First impression

[Apostolos22]

OK.. I have been waiting a bit before posting my first impressions. I love Warhammer, but to be fair I have only really ever played 40k and the fantasy mmo, so the Fantasy IP I have much less personal knowledge of. Having said that, this is a great mod.

I began with one of the Empire factions (Averland.. whoever that is) and got STOMPED into the ground by magically appearing armies that just materialized in my back yard. To be honest, that left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth after making sure I had watch towers set so I could see any incoming enemies. Then after a bit of a drawn out war trying to thin the enemy numbers, I got into a great battle with my full stack vs. an enemy full stack that I had planned. The battle was awesome (love the large numbers of troops). However, I killed his entire army of orcs and not a single enemy routed (which was both cool and annoying at the same time.. heck, they are Orcs so what can you do). However, the last unit of 20 minotaurs still had like 10 left after the battle was over and they kept on fighting. Those 10ish units singlehandedly tore up about 10 full units of my best melee troops I was capable of fielding and crippled my army. I literally lost an entire campaign to 10 minotaurs in the first 5 turns of the game (Med/Med difficulty) Having said that, it was the most fun I have had losing a campaign in MT2W.

I played an Orc campaign next and so far its not too bad. Vampires are breeding like bunnies to my west, so not sure how in the world anything is going to stand up to about 6 full stacks I saw with my spy but will see how it goes.

As far as difficulty goes, I would suggest a bit of a change after reading through some of the write ups for factions. The developers of the mod specifically state at the beginning of a campaign that assassins are kinda wonky in how they work and pretty much tell a player that they are not really designed to be used. Most of the write ups I read seem to heavily lean on using assassins to take out enemy generals as part of their core strategy. This seems to be contrary to what the writers of the mod had in mind to being with. I would almost suggest that assassins be disabled in higher difficulty levels all together and that lower difficulty levels incorporate the monetary assistance to help with how tough this is. Heck.. the single solitary thing that even allowed me to hang on as long as I did with my empire campaign was my general's healing potions (of which he had 2) That led me to believe that every soldier that died on the battlefield had a 20% chance to be healed after the battle. I do not know if was exactly how it was working, but I was healing a couple hundred after each battle (luckily my highest defense units were the luckiest in this category)

The only way I can ever see me winning this game is to do 2 things: Enable assasins (which I have yet to do) and play on Easy/Med or Hard.

Battles are fun. I think watching a city be bombarded by mortars is kinda cool, but it almost seemed like cheating as 2/3 of a garrison gets bombed to bits. They probably need to utilize loose formations and far more movement around the town streets while shelling is happening (as well as even sallying from the city if they have any cavalry to try and take out mortars/cannons.

Music and voice work: Top notch. The ONLY change I would say to this would be to add more of what is already so awesome... just to make it "more awesomer(TM)"

Lastly, an in game manual of sorts could help. For example, I still have only an idea of what the warcry ability does in my ork armies. I think it is some kind of taunt, but there is no documentation anywhere I have seen that tells the exact effect it has in combat. Other examples are unit abilities such as the charriot in the empire faction. It says it helps with morale but again.. no specifics and no circle of effect when the unit is selected on the battlefield. Also.. as an orc for example, does it help at all to leave any dwarven structures standing in the dwarven cities you take? (there are some that just have a description but no stats. Others say things like 5% public order) Right now I am tearing down any that do not specifically say they provide a bonus.

[vef215]

Not really a first impression but I've played this mod for over 100 hours I think. I think that alone speaks to how much I like the mod.

I would say

1.) Give more notice for full stack armies appearing. I like the challenge they present, since 1 of my armies can individually take on 3 full stacks of enemies 1 at a time sometimes, but a message pop up on a turn saying something like "Scouts have reported that a large force of Beastmen has gathered and is moving toward Averheim" I would say remove the red circles showing the enemy armies (seems pretty video game-y, uh oh look at that big evil red circle) appearing and give the player more time in advance (1/2/3 turns) to prepare and tell them what direction the enemy is coming from, using landmarks and town names to help orient the player. "Our scouts confirm a Sylvanian army has been risen from the dead near X, and has been seen approaching Y, they should be here in Z seasons milord, maybe sooner, to arms!" This would work well for the stacks that spawn in out of nowhere. Players should have to normally scout and keep tabs on the armies that the AI raises naturally from cities. I remember playing as Kislev and like 25 full stacks of Chaos Undivided Armies just spawned on my southern border. I was like..... I wish my armies could teleport.

2.) Buff the Night Goblins? They are just pitiful in battle lol maybe they are supposed to be like that I'm not sure

3.) Is there a way to coordinate more with your allies? I would like to fight more battles with my allies, they are incredibly rare though.

4.) Fix the crashes. The game crashes quite a lot, the in battle crashes are the worst.

5.) Balance the army upkeep / income at the start of campaigns for some factions. The Border Princes for example you have to disband half your forces to stop yourself going bankrupt at the start of the campaign.

6.) Just work on the descriptions of the buildings, add in more lore everywhere you can. There's 1 building it's a Knoner Artist Studio or something like that, it has no description on what it's supposed to do.

7.) Improve the enemy AI? Not sure if you guys can do this, but obviously better AI in Total War is always needed/appreciated

8.) Randomize the Beastmen armies some more. At the start of a campaign they always have the same composition.

9.) Make the rebel settlements make sense faction wise. Orcs with Empire Swordsman with Beastmen is kind of confusing.

10.) Add in more factions! Tomb Kings, Wood Elves, Brettonia, Skaven Let us play as the Beastmen?

11.) Release 1.6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vef215]

Also increase the damage of missile units. They seem kind of weak and not needed, I'd rather take more melee or more cavalry.

[Kahvipannu]

Just to answer couple things:

1.) If my memory serves me right, first iteration of the mod had scripted armies on the map, which didn't teleport. For example you might have army on map you couldn't move, not until other scripted army attacked it. It made more sense, but was pain to wait all the movement (scripted stuff couldn't be made faster for some reason) on the map, and attacking armies which were scripted, before they did waht they were supossed to usually broke the game. So it didn't work. Now this system works way better.

2.) I think NG will have more love in 1.6.

3.) I think this is engine limitation, not much you can do about it.

4.) Gigs-version is most stable one for non-russian users. I would go as far to say it is as stable as majority major mods out there.

6.) Translations are dealt with the community mostly. Check Ninja51'a translation improvements for example at the sub-mod section.

7.) Mod uses custom AI, it is light-years ahead vanilla one already, but it is still M2-AI in the end...

10.) Norsca, Tomb Kings, Wood Elves, and Skaven will be in 1.6

11.) Which is out when it is ready

Regarding balance and such, Beastmen playable, all that can be done with personal tweaks too. Check sub-mods section.

[Vette]

I am realy glad they will put Norsca and Wood Elves in 1.6.I hope however they will make new better models for Norsca,becouse the Norse units we got now dont have that "Norse fealing".They look to me more like units from Medieval 2.Same thing whay I cant play Border princes.I start the campaign and whole faction gives me the fealing of playing as not so cool Novgorod,then I usualy stop playing...But yes I am very excited and have finger crossed!

[vef215]

Thanks for replying Kahvipannu. Some other things I noticed

1.) Tabacalend Empire faction is very hard to distinguish from Averland. I'm playing as Averland and they look identical (except for symbols on flags). Is that how it is lore wise? Maybe different shades of yellow would be better so its quicker to tell who's who

2.) Grand Theologist is a diplomacy nutter. My OCD needs him to accept map information and he won't no matter what I offer

3.) Is there a reason you can't ally with Border Princes right away? Is that lore? When playing Averland they randomly became my ally around turn 40, not sure why.

4.) Is there a way to give regions back to allies. I can't seem to do it. I offer them the region and ask for 100 monies in return and they refuse...? Fine guess I'll keep your land you lost

5.) Demigryphon cavalry units? I don't know if they are in the game but they would be so badass to have. so cool

6.) Mordheim seems to be bugged when its under control by Rebels and you try to attack it manually, it crashes every time.

I'm playing with Gigs version (the one from the torrent) and I'm at turn 45, I've experienced 16 crashes so far. Sigmar preserve us! I save before and after every battle and at the start of every new turn so it's not a big deal, just a bit annoying after a while.

I've completely stopped recruiting rifleman, archers, and crossbowmen. They don't do enough damage to be worthwhile in battle. Why bring them when you can have more Swordsman on the frontline or more cavalry bearing down on the enemy from behind? Only ranged units I feel are worth it are the mages, Steam tanks, and the Hellblaster, Mortar, and Helstorm. The Empire Great Cannon isn't worth using. Pistoliers are borderline usable it seems like they are firing weak bullets most of the time though.

7.) Does the War Altar of Sigmar have to have men holding it like siege equipment for it to inspire friendly units? I've been placing it at the center of my battle line, deattaching the troops from it to use as reserves, does that disable its effects?

8.) Is there a way to field more cavalry? The stables seem to only give you pistoliers, and it seems the knights only come from the special castles. Not sure if this is lore or not, but some medium state cavalry (do those exist?) would be nice to fill out the armies.

9.) Looking forward to 1.6 more than a lot of other big game releases

I'll check sub mod section

[Vossie]

Hey there, nice list you made.

1. I suppose it's lore wise.

2. Hardly any diplomacy in this mod.

3. Not sure.

4. There are scripts that enable you to do so. ( Mostly capitals if not only. )

5. Not sure what you mean. You could check the mod The Sundering.

6. No problems for me..

Rifleman are very strong, archers and crossbowmen can be aswell. ( Deployable stakes ) The ranged units are strong enough IMO. ( Shoot from sides or behind for full damage. )
Pistoliers are so OP tho..

7. It won't break the effect.

8. No need IMO. Just check your building scrolls. ( Every city/castle can build Knight chapels. )

9. Same here!

Thanks for the feedback!

[vef215]

Maybe if one was a slightly darker or lighter yellow it would be better. That way you could easily tell them apart at a glance.

That's true the only diplomacy I've been using is map information, that way I can see what lands my allies lose.

These are the Demigryph Knights I'm talking about

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/...igryph-Knights

I have to disagree with you about the ranged units. My 2 thin long line of rifleman killed 2 Black Orcs before they reached my lines after firing their 4 volleys my crossbowman and archers killed about 30 lightly armored Orcs before having to run away. 32/2400+ Orcs down what a successful start of the battle, now go hide in the back. They aren't penalized for running headlong into my volleys of rifle fire. They should want to use archers to out range and drive off my rifleman or have to flank the position to avoid some heavy losses, but why do that when you can charge straight towards them and only suffer 2 casualties, potentially catching them in melee where they are butchered, so in a way you are rewarded for charging straight at rifleman with melee. Ranged units are only good at very slowly picking off units that have no armor or for flanking and firing into them from the side or behind, but that is very easily countered by 1 cavalry charge or a reserve melee unit rushing them. And all of this isn't even factoring in friendly fire which happens constantly. Elf Archers are okay I suppose because of their insane range.

This is what the Wiki says about Rifleman

http://warhammerfb.wikia.com/wiki/State_Troops

"Utilizing gunpowder technology, the handgunners are considered the more "modern" troops of the Empire, often used to dwindle down the enemy forces before they reach their lines. These men are able to kill whole droves of troops with a few volleys of their rifles, even being able to mow down heavily armored troops."

You mean they are able to act as meatshields to fatigue the enemy melee troops before the melee troops close in in fact I went into a custom battle to test them out. My rifleman defending against attacking Orcs on grassy flatlands. I had 1 unit of rifleman vs 1 unit of Black Orc Destroyers. 2 ranks deep out of range so they have maximum time to fire. No upgrades for either side, the Orcs walking towards my rifleman not running. They suffered 7 casualties, out of 127 before chopping them to bits. Next I upgraded the rifleman to full gold chevrons with attack bonus, they killed 20 instead of 7, the Orcs still walking. In real battles they aren't walking they are running which makes it even worse.

1.) I did notice that the Dark Elves can spawn in assassins even though assassins were disabled at the beginning of the campaign, it's okay I just box killed him like I do all their other agents lol

[vef215]

2.) Is it possible to use those huge giant units with the bones on their lower jaws in game? The ones in the trailers

3.) Any plans for historical battles in 1.6?

4.) Any plans for a realism/hardcore mod in 1.6? Where the units act like they would in the universe, I saw the submod in that section but its not done. It's starting to feel weird that my imperial swordsman are steamrolling Chaos Khorne Chosen and Black Orcs every time they meet in melee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iO9cGopQq0

I was expecting this but I got the opposite the Chaos warriors dying everywhere. 2:15 sums up the rifleman lmao. Numerous and squishy melee troops with powerful ranged troops and strong Knights would be a good mix for the Empire

[vef215]

I would post in the suggestions thread but that seems very dead.

1.) Game will crash when using very large armies. Your five full stacks vs their two will crash every time you try to play manually.

2.) Some spelling mistakes, such as brothers being misspelled as borthers and birth as bith.

3.) I destroyed Slyvania as a faction, but they reappeared as horde stacks. Is that supposed to happen?

4.) 1:32 - 1:44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOdTeT1xUQQ would love to hear this used in game. Chaos Undivided event?

5.) I constructed the Merchant Bank in Nuln for 10,000, then that unlocked the Merchant Vaults which cost 5,000?

6.) Sometimes armies will glitch when in cities, my Averland noble was in a city but I could see his avatar standing on top of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt531rsghsA

Would love to hear music like this added in.

If you guys need an English spelling/grammar checker or a tester I'd love to help out

[Kahvipannu]

vef215, since you have so many questions and such, post them to the stickied questions and answers thread.

[gaunty14]

Aha, finally found a working torrent.

[whiskey30]

A quick post of my initial thoughts and opinions.

First of all thanks for all the time and effort that went into the Warhammer mod. I could clearly see all the work that went into the mod and its very well done.

I have played every Total War game for 100+ hours and 500-1200 hours on every total war since Shogun 2.

All I can say really is the game engine is out dated. Combat is Slow in my opinion and felt morale didnt exist. It was fun playing for a few hours on the campaign but didn't feel like Warhammer to me (Played tabletop since 1991 and worked for GW before). I felt the auto resolve was never accurate and UI was worse then I remembered. I also think because of how quick games improved visually and adding more functions that effect immersion or depth it makes it harder to go back to older games.

I know alot of players are stuck on Rome 1 / medieval series of the Total war series but to me they better left as our fun memories. Problem with making big mods is new games come out before they can get full appreciation. DeI for Rome 2 for example made Rome 2 completely re-playable then Attila came out a month later.

I wish I had played CoW years ago because I would of enjoyed it a lot more and got more hours out of it.

Looks like we maybe getting Total Warhammer soon despite all the haters and so called historic nuts (read the definition of "game") bashing the idea.

[amiba1981]

My first impression was: God I can't do this it's too hard/unbalanced . Now 300+ hours into playing and tweaking the mod myself, I realize I have a problem. The damn thing is addictive to no end. I am also aware of the limitations of the engine but it's still more tactically and strategically rewarding than the newer Shogun and Rome (which to be honest ... were only made playable by mods anyhow).
I have seen the translations as well but I'll tell you something, I play with Google translate now just like I used to play BG 2 with a dictionary, before learning English.

Big thanks to Gigantus for refining this and to the Call of Warhammer team for creating this, I just hope when CA makes Total Warhammer, they understand that it has to be at least at the same quality as this mod here.

[GreatSword]

My first impression was: God I can't do this it's too hard/unbalanced . Now 300+ hours into playing and tweaking the mod myself, I realize I have a problem. The damn thing is addictive to no end. I am also aware of the limitations of the engine but it's still more tactically and strategically rewarding than the newer Shogun and Rome (which to be honest ... were only made playable by mods anyhow).
I have seen the translations as well but I'll tell you something, I play with Google translate now just like I used to play BG 2 with a dictionary, before learning English.

Big thanks to Gigantus for refining this and to the Call of Warhammer team for creating this, I just hope when CA makes Total Warhammer, they understand that it has to be at least at the same quality as this mod here.

CA will it up, this mod is better than anything they can produce at this point... where did all their good ideas go?

[Meelis13]

Not even downloaded yet, but i cant leave this without mention- impressions so far are very low. Its evident this mod has been worked on a lot and i probably enjoy it, but its the download trials that have made it so.
I mean first the download itself- with easy & painfree installation thread being hidden under technical help subforum (which actually IS helpful), its actually very hard to find any download links beside that russian site which downloads 1 part for 16 hours (if you arent willing to pay for premium for site you most likely never use again)!!! Thats because logic dictates that download links are on front page of mod forum, so you dont think to look for other links.. Maybe move topic to front page of mod?
Then whoever is managing ModDB section of RoDG, well, what the hell? Among other things people are asking about alternative download locations there (including if there will be ModDB download link), yet most comments with questions or constructive critisism are deleted. no reply, nothing. Not cool at all.

However, that said, mod does look nice and i do want to play it after people saying good things about it.

[MulletMan]

While it was a blight to install I feel it was well worth it. Once you've got it going it'll suck you in.
There were a few crashes here and there at the start of an Orc Campaign but it wasn't game destroying.
( I was about 15 turns in but my interests were turn aside by the daunting task of learning how to fight with the Vampire Counts.)

I'm 30+ turns into the Sylvanian Campaign now without a single issue.
This mod is a work of wonder to me.
I'm enjoying every moment as the Undead hordes shamble across a broken Empire beset on all sides by Beastmen, Orcs and worse.

While the Medieval 2 engine is far from perfect for Warhammer it's bloody good fighting and seeing the various factions brought to life on the battlefield is a dream come true.

[DeadofPool]

Maybe an alternate campaign where the AI don't spam elite units at you right at the beginning when you only have, in my case, a few khorne warriors and nekkid northern guys

Also the whole 'you just started and are about to go bankrupt, have fun' thing is a bit uh
silly

[AleksiMizaro]

From what I've seen it looks like an amazing mod but I haven't actually managed to download/ install it because it's all in Russian and confused me

[Javesh]

You need to DL the 1.5 from this forum and not ModDB