Total War: Warhammer - Vampiric Corruption Detailed

Total War: Warhammer – Vampiric Corruption Detailed

Total War: Warhammer arrives as Creative Assembly’s first foray into the fantasy genre. Blending the Total War and Warhammer franchises together seems natural and adds a ton of interesting gameplay mechanics. This includes the vampires. Led by Manfred von Carstein, the vampires descend upon the battlefield with unique mechanics exclusive to the race. At GDC 2016, I went hands-on with the vampire race to discover just what makes them so different.

Overall, the game is looking to shake up the traditional Total War gameplay. Siege warfare has been totally reworked from previous games in an attempt to focus the battles. Sieges now take place across a few sections of the map, creating a more cohesive battle. Defenders can man garrisons around the walls and attackers can utilize artillery, siege ladders and towers to aid in their siege.

Warhammer’s lore also plays a key aspect in the game’s balance. There are many different races and factions the game’s systems take into account.

This all leads us to the vampires, which are quite a unique faction. Vampires contain no ranged units, making them 100% focused on melee. This sounds bad, but I quickly learned that the vampires have their own advantages. For example, the vampires make excellent use of flying units. An early campaign mission gave me control of a group of fellbats, vicious beasts that quickly maneuvered around the map and were especially effective at flanking the enemy.

The game will come out May 24, 2016 for PC (Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS)

Check out the Detailed Trailer:

“The secret to a creating an effective bad guy is realistic motivation. Mannfred Von Carstein, head of the Vampire Counts faction in Total War: Warhammer, believes he has a legitimate claim to the Empire. You’re not just spreading corruption and undeath across the Old World when you play as Mannfred—you’re dutifully reclaiming what’s yours. Only a fool lets minor issues such as vampirism stand in the way of good government.”