If you’re thinking about a grand strategy game – Total War is what comes to mind. If you’re thinking about the most epic world where those strategies could best play out – this would surely be the world of Warhammer! Giant battles, many different factions, tactical combat – you name it, this world has it.

Hence – Total War: Warhammer came to be. It was a pun intended, a total shock to everyone in the world of gaming, as those two giants combining their powers was something that the world could barely stand. Total War: Warhammer became an instant hit, and it has been one of the best-selling Total War games, with over 2 million copies sold.

So, it’s only fair that they made a sequel. But what if you have played this game and were looking for something new and exciting? What if you wanted a role-playing wargame that was not set in the Warhammer world?

Well, in that case, we have a treat for you! This article will cover the most popular and interesting titles like Total War: Warhammer. Let’s dive in!

• Release Date: May 2016

• Developer: Creative Assembly

• Platforms: macOS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Classic Mac OS

• Meta Score: 86

Starting with – the game in question itself – Total War: Warhammer ! Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t played this one. Nevertheless, it’s one of the classics, and it should surely be considered one of the greatest. So, what is this game all about, and why are people so crazy about it?

The idea of mixing acclaimed strategy games with captivating dark fantasy worlds was a clear winner. It creates an endless civil war within a fascinating world filled with creatures and monsters.

The gameplay is pretty advanced. There is turn-based strategy for the gaming part of it and a real-time battle for the combat aspect. It was the first time in the franchise's history to abandon the concept of a historical setting and decided to opt for something a bit more out of the ordinary. And so, it came with a lot of possibilities! With magic, the creators could create something much more advanced than your usual bows, arrows, and swords.

And the story was something much crazier than your everyday Napoleon battles. Karl Franz is a newly elected Emperor of the Empire. And so, as you can imagine, a great civil war emerges. There are plenty of different factions fighting to win the place on the throne. Who will be on top? Well, it’s all up to you!

There are four different factions in this title. You can choose Empire – humans, Greenskins – orcs and goblins, Dwarfs – who are dwarfs as you can imagine, and the Vampire Counts. Every faction has its own campaign to play through, and each one of them has a different playstyle. So, if you want to get the best out of this game, it’s best to try each and every one of them. And now, let’s see what else we have in store!

• Release Date: September 2017

• Developer: Creative Assembly

• Platforms: PC, Linux

• Meta Score: 87

And what a better start it could be than the sequel to the acclaimed first title – Total War: Warhammer II ; it’s a pretty straightforward thing – if you liked the first game, you would surely like the second one as well. It’s a secure proceeding, as the game takes everything that was great in the first title and develops the concept even further!

The decision-making process, in that case, was rather easy. Nevertheless, let’s talk about the game itself. Unlike most games in the Total War series, here we will also not see all the historical figures we all loved from the titles. We continue the story from the first game and develop the concepts presented there. So - you should probably be ready for a magic stick rather than the longbow. Games in the series usually tend to have something unique about them that differentiates them from all the other ones. Here, we have improvement upon improvement.

Compared to the first game, the biggest advancement is probably the Vortex Campaign. Here, you race against all the other factions in order to perform rituals that will let you control the Great Vortex. Similarly to the first game, here you also have four classes to play. In this case, it’s a completely different story, though. We have the High Elves, Dark Elves, Lizardmen, and Skaven, who are all different in their approach. Although this game did not sell as well as the first one, it was something new and exciting in the franchise. Definitely worthwhile!

• Release Date: May 2019

• Developers: Creative Assembly, Feral Interactive

• Platforms: PC

• Meta Score: 85

Snap back to reality – Total War: Three Kingdoms ! Now that we know everything there is about the fascinating world of Warhammer, it’s time to look further and see other worlds that can be as interesting as the ones presented in this dark fantasy series. For example – a real-time strategy game set in ancient China? Interested? Well, we sure are!

This title takes us to the beautiful world of the Three Kingdoms period between 220 and 280. There are twelve factions to choose from, and you need to eliminate all the others in order to unify China under one rule, and, well, we all see where it leads us.

Nevertheless, the game is a lot of fun, as you can enjoy not only the great fights against the twelve nations, each one with a different style of combat but also see all the incredible warlords from that time period. We have Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and even Sun Quan, to name only a few.

The gameplay is what you can expect from a Total War game, where you have your turn-based system during the tactics, economy, and diplomacy, as well as the real-time strategy for the giant battles. As it’s not the developed world, you have the infantry and cavalry to choose from.

The game is wonderfully created, with dozens of different available tactics and really advanced governing mechanisms. In this instance, it’s not only about the total war; it’s also about total thinking!

• Release Date: October 2016

• Developer: Firaxis Games

• Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Android, iOS

• Meta Score: 88

And now for something completely different – Civilization 6 ! Well, it’s not Star Wars or King Arthur, but it’s far enough to consider it to be a totally different approach. We are, of course, talking about Civilization VI, the greater contender to the Total War series. So, how did the rival do against the Total War products? Well, pretty good, we must say.

Total War games focus on diplomacy, economic development, and, indeed, total war. In Civilization, it’s a bit more complicated. Here, you don’t develop the world based on how it would look in real life, with already-established rules and everything. Instead, you create the world how you feel. Your actions have consequences, form the smallest forms to a whole civilization!

As usual, it’s a turn-based game where you compete against an AI civilization to get the win the fastest. The goal is to win in one of the six categories – Science, Culture, Domination, Religion, Diplomacy, and Score. Each one of those has a different set of rules to get a win, so make sure your site connection is on point, as there will be a lot of Googling during the game.

Civilization VI is a classic 4x game – "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate."

In order to develop your tribe, you need to make the most of your resources and create a civilization that will last from long ago to even the near future.

In the standard edition, you get to choose one of the eighteen civilizations with nineteen leaders to choose from:

• Catherine de Medici of France,

• Cleopatra of Egypt,

• Frederick Barbarossa of German

• Gandhi of India,

• Gilgamesh of Sumer,

• Harald Hardrada of Norway,

• Hojo Tokimune of Japan,

• Mvemba a Nzinga of the Kongolese,

• Pedro II of Brazil,

• Peter of Russia,

• Philip II of Spain,

• Qin Shi Huang of China,

• Saladin of Arabia,

• Teddy Roosevelt of America,

• Tomyris of Scythia,

• Trajan of Rome,

• Victoria of England;

• Greece had two leaders, Pericles and Gorgo

• Release Date: May 2016

• Developer: Paradox Interactive

• Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

• Meta Score: 88

And now, for something even more different and completely out of the ordinary, we have – Stellaris . This is the kind of game where all the other epic battles you have seen in your day will blush in comparison. The scope, the space, the everything – Stellaris delivers on all fronts in that regard.

So, what is this all about? Well, it’s pretty simple. Have you ever thought about the Warhammer 40,000, but what if it was in space?! And with dozens of different ships, upgrades, and a lot of complicated elements to go through? Well, if you think about it, this game actually exists, and it’s called Stellaris.

It’s space exploration at its finest, where you get to experience a complex world full of mysteries that look totally different from anything else on this list. Of course, it’s not only about the space fights; sometimes, it’s all about diplomacy, forming alliances, getting into some interstellar politics, and a lot of talking and trading to develop your base faster. The strategic gameplay is one of the more interesting ones on this list, and we can surely recommend this one if you like Total War: Warhammer! So, forge alliances and go to the deepest of spaces!

• Release Date: October 2022

• Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment

• Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S

• Meta Score: 77

And finally, we have the Mount&Blade II: Bannerlord . A bit of a mix of all the other games we have mentioned on this list. It’s a role-playing game with medieval combat and strategy elements. You create a group of soldiers and go on a quest together on a map, with plenty of battles to choose from that you can join.

When it comes to improvements to the first game, you are definitely more strategic than what we’ve seen in Warband.

You need to create a different strategy for each siege and put your resources in the right places before the battle even starts. You can choose tactics for each part of your crew and decide how to attack and when to do so.

It’s actually what the Total War series games would look like if it were mostly combat. So, if you enjoy this aspect of this series, you will have a lot of fun in Mount & Blade.

Thanks for stopping by! We hope that you enjoyed this deep dive into the games like Total War: Warhammer. Of course, those are just some of the examples, as there are plenty of different titles that you could enjoy. Those are our editorial picks, so feel free to browse through our great library of articles. We are positive that you will find something for yourself. That’s it for today, we’ll see you next time!