The Glorious State of Games Workshop Video Games

There has never been a better time to get into the lore of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K, particularly Warhammer 40K, in terms of selection due to the extensive range of Games Workshop video games released.

Also before we start, don’t forget to check out our merch store if you’re in the US. We sell dnd dice sets, gamer t-shirts, and gamer room decoration.

So for those of you who don’t know, Games Workshop (henceforth referred to as GW) is a company that creates tabletop miniatures that started in 1970, they have created many spinoff games based on their IP two, we are going to discuss today Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K.

So Warhammer Fantasy (whose setting is now defunct from the tabletop perspective) is a fantasy setting with dwarfs, elves, humans, and orcs, but this setting was first created in the 1970s. It was continually worked on till early 2010.

As a result, this is 40 years of lore which makes it one of the most fleshed-out fantasy settings that have ever existed, which makes it an excellent setting for video games as there are more factions than you can shake a stick at.

Even the human factions are fantastic, with the Empire (the biggest human nation) able to field steam tanks (tanks that run on steam) and priests with holy powers, among other things.

As I was growing up, the only game I knew of that matched the tabletop experience of playing Warhammer Fantasy was Warhammer Dark Omen and Warhammer Shadow of the Horned Rat.

I played Warhammer Dark Omen on the first PlayStation model, and it was pretty good. You play as the captain of the mercenary company, the Grudge Bringers, and you play through various campaigns.

Now I loved the game, but it certainly didn’t emulate the tabletop experience in terms of different available units as you were somewhat restrictive in what units you could take, so, in my opinion, didn’t quite provide the Warhammer Fantasy experience.

The Total War Warhammer came out in 2016, and this is, without a doubt, the best Warhammer Fantasy game.

Now to my understanding, this was very interesting. Like I said before, by now, Warhammer Fantasy was a defunct setting replaced by Age of Sigmar, but this game has breathed life into Warhammer Fantasy.

Now this was an exciting development in the Games Workshop video games department because the previous Total War series has mainly focused on historical accuracy, so I believe this was the first fantasy setting to be put into a Total War game, which is glorious.

This game has replaced the tabletop version of Warhammer Fantasy for me, and I have all the DLCS. This game is epic because it represents the diversity of units you had in the tabletop game with campaign mechanics, which is fantastic.

Now while the tabletop game sort of restricted you into what units you could take in this game, you can fill an army with any combination of units or heroes you wanted.

If you wanted an entire Empire army filled with pistoleer (guys on horseback with pistols), knights and mobile artillery, you could do that if you could pay the upkeep.

This makes the game fun and replayable, especially since there are an insane amount of factions, each with its specific features, and the developers added new factions to the game that weren’t there in the awesome tabletop game.

The vast amount of units, combined with lord and hero upgrades and tech, means that even with the same faction, you can have a different experience based on how to level up.

We are now up to Total War Warhammer 3, so it’s the best time to get into this franchise, as you can now play all the factions without owning Total Warhammer 1 and 2 like you did before.

The affiliate link to purchase Total War Warhammer 3 from Steam is here: https://sovrn.co/vouhli4

Now we move onto the following futuristic setting, which is Warhammer 40K. Warhammer 40K is known for being Grim Dark with the tagline “In the 41^st millennium, there is only war”.

Unlike Warhammer Fantasy, the Warhammer 40K setting is still strong. The first edition of Warhammer 40K was first released in 1987 and, without a doubt, must be my favourite futuristic sci-fi setting.

Now many factions from Warhammer Fantasy are in Warhammer 40K, with the elves being the Eldar, and there are orcs, but this setting is distinct from Warhammer Fantasy.

The Imperium of Man (the most extensive human empire) is a totalitarian regime that wipes out the heretic, mutant and xenos and expands its borders across the stars. It is beset on all sides by many enemies.

Now the series is called Warhammer 40K because it takes place in the 41^st millennium of mankind, and while mankind has access to very advanced technology, they have forgotten how much of it works.

Now the Warhammer 40K settings have received a lot more Games Workshop video games in the past and currently than Warhammer Fantasy.

A superb classic game with one of the most fabulous musical themes ever is Warhammer Epic 40000 Final Liberation. Now this game was excellent as you got to play as the Imperium of Man and fight to take back Armageddon from the Orks.

Now this game showed the scale of the Imperium of Man with you having access to the Imperial Guard (regular unmodified human soldiers with future weapons) and their various vehicles and tanks, Space Marines (genetically modified super soldiers) and Titans (giant weapons of war).

Now this game was way more like playing the tabletop version of Warhammer 40K, and it was a brilliant experience and good even today.

Now while I can’t cover every single Warhammer 40K Games Workshop video game, I will focus on the main ones I have played.

Next, we come to the Dawn of War series (I won’t touch on 3 here), first released in 2006. That was an RTS version of Warhammer 40K where you had a campaign but also had multiplayer with you would build your units and capture resources while you wipe out the enemy.

Now Dawn of War One was incredibly well received by everyone, not just Warhammer 40K fans. Next, we had Dawn of War 2, which was a departure from Dawn of War One in a big way. It focused on heroes rather than large-scale RTS battles.

The Dawn of War 2 campaign had you playing as Space Marines of the Blood Ravens chapter and instead focused on small-scale tactical battles over large-scale battles.

Now you had between three to six units that could level up different attributes, and they would gain traits based on those attributes that could heavily change your gameplay style.

While I loved the RTS capacity of Dawn of War One, the Dawn of War 2 campaign was brilliant and was stopped from being repetitive by levelling up and acquiring gear aspects.

This style of play was ideally suited towards the Space Marines that you play in the game as Space Marines have always been an elite fighting force, so this gameplay style suited them quite well.

But then a DLC called Dawn of War 2 Retribution was released that continued this gameplay style but combined some elements from the first two games in terms of recruiting units which was good.

I still liked the campaign of the original Dawn of War better, but the ability to play as other races and have the same levelling up and gear acquisition features was a lot of fun.

Next in the Games Workshop video games category, we come to Warhammer 40000 – Space Marine (released 2010), which was a shooter where you played as an actual Space Marine, which was brilliant. It differed from other shooters because it had melee and didn’t use a cover system.

You’re not using cover because you’re a space marine wearing armour that makes you equivalent to a walking battle tank.

Now the gameplay was a lot more hectic and frenetic than other games, but that made it so awesome, and it really pulled off the source material to create a gaming experience I was ecstatic about.

Not only did the game have a great combination of different types of weapons you could equip at different points, but it also included scenes where you were fighting using a jump pack (a space marine rocket pack they use to jump from place to place).

Like in other FPS games, you were not just a regular human soldier in this game. You were a Space Marine, and the game heavily showcased that. Also, with Space Marine 2 being in development, this is a great time to get acquainted with the first game.

Next, there is a remake of Warhammer Final Liberation called Warhammer 40000 Armageddon, which is turn-based (with Final Liberation being RTS apart from the initial deployment phase). Still, it pretty much recreated Final Liberation in terms of units you got access to.

The last big Warhammer 40K game I will talk about is Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War, released in 2018.

This is an actual turn-based 4X strategy game based in the 41^st millennium. You build a city while sending out units to explore and conquer until you encounter the other players and then must kill them.

No diplomacy in the 41^st millennium. This is a pretty good game and is quite unique in terms of the gaming experience it provides.

So basically, you play against other factions of your choice in a winner kills. It pits you not only against other factions but the native and non-native wildlife of the planet.

You can also build hero units who can do things like explorer shrines to get awesome loot as well as buy and sell items at the Jokaero outpost, and you also must make multiple resources, like food and energy etc.

This makes it a unique experience from the other Warhammer 40K games that have come before.

Lastly, we come to the newly released game Warhammer 40000 – Boltgun, released yesterday. This game continues the story from Space Marine, but it is essentially an old-school FPS.

The game is gory, like an old Doom clone, and it is a fantastic gameplay experience as while it is a shooter, you also have a chain sword, but the gameplay is quite brilliant, especially if you miss old-school 90s FPS.

Conclusion about Games Workshop Video Games

Now is probably the best time to get into Game Workshop video games and maybe in Warhammer 40K itself due to the 10th edition being on its way to being released.

Thank you for reading my article. While I didn’t cover every Warhammer game, I have covered a few. Please let me know if you’d like me to cover anything.

Conclusion about Games Workshop Video Games

Links