The best Warhammer games capture everything we love about the tabletop classic, from its twisted lore to its diverse wealth of factions.
Warhammer Fantasy Battle was originally introduced almost 40 years ago and has since helped shape many fantasy worlds, inspiring countless video games. If you need convincing, just take one look at World of Warcraft’s beefy, broad-shouldered Orcs.
For those of you scratching your heads at the lack of Space Marines and chainswords, this best Warhammer games list specifically highlights those set in the Fantasy universe. This list also excludes games set within the Age of Sigmar.
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
- Total War: Warhammer 3
- Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat
- Warhammer: Chaosbane
- Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Who would have thought Warhammer and Left 4 Dead would make such a perfect match? Set during the apocalyptic End Times, Vermintide 2 has a band of misfits battle against the forces of Chaos as well as Skaven, Beastmen and other foul creatures.
There’s nothing more satisfying than turning enemy hordes into mincemeat, whether cleaving them, crushing them, or scorching them into oblivion, each hero having their own arsenal of weapons and unique abilities. The magic really happens in those nail-biting moments, as monsters pour in from every angle, forcing teams to either stand together or hopelessly fall apart.
Total War: Warhammer 3
This is the closest we’ll get to having a digital version of Warhammer Fantasy Battle: a triumphant trilogy from the masters or real-time strategy. Total War: Warhammer and its two sequels have recreated The Old World in all its glory, from the putrid Chaos Wastes to the luscious jungles of Lustria and beyond.
Take control of a famous general from Warhammer lore and lead your army to victory, seizing enemy territory and forging alliances with other powerful leaders. While past Total War games have all been historical, being let loose in this fantasy world has given Creative Assembly the freedom to expand the series’ core gameplay, adding flying/monstrous units and experimenting with various campaign mechanics.
For the ultimate Total War: Warhammer experience, you need to play Immortal Empires. This epic-sized campaign encompasses every faction and location – a veritable battle royale that could take weeks – if not, months – to conquer.
Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat
Is it the most refined Warhammer Fantasy video game experience on this list? No, not by a long shot. However, there’s still something incredibly alluring about Shadow of the Horned Rat. This was an early attempt to translate the GW tabletop game, putting players in charge of a mercenary group on a brutal campaign of skirmishes.
It is a different flavour of RTS game, for sure. Units don’t move with the same order and precision as they do in, say, Total War or Age of Empires. Instead you’ll click on command icons to turn, move, and charge, movement and positioning being as key here as it is in Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Those rough edges will prove too abrasive for most players yet there’s an unshakable nostalgia factor there, too.
Warhammer: Chaosbane
We’re surprised this hasn’t been done before – a Diablo-esque dungeon crawler taking players on a gritty, loot-filled journey across The Old World. Specialise in one of several characters, each based on a familiar Warhammer archetypes such as the Dwarf Slayer, High Elf Mage, or Witch Hunter.
Chaosbane is perhaps not the strongest game in this genre though it will definitely appeal to Warhammer fans, especially if you can find 3 friends to play with. From besieged Empire cities to the frozen plains of Norsca, you’ll leave a trail of Chaos-ridden corpses as your fantasy crack squad strike blows and smite foes with an unending vortex of slashes, spells, and missiles. Once your journey through the main game ends, you can even visit the Tomb Kings of Khemri for some desert dungeon crawling.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Following the rise and rampant success of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, the late 00s spawned wave after wave of copycat MMORPGs, each looking to carve out a corner within this highly lucrative genre. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning was one of the few games that pulled this off while also touting some fascinating game ideas of its own.
For the first time ever, fans could create their own unique character in the world of Warhammer, exploring its vast network of realms and cities. Public events would occasionally appear in-game, sucking in any nearby heroes to kill invading warbands of enemies and bosses, or complete other communal objectives.
Why does Age of Reckoning make this list? EA may have sunset its Warhammer MMO in 2013 though fans have kept the game alive via a free-to-play private server. There are a few hoops to jump through but it’s well worth installing.
And there you have, the best Warhammer games currently available. With Games Workshop having put Warhammer Fantasy on the shelf in favour of 40K and Age of Sigmar, we’re likely to see fewer adaptations based in this classic setting. In the meantime, we’ve seen numerous GW specialist games receive adaptations over the past several years, including Blood Bowl, Mordheim, Battlefleet Gothic, and Necromunda.Â
