The idea of having a fantastical entry in the Total War series isn’t a new one. It’s been around for years, in fact, but a number of factors have conspired to keep Creative Assembly from ever truly being able to commit to such an idea. The studio’s commitment to putting out a purely historical title every three years coupled with resources always meant such a concept looked set to remain a pipe dream. Until, that is, Games Workshop came knocking back in 2012.

Sitting down with Andy Hall, lead writer for the upcoming Total War: Warhammer

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Of course, the benefit of having so many years to mull over just what could be done if a fantasy Total War title was to happen means there’s no shortage of ideas now it’s actually on the cards. And let’s just say, Creative Assembly isn’t afraid of a little ambition.

“ By the end of it we’ll have the largest Total War campaign there’s ever been.

“This is Part One of the Trilogy,” explains Hall. “Each game will be a standalone game, but the map of the second one, for example, will slot into the first one like a jigsaw. So you can play it on its own, but if you have the first one then they’ll slot together to create a bigger map. The third one will do the same and by the end of it we’ll have the largest Total War campaign there’s ever been.”

The scale of this undertaking is something we keep coming back to throughout the course of our interview. Where Rome: Total War featured eight different animation rigs for its horses, Warhammer will feature more than 30 thanks to the extreme diversity of the steeds on show.

It’s an interesting fact, considering the initial reaction that met the game’s initial reveal. Upon announcement of the game’s four Races – Humans, Orcs, Dwarves and Vampires – some Total War veterans were slightly miffed. Considering how previous games were overflowing with different Factions at launch, some felt short changed. According to Hall however, there’s actually more content in the first game alone than franchise fans have ever seen.

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“What you’re getting in effect is four Total War experiences in one game - their Campaigns are totally different with their own agendas, aims and value systems,” he says.” The Empire for instance is probably the most traditional for Total War players – they’re still human, they still collect taxes, they still like organisation and Karl Franz wants to unify them and get them under control. It’s traditional but heightened.

“ What you’re getting in effect is four Total War experiences in one game - their Campaigns are totally different with their own agendas, aims and value systems.

“The Orcs on the other hand aren’t going to take a human settlement and start policing it or put on some half-moon spectacles and start looking at tax receipts -they’re Orcs! They have totally different gameplay – they’re all about momentum and they have to keep conquering. If you don’t keep moving forward or if you can’t because of enemies or a landmass then the Orcs start to turn in on themselves and fight each other.

“Dwarves are all about getting back old glories. They had what’s called The Doom and now they’re in the Age of Reckoning where they almost need to start again and link up their disparate outposts. They also slight easily and have their Book of Grudges, so there may very well be a grudge mechanic in there… Vampires I can’t really talk about but you can imagine they need a lot of corpses, so maybe there’s something to do with making sure they kill enough people to sustain their armies? Who knows!

“They’re all totally different so you can imagine when - or if - we get to the Elves and the Skaven, it’ll be different again. So it’s more than just different colour armour, not to be disparaging to the history titles.”

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This whole mantra of ‘bigger and better’ continues with Creative Assembly’s refusal to simply adapt the features of the historical games for its new fantasy property. Instead, the team is completely revamping the Political System (with a reveal planned for the near future) and adding over 400 new Traits for characters. One of the biggest changes coming, however, is the decision to shift away from the dynastic models that made up so much of the Total War experience until now – with both dying of old age and family trees getting the chop in the upcoming game. As you can imagine, this really frees Creative Assembly up to innovate and mix up features that have been pretty static since the series’ launch.

“ You’ll have more than 30 levels of skill trees and deep customisations.

“While your characters aren’t immortal – take them into battle and get their skulls caved in, they’re dead – they won’t die of old age,” Hall explains. “This also means we don’t need the family tree mechanic. So instead, you’re going to get these massive levels of customisation. You’ll have more than 30 levels of skill trees and deep customisations.

“What this does is, because these characters are with the player so long, you grow very attached to them. But then the kicker is you have this powerful lord – or even an agent, as while agents in the past stayed on the Campaign map, this time they can be pulled into the battlefield itself. So the Warrior Priest and Witch Hunter in the case of the Empire, Big Bosses, Shamen in the case of Orcs and Goblins. Once they’re on the battlefield they’re a great tool, but if they die… that’s 30 levels of progress gone.”

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There’s still a lot we don’t know about Total War: Warhammer – yet – but increasingly it seems Creative Assembly is looking to push the boundaries. With the historical Total War team still working on titles to maintain its three-year release cadence, the Total War: Warhammer team has the time to make sure it gets this project right. This may be the realisation of more than a decade of dreaming, but Creative Assembly shows no signs of sleepwalking.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter.