In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. But apparently there’s a new Total War: Warhammer 40,000 game coming out too. While I’m a fan of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, I sadly have never played a Total War game, and I’m not really sure why.
But thanks to the good folks at Sega, I was able to correct this at PAX Aus 2026 by sitting down with Total War: Warhammer 40,000 for just over 30 minutes.
For the most part, I learned two things: one, I’m terrible at RTS games, and there’s certainly work to be done, and two, I now know that I’m willing to do the work, as I’m officially hooked.
The demo gave us a few options, including a generous tutorial, which is seemingly set at the start of the game’s campaign, and a more challenging scenario, which is either meant to seriously test your skills or entice the more hardcore Total War fans.
For the most part, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 plays like most other Total War games as far as gameplay mechanics and general structure are concerned.
Of course, we are now commanding legions of Astartes, hulking Space Marines genetically engineered for nothing but war. Getting started was easy enough, as the tutorial shows you how to highlight troops and squadrons, get them to move on command and attack enemy units with the click of a button.
Most of my experience was learning the ropes, so it was nice to be able to walk through these mechanics rather slowly. Beyond moving and attacking, you’re also able to call in various support units and send them elsewhere if need be.
Most of the tutorial was relatively straightforward from this point, as dedicated waves of Orcs were mowed down by my Space Marines. There are various units to deploy, including both ranged and melee units, and the secondary battle even allows me to deploy more prominent commanders and even Titan units.
This is unfortunately where I got slammed. While strategy is understandably key, I seemed to have gotten carried away, slamming a central unit of orcs with everything I had, while getting flanked and ultimately destroyed.
For what it’s worth, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 also looks really pretty. Environments are incredibly vibrant and detailed, and while it took me a minute or two to get acquainted with the camera controls, I found myself zooming into the action wherever possible to catch the action up close.
I find this the hardest game to speculate on thus far, simply because I need more time with this franchise as a whole. But at the same time, I’m down for anything Warhammer 40,000, and I’m glad the Total War series is tackling it.
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 will launch on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC sometime in 2027.
Featured header image provided by the publisher.
