Empire Forts are Coming in Total War: Warhammer 2’s Next Free Update
The Hunter and The Beast, the next big Total War: Warhammer 2 Lord Pack DLC, is due to release on the 13th of September. However, on the same day, Creative Assembly will be releasing a major Total War: Warhammer 2 Empire rework which brings significant changes to the Empire. Included in that is the addition of new Empire Forts in the mountains around imperial territory. Recently, the studio gave fans a look at the development and design of these new Forts in their latest Dev Diary.
The New Total War: Warhammer 2 Empire Forts
The new Empire Forts aren’t merely run-of-the-mill imperial strongholds. In fact, most of them are massive bastions and major locations in the lore, securing key mountain passes and other sites around the Empire’s borders. As a result, the forts see a great deal of conflict. In-game, these forts will serve a role similar to that of the High Elf gate settlements; highly defensible fortresses which block routes through the mountains and possess sizable garrisons even without an army sitting on it.
“[…] We’re making a concerted effort to give each new map multiple tiers and areas of engagement beyond the initial battle for the walls,” explains Creative Assembly’s James High; “to make everything a little more interesting and to properly utilise the space. One of the ways we do this is to provide additional lines of defence that your army can fall back to if the walls are breached.”
The studio included several in-development screenshots of the new fort designs, specifically of a battlefield map for Helmgart. In Warhammer lore, Helmgart guards Axe Bite Pass in the Grey Mountains, between the Empire and Bretonnia. The lore also makes mention of Mackensen’s Marauders, a famous regiment of handgunners which garrison the fort. Creative Assembly did recently tease that Empire players would get access to new unique units when defending state capitals; perhaps the forts will feature their own unique units as well? Vermintide 2 players may well recognise the name Helmgart too, of course. After all, the market town which adjoins the fortress was a main location in the game.