It can, at times, be a little overwhelming if you're not familiar with Warhammer Fantasy, but it's worth it in the end. I think I now understand why the tabletop game has so many rulebooks. There are infantry that specialise in taking down monstrous units and there are ranged units that can hold their own in melee combat.
Alongside your typical infantry, ranged units and cavalry, there are flying war machines, giants, magic casters and legendary lords. There's never been a Total War game with a roster this diverse. In Total War: Warhammer, this seems to happen in almost every battle. In Rome: Total War, this feeling is a noteworthy exception, a rare blind spot in a game that wants you to understand its systems. But for a little while, you're not sure what to do. There is, of course, a counter to these units too a new set of rules to add to the list. Up until the point at which you stand against an elephant charge and the whole thing falls apart. The better units can defy these rules, sure, but it's almost always a good place to start. Total War, in my experience, has always played out a bit like a game of rock, paper, scissors. And then you run into Carthage, and they've got war elephants. Here you'd been, building proper Roman armies, with swords and shields and bows and arrows, designed to defeat nations with fewer resources and aging technology. If you've played Rome: Total War, you have to remember the first time you encountered the Carthaginians.
