This games been out quite a while. A few years in fact. However as this is to date the only video game that I continued to play for years after it’s release date I think that says something for how fun this game can be.
WARHAMMER 40K is my favorite PC game of all time. It is a real time strategy game or RTS for short. The setting is somewhere in a very distant, very dark future.
No good guys, no bad guys every side has their agenda and outlook and is only the bad guy really, when you are playing against that race.
So, who are the combatants? There are seven races total to date, with more on the way from an upcoming expansion. They are:
- Space Marines
- Chaos
- Eldar
- Tau
- Imperial Guard
- Orc
- Necrons
These are all races with a rich back-story taken from the original 40k tabletop game. The tabletop game is really what inspired this rts. In fact fans of the tabletop game were waiting for a PC version for years. In the tabletop game you of course would have to buy all the miniature and paint them in order to have an army to field.
The biggest difference between the original tabletop war game and the RTS PC game is that the PC game is of course real time. The tabletop game is played in rounds with dice rolling deciding outcomes.
If fact some tabletop fans whine about this, but myself I’ve played PC war games that are broken up into rounds and well they are a yawn.
WARHAMMER 40K however is anything but. The game is quick and brutal.
It’s main innovation is that instead of mining for gold and resources like in warcraft the armies fight over resource and strategic points. So, the fighting is right on the front lines right away. This game is all about the actual fighting. If you are the type of RTS player that likes to build a base and turtle for a half hour before the fight then this isn’t your game.
If you however like quick bloody decisive battles, this is it. Each race has a lot of character too. Some outright funny, and some very dark.
As far as the balance of the game it is probably as balanced as it’s ever been. There are some imbalances such as tau vespid/commander rush. But, these are race to race specific.
Is it perfectly balanced…no. It is fun as hell. Definitely.
It’s not a strictly a strategy game, it’s a weird blend of strategy, rock paper scissors, and resource management.
As far as game modes you have three options.
Your first option is to play the campaign of the original and it’s varying expansions. I only finished the campaign for the Dark Crusade expansion. It was alright at times, but nothing beats online play for me.
The second option is online play. You can play ranked auto-matches or set up games. Be forewarned that auto-matches are not for the the feint of heart. Any weaknesses in your game will be quickly exposed and used against you.
My biggest gripe with online play is that most players will almost without exception use whatever is considered to be the most undefeatable/IMBA tactic they know of that will cause you to lose a game. If you don’t have a defense set up for it at the start of the game you will probably lose.
For instance in a Chaos VS Space Marine game most Space Marines will scout rush because their scouts can outrun anything you have and decap your points. This is just one example. So, if you are going to play auto-match lose a few games see what players do then head over to the relic forums to find the counter to it. Playing the campaign versus AI will not prepare you for online play against real people. However, in my opinion online play is really the most fun this game offers.
The third game mode is skirmishes. You versus computer AI. This is fun as you can just jump into a quick army vs army battle with the feel of auto-match instead of a long dragged out campaign.
Each race plays differently and needs different tactic/units versus different armies. So, there is unlimited re-playability.
As any game progresses and your army captures more points and gets more requisition you can pay to upgrade your army/base to the next tier. At T1 you get your most basic troops, at T2 you might start getting tanks, at T3 you would get access to your most powerful troops. This adds a lot of back and forth fighting in the game with both armies getting points and trying to, “out tech,” each other and defeat the other player with superior troops, or one player out-massing the other with more low tier troops.
The only thing I really hate about the game is that online other players can rush your base and win the game early if you don’t know what you are doing. In my opinion all starting bases should be unable to be taken down by tier one troops. All bases should have stock auto defenses.
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