I played just an hour of Total War: Warhammer 40,000 and it was the highlight of my year

Creative Assembly dropped a whole bunch of new information about Total War: Warhammer 40,000 at Gamescom this week, and yeah, this all sounds amazing. But what is it actually like to play?

I got an extended look at a preview build yesterday, where I was able to spend an hour exploring a slice of the tutorial, a little bit of the campaign, and finally a huge late-game battle, and oh boy. Folks, it's incredible. Total War: Warhammer 40,000 was, hands down, the coolest thing I saw at Gamescom.

(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

Even in the tutorial battle, which starts you off with only a few Ultramarine units, it's immediately obvious how special Total War 40k is—I don't think a tutorial has ever made me giddy before.

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Yes, the massive-scale scraps are one of Total War 40k's big hooks, but the smaller battles are actually great at showing off what sets this game apart from its predecessors. My tiny army of Intercessors—just some basic dudes—ended up feeling as powerful and versatile as a standard, full-featured Total War army.

As the green tide of orks charged towards my position, I stuck my lads behind some cover and opened fire. But they weren't just firing their basic bolt rifles. Units have multiple wargear options, so my small Ultramarine army made up for what it lacked in numbers with the diversity of its arsenal.

(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

Grenades were getting tossed out, for instance, or launched from grenade launchers, leaving big holes in the ork horde. The devastation left behind was stunning. When a few eager orks managed to make it to my fortified position, it became a melee scrum, with my Intercessors proving that they can rack up the kills even when they aren't shooting.

The devastation left behind was stunning.

And that's just the tip of the bloody iceberg. The variety of weapons represents the greater range of tactical decisions you'll need to make, depending on who your enemy is. Against orks, for instance, autos can be handy, letting you mow them down when they come into close range—which is where orks naturally like to be. But if you're fighting the aeldari, you'll benefit from long-range weapons, like the stalker bolt rifle.

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Every unit still has a primary function, but this system just nudges them slightly beyond that function, giving them a few more options. So an Intercessor unit might not be the best choice for taking on some light vehicles, but with their grenade launchers they are more than capable of standing their ground and melting metal.

(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

When another group of orks appeared, I decided to call in reinforcements. Assault Intercessors. I aimed their drop pods right at the green mess, so when they landed they took out plenty of extremely surprised orks. Then they just started hacking at them with chainswords, covering their armour in ork blood. In a matter of seconds, the orks were routed.

In the brief campaign slice, I got to create my own Space Marine chapter, decked out in red and gold, which I named the Blood Drinkers. The build didn't contain the full range of customisation options that Creative Assembly is planning—and we can expect even more after launch—but there were still plenty of colour and emblem options.

I didn't get to see much settlement development or management in this portion, as it's not ready for prime time yet, but I was still impressed with just how striking the campaign map looked, with its rotatable 3D planets and, when you zoom out, an entire solar system waiting to be played with. Creative Assembly's artists are firing on all cylinders. These are grimy, imposing worlds that look hostile to all life, but they're simultaneously gorgeous. And busy, too, full of geographical flourishes, gargantuan hive cities, miasma-filled forests, shipwrecks and wandering armies.

(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

The campaign slice ended in a medium-sized fight, which I handled quickly because I knew I was running out of time and I desperately wanted to jump into the late-game brawl. I was not disappointed.

Total War 40k is eager to give you all sorts of tactical tricks to keep your warriors alive.

I was playing as the Ultramarines once more, arriving just in time to see the desperate soldiers of the Astra Militarum about to get overrun. While the Space Marines and Astra Militarum are separate playable factions, they are both part of the Imperium of Man, and thus work together. In the campaign, for instance, my settlement was protected by an Astra Militarum garrison.

Anyway! My buddies were in trouble, and the ork army seemed endless. I had some Predator tanks and Dreadnoughts at my disposal, but I was still fielding a tiny force—the rest of my units were up in space, waiting to be called down when needed. In another Total War, I might have been worried. But Total War 40k is eager to give you all sorts of tactical tricks to keep your warriors alive.

(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

The cover system truly is a revelation. This isn't the first Total War to feature cover—that would be Empire—but this time it benefits significantly from an inherent dynamism. As buildings and walls get toppled, your cover disappears, but as the battle progresses you'll encounter new places for your troops to hunker down—a massive crater that just appeared, for example.

A greater focus on defense could have turned Total War 40k into a slightly plodding game, or made it static, even, with entrenched units taking potshots at each other. But the dynamism means that the battlefield is constantly changing shape, so you need to adapt on the fly throughout a fight. It was surprising to see just how much of the battlefield ended up being used. This is easily the most kinetic Total War has ever been.

You'll also have to consider how to beat cover. Positioning has always been critical to Total War's battles, but that truth is so much more pronounced here, when you've got opponents just chilling behind walls or in buildings. Thankfully you're spoiled for choice—you could drop some reinforcements behind them or on top of them; sacrifice some lower tier units as a distraction, while you send some Terminators in to flank the enemy; or you could just go all out, bombing the position or sending a war machine through the wall.

(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

When Creative Assembly first introduced Total War: Warhammer, there were several game-changing features, but Total War: 40k is next level. The Total War fundamentals have been preserved, of course, and I found that my familiarity with the series meant that, even with all the changes and focus on ranged combat, I was still in my element, but not a minute went by without me witnessing something or doing something that I've never experienced in a Total War before.

Total War: 40k is next level.

As someone whose dining table often hosts giant battles, I'm primed to love this stuff. I let out an audible whoop when I called in my beefcake Terminators, and watched orks getting completely squished as they walked into beautiful powerfists. Even if 40k isn't really something you've engaged with before, however, you're going to have a blast.

After the demo ended, one thing felt clear to me: I'd just played the future of strategy games. There were just so many "holy shit" moments. I may have only played for an hour, but I got a day's worth of fun out of it. My predilection for cynicism has been stomped by hefty Space Marine boots.