Fire up your computer, and take a look at the best classic videos games for Old World/Warhammer Fantasy.
Last week GW surprised a lot of us by dropping a ton of old classic video games onto Steam. This includes a ton of great Warhammer Fantasy (now Old World) games. While pretty everyone is familiar with Total War: Warhammer, that series is only the latest in a long line of Warhammer Fantasy games. So with a lot of these games suddenly easy to buy and play (and cheap)I wanted to take a trip down memory lane and take a look at which of these games are the best. In particular I want to focus on classic games that are from WFB (sorry Blood Bowl) and also ones that you can still play (so Age of Reckoning is technically out). Indeed all of these are on Steam right now. So lets dig in.
5. Man- Of-War: Corsair
Man-of-War: Corsair was an ambitious game. It is basically an open world sandbox RPG focused on naval combat in the Old World. You play as a captain and build a crew and eventually fleet, while sailing around taking on missions and fighting naval battles. The naval battles themselves are pretty decent and there is a huge verity of ships in the game for almost every faction. It’s basically like Warhammer Mount and Blade but with ships. Sadly the game feels unfinished. While you can fight against a lot of factions you arere pretty limited in what you can play as. The campaign is also a little barebones and very very sandbox-y. Still there is fun to be had here.
4. Mark of Chaos
This basically Total War: Warhammer before Total War: Warhammer. Mark of Chaos. Set right after the Great War Against Chaos this game is actually pretty close to the Old World setting. Its a massive battle RTS, like Total War, with the battles trying to somewhat be like the table top game. There is a larger campaign/strategy layer but the game is much more liner than a Total War game and doesn’t really have the whole realm development aspect, though you can build up and improve your army.
While I enjoyed this game what it was it always felt like it was just… less than a Total War game. It has some cool customization, but not as many faction. It also just lacks the best parts of the strategic layer. It does however have one of the best trailers out there.
3. Mordheim City of the Damned
Mordheim: City of the Damned is a great video game version of the classic tabletop game. This game is really a blast and does a great job of capturing the game. You control a warband, built from a number of factions, going around the ruined city of Mordhiem trying to gather up warpstone. Your band can grow (or shrink), gain experience, and buy all kinds of gear. The battles are a lot of fun and capture the spirt of the game. There is an incredible amount of customization and building out warbands is a blast. The biggest downside is that there isn’t more of the game! More maps, warbands and units would make this game next level.
2. Shadow of the Horned Rat
Shadow of the Horned Rat is the OG of Warhammer Fantasy strategy games. I know this is partly nostalgia here, but back in the day this game was a blast. It’s a pretty classic RTS game, where you play through a campaign with a series of battles. In the game you u take command of a Mercenary Company and work to do various jobs and stop some Skaven (that dastardly Thanquol) machinations. Like Mark of Chaos or a Total War game you have a mostly persistent army that you improve between missions. You aren’t building things in the missions themselves, which are great. The game is fairly linear, though you do have options. Controls are a bit dated and the graphics are old, but still work. It’s a blast.
1. Dark Omen
Dark Omen is the sequel to Shadow of the Horned Rat. In it you command the same Mercenary company, but are mostly fight Undead instead of Skaven. Dark Omen was an improvement over Shadow in almost every area. It has better graphics, (which honestly still work today) and better controls and just works better. It’s got a great story and back in the day it was up there with the best fantasy RTS. It’s gotten a little criticism as having a more linear gameplay that Horned Rat, but overall they took a great game and made it better. A true gem.
Let us know what your favorite classic Old World video game is, down in the comments!
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Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.
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