Inevitably the high elves have archers and they should be some of the best in Total War: Warhammer 2. As Tolkien wrote, so shall Warhammer do. Nothing unexpected from them, but they will be a solid component of your army. Ubiquitous in high elf armies, repeater bolts are light artillery options which are ideal for taking out light infantry. These things shoot fast and have long range. The will likely have more accuracy than cannons at the cost of overall damage.
Contrary to the specialized nature of the High Elves, Dark Elves should have a lot going for them – High damage melee units, ranged options, above average speed and great monsters. The Dark Elves should be Jacks-of-all-trades, and masters of none, allowing you to experiment widely and bring balanced armies to each encounter. If you need a check for a specific unit, they should have you covered. Much like the High Elves, the Dark Elves lack monstrous infantry, but they make up for it with full sized monsters instead!
Because of their “special relationship”, Malekith will likely bring his mother Morathi with him to war. Morathi is a sorceress and should have multiple magical styles at her disposal. She will have lots of damage options and depending on the storylines included, she may have a bit of chaos magic at her command. We’ll have to wait and see what direction Creative Assembly goes in with her spells but they will no doubt be fearsome
Interestingly enough, in the table top games, the Dark Elves use Cold Ones for cavalry mounts just like the Lizardmen do. It will be exciting to see if they are included in the video game and if so, which one is more effective when they go head to head. Expect them to be medium to heavy cavalry, good for routing and potentially line breaking if used against the right Infantry.
Much like the High Elves, the Dark Elves have access to dragons, specifically Black Dragons – who could have guessed? These dragons should work similarly to the others in the game and will likely be mount options for both lords and mages. On the table, the stand out monster for the Dark Elves is the Hydra, featuring high damage, range, and regeneration. These beasts combine everything that is great about trolls, with what is hopefully much better leadership. They are extremely dangerous Dark Elf players will be very disappointed if they are not included!
The little rat at the end of the cinematic trailer for Total War: Warhammer 2 isn’t fooling anyone, we know what’s to come! While the Dark Elves have a wide range of options, they pale in comparison the Skaven. In the miniatures game, they are only matched in versatility by the Lizardmen themselves. They have great horde infantry, monstrous infantry for line breaking, magic, range, and arguably the best artillery in the game. However, their Achilles heel is their leadership. Imagine if the Greenskins didn’t have Orcs and only had Goblin Infantry. Expect the Skaven to have amazing damage output but the potential to simply fold if met with resistance.
The Skaven have lots of options for heroes, but one that will no doubt be included is Thanquol. He is a Grey Seer, a powerful sorcerer blessed by the Horned Rat himself. This isn’t all he brings to the table, though – he comes with a giant rat ogre, his bodyguard, Boneripper. Boneripper brings dangerous melee combat into the equation, making Thanqual a serious offensive force. He is, however, a poor leader. His stories constantly involve blunders and turning on his own troops. To prove it, he even has a spell that does extra damage to other Skaven. If you want a leader that buffs their troops and makes them better than the sum of their parts… you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Skaven society is clan-based with the four dominant clans: Skryre, Eshin, Moulder, and Pestilens, ruling the Skaven Council, alongside the Grey Seers. These great clans will likely represent different building trees for Skaven units.
Clan Skryre is focused on engineering, creating deadly ranged weapons and artillery pieces. There are a wide variety of units to choose from. There is the deadly Rattling Gun, the Warpfire Thrower and who wouldn’t want Warp Lightning Cannon! But the most iconic Skryre weapon is the doom wheel. The doom wheel is a glorious bit of irony wrapped in spikes and it should be great fun to field.
Clan Eshin is primarily known for their assassins. This is where you will see all your stealthy units. I also expect many Eshin units will have poisonous attacks, so they may be useful for hit-and-run tactics. This tree will likely lead to accessing assassin heroes, which should function like Banshees from the Death army. These should be great against single units bad against hordes.
Clan Moulder are monster breeders. This may lead to large monsters, like Hell-Pit Abominations, but it will definitely include Rat Ogres. Rat Ogres are the monstrous infantry of the Skaven army and will be your best line breakers. I look forward to seeing if Storm Fiends are included, which are Skyre-augmented Rat Ogres with guns built right into them. They are amazing in every way and if included may be the best elite unit available to the Skaven.
Clan Pestilen is the odd one out. They are focused on spreading disease and have a strange place in the story. If the Skaven were added to the first Warhammer: Total War, I would have guessed they would be left out. But the Pestilen play such an important role in the story of the Lizardmen that I can’t see them getting left out this time. They have a lot of area of effect rules and some really nasty synergy. Pestilen abilities are great at getting around armor and the more time you spend near them the more damage you take. These abilities may play out in the campaign by making Pestilen Heroes spread Chaos faster. I’m unsure how they will fit in with the rest of the army, but I will definitely be using Plague Monks if they are available. Plague Monks are some of the best infantry in the tabletop game, combining great synergy with amazing damage output. Combine them with some Censer Bearers to spread disease and watch the enemy fall apart around you.
These are just my predictions but if the Lizardmen reveals have shown anything, they show that Creative Assembly is continuing to faithfully recreate the various factions of Warhammer Fantasy. With that in mind, Total War: Warhammer 2 should be even better than the first as these are some of the best armies available to the tabletop game. Now we just need to wait and see which armies are chosen for DLC. Those theories will have to wait for another article but, here is a hint: Daemons, Ogre kingdoms, and Tomb Kings. I can’t wait… for a carnosaur to show up and kill them too.