Total War: Warhammer II
Total War: Warhammer II is a turn-based strategy and real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is part of the Total War series and the sequel to 2016's . The game is set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe. The game was released for Microsoft Windows-based PCs on 28 September 2017. Feral Interactive released the game on macOS and Linux on 20 November 2018. The game requires a Steam account to play.
Gameplay
Total War: Warhammer II features turn-based strategy and real-time tactics gameplay similar to other games in the Total War series.In the campaign, players move armies around the map and manage settlements in a turn-based manner. Players engage in diplomacy with, and fight against, AI-controlled factions. When armies meet, they battle in real-time. The game also has a custom battles mode where players can create customised real-time battles, as well as online multiplayer battles. Those who own races from the first game will have the same races unlocked for multiplayer in the second game.
The game's announced races in the campaign include the Lizardmen, High Elves, Dark Elves and Skaven. The Tomb Kings and Vampire Coast debuted later as paid downloadable content factions.
The main campaign of the game is called Eye of the Vortex. It is a narrative-focused campaign where each of the playable races has its own story and cutscenes. In addition, players who own both Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer II have access to a huge combined campaign called Mortal Empires, which is more of a sandbox experience. Mortal Empires must be downloaded manually from Steam, but is free for players who own both games.
The campaign can also be played online with another player in co-operative or head-to-head modes.
Plot
Battle for the Vortex
The Old Ones, powerful godlike beings, created races in the Warhammer world to fight the forces of Chaos. The stellar gates which the Old Ones used to enter the world collapsed, leading to a flood of Chaos that was held at bay by the Lizardmen. Two High Elf heroes in Ulthuan responded to this threat. Aenarion "the Defender" mustered armies whilst Caledor Dragontamer planned to drain magical energy from the world, thus stopping the Chaos invasion. This manifested itself as the Great Vortex, accomplished with the help of the Lizardmen leaders, the Slann. It drained Chaos energy at the expense of locking Caledor and his mages in time, eternally casting spells to maintain the vortex.Millennia later, in the time when the game is set, a Skaven rocket disguised as a twin-tailed comet disrupts the Great Vortex. The four main playable factions respond to this in different ways. The High Elves and Lizardmen seek to stabilize the Vortex, while the Skaven and Dark Elves seek to use its power for world conquest. The Skaven launched this rocket to provoke rituals from these four major factions. The Skaven could then harness this ritual energy to allow the Skaven god, the Great Horned Rat, to enter the world and thus conquer it. When the player completes the fifth ritual, their race fights a 'final battle' on the Isle of the Dead to determine the fate of the Vortex and thus the world. Winning the 'final battle' results in winning the race's objectives. The High Elves and Lizardmen stabilize the Vortex. The Dark Elves use the Vortex's power to transform their leader Malekith into a god. The Skaven summon the Horned Rat and conquer the world.
Rise of the Tomb Kings
Several millennia ago, the desert kingdom of Nehekhara was once the greatest human civilization in the Old World. However, Nehekhara was destroyed by Nagash, the first necromancer. Through the power of his Black Pyramid, Nagash enacted a great spell that would kill all that lived in Nehekhara and raise them as his undead servants. Before the spell could be completed, Nagash was slain by the last Nehekharan King Alcadizaar with the aid of the Skaven. The Nehekharan dead returned as the Tomb Kings, but because Nagash's ritual was incomplete, many of the Tomb Kings retained their free will and intellect.In the current day, the false twin-tailed comet has stirred the Black Pyramid from its slumber and courses with power. It is discovered that five of the nine books of Nagash are needed to control the Black Pyramid. Four Tomb King factions battle to control it: Settra the Imperishable, first and greatest king of Nehekhara, seeks the pyramid's power to regain control over all of Nehekhara and begin global conquest. The exiled Grand Hierophant Khatep seeks to use the pyramid to fulfill his promise to Settra to transform him and the Nehekharan nobility into immortal golden beings. Queen Khalida seeks the pyramid's power to destroy all vampires in the world and to take revenge on her cousin, Neferata. Arkhan the Black, the Liche King and Nagash's second-in-command, seeks to control the Black Pyramid and use its power to resurrect his master.
Once all five of the books of Nagash are recovered, the final mission involves the player's chosen faction battling for the Black Pyramid.
Curse of the Vampire Coast
Long ago, Captain Jacob Wulfhart, brother of the famous Imperial Huntsmarshall, Markus Wulfhart, hunted the Merwyrm known as Amanar. Amanar is the oldest and mightiest of the Merwyrms and the guardian beast of the High Elf city of Lothern. Jacob created a weapon known as the Star-Metal Harpoon that would be used to slay the creature. During the climactic battle, Amanar destroyed Jacob's ship, the Vengeance, killing the captain and his crew, save for one survivor. The survivor created a map that would lead to the Vengeance's resting place, and within its confines, the Star-Metal Harpoon.In the present the disturbance of the Great Vortex has riled Amanar from its slumber, driving the ancient Merwyrm mad, causing it to rampage across the seas and destroying many ships and coastal settlements in its fury. Four factions of the Vampire Coast seek to slay Amanar and resurrect it as their mighty undead servant, thus becoming the dominant power of the seas: Luthor Harkon, ruler of the Vampire Coast and Arch-Grand Commodore of the Awakened; Count Noctilus, the master of the Dreadfleet; Aranessa Saltspite, the Pirate-Queen of Sartosa; Cylostra Direfin, the spectral leader of the Drowned.
Once the Star-Metal Harpoon has been recovered, and its power restored through three sea-shanties, the player's faction is then confronted by Lokhir Fellheart, the Dark Elf Krakenlord of Karond Kar. Fellheart and his army battles the player's faction, intending to take the Harpoon to slay Amanar and gain glory. Once Fellheart is defeated, the campaign ends with the player's faction shooting the Star-Metal Harpoon at Amanar, killing it and is then resurrected as an undead minion.
Development and release
Total War: Warhammer II was developed by UK-based video game studio Creative Assembly. The game was announced in London at EGX Rezzed in March 2017. It is the second installment in a planned trilogy of Total War: Warhammer games. The game was released for Microsoft Windows-based PCs on 28 September 2017, with Sega publishing.Downloadable content
Creative Assembly has released several paid and free DLC packs for the game, which expand its content.| Name | Release Date | Description |
| Mortal Empires | October 2017 | A massive combined campaign for free, for players who own both Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer II. |
| Tretch Craventail | January 2018 | Adds Tretch Craventail as a new Skaven legendary lord, leading Clan Rictus. |
| Steps of Isha | February 2018 | Adds 4 new battle maps to multiplayer and custom battles. |
| Alith Anar | May 2018 | Adds Alith Anar as a new High Elf legendary lord, leading Nagarythe. |
| Lokhir Fellheart | November 2018 | Adds Lokhir Fellheart as a new Dark Elf legendary lord, leading the Blessed Dread. |
| Tiktaq'to | April 2019 | Adds Tiktaq'to as a new Lizardmen legendary lord, leading Tlaqua. |
| Gor-Rok | September 2019 | Adds Gor-Rok as a new Lizardmen legendary lord, leading Itza. |
| Repanse de Lyonesse | December 2019 | Adds Repanse de Lyonesse as a new Bretonnian legendary lord, leading the Chevaliers de Lyonesse. |
| Imrik | May 2020 | Adds Prince Imrik as a new High Elf legendary lord, leading the Knights of Caledor. |
| Name | Release Date | Description |
| Blood for the Blood God II | October 2017 | Adds various blood and gore effects in battle. Free for players who owned Blood for the Blood God in Total War: Warhammer. |
| Rise of the Tomb Kings | January 2018 | Adds the Tomb Kings as a playable race in campaign and multiplayer, with 4 legendary lords: Settra the Imperishable leading Khemri, High Queen Khalida leading the Court of Lybaras, Grand Hierophant Khatep leading the Exiles of Nehek, and Arkhan the Black leading the Followers of Nagash. |
| The Queen and the Crone | May 2018 | Adds Alarielle the Radiant as a new High Elf legendary lord, leading Avelorn, and Crone Hellebron as a new Dark Elf legendary lord, leading Har Ganeth, as well as new units, Regiments of Renown and mechanics. |
| Curse of the Vampire Coast | November 2018 | Adds the Vampire Coast as a playable race in campaign and multiplayer, with 4 legendary lords: Luthor Harkon leading the Awakened, Count Noctilus leading the Dreadfleet, Aranessa Saltspite leading the Pirates of Sartosa, and Cylostra Direfin leading the Drowned. |
| The Prophet and the Warlock | April 2019 | Adds Tehenhauin as a new Lizardmen legendary lord, leading the Cult of Sotek, and Ikit Claw as a new Skaven legendary lord, leading Clan Skyre, as well as new units, Regiments of Renown and mechanics. |
| The Hunter and The Beast | September 2019 | Adds Markus Wulfhart as a new Empire legendary lord, leading the Huntsmarshal's Expedition, and Nakai the Wanderer as a new Lizardmen legendary lord, leading the Spirit of the Jungle, as well as new units, Regiments of Renown and mechanics. |
| The Shadow and the Blade | December 2019 | Adds Malus Darkblade as a new Dark Elf legendary lord, leading Hag Graef, and Deathmaster Snikch as a new Skaven legendary lord, leading Clan Eshin, as well as new units, Regiments of Renown and mechanics. |
| The Warden and the Paunch | May 2020 | Adds Eltharion the Grim as a new High Elf legendary lord, leading Yvresse, and Grom the Paunch as a new Greenskin legendary lord, leading the Broken Axe Tribe, as well as new units, Regiments of Renown and mechanics. |
Reception
Total War: Warhammer II received "generally favorable" reviews upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic.Eurogamer ranked the game tenth on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017". It won the award for "Best Strategy Game" in PC Gamers 2017 Game of the Year Awards, and was nominated for "Game of the Year". It was also nominated for "Best PC Game" and "Best Strategy Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.