Everybodys been saying that for months.
I don’t believe there’s an official answer. Probably branding/copyright issues.
I doubt it will be much discounted in the summer sale so soon after release. Also, if you buy in the first week after release the Chaos DLC is free. Personally I think it is colossally crappy of them to make Chaos a DLC. Far, far worse than withholding Greeks for DLC in Rome II (at least there are an abundance of factions in Rome II…this is holding back 20% of the factions for DLC). Still, might be a consideration.
I agree about Rome II. I was so astounded at how bad it was on release and what a step back it was from Shogun I have never been able to get into it since. The bad taste just never left me. It also put me off buying pre-release forever. I have not bought anything before release since Rome II burned me (ok…I did buy Homeworld pre-release but I had already played that long ago and loved it and I got some pre-release as a bonus for buying a video card…the last Batman in fact which also sucked horribly on PC on release).
But this incarnation does seem to deliver (according to reviews I have seen and I have looked at more than a few). It is not the classic Total War which is not so much good or bad as just different. If you are a Warhammer fan it will probably be worth it. It has it shortcomings but nothing show stopping and sounds like fun.
Here is a review that I think is pretty good. The guy is obviously a Warhammer fan but I think that makes him care more about it and thus more critical and he loves it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIrGBqA2Grk
It’s pretty damn good. I’ve skipped Rome so some of the mechanics are weird to me (it doesn’t seem like you can build units on their own, you recruit straight from each general/hero - but I’ve been playing Vampire Counts so maybe it’s just a thing they do) but they’ve nailed the Warhammer world and the “constant fighting” part of it. Basically you’re never, ever safe. The quests are cool, and the “RPG” aspect of managing your general and his bullshit skills feels a lot more natural here than in Shogun for example. Plus they don’t die from old age !
I’m kind of annoyed however that every battle is full stack vs. full stack (because of the general mechanic, every faction including your own only has a few armies, thus concentrating the units there) because I like small skirmishes as well. Also the agent bullshit shenanigans brings me straight back to MTW 2 - deep into the VC campaign it almost feels like the Pope’s Inquisitor Death Squads all over again. Those are my only two caveats.
But other than that, it’s an amazingly smooth release for a TW game, and it’s different enough from Shogun 2 to really warrant a buy. The factions all play super differently too, which is a nice departure for the series - from “different flavour of guy with poky stick” to “these guys have giant werewolves, but those guys have a million guns”. It’s almost hard to play Empire, they seem very vanilla when you can have goblins riding spiders for your hammer and trolls for your anvil 
I had no intention of buying it soon.
Also, I don’t accept dlc policies as with the Chaos Warriors. It’s an anti-consumer practice that I decline to support.
I really like the game. The core gameplay is very good and the new focus on the lords and heroes is excellent. Winning a battle gets you loot and followers which is great. The tactical AI is decent.
I do wish the game focused a bit more on the conflict between the four factions as the game really shines in this aspect. The game currently focusing very much on the fight against Chaos. I feel that they show up a bit too early (about turn 50). This has the unfortunate side effect of forcing you into a race. You have to be ready when they show up or they will just roll over you.
I know nothing about Warhammer but played the crap out of Medieval II. Would I enjoy this?
I can’t see how you wouldn’t. It’s medieval warfare mixed with Lord of the Rings and a heavy metal album cover.
Warhammer’s an easy setting to get into because it relies so much on clichés, archetypes and common knowledge with a twist. For example, the Empire is basically Renaissance-era Germany with lots of small independant lords nominally vassals to a factually powerless emperor and scheming amongst each other over scraps (except in Warhammer, “scheming” often involves making deals with treacherous ratmen or the fickle gods of chaos or undead monstrosities and so on). Oh, and one corner of the empire has vampires who claim legitimacy because hey, they’re not just descended from the first emperor, they were there with him, they just happened to die along the way. But got better.
Up north you’ve got Not_Russia with its boyars and bears and so on, and further north are the Not_frenzied_vikings.
The dwarves are basically LOTR dwarves to a T - they’re grumbly, they love beer and mines and gold, they keep grudges for ever, they don’t like poncy elves but they hate orcs even more. Also they don’t do magic but they get fuckhuge cannon and some steampunk tech to make up for it.
Then you’ve got Bretonnia which is basically feudal France circa 1300, cranked up to eleven wrt the privileged nobility/cack-handed peasant divide, with the Arthurian legend tacked onto it.
Finally you’ve got the orcs, who are cockney football hooligans with axes (so, cockney football hooligans, really :D) and the forces of Chaos who’re your average bad guys solely intent on loot kill burn maim murder skulls heavy metal.
That about covers what you need to know about the part of the Old World that’s covered in this game, though they plan on adding more places and more races down the road.
Making it so you can’t take over the whole map is a genius decision that makes the end game much more fun and interesting.
How do they accomplish that?
Also, there are guns, cannons, steampowered tanks, and gyrocopters too; I’ve been pretty impressed with what I’ve seen of it so far.
There is no point at which you own most of the map and you are not in a lot of danger but still haven’t finished and every turn is a huge chore.
Races. Each race can only conquer provinces of select other races, the rest is considered inhabitable for them. You can still go there to raid (a major source of cash, particularly for orcs and chaos), raze, pursue enemies, quests etc… but you can’t take over.
This accomplishes three things : make diplomacy relevant, keep you focused on your goals, and ensure that there’ll always be some jackass somewhere that’s angling to screw with you :D.
I’m enjoying the game so far. I’m playing as Karl Franz; I’m perpetually annoyed at the other Empire provinces that don’t want to join confederation (or even sign a damned trade treaty). I’ve managed to assemble a 20-stack army of elite units that’s pretty damned fearsome: Franz, a captain, 8 greatswords, 4 demigryph knights, and six steam tanks. The tanks especially are a major drain on my finances, but they’re fun.
I’m getting a little sick of fighting other Empire factions, and I have a non-aggression pact with Kislev for some reason, so I’ve decided to turn my attention to Norsca. I’ve already razed on Skaeling town, but I’m going to have to retreat to friendly territory to replenish. That attrition is a bitch. The first turn my main army was there, Franz lost three members of his retinue. I ain’t even mad; that’s a nice touch. It’s my hope that cracking some Chaos skulls will endear me to the other Empire provinces enough to get them to join up with me peacefully.
There’s a Chaos horde rampaging around Kislev territory. I wonder how long they’ll keep each other occupied.
Honestly, the greatswords are kinda naff, you should ditch those. There’s a general XP skill that gives swordsmen more armour and defense, nab that ASAP and don’t look back. Then you can build a mainline of swords (who have shields, too, so they don’t give a toss about ranged units) with demigriphs and/or arty as the killy units. Greatwswords are not that much better than swords from a DPS pov but much less sturdy. Even against heavily armoured enemies (like dorfs or Chaos Warriors) it’s probably better to have a tough line that a killing line - maybe have one or two units of GS’s on the flanks, if that. I feel like heavy cav is always better.
Yeah, buffed up swordmen are always good. Specially after a few upgrades from your lord or tech tree.
Thank you for this excellent write -up. I went ahead and purchased it and hope to play it this week.
Do any of the factions her dragons?
I think the undead have zombie dragons.
Yeah, “real” dragons are more or less the dominion of the Elves in the tabletop IIRC. The Poncy Elves, Hippie Elves and Bitchy Elves all have their flavour or dragon - but they’re not in the game yet. Chaos technically could have some too, but AFAIK doesn’t here (though they have weird half-dragon centaur thingamabobs). Maybe the Orcs have wyverns ? I know they do in the tabletop but haven’t gotten around to WAAAAAGHing in the video game yet.
My bad, just checked and Chaos does have a Chaos Dragon as a possible mount. And Orcs do have their wyverns (which are Bad Dragons, basically. All the flying lizard, none of the spewing fire)