Total War: Warhammer screenshots show fantasy battle

Dan traveled to Create Assembly headquarters recently to get our first look at the game in action. Get the details here. For more Total War: Warhammer, check out the latest issue of PC Gamer UK, which comes with a Steam key for Fall of the Samurai worth £25 / $30.

Lowly halberdiers square up against a giant. Giants, as you can see, don't really know what clothes are or how to use them, which makes them more grotesque and scary somehow.

Trolls are tough in the tabletop game, on account of their ability to regenerate wounds, but they have to roll stupidity checks to stop them staring at the sky and drooling on themselves.

Hey, it's Karl Franz, emperor of man and rider of the sassiest griffon in the Old World. Those aren't Chocobos, by the way, they're Demigryphs—important distinction. You can ride both, but only one can rip your head off.

Another troll! And another giant! The Empire soldiers are twice as screwed as they were a few pictures ago. Look closely at the background and you'll see that the trolls' fabled vomit attack has made it into the game.

Our first look at mid-air combat, which has never featured in Total War game because sadly history doesn't feature awesome flying monsters. Here Karl Franz jousts with a Warboss on a wyvern. Orcs are suspicious of flight, but endorse anything that helps them hit things harder.

We're used to Total War battles happening in relatively flat environments—though the cities of Rome 2 were spectacular. They've never done anything quite like Blackfire Pass (aka Helm's Deep with lava) before. Squint and you'll see goblin spearmen in the background, and more giants of course. This is not looking good for the empire.

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.