Orcs Have Tithing Problems In Total War: Warhammer
Different playstyles for each faction in Campaign mode
The Warhammer war game Total War: Warhammer [official site] will have a shifting campaign that will differ hugely in style depending on which of the four announced factions you are playing as. This is according to battle designer Simon Mann, who chatted with Pip in LA this week, in a full interview to follow shortly.
Mann confirms my long-held suspicions when he tells her that Orcs “aren’t really into taxation”. To be fair, neither are most humans unless they’re high enough up the food chain to directly benefit. The Empire, meanwhile, is all about skullduggery.
Greenskins “won't be going round people's houses, knocking politely and saying 'Can I have my tithes please?' They just find someone else's village and take it. They're more about warfare and fighting.” Which differs from the Empire side of the campaign, which will feature more political intrigue, backstabbing and fragile loyalties.
Mann says Creative Assembly is “bringing the Warhammer lore back into this,” even at a basic gameplay level. “We've got something called a Waaaaaagh which comes out and that's if an orc war boss keeps doing really well and winning battles, once that happens you build up momentum and more Goblins and Orcs start following you on the campaign map. Suddenly you're charging through enemy lands with a giant force.”
The Empire, meanwhile, will be more akin to a traditional Total War faction, but there'll be plenty of tricksy politicking, given half the populace isn't particularly fond of Emperor Karl Franz. "There's a lot more skullduggery," claims Mann. "You've got that reticence towards him as the leader of the Empire factions."
What this means for the final two playable races, Dwarfs and Vampire Counts, remains to be seen, though we're promised that "they have unique playstyles as well." Make sure you check out Pip’s full interview and impressions of Total War: Warhammer later today, which also goes into some of the weirder, and most gigantic, units on offer in CA's Games Workshop adaptation.