Total War: Warhammer 40,000’s four asymmetrical factions will vary wildly from one another, as developer Creative Assembly has now outlined how some of the game’s factions will play and be “totally different” from factions seen before in the Total War franchise.
After being announced during The Game Awards, more details about developer Creative Assembly’s next game have been revealed via a new developer roundtable. The four factions players will have to choose from include Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Orks, and Aeldari. Mann said the universe has a lot of opportunities for asymmetry between the factions, and Creative Assembly knew that it could only pick a limited number of playable factions in order to give each one the amount of effort to make them feel special.
In terms of how they play, each faction will field troops, gather resources, and engage in battle in different ways. Of the four factions, Astra Milatrum is said to be the most “traditional” Total War faction, with mass ranks of infantry and support from artillery and vehicles. Like in other Total War games, Astra Militarum players will need to gather resources, build infrastructure, and recruit more troops in order to succeed. In true Astra Militarum fashion, solving problems will often mean throwing more masses of bodies at it.
“If you want the most ‘Total War’ experience when playing this game, I’d pick the Astra Militarum,” principal creative director Ian Roxburgh said.
It’s with the other factions where Total War: Warhammer 40K will begin to feel unique. The Space Marines, for example, are extremely powerful as individual units, but they aren’t like a traditional Total War faction, Mann said. Space Marines aren’t building infrastructure in the same way as some other factions, and are more reliant on a smaller number of troops.
“They are a very limited force; it’s going to be a very different gameplay style,” lead designer Simon Mann said. “You are these super-human troops, but your weakness is you’re limited in number.”
Of all the factions, it’s the Aeldari that sound like they will be the most different, relying on advanced technology and their Webways to engage enemies in hit-and-run tactics. Whereas some factions will be seeking to defend their worlds or conquer planets, the Aeldari’s objectives will be different, as the faction seeks to stop potential galactic calamities before they happen. Aeldrai will also recruit their units from a hidden Craftworld, though they will be few in number.
“You’re quite limited in number. Your troops are not an infinite resource you can use,” Mann said. “You’re once again using them carefully because they’re all a glass cannon.”
As for the Orks, they are a brute-force faction all about amassing troops and momentum. In some ways similar to the Astra Militarium in that they need to build up resources and field a huge number of troops, the Orks do have some surprisingly advanced technology they can field as well.
As part of the roundtable, Creative Assembly pointed to the game’s galactic scale as something that sets it apart from other Total War and other Warhammer 40K games. Players, for example, will be able to wipe entire planets off the map, though Mann said it’s not something that can be done lightly.
“It’s a permanent action,” Mann said. “There’s no take-backs, but it’s not something that can be done frivolously. Blowing up a planet by the Imperium requires multiple levels of authorization; they would much rather throw away a billion human souls to reclaim a world than destroy it. However, there are extreme circumstances, and we do let you press the button.”
Total War: Warhammer 40K does not yet have a release date, but will release on PC as well as Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. It’s just the latest Warhammer 40K game in the works, with other upcoming titles including Space Marine 3, Boltgun 2, and Dark Heresy.