'Total War: Warhammer' Set For April 28 Release; Pre-Order Bundles Revealed

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After the unveiling of the E3 demo in July and the flurry of trailers that followed, Creative Assembly has a release date for Total War: Warhammer: April 28, 2016.

As with any game before its release, this will also include the usual batch of pre-order incentives. At the basic level, early customers will receive the Chaos Warriors race pack, the game's first batch of downloadable content. The new, terrifying race also includes three Legendary Lords to command your armies.

If you're willing to cough up a bit more cash, there are two more bundles available for purchase. The Limited Edition package includes a metallic case for the physical disc and a strategy guide. The price for this mid-tier edition is still unknown.

Then there's the high-tier edition, appropriately called The High King. In addition to the Chaos Warriors DLC and the content of the Limited Edition bundle, it contains a canvas map of the in-game world and an art book. It also includes a few interesting collectibles as well such as a Grudge Ring, a metallic ring with a rotating inside band that also acts as a die for tabletop sessions.

There's also the Slayer's Whetstone Pendant, which has the Master Rune of Spite etched onto what the company says is actual whetstone. To top it all off, there's a Dwarven drinking horn with an accompanying stand, so you can drink your choice of beverage in style while defeating the enemy. All of this comes in a box that mimics the Dwarven-style of craftsmanship.

The High King bundle will cost you £99.99 before shipping. For North American customers, the price range is around $153. With its high price and offerings, it will be produced in a very limited run, so if you're a big fan of Warhammer, act fast.

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Rexly Peñaflorida II is a Contributor at Tom’s Hardware. He writes news on tech and hardware, but mostly focuses on gaming news. As a Chicagoan, he believes that deep dish pizza is real pizza and ketchup should never be on hot dogs. Ever. Also, Portillo’s is amazing.

Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Rexly Peñaflorida
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • uglyduckling81
    So they are putting Chaos behind a paywall? Well I'll be getting a full featured copy for free in that case then. I will not support this behaviour.
    If they put Khorne colour scheme behind a paywall I can accept that. Little aesthetics that don't screw the game if you don't pay extra is ok. Honestly I still think it's a shitty practice to not give all your content to a full price game but I can live with aesthetics if necessary for the sake of greed.
    Reply
  • mpowers8
    It's not paywall behavior it's just a different race DLC like they've done since at least Rome Total War when they sold Allexander as an expansion. Shogun 2 had many races as DLC as well as Rome 2. This is the way CA does business, it really shouldn't be surprising at all.
    Reply
  • conceptj
    Do not buy until gold edition comes out.
    Reply
  • uglyduckling81
    It's not paywall behavior it's just a different race DLC like they've done since at least Rome Total War when they sold Allexander as an expansion. Shogun 2 had many races as DLC as well as Rome 2. This is the way CA does business, it really shouldn't be surprising at all.
    This is like selling Rome 2 but putting Rome as a playable faction behind a paywall.
    Chaos are the most played faction in Warhammer and the main antagoniser of the Old World.
    Plus it's day one DLC for a game which costs full retail. All available content should be included. It's a shady business practice and not one I'll be rewarding.
    Luckily a full featured 'demo' copy will be available the second it releases if not slightly earlier.
    Reply
  • Joe_7_
    Load of shit! 3 playable factions and the rest are "DLC"
    Reply
  • cats_Paw
    Not buying, waiting for full set, on sale in steam (I just got bloodrayne 1 for 99 cents).
    Reply
  • ddt529
    This has been the DLC model for Total War games since Empire. I knew with the massive amount of factions in Warhammer that this would be the case. Definitely wait for a Gold/Complete edition if you don't want to get hammered on DLC. There will be a TON for this game guaranteed.
    Reply
  • Alex_Wheatley
    It's not paywall behavior it's just a different race DLC like they've done since at least Rome Total War when they sold Allexander as an expansion. Shogun 2 had many races as DLC as well as Rome 2. This is the way CA does business, it really shouldn't be surprising at all.

    This has been the DLC model for Total War games since Empire. I knew with the massive amount of factions in Warhammer that this would be the case. Definitely wait for a Gold/Complete edition if you don't want to get hammered on DLC. There will be a TON for this game guaranteed.

    Absolutely there will be DLC races. I doubt anyone could realistically expect them to make every race in the WFB universe for launch. We know that. As a few other people have said, however, is that it's Chaos. Chaos is far and away the most popular army in WFB, is at the core of the majority of the story that happens in the lore of that game, and will almost certainly feature as a major antagonist in the campaign(s) that you do get on launch. All of this means two things:

    First, there was a deliberate decision to take the one army that damn near everyone is going to want and decide from the outset that they won't include it unless you pay extra money, meaning that for many people the game will not feel "complete" without at least one piece of effectively-mandatory DLC.

    Second, the first piece of DLC will almost certainly consist mostly of assets that have been made for the base game. I'm assuming that Chaos will feature in the campaign of the main game, so most of the animations, artwork, unit rules, behaviours, etc. will already be in the game, you just can't access them as a playable race unless you pay a bit more money.

    If they did this with basically any other race except Chaos or the Empire, I would be fairly content to say "well, of course other armies will be DLC. Sucks that it's a preorder bonus, that's always scummy, but I can cope". Putting one of the two most iconic races in the setting, and the experience that they know the most people will want, behind a paywall AND using it to incentivise preorders of a game whose immediate predecessor (Rome 2) was a buggy mess when it launched is egregious, cold and very clearly calculated.

    Honestly, I actually don't care all that much. It just means that they won't get my money for this game until the "complete edition" is $30 on Steam in a couple of years. They could have got $60 out of me in launch week, easily, if they hadn't pulled quite this much crap. Oh well...
    Reply