The long-rumored Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is finally happening, and its initial faction list is ready to push Sega and Creative Assembly’s grand strategy series into a new era, putting us in control of both Imperium and xenos forces.
Total War: Warhammer 40K releases with four playable factions. Two of them wage war in the name of the God Emperor of Mankind, while the remaining two split their motivations between preserving their fading culture while pushing back anything threatening it, and fighting anyone in close proximity because there’s nothing better in life than punching, shooting, and blowing stuff to bits.
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 Factions List
Total War: Warhammer 40,000’s factions list aims to both bring familiar sub-factions and characters from the tabletop to life in digital form while also allowing us to customize not just the looks of our warriors but also pick which tactical abilities, signature traits, and arcane wargear they use, depending on who and where they’re fighting.
If you guessed that Total War: Warhammer 40K’s factions list is comprised of the gloriously imposing Space Marines, the diligent Astra Militarum (also known as the Imperial Guard), the eternally beligerent Orks, and the swift, elegant Aeldari you are correct. Here’s how the game’s Steam page describes them:
- Space Marines: Genetically enhanced weapons of war, these warriors are few in number but near unmatched in power. Clad in sacred armour and wielding the Imperium’s most deadly weaponry, each strikes with devastating and unyielding precision.
- Orks: Brutish hordes of destruction, they are unrelenting, countless and live for war. Storming the battlefield in endless mobs, they brandish unpredictable weapons and clanking war machines - all driven by the primal power of the WAAAGH!
- Aeldari: An ancient and waning xenos race, who once ruled the stars, but now rail against their certain fate. Swift and elusive, they strike with psychic precision and elegant weaponry, exploiting weakness before vanishing into shadow.
- Astra Militarum: The massed ranks of humanity’s largest fighting force are a bulwark of flesh and steel. Their legions of soldiers’ march beneath the roar of battle-tanks and the thunder of artillery, grinding enemies into ruin with disciplined fury and sheer determination.
Developer Creative Assembly offered more details about Total War: Warhammer 40,000’s factions in its first game vision developer rountdatble video, revealing that the Space Marines “are a very limited force” who field fewer but stronger soldiers.
“You’re not building infrastructure, you’re not able to build new constructions in the same way as other factions, so you’re really reliant on these troops that you’ve brought in to fight the battle,” Lead Designer Simon Mann explains.
The Astra Militarum are a “more traditional” Total War faction using familiar “massed ranks of infantry lines and artillery” and whose playstyle revolves around “building up resources, supply, building infrastructure to recruit an army.”
Over on the xenos side, the Aeldari are not “a faction that will fight toe to toe.” Instead, they “utilize Webway Gates as a kind of traversal mechanism to move quickly from place to place, including moving to your Craftworld, an off-map setup piece which is where you’re actually recruiting your units and setting up various shrines which allow you to access your more elite troops.”
Similar to the Space Marines, the Aeldari are also limited in number, but their warriors lean more towards being glass cannons, encouraging more careful play.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Orks are all about large numbers and “smashing through the galaxy in a big terrible WAAAGH!.” Although they, too, build up resources, their main focus falls on building and maintaining momentum.
If Total War: Warhammer 40,000’s fantasy counterpart is anything to go by, these four factions will only be the start, as Games Workshop’s sci-fi universe has plenty more to choose from, each with its distinct look, weaponry, and fighting style, and developer Creative Assembly will likely expand the title’s roster with new additions in post-launch DLCs and expansions.
Aside from both melee and ranged infantry, we’ll also get to control war machines of different sizes, including the Space Marines’ iconic Dreadnoughts alongside the Orks’ towering Stompa.
More details about Warhammer 40,000’s factions list will likely be shared in the lead-up to its highly anticipated release.
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