Total War: Mortal Empires

Mortal Empires is the combined Total War: Warhammer 1 & 2 campaign. It released several months ago, but I decided to wait for some patches and content updates before finally getting stuck into an ME campaign. Mortal Empires isn’t just the Warhammer 1 & 2 maps stitched together, but a modified combination. There are new regions to accommodate ‘new world’ races into the Warhammer 1 map, and some of the Legendary Lords have been relocated to new starting locations.

The Warhammer 2 ‘Vortex’ map has also been altered – shrunk and slightly rotated – so it combines more appropriately with the Warhammer 1 ‘Old World’ map. That’s a little disappointing, but I can understand the technical and gameplay considerations behind that decision. If they’d incorporated the Vortex map in full, then there’d be a substantial separation between the new and old world maps, and it’s the interactions and conflicts between the varied races of Warhammer that makes ME such a compelling and enjoyable experience.

I began playing ME with a High Elf campaign as Alarielle from the Queen and the Crone DLC (which I didn’t review but highly recommend) and had a lot of fun absolutely melting the dark elves with an obscene amount of archer units. I then played as the Empire, a race I’ve not played since Warhammer 1 released.

The Empire are certainly in need of an overhaul patch, but they’re still fun to play. There’s something very satisfying about pushing back against all the ghouls and monsters of the Warhammer world with just a line of swords and spears. Unfortunately, I never ‘completed’ this campaign because Archaon refused to spawn. I think he knew I had several armies parked in the chaos wastes playing whack-a-mole with chaos stacks and didn’t quite fancy his chances.

I then began a Dwarf campaign, another Warhammer 1 race I’ve not played since the original release. They’re not the most tactically engaging race to play, but like the High Elves, there’s something very enjoyable about sitting back and watching them demolish units with their guns, explosives and artillery before they even reach your front line.

But, like my Empire campaign, I didn’t ‘complete’ this one, either. Archaon did spawn and was soundly squashed, but my campaign was marred by a diplomatic bug which was permanently stuck on an ‘unreliable’ rating. As a result, I couldn’t confederate with the other Dwarf factions or even trade or form alliances with nearly everyone on the map. I guess I could have just restarted, but it actually made the campaign a little more interesting to play.

I’m now playing a campaign as one of the Tomb Kings – the Exiles of Nehek. If you read my Tomb Kings DLC review you’ll know I was a little disappointed by their campaign in the Vortex map and I wondered if I’d enjoy them more in ME – and I am. Although the magic books they can collect are present, they’re not the focus of the campaign and I’ve had a lot of fun focusing purely upon expansion.

I think the starting location has also helped. Playing as the Exiles is a more challenging beginning as you’re faced with Beastmen, Skaven and Dark Elves. The Tomb Kings are very much a ‘snowball’ race in the sense that it’s hard to get them rolling (due to their reliance on utterly ‘trash’ units in the early game) but once you do (and unlock their fantastic monstrous units), very little can stop you.

Once I’ve wrapped this TK campaign up I’ll probably take a little break from ME ready for the upcoming Vampire Coast DLC. I’ll likely play a Vortex campaign with them first, before trying a new Lord in ME. From what I’ve seen, the new DLC is going to be a great addition to the game, but I’ll try to do a proper review once it’s released.

Mortal Empires clearly still has its bugs and issues, but it may just be my favourite Total War campaign ever. The sheer variety of races, play styles and terrain simply can’t be matched by any other title in the series. And honestly, it’s hard to see any future titles topping it, either. Warhammer Fantasy and Total War has proved to be the perfect combination. And it’s crazy to think that this isn’t even the ‘final form’ of the combined map, as we’re going to get an even bigger one once Warhammer 3 is released.

The only real downside to ME is that it’s made Warhammer 1 entirely unnecessary. I mean, it’s totally worth owning Warhammer 1 for the content it unlocks in ME, but there’s zero reason to install it. That’s why I like the Vortex campaign in Warhammer 2 – it offers a very different campaign experience and a nice alternative to ME.

The most exciting thing about ME and the Total War: Warhammer trilogy is that it’s a continually evolving experience. It’s not just new content being added into the mix – old content is also receiving regular overhauls and balance adjustments to keep everything on par. Three games and all the extra content may not come cheap, but unlike a lot of AAA games these days, I don’t mind paying a premium price when I feel like I’m getting premium content in exchange. With more than 400 hours clocked between Warhammer 1 & 2 already, it’s certainly been worth the price for me.