. On top of the base four, DLC added Tomb Kings (no upkeep armies, but recruitment tied to military buildings in a way that punishes lazy city management), Vampire Coast, and more. The Mortal Empires campaign, free to anyone who also owned the first game, merges both maps into a continent-spanning sandbox that will genuinely consume your weekends. For newcomers, the faction difficulty labels on the campaign select screen are honest. The Lizardmen are broadly considered the best starting point - their roster is balanced enough that you will be forced to learn infantry lines, flanking, and magic use without leaning on a single exploit. Dwarfs have great armor, strong artillery, and ironbreaker units that are nearly unmovable, but their absence of spellcasters means you skip an entire layer of tactical decision-making that will hurt you later. High Elves reward patience and economic planning; if you understand the turn-by-turn build order for their cities, their late-game income is formidable. The game respects you enough to give you difficulty labels and faction summaries up front, then let you figure out the rest. It is steep. It is not impenetrable. The criticism that lands is the AI. Diplomacy is inconsistent, and reviewers at the time and the community since have noted that the campaign AI will occasionally make baffling strategic decisions - particularly in the mid-game, where scripted pressure events like the Chaos invasion can feel predictable after your second or third campaign. The battle AI is competent on higher difficulties but can be outplayed by cavalry micro that exploits flanking angles it never properly reacts to. None of this kills the experience, but experienced Total War players will be running on autopilot in some engagements by hour 80. The mod ecosystem on Steam - still active years after Warhammer III launched - patches a lot of this with AI overhauls, unit rebalances, and campaign reworks that add meaningful replay value beyond what the base game already provides. For the price this usually sits at during sales, and given that a single Legendary Lord playthrough runs 60 to 100 turns minimum across two distinct campaign modes, the content-to-cost ratio is hard to argue with. If you own the first game, that Mortal Empires unlock alone justifies the purchase. If you are coming in completely fresh, start on the Eye of the Vortex campaign with Lizardmen or High Elves, lose two campaigns learning the mechanics, and then start appreciating how many valid and distinct ways there are to play this game.

Diego · Scout Team

Strategy & simulation

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