Total War: Warhammer’s races are undoubtedly getting wackier. Barring the Vampire Counts, the 4 races within the authentic sport had been differentiated much less by their strategic mechanics than by their military rosters. But, since then, you may hint a steadily escalating line of wackiness by way of the Wood Elves, Bretonnia, Norsca, and the Skaven. True to this way, the Tomb Kings are a brand new , wacky peak – one that can tear up a lot of Total War’s elementary guidelines after they arrive in Warhammer II on January 23.
For an intensive breakdown of their mechanics, roster, and sport suggestions, take a look at our Total War: Warhammer 2 Tomb Kings guide.
You are questioning how they do that. Well, how about paying no gold in any respect to recruit or preserve your troops, simply to start? Every single unit, even Regiments of Renown, is free. The solely limitation is that the majority items have a cap, which you’ll solely elevate by constructing extra copies of their recruitment buildings. Tomb Kings could have a wealthy collection of tier 5 monsters, however every Hierotitan statue solely enables you to recruit one Hierotitan, they usually value 12,000 every. This will pose some thrilling and novel challenges as the sport unfolds: constructing slots can be hotly contested as your army capability vies together with your financial system. And except you construct some capability for a wet day, you’ll not have the ability to elevate an honest defensive military at quick discover.
That is for later, although. I begin my hands-on time with the brand new race by choosing Settra the Imperishable – principally the king of Tomb Kings – and filling his military with 4 Regiments of Renown, and 6 trash-tier Skeleton Warriors and Spears. Combined with Settra’s beginning military and his bonus items – Tomb Guard and a Warsphinx – this provides me a military of 19 items, solely 12 of that are tier one, and three of that are tier three or above.
It is greater than sufficient in addition the Top Knotz Greenskins out of the Salt Plain, then Gor Gazan, after which Galbaraz. I then settle the uncontested ruins of Zandri, and I’ve gone from one settlement to 5, throughout two unified provinces, inside 30 minutes of play – and that features quite a lot of poking round in menus. It is a speedy begin, even permitting for the truth that I’m solely taking part in on Normal.
It helps that I’m preventing Greenskins, whose mediocre management and lack of armour at low ranges makes them ultimate opponents for the Undead. Tomb Kings haven’t any armour piercing items till tier three – although that is not at all a singular weak spot – so you’ll want to steer clear of the Dwarfs and scaly-skinned Lizardmen for some time.
Gold is working a little bit low by this level, and I realise this may occasionally show to be the Tomb Kings’ first massive velocity bump. Even although this fearsome military has value me nothing, there are nonetheless loads of issues which do – primarily, buildings. Tomb King buildings value nearly as a lot as they do for anybody else, whereas revenue from taxes and commerce is a lot much less beneficiant.
The upshot is that preventing for cash feels very profitable. Perhaps it was solely a feeling borne of the miserliness of typical revenue, however I swear the Tomb Kings get extra from their post-battle loot than different races. In my transient extermination of the Greenskins, an open battle in opposition to Skafag Toof-Taka yielded 2,026 gold earlier than I even chosen the ‘Endless March’ choice – the Tomb King equal of Ransom Captives – which granted one other 855 and +20% marketing campaign motion vary for 2 turns. My typical revenue per flip was a flaccid 180, at that time.
So it pays to be on the warpath, which chimes with the lore; having been resurrected to a twisted model of the everlasting life their monks had led them to count on, the Tomb Kings are an embittered, amoral group of tyrants, preventing to reclaim and rebuild their once-glorious empire. As a tradition, they give the impression of being each inward and backward, and that is mirrored in two of their different mechanics: their tech tree, which is themed round their ancestral dynasties; and the Mortuary Cult.
The Mortuary Cult is a shadowy cabal of monks – or liche monks, now that they’re useless. Founded by Settra in life to find a path to immortality – which considered one of their members, Nagash, arguably succeeded in doing – they now preserve the tombs of the kings and awaken them as wanted. In sport, they will awaken Legions of Legend – elite troop variants much more highly effective than Regiments of Renown, to the purpose that they aren’t out there in multiplayer for steadiness causes. The Mortuary Cult may craft magical gadgets to your characters.
You can browse the necessities for the Cult’s boons by way of a menu. This provides you one thing to work in direction of, moderately like a Legendary Lord’s quest chain, or the Norscans’ e book of monster hunts. Until now, Total War: Warhammer II’s magic gadgets had been trinkets that dropped after battles or treasure hunts, and sometimes felt like little greater than annoying notifications to be dismissed. As the Tomb Kings, they’re goals, and are extra significant as such.
The Mortuary Cult’s buying checklist contains commerce assets (gems, spices, iron, and so forth.) and canopic jars – the Tomb Kings’ distinctive forex – however I don’t earn sufficient of both to have them craft me something. I do, nevertheless, handle to unlock a dynasty. There are six of those to analysis, every of which unlocks a number of additional applied sciences, all themed round a specific set of ways. One of those techs will add a singular Lord to your character pool, with a number of highly effective bonuses talking to his dynastic theme. I go for the First Dynasty, which accommodates varied buffs for chariots and my tier two infantry, Nehekharan Warriors. Its Lord is Wakhaf, who will get +eight melee assault in desert terrain, +10% vary for missile items, +16 cost bonus, +20% ambush success fee, and the Stalk attribute. That is fairly robust, so I’m excited to construct my second military with him.
However, I’m solely in a position to take action after researching the primary dynasty, as a result of this has raised my military capability by one. That’s proper: as your items are capped, so are your armies – you get one Lord to start out with, and have to amass the power to discipline others, both by means of dynasties or the Mortuary Cult.
My session ends with a shock assault from a rival Tomb King – they warred consistently in life, why ought to something change now? – and a battle, which I win, however shamefully overlook all about their Realm of Souls mechanic, which may set off bursts of army-wide therapeutic as you undergo losses. I’ve had solely the smallest style of the Tomb Kings’ marketing campaign, however their intro cutscene exhibits me the place it’s headed.
I discussed they’re inward-looking. They couldn’t care much less about Ulthuan’s Great Vortex, which is the fixation of the bottom sport’s races. Rather, they’re anxious concerning the Black Pyramid – a magical superweapon constructed by the aforementioned Nagash, who additionally solid the spell which turned the Tomb Kings’ land of Nehekhara right into a realm of the residing useless. Where different races should harvest a particular forex to solid 5 rituals, Tomb Kings should acquire 5 of Nagash’s 9 books from armies and settlements all internationally. These books can confer some thrilling bonuses – one enables you to recruit some Vampire Count items, as an illustration. When you’re accomplished, it’s important to take the Pyramid itself from a potent impartial military, improve its predominant constructing, and win a remaining battle there.
When requested if we’ll ever see Nagash within the sport, lead designer Rich Aldridge references the distinctive and “very climactic finale” to the Tomb Kings’ marketing campaign. I’m not getting my hopes up, however that’s actually tantalising – you may watch the remainder of our interview on the embed beneath.
It can be attention-grabbing to see how attempting to find books compares together with your rivals’ Vortex rituals from a pacing perspective. It is more likely to be much less expansionist: others need to take and maintain ritual forex websites within the long-term, whereas Tomb Kings presumably simply need to beat one military, or seize a settlement one time, to win its e book. Taking sure settlements could contain a pricey battle – I notice one e book is ensconced within the Tower of Hoeth – however the one territory it’s good to maintain is that which helps ample power to hunt books and to defend your heartlands.
It all neatly underscores that sense of wanting inward and backward: the Tomb Kings’ obsession with the Black Pyramid that helped convey their spoil; their Mortuary Cult reawakening misplaced legions or artefacts; dynastic secrets and techniques yielding stronger troopers and leaders; and armies swelling solely as cities are rebuilt.
It can’t have been straightforward. Variable strategic mechanics had been unheard-of in Total War till the primary Warhammer, but right here we’re with a race that doesn’t pay for recruitment or maintenance. But they nonetheless make sense, and furthermore, they accomplish that throughout the confines of a third-party IP. I’ve solely had two or three hours with them, however thus far it’s a deft mix of sport design and lore sensitivity that will get extra spectacular when you think about how conservative Total War has generally felt up to now. And but the extra CA rewrite the script, the extra thrilling it will get. I’m not more than a tepid Tomb King fan – Vampires are cooler, let’s be trustworthy – however I can’t wait to get my fingers on them once more.
These impressions are based mostly on a press day organised by Creative Assembly at which I acquired to play roughly two hours of a Tomb King marketing campaign, however was solely capable of seize for 45 minutes.
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