Total War: Warhammer 40,000 developer Creative Assembly has shown off a full battle in the upcoming strategy game, and in doing so confirmed it features the biggest unit ever in a Total War game.
The livestream included lots of interesting discussion about unit cards, shooting, suppression, flanking, and equipment, but what caught my eye was bigger than all that put together.
“We really wanted to put the biggest thing that we could get away with in a Total War game,” David Petry, battle product owner, said during the stream as the Orks’ towering Stompa came into view.
“We are looking at putting bigger things in later down the line, of course. But this will be the biggest thing we’ve had in a Total War. So, very excited about that.”
What is a Stompa? Well, like most Ork machinations, the Stompa is a crude coming together of bits and bobs that is far greater than the sum of its parts (Ork magic, don’t get me started). It is a walking, shooting battle fortress that, as you’d expect from its name, stomps all over the battlefield, crushing all that gets in its way. It has a crew of several Orks, dozens of Grot riggers, runners, and assistants, and usually two or three enormous guns and a gigantic claw for melee. If you’re an enemy tank, you need to be afraid of a Stompa. Well, if you’re anything, you need to be afraid of a Stompa.
In the livestream, the hapless Astra Militarum try to destroy the Stompa with an orbital strike — an extremely powerful attack you won’t be able to use very often. It’s basically an ‘in case of emergency break glass’ move. The Stompa somehow survives the attack, much to the surprise of the developers. But it’s basically dead, and it isn’t long before it blows up.
Petry said that CA is working on adding even bigger units to Total War: Warhammer 40,000 in the future, which is an exciting thought. What could they be? A Titan? A Tyranid Bio Titan? (I’m sure the game will get the Tyranids eventually.) Something else?
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is still without a release date, but we’re getting plenty of news from CA on a regular basis now. This week, we reported on all the named characters announced for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 so far, after Games Workshop confirmed Ork Warboss Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub is in the game. How the named characters work in-game, however, we don’t know.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].