Throw out your Total War Warhammer Mods - its getting done proper

[CptHowdy]

Thanks for the input guys.  I'll have to see if the local library has any these books, if not I can use gift cards from Christmas.

going 40K then i recommend ravenor omnibus, eisenhorn omnibus, ultramarines 1st and 2nd omnibus, gaunts ghosts.  only read two warhammer novels and that was Brunner the bounty hunter and matthias thulmann witch hunter

[Toonces]

This thread has been very interesting.

I have like 6 Warhammer games in my steam library that I never installed.  I'm installing one right now due to this thread, I think it's the Winter Storm one.  I have one called Dark Crusade, too, that sounds interesting.

[Martok]

Don't feel bad, I'm a Warhammer virgin too.   

Prepare to be Warhammer 40K gang raped, my friend.

Yikes!  I'm guessing he won't want to be my friend. 

[Gusington]

I have the whole Dawn of War II series waiting to be played as well.

[W8taminute]

^^Nice picture W8, although I still like the MK6 'Corvus' armour more than the MK7 'Eagle' armour.

I can see why.  The MK6 Corvus armour helmet does have a medieval style to it. 

[W8taminute]

Wow Nefaro is thinking out of the box. I now remember CA making a Greek Mythology hack and slash called Spartan.

I've had this long-held belief that there is a curse upon digital Warhammer games.  They all seem to be stuck in Dumbed-Down Hell.   



Considering the whole universe came from tabletop games, I'd expect a thinking man's strategy PC game to arrive sometime but all I keep seeing is typical ADD and console-style titles.  Perhaps Games Workshop is forcing the lowest common denominator, mass-market, 'Play & Throw Away' games on digital developers, but I'm hoping it's just a plain 'ole curse.  :o  Hopefully they don't screw up and cook up yet another RTS clone with an extra bell or whistle because I want.. nay, demand.. a deep cerebral Warhammer strategy game!  The last decent thinker I played in that universe was Chaos Gate.  :'(

+1

I agree, we need a nice deep thinking mans game set in the Warhammer or 40K universe.

[Arctic Blast]

I'm not all that worried about this turning in to something completely out of left field. CA are known for Total War. I see no other reason for GW to sign with them except that they specifically wanted a Total War type game in the Warhammer universe. Now, there will probably be more of a focus on uber Hero type characters, but that also fits the world...and they need to do SOMETHING different, otherwise it just becomes 'Vanilla Fantasy Total War'.

[quote-Martok]Yikes!  I'm guessing he won't want to be my friend.[/quote]

On the contrary! Followers of Slaanesh seek nothing more than experiencing the spreading of pain. He'd LOVE to enjoy your torment. And since that looks like a Noise Marine, he'll be filling your head with such loud, horrifying, demonic noise that you scream and eventually melt or something like that. So...enjoy?  ;D

[Nefaro]

Yikes!  I'm guessing he won't want to be my friend.

On the contrary! Followers of Slaanesh seek nothing more than experiencing the spreading of pain. He'd LOVE to enjoy your torment. And since that looks like a Noise Marine, he'll be filling your head with such loud, horrifying, demonic noise that you scream and eventually melt or something like that. So...enjoy?  ;D

Slaan uses pop music as a weapon?  :o

[Arctic Blast]

Yikes!  I'm guessing he won't want to be my friend.

On the contrary! Followers of Slaanesh seek nothing more than experiencing the spreading of pain. He'd LOVE to enjoy your torment. And since that looks like a Noise Marine, he'll be filling your head with such loud, horrifying, demonic noise that you scream and eventually melt or something like that. So...enjoy?  ;D

Slaan uses pop music as a weapon?  :o

Only Noise Marines.  ;D

[JasonPratt]

This thread has been very interesting.

I have like 6 Warhammer games in my steam library that I never installed.  I'm installing one right now due to this thread, I think it's the Winter Storm one.  I have one called Dark Crusade, too, that sounds interesting.

Not much point installing anything less than Dark Crusade, except for the campaigns in the previous two (which to some degree are like very extended tutorials for the skirmish/mp games. But they have neat stories and some gameplay mechanics not found in the 'regular' version of the game.)

While there are two more factions in Soulstorm, general consensus is that they're rather buggy and broken, along with its campaign. Still, they're interesting and worth playing in skirm or mp when patched up (or modded with something like DowPRO. Although the latest version of that disabled the Sisters of Battle indefinitely until the modder could get around to polishing them better which is probably never going to happen now.)

[JasonPratt]

Ok now before you get your pitch forks and torches and perma-ban me from the forum please know that I was sheltered as a child....

I know I am taking my life into my hands here but here goes.


I know almost nothing about Warhammer or 40k for that matter........


Thats not to say I can't learn I just need some people to point me in the right direction instead of lynching me for my ignorance. :)


**runs and hides

I'm far from being up on fantasy Warhammer fluff, but here's a quick primer for 40K, in rough chronological order.


Necrons: Many millions of years ago, a fairly advanced ancient race learned their sun would go supernova and, not being a starfaring race yet, they needed to find some way to survive, so they made a deal with Lovecraftian Elder Gods to help transfer their consciousnesses into androids, with a promise to serve them afterward. The processes rendered them largely mindless, however, with a few exceptions. The gods used them to wipe out all life in the galaxy, after which the Necrons went into hibernation. Having been disturbed from their slumber, they're progressively awakening to repeat the genocide again. The units have an Egyptian undead flavor, and the lowest level combat troops are basically T800 model terminators. Very tough faction but expensive and slow to get going. In Dawn of War they only use energy, not the other vague "resource" (although they still capture points for various reasons).

Tyrannids: roughly based on the Xenomorphs from the Alien media properties, and the basis for Starcraft's Zerg faction. Possibly even older than the Necrons. They're an extra-galactic aggressively "evolutionary" menace that sweeps into a galaxy and finds new genetic material to incorporate for improving the overall horde. The most bestial faction in DoW (and introduced only in the DoW2 games, or with extensive modding of DoW1), although in official WH40K canon they have highly intelligent units also capable of using psychic magic and infiltrating a species by a process of progressive genetic modification. (These "genestealers" are also the main enemy in the Space Hulk games.)

Eldar: the elves, duh. ;) One of the relatively 'good' factions. The most developed race long after the Necron genocide, who with a lot of justification regarded themselves as the undisputed masters of the galaxy. They invested heavily in developing pyschic technology and lived in a luxurious and decadent fashion; but some of them got into demon worship and in effect started creating the WH40K demons from primal Chaos. This resulted in the destruction of the Eldar homeworld and a progressive irruption of corrupting chaos into the universe. The surviving Eldar renounced their decadent ways and dedicated themselves to slowing down the unstoppable spread of chaos, but are still heavily invested in the same psychic powers that caused the problem to start with. (Their attitude of superiority hasn't changed much either, which hampers other races from working with them.) Now that the Necrons have started to waken, they feel like they've got to do something about this, too. The Eldar are dying off (partly because they gave up sex as being too much of a temptation to embrace chaos), and can't see any way to win, but they're determined to go down fighting. They're a very shooty, fast-moving, magic-y faction, with some impressive high technology. Elves in space. All DoW games feature them.

Dark Eldar: dark elves, dark duh.  ;D Naturally have been around as long as the Eldar. These are descendants of the elves who decided that signing up with the chaos demons was a better idea than resisting them. Didn't work out so well for the Dark Eldar or anyone else.  ;) They aren't a numerous faction, and act as space pirates. Again, a very shooty fast-moving magic faction (with even less melee power than the Eldar), with different "magic" mechanics in DoW compared to other factions, so they do play rather different. Only available so far in Soulstorm.


The Imperium of Man, which is probably the second largest faction in the galaxy (after the Orks, not counting the extra-galactic Tyrannids), was formed after mankind started running across all the horrible threats in the galaxy, especially magical. The Emperor is the greatest "psyker" in human history, and lives immortally by having a thousand other human psychics sacrificed to him every day, so is worshiped like a god. He provides a lot of needed benefits for humanity to survive, but the result is a xenophobic threat to everyone else while humanity lives in a dictatorship. Consequently, the Imperium is rather like "What if the anti-Christ figured out a way to take over the Catholic Church and Imperial Rome?"--they're neutrals who think of themselves as the only good guys, and run by a highly opportunistic villain.

Mankind makes up three rather different playable factions in DoW.

Imperial Guard: mostly (lots and lots of) mere humans with mere laser rifles. Plus very good armored units like tanks and artillery, and static defenses. (And a smattering of Ogres and psychics.) In "real" WH40K they're far more diverse, but the DoW games do a good job of reducing them down to their essential inspiration: Russia in WW2. Affectionately teased by fans for being wimpy underdogs who manage to hold their own against monsters, demons and supermen by sheer refusal to give up. Introduced in DoW: Winter Assault.

Space Marines: space-knights very loosely based on the Space Marines from Aliens, but with metric tons of upgrades. These are the elite troops of humanity, quite distinct from the Imperial Guard. Good at just about everything. Every other faction in DoW operates according to variations or alterations from their basic groundrules, so learning how to play them is usually the first thing to do. The Marines are genetically cloned supermen descended from original elite troops of the Emperor. In "real" WH40K they're very expensive and overpowered: the Imperial Guard may be the army, but each Marine is an army! They're still expensive but not quite as overpowered in DoW.

Sisters of Battle: normal (although tough) human women (mostly, with a few men in support), not genetically cloned superwomen (probably because their testicles can't be harvested for growing new soldiers after they die.  :o ) They make up for this by being just as heavily armored and armed as the Space Marines and twice as zealous in serving the Emperor. And by "zealous" I mean "they like to burn everyone and everything with fire", and they're only too ready to include Marine chapters at the faintest whiff of heresy. Militant space nuns. Only included so far in Soulstorm.

Chaos Space Marines: demonic crazy evil space knights. Descended from Marine chapters who rebelled against the Emperor and swore allegiance to one of the chaos demons (although they have some normal human support troops, too). Somewhat more "magical" than the regular SMs, in that they can summon demons to help them; the chaotic nature of their corrupted armaments and armor make them a bit more brittle, too.

Orks: Orrrrcs innnn spaaaaace! The gung-ho goofy comic relief faction, lots of (ostensibly) tough cannon fodder. They're a relatively recent race, having been bred by genetically combining a plant (or fungus perhaps, I forget the details) with a primate species to try to create a perfect warrior. They're so numerous now as to give the Tyrannids a run for their money, but unlike the Tyrs they don't cooperate well with one another. So despite their large numbers they don't pose more than a normal danger of wiping out all other life in the galaxy. ;) Low-tech purveyors and cobblers from other species (mostly from humans, who are the most numerous 'regular' race in the galaxy--Tyrannids don't have tech per se). Surprisingly shooty, although more well known for chopping up opponents at close range. Not much magic, although their close relation to chaos grants them some inherent rough abilities (plus Ork shamen).

Tau: tall skinny hairless shooty mystical space dwarves. i.e. what if the dwarves were actually elves?  ;D Far more invested in armor than the Eldar, but not as inherently fast. The Tau are a young up and coming faction and one of the more-or-less 'good guys' of WH40K. Although by 'good' I mean they like to socially brainwash people in Orwellian fashions into accepting a secular ethical contract of "for the common good"--far from a bad thing in itself, but all the factions have warts and this is the skeevy downside of the Tau.  :P Still, they're big on teamwork and on selling the benefits of cooperation to other races, of whom they've picked up some notable but previously minor team members like the Kroog (who contribute strong melee skills). Expensive, and unlike the Space Marines their units aren't multi-purpose good at everything, but nicely effective. The Tau were introduced to DoW in Dark Crusade.

[undercovergeek]

whatever happened to dwarves and the Skaven?

does the lore explain where they went?

[Arctic Blast]

whatever happened to dwarves and the Skaven?

does the lore explain where they went?

Not sure. Maybe some later stuff in the Warhammer Fantasy canon gets in to where the Skaven and Vampires (though there ARE the Blood Angels...) and other races went.

Just a few corrections to the nerdness above :

Tau : The KrooT are basically their warrior caste, though there are numerous Tau warriors as well. Think Klingons, with an entire species essentially existing to prove their mettle in war, and you have the Kroot. Many humans are also part of the Tau collective.

Eldar/Dark Eldar : In fact, certain factions of the Eldar became so depraved and self obsessed that they created the 4th Chaos God, Slaanesh. His birth also opened rifts between the universe and the Warp, most notable the Eye of Terror, which serve as causeways between the Warp and normal space. Any ship traveling across the galaxy travels through the Warp, and psykers (think Psions/Psychic Warriors from different RPG systems) draw power from it to cast 'magic'. It is also the home of the Chaos demons. Somewhere within it resides what passes for a home for the Tyranids, though that has never been found. The Eldar actually have large portions of the Warp mapped out, which is why they've been able to travel it as efficiently as they can. And the Dark Eldar live within it as well.

The Eldar absolutely despise Chaos in all forms. They no longer breed, and are no longer the galaxy controlling force that they once were. Their goal now is to crush as much of the influence of Chaos as possible. The Dark Eldar began as the ones so depraved that they manifested Slaanesh. They serve another demon, bringing it souls to feed upon. In turn, it protects their location from Chaos, who would like to stomp them out of existence.

Space Marines : One other thing to note is that every single chapter of Marines is different from one another. When a recruit passes training, they're given the gene seed of the Chapter. Every Chapter's gene seed is different, so every Chapter is different. They all develop the same basic superhuman abilities (increased size and strength, improved vision, etc.), but they have differences. The Ultramarines are the most 'vanilla', and typically serve as the prime example of what a typical Space Marine 'should be'. The Space Wolves couldn't be more different if they tried. They have an incredibly accurate sense of smell and hearing, and can call on their 'inner wolf' to make them even stronger in melee combat (though it can take over and drive them in to being mindless berserkers if they allow it). Most Chapters are also based on historical forces. For example, the White Scars are pretty much a futuristic take on the Mongols.

[Tpek]

whatever happened to dwarves and the Skaven?

does the lore explain where they went?

40K isn't a "sequel" to Fantasy. If anything, Fantasy just takes places on a primitive planet in the 40K universe.

Anyway, there were the Squats, who were Space-Dwarves. But Games Workshop took them out of the universe long time ago.
They also had the Slanns (kinda like the Slann from the Fantasy's lizardmen), and they're gone as well.

[undercovergeek]

im not positive but im sure some stuff ive read from the 40k universe references FB stuff, particularly the Empire - could be wrong

but then again 40k is based around the emporer on Terra near the moon and mars, whereas the FB world definitely isnt earth