Creative Assembly has given us a deeper look into the faction design of Total War: Warhammer 40,000. A recent video featured principal creative director Ian Roxburgh, lead designer Simon Mann, and product owner for battles David Petry, who shed light on the game's factions.

The game's starting faction balance is a mix of asymmetry and deliberate familiarity. The Imperial Guard, for example, are tailored for Total War veterans, emphasizing production and attrition. Then you have the Orks, who are numerous, but they need constant fighting to avoid infighting. They also possess unique abilities based on scavenged tech.

Space Marines focus on the precise use of small, elite units, with limited economic development. Finally, the Eldar are stealthy and fragile, operating from remote Craftworld bases, often focused on averting galactic disasters.

As Simon Mann said about the Space Marines, “There’s not lots of them, so when you’re playing as them, you’re not fielding tens of thousands of troops, you’re fielding maybe a hundred, two hundred troops, but each one of those is worth a hundred of the enemies.”

Faction Overviews

The Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum are the most traditional Total War faction. According to Mann, "There are lots of them, they are massed forces, regiments, there is artillery, there is front lines. It’s something you’d see as a very military faction, even down to their industrial complex, where they’re building industry on planets and developing them in order to fuel the machine and fund the development of more tanks and infantry.”

Orks bring a "massed green tide of chaos and energy," armed with whatever they can get their hands on. Petry adds, "there are some parallels with the Astra Militarum, in that there are loads of them, they are building up resources, but they are are much more about building up momentum, and continuing to fight. It’s krumping with the lads, you know, it’s continuing to fight, and continuing to push forward a frontline, and making sure the boys don’t get bored and start fighting each other.”

The Eldar "play totally differently to anything we’ve ever done in the past. They aren’t a faction that is built for massed combat...Every loss for the Aeldari doesn’t get returned – their souls are getting taken away by the Chaos gods.” Their objectives go beyond simple conquest; they're about preventing galactic calamities.

Eldar generals will use stealth and Webway gates, with a Craftworld serving as their off-map base for unit recruitment. “Your goals may actually be just, don’t allow this awful thing to happen,” Mann said. “Stop this calamity that could be occurring to the galaxy."

From what I've seen, the Eldar are the most intriguing. I like the idea of having objectives beyond just wiping out everyone else, plus, who doesn't love a good space elf with great hair?