During the recent BiliBili World event, developer Creative Assembly showcased more gameplay from its upcoming strategy game Total War: Warhammer 40,000. The studio has since uploaded a video of this showcase, which it notes is from an in-development build. It clocks in at just over 6 minutes in length, and you can check it out below.
As the narrator notes, the video features gameplay from the Armageddon Theatre Campaign, which will feature many planetary systems, each one filled with multiple planets that have their own quirks and biomes. We then get a closer look at a Civilized planet that has come under threat of an Ork invasion.
The fact that the planet has come under siege is visible directly from what looks like the campaign map, with the planet’s orbit featuring Imperium and Ork ships that undoubtedly have many soldiers waiting to battle each other. The Orks in question are from the Deff Makerz faction, while the Imperium’s ship is providing support through orbital bombardment.
Zooming further into the planet, we get a look at the actual battle, with a regiment from the Astra Militarum marching into battle against the Orks. Despite the Militarum’s focus on sheer numbers, however, the narrator notes that it can’t hope to survive a continuous onslaught by Orks thanks to their superior raw strength. This means that the Imperium player will have to rely on tactics.
As you would expect from a Total War game, smaller units can be sent ahead to scout out the battlefield while a larger force waits for its chance, hidden from the enemy. The Imperium player also makes sure to position a few of their troops at vantage points where they wouldn’t be immediately visible until the soldiers started their engagement.
Siege weapons also have their place in battle, and tanks have been set up on one side of the battlefield to discourage Ork forces from crossing a bridge that would allow them to flank the soldiers.
To deal with this, the Orks have quite an impressive arsenal of their own, including powerful machinery like the Killsaw, the Power Klaw, and the Kombi-Skorcha. Staying true to its tabletop roots, the Ork faction relies on a combination of melee strength and powerful ranged weapons to win engagements, while also using units like Stormboyz using their jetpacks to charge in at opportune angles and even flank some platoons.
One of the most notable things about the entire video is just how detailed Total War: Warhammer 40,000 already looks. Despite still being in development, the title shows an impressive level of polish, with varying levels of zoom showing off not only individual character details but also the vast amount of destruction caused by the battle. Along with this, the title also seems to feature plenty of terrain that, while acting as cover for infantry units, can be destroyed quite easily with the use of heavy artillery.
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is being developed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. While it doesn’t yet have a release date, Creative Assembly kicked off closed beta sign-ups last month.
