Total War: Warhammer 40k will let you stuff your ‘almost dead’ Space Marine characters into Dreadnoughts so they can keep fighting

The Total War: Warhammer 40k Gamescom demo is underway, with lots of players getting their hands on the upcoming grimdark strategy game for the first time. Total War’s content creators have been giving their impressions, but Creative Assembly also snuck in a new Alpha Strike livestream, and this is one of the biggest information drops we’ve gotten yet.

The stream finally reveals the campaign structure for Total War: Warhammer 40k, explaining that each solar system we fight through will comprise a campaign, as we battle across multiple regions on each planet. Once a campaign is done, we’ll zoom out to the wider Crusade Theatre, where we can start a new campaign in another system, carrying through our characters and retinues. Apparently, there are about ten systems per theatre, culminating in a final battle on Armageddon.

It’s not necessary to complete every campaign in a theatre, but it’s already reportedly bigger than anything Creative Assembly has made before, including Immortal Empires. There were lots of other little information tidbits, too, including:

• Heroes will have ‘followers’ they can equip to change the unit composition of their bodyguard. Imagine something like the Imperial General’s retinue in Dawn of War.
• All unit weapon loadouts are fully customisable.
• There are planetary governors who you’ll have to appease to unlock certain diplomatic actions and support.
• Space Marines can co-opt Planetary Defense Armies from the Imperial Guard to follow them as backup.
• The Imperial Guard have a variety of structures they can build on planets (similar to forts or watchtowers in Medieval 2 and Rome Total War), including artillery batteries and deathstrike missile launchers.

One of the best and most loreful additions, though, is that you can place ‘dead’ Space Marine characters inside Dreadnoughts (1:20:41 in the stream).

“It wouldn’t be Space Marines if you couldn’t take the mushed-up, almost corpse of a Space Marine, stuff it in a big metal tin can, and send it back into battle as a Dreadnought,” says Will, Campaign Designer on Total War: Warhammer 40k. “There will be a little mechanic where even if your character has died, they might continue to serve the Emperor in a slightly chonkier form.

“Dreadnoughts and Land Raiders as well, we’re treating them more like characters. Like these are super rare, super powerful ancient creations that are really valuable.”

For those unfamiliar with Dreadnoughts, they’re effectively what happens if you attach an array of deadly weapons to a life support sarcophagus and give it legs. Most mortally wounded Space Marines who are interred in them gradually lose their minds as they turn to mush over the long centuries, repeatedly roused from slumber to face each new battle, or provide wisdom and ancient memories to the younger brothers of the chapter.

Still, knowing that one of my Space Marine heroes who I’ve battled with since my first campaign can stave off permadeath by hopping into a Dreadnought is a great feature. After all, it sounds like we’re going to grow very invested in our small, yet elite, self-created Space Marine retinue as we fight across the many campaigns of the Crusade Theatre.