The Total War series has portrayed numerous conflicts, both historical and fantastical, but with Warhammer 40,000, the series launches into a new frontier with space, bolters and psykers in tow. It means a lot of changes for what Total War is, but its sense of scale remains intact, alongside a little bit of carnage.
I played a three-part hands-on demo of Total War: Warhammer 40,000 at Gamescom 2026, which stair-stepped me up through the layers of strategy. My personal experience with the Total War series has been frequent toe-dipping and experimenting, but never committing full-time. I love the chaos of a Warhammer 40,000 video game, though, whether that means directing my forces in Dawn of War or tearing through swarms of Tyranids in Space Marine.
So, while I’m reluctant to speak to the changes for this series, I can absolutely confirm Total War: Warhammer 40,000 can sate a thirst for explosions and declarations of loyalty to the Emperor. Four factions are currently planned for the game, and they’re the ones you likely expect: Orks, Aeldari, the billions of humans in the Imperium forces, and of course, Space Marines.
Part one of my demo put me through a small skirmish, pitting my small Space Marine detachment against a raging warband of Orks. Gradually, the tutorial walked me through the basics: units can be deployed behind a line, and then once battles commence, I can order them around, pausing or speeding up whenever I wish.
My Space Marines may have been outnumbered, but their powerful bolters mixed with a good position – on top of a hill and in cover – saw waves of Orks dashed against the proverbial rocks. With enough time – and bombing runs I could call in on a cooldown – it didn’t take long for me to route my foes.
In the second section, I zoomed out to the larger map and commanded forces around the planet I’d found myself on, working my way towards a nearby Ork army. I made the mistake of sending a smaller force in first, rather than my larger outfit nearby, but it was fun to suddenly find myself in a position where I had to hold out for backup.
Did I add unnecessary tension because of my own bad decision-making? Absolutely. But that seems like a fun way to enjoy this kind of game: trying to snatch victory from the encroaching jaws of defeat.
My final section, as a Creative Assembly team member described it, was a battle on the scale of something we’d likely see in the mid-to-late stages of a campaign. I had a sizeable set of units available: some assault units and basic bolter-wielding Space Marines, a number of specialty units like psykers and heavy gunners, and even a few vehicles.
I was warned very few demo players emerged victorious from that battle, and I was not able to best expectations either. Despite carefully planning a strategy to hold a small but defensible line and then pincer from opposing flanks after the enemy closed in, it all fell to ruins fast. Partly because my units weren’t fast enough to swing around and close in while my core still held, but also because I didn’t notice my right flank was blocked off from a faster route by a parked train.
Afterwards, I confirmed with a Creative Assembly developer that I could have blown up the train and punched through to the side of my foes, but a simple “move” command sent my right-side units swinging the long way around instead. I chalk it up to user error, though it does highlight a level of destruction and ingenuity players might need to get used to having, in this far-flung future.
Getting a sense of the breadth of Total War: Warhammer 40,000’s deeper systems and scope in the time I had allotted was difficult. For other games, an hour slice might be enough of a toothpick to see if the cake’s baked well, but for something as big as a Total War game, it felt like just a taste.
I’d certainly like to see how the other factions and races fare against the Orks and Space Marines, and get deeper into the longer-term progression systems. What I’ve seen so far confirms to me that Creative Assembly isn’t holding back on its first foray into the 40,000 universe.
