TL;DR- BUY IT ON SALE

SECOND REVIEW (66hrs):
Well i was wrong about not coming back. Saw some promotion for the third game that looked exciting and noticed there was a sale for the first two. After playing the hell out of this for a week or so I have to say this is improved in some ways that are notable. The Mortal Empires campaign is satisfying in the challenge and complexity. There does seem to be a much improved balance for scaling difficulty into the late game. But im going to leave my recommendation as a No because you shouldnt pay full price for this game. Its worth your time, but the DLC requires you drop a bag of cash on it that isnt appropriate. Buy this on sale.

FIRST REVIEW(20hrs ish):
Tried this on the free weekend. I was a fan of the Total War series till Rome 2. Ive been skeptical since then.

Short Pros; the game looks good, the Warhammer theme is excellent, and the troop variety is huge.

Short Cons; AI is bad. Diplomacy is still way too basic. Army size limitations are pointless. The strategic and tactical levels seem shallow and brute forcing things is often as good as any nuanced strategy.

My main reason for giving this a thumbs down is thus; the game is unable to stop you from blobbing and taking over everything. So it has mechanics for spawning in armies and factions within your territory around cities that dont have an army near by. Garrison forces are basically meaningless unless the attacking army is substantially weakened which is never the case with these spawned in armies. It is a way to prolong the game and make it more difficult in an artificial way. That is the major issue here; fake difficulty. Beyond the early game, this isnt enjoyable. Its a slog. I wont be back to this title.

TL;DR- BUY IT ON SALE SECOND REVIEW (66hrs): Well i was wrong about not coming back. Saw some promotion for the third game that looked exciting and noticed there was a sale for the first two. After playing the hell out of this for a week or so I have to say this is improved in some ways that are notable. The Mortal Empires campaign is satisfying in the challenge and complexity. There does seem to be a much improved balance for scaling difficulty into the late game. But im going to leave my recommendation as a No because you shouldnt pay full price for this game. Its worth your time, but the DLC requires you drop a bag of cash on it that isnt appropriate. Buy this on sale. FIRST REVIEW(20hrs ish): Tried this on the free weekend. I was a fan of the Total War series till Rome 2. Ive been skeptical since then. Short Pros; the game looks good, the Warhammer theme is excellent, and the troop variety is huge. Short Cons; AI is bad. Diplomacy is still way too basic. Army size limitations are pointless. The strategic and tactical levels seem shallow and brute forcing things is often as good as any nuanced strategy. My main reason for giving this a thumbs down is thus; the game is unable to stop you from blobbing and taking over everything. So it has mechanics for spawning in armies and factions within your territory around cities that dont have an army near by. Garrison forces are basically meaningless unless the attacking army is substantially weakened which is never the case with these spawned in armies. It is a way to prolong the game and make it more difficult in an artificial way. That is the major issue here; fake difficulty. Beyond the early game, this isnt enjoyable. Its a slog. I wont be back to this title.