Creative Assembly says it wanted to 'authentically simulate' the Warhammer tabletop experience for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 by adding references, lore, and more

September 9, 2026 at 08:00 AM

Creative Assembly has explained how it designed a faithful Warhammer player experience for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 Battle product owner Dave Petry says the team didn't directly recreate the tabletop systems, but tried to "authentically simulate" them Creative Assembly continued its "trusting" re

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li>Creative Assembly has explained how it designed a faithful Warhammer player experience for Total War: Warhammer 40,000</li><li>Battle product owner Dave Petry says the team didn't directly recreate the tabletop systems, but tried to "authentically simulate" them</li><li>Creative Assembly continued its "trusting" relationship with Games Workshop, which shared its "infinite knowledge"</li></ul>Creative Assembly worked closely with Games Workshop to ensure the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/gaming/creative-assembly-says-its-new-warcore-engine-has-allowed-it-to-take-total-war-warhammer-40-000-into-space-and-build-a-bigger-play-area-for-all-the-planets-all-the-solar-systems-the-whole-galaxy-i-think-thats-the-biggest-thing-for-campaign">Total War: Warhammer 40,000</a> player experience was as "authentic" to the tabletop game as possible.In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, lead designer Joy Dey and battle product owner Dave Petry discussed the upcoming strategy game's combat system and shared how it was able to faithfully translate the feeling of Warhammer's tabletop systems.Rather than a complete one-to-one recreation, Petry explained that the goal was to "authentically simulate" the feel of the tabletop's combat."We really, really care about trying to authentically simulate the feeling of the type of combat, whatever period or kind of warfare that it is, right?" Petry said. "So in a historical, obviously, war on Earth, and generally we have the sorts of weapons that you have on Earth. When it's fantasy, it's magic and mages and all that sort of stuff, and obviously, with the science fantasy and 40k, the biggest reference point you have to that is the tabletop."But it's not necessarily like the be-all and end-all of it," he continued. "We're not transposing the tabletop, right? We're trying to create an authentic sense of the lore and the kind of combat that's there, but the love for the tabletop absolutely is present."Petry said that, like so many fans, he's been playing and collecting Warhammer 40k since he was young and confirmed that references and nods to the universe, like names, abilities, and lore, are in the upcoming strategy game. However, he said some elements of the tabletop game "just don't fit" with the game's real-time simulationCreative Assembly also focused on making the game feel "familiar" to the Total War franchise; combat has also been scaled up, and he explained that macro positioning, where the player's forces are, flanking, and enemy morale are all things that come into play. Petry said positioning in particular is being treated as "an interpretation of the lore and the universe, with the tabletop being one of the most important references."The developer also added that Creative Assembly continued its long-standing collaboration with Games Workshop to ensure authenticity, saying their "special relationship" has helped the studio combat issues it was dealing with."[If] we can't find the thing that quite works for [the game], or this piece of lore sounds similar, but doesn't quite work," Prety added, "And for them to be able to come back with their infinite knowledge of all of this stuff and go, 'Well, you're right. This doesn't quite fit, but over here we have something that actually might be able to do the job.' "And that close or trusting collaboration has, I think, enabled us to create something that captures that authentic feeling."Total War: Warhammer 40,000 launches in 2027 for <a href="https://www.techradar.com/reviews/ps5">PlayStation 5</a>, <a href="https://www.techradar.com/reviews/xbox-series-x">Xbox Series X</a>, <a href="https://www.techradar.com/reviews/xbox-series-s">Series S</a>, and PC. </article> ]]>