See 10 minutes of Total War: Warhammer in action

Why is a non-historical Total War an exciting prospect? Because the Huns couldn't summon giant comets to devastate their European enemies. And because Rome didn't have winged monsters to chew up opposing soldiers. And because the Shogun couldn't order his troops to catapult themselves into a flanking regiment.

Warhammer fantasy is brutal, of course, but it's also delightfully silly. It's all evidenced in this, a new in-engine scripted walkthrough of Total War: Warhammer's Battle of Black Fire Pass.

Here's some info about what you're seeing, courtesy of Sega's "press blast".

"The Battle of Black Fire Pass formed the basis for this year’s Total War: WARHAMMER E3 press demos, and offers a glimpse of the tremendous diversity of battlefield units, spells, war machines, monstrous creatures and fantasy environments that will appear in the final game. As a Quest Battle available specifically to Karl Franz, it represents one of many bespoke, optional encounters players will unlock as they progress through a campaign with their chosen Legendary Lord."

It looks promising, for sure. I'm by no means the PC Gamer team's biggest Warhammer fan, but I am excited to see what CA will do with their first foray into fictional strategy.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.