Total War: Warhammer

I guess they're the good guys in Warhammer 2, insofar as anyone is good in this universe. I find the faction boring and snobbish though.

I did enjoy gradually taking control of Warhammer's version of Atlantis AKA The Doughnut. This involved more confederation than conflict, which seemed fitting. There was definitely some conflict though. I found the High Elves to be fairly easy to win battles with, outperforming both the auto-resolve and my previous performances in Warhammer 1. I was especially fond of units like the Lothern Sea Guards that could serve both as competent front-line troops and missile units- very versatile. Loved watching those endless swarms of arrows fall on enemies from multiple sides.

Once I had unified our island, I launched my expeditionary force against the Dark Elves, capturing Albion, swinging west to take the northern wastes, then finally arriving at Warhammer Canada (which I guess could also be considered northern wastes). I was able to fully conquer Naggarond before completing the Vortex victory.

My memories of this campaign are hazier. I started in Warhammer Mexico and eventually conquered all of South America. No, I don't know what these areas' real names are. Lustria, Ulthuan... that's it. That's all I got.

I probably bribed the various elves, skaven and vampires north of me to leave me alone. Too cold up there. Warhammer USA looked pretty damn barren.

One thing I do remember is there was this small nation of filthy Imperial colonizers completely surrounded by my lands. They were pressed right up against my capital area. I was always planning on wiping them out, but never got around to it. They just sat there and never gave me any trouble. By the end of the game they had been my longest and most steadfast trading partner. I like to think some level of affection had actually developed in the lizardmen's cold-blooded hearts for these guys.

I do vaguely remember finishing a quest to gain control of some overpowered Slann hero unit- that was fun.

Combat continued to be pretty easy.

These guys definitely have my favorite-looking units in the game. Yes, it's because I've always loved dinosaurs. I mean, what's cooler? A dragon? Nah. Or a massive crocodilian with a weapon platform on its back? Hell yeah!

I also liked the lush, jungle environs of the campaign map down here, with the Aztec-inspired ruins, and scattered prehistoric animals like a pterosaur circling a mountain peak. Gave me vibes of those pulp fiction books- Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Lost World, Journey to the Center of the Earth, etc.

After cruising to easy wins with the High Elves and Lizardmen, this is where things started getting more challenging for me. In combat, when the auto-resolve predicted a close victory, I'd usually score a decisive victory. Close defeat, a pyrrhic or close victory. Not so with the Dark Elves. With them, I was more on par with the auto-resolve... sometimes even worse.

I honestly don't remember clearly why I had such trouble with them. They couldn't go toe to toe with the high elves when it came to ranged firepower. The obvious counter is cavalry, but I don't think they had great cavalry either. Strong line units that could advance and soak up damage? Not really. I vaguely recall I had a bunch of missile/infantry hybrid units that seemed more designed for skirmishing and flanking. I never mastered them.

My strategy was also flawed. There were a bunch of chaos-spreading Norscans north of my lands and I really didn't trust them to stay there while my armies were overseas. So I wasted an eternity taking them out, even tying up my main army with a lengthy march to the Warhammer version of British Columbia (Alaska?) to eliminate their last holdout. None of these tiny villages were particularly productive for my growing empire though and I started falling behind the curve.

Once I had finally formed a strong Dark Elf homeland, I planned to conquer Ulthuan, in a reverse of my High Elf game. I was unable to establish a strong permanent foothold there though, with High Elf armies popping up left and right. I had to settle for circling around their island, trashing their cities and some isolated armies while fleeing from large groupings. I used a supporting Black Ark to constantly provide fresh units to my rampaging army. Eventually I formed a permanent settlement in this volcanic region in the SW of Ulthuan. It looked like a more suitable climate for a Dark Elf than forests and plains. I never expanded beyond that one province though and just defended it until the Vortex victory.

I really like the look and theme of this faction. I could just envision hordes of skeletons digging through sandy ruins looking for artifacts from ancient dynasties. The graphics and writing really sold this. Very evocative.

Their units certainly looked cool, but I don't really remember much about how they fought. Pretty sure I took over the giant desert in Warhammer North Africa relatively easily then turtled for the rest of the game until I had some very overpowered armies to move out and quickly grab the Books of Nagash, triggering the victory condition. I probably used auto-resolve a lot. This was my quickest victory in number of turns.

Another harder campaign for me. I know I save-scummed and restarted multiple times because I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere fast.

We began close to the southern tip of Warhammer Africa. The nearby starting opponents were a bunch of High Elves and, like all initial opponents, they seemed designed to be easily defeated. The only problem was their home was on an inhospitable (for skavens) island a good way from the continent. Sending a large force to subdue it left me vulnerable to attack from the lizardmen to the north. But focusing on the lizardmen left me vulnerable to seaborne attacks from the High Elves.

Eventually, during one of my games, the High Elf problem was solved by Dark Elves fortuitously attacking the island and wiping them out. These Dark Elves came from some islands to the SE and they didn't hate me. Everyone else seemed to instantly declare war on me, even some factions from half the world away that I have no idea how they even heard of us. With some small bribes they became my trading partner and the only guys I could count on not to invade until I eventually met up with the Tomb Kings and other skaven way later in the game.

The lizardmen were my main adversary throughout this campaign and Kroq-gar and Queek Headtaker's armies clashed multiple times. For a while, he would have the upper hand in these battles and I was constantly on the defensive. Unlike with the Dark Elves, I'll blame this on my soldiers and not my leadership (seems appropriate for a skaven). I don't think a basic skaven unit is a match for lizardmen one on one. I would still do enough damage that he couldn't exploit his advantage. After each clash we'd both regroup a bit then fight again. Queek became quite the badass.

Well, eventually I did get the upper hand over Kroq-gar and the main reason is that I figured out how good skaven weapon teams are. The ratling gun is now my favorite unit in the game. It's just so satisfying. Especially when the enemy advances into withering fire and is just about to reach your gunners, but you narrowly intercept their flank with an infantry unit, fixing them in location to be slaughtered.

Even after I captured some of Kroq-gar's territory, further expansion was greatly hindered by food limitations. This persisted until I was finally able to research technology to increase food yield and figured out to use heroes to spread the Under-empire which I filled with food-generating buildings. Pretty sure I could have also solved this problem by constantly raiding, but I admit, this is a mechanic I probably underutilize.

Ultimately, the Tomb Kings wound up owning the entire northern half of the continent and I owned the southern half. I contemplated fighting them, but they were pretty strong. Also, one of the few races that didn't instantly declare war on me, so it didn't seem right. I basically turtled for the rest of the game, only crossing the ocean to take out this one tiny skaven faction that wouldn't agree to a non-aggression pact and trade deal with me even with bribery. They may have also happened to be sitting on a warpstone deposit I needed since I was falling behind on victory points. This was enough to eek ahead of the other 3 factions for the Vortex victory.

I started in the NE of Lustria and fairly quickly wound up with a couple of provinces. Some nice coastal cities and jungle and the loading artwork evoked thoughts of the golden age of Caribbean piracy. My territory steadily became grey with vampiric corruption. The units were great too. Everything looked exactly like it should.

They have a rite that covers their lands in a supernatural fog that causes extra attrition. Maybe Vampire Counts had the same thing? Don't remember. I could just imagine civilians from a nearby nation pointing in the general direction, saying "That's the Vampire Coast. We stay away from it." The appearance was quite foreboding. Nations declared war on us but for the most part left us alone from the sea. I did form trade partnerships with various skaven clans. I guess they are kind of in the same boat, so to speak- hated by everyone else.

Seemed like my settlements were well protected once I had my defensive buildings, and the attrition was another factor that made me feel pretty safe without having armies loiter about at home. Also, I could fit all the buildings I wanted to build every unit type in a single province. And then there's the shipbuilding aspect that lets you have mobile army recruiting as well. This all lended to gameplay where you have a small empire and send your armies out to raid and pillage- very appropriate for the faction.

The victory condition is quite different. Basically, you have a leaderboard for pirate infamy you need to progress up. Razing cities seemed to be the fasted way to achieve this so that's what I did.

The lizardmen did mount a couple of invasions from the interior of the continent. One of them was a tough, 3 stack army that managed to trash one of my cities. I learned a long time ago how essential lightning strike is, so I was able to pick them off one by one even though they massed together. Without it, things would have been dire.

The final battle was pretty fun.