Now Playing: Realm of the Wood Elves (DLC)

Realm of the Wood Elves is the latest DLC release for Total War: Warhammer. It integrates the Wood Elves race into the game as a new playable or AI controlled faction within the grand campaign, but also within ‘Season of Revelation’ – a new mini-campaign. Like the other playable races, the Wood Elves have their own unique Lords, unit roster and campaign style.

The unique campaign mechanics of each race is one of the things I like most about Total War: Warhammer, even if I don’t necessarily enjoy every play style on offer. And I don’t think everyone will enjoy the new campaign mechanics of the Wood Elves. They represent the most significant departure yet from the traditional Total War campaign ‘formula’ and I predict will likely prove the most divisive among the player base.

Unlike other races, the Wood Elves aren’t concerned with expanding territory or wiping out particular factions. Their entire campaign and their victory conditions revolve around a single objective – The Oak of Ages. It’s a unique structure on the map that can be upgraded, each new level introducing new faction wide benefits. The primary goal of the Wood Elves campaign is to upgrade the Oak to its maximum level.

Upgrading the Oak doesn’t simply require gold, but amber – a new resource that can only be obtained and ‘spent’ by the Wood Elves. Each new level of the Oak has a higher requirement of amber, so obtaining amber is a key part of the campaign. And this is where things get interesting, because amber isn’t simply used for upgrading the Oak, but also for main settlement structures, certain technologies and most importantly of all – particular units depending on which of the two Legendary Lords you choose.

Amber can be obtained in two main ways – by capturing settlements (minor settlements give 1 amber, whilst major give 2) and forging alliances (you’ll receive 1 or 2 amber for every minor or major settlement your ally controls). You can also obtain amber by completing quest chains, but it’s through conquest and diplomacy that you’ll receive the bulk of your amber.

But neither way is entirely ‘safe’ at providing amber. If your ally loses a region, you also lose the amber that region provided. And if you lose a region you’ve taken, you also lose that amber. Any amber you’ve spent on structures, technology or the Oak can’t be returned, although amber purchased units can be disbanded. This means that it’s possible to have a negative amber count, and doing so will introduce negative faction wide effects.

If allies aren’t entirely reliable, then it may seem like the safest way to obtain and more importantly retain amber is by taking settlements, but this isn’t as simple as it seems. Though the Wood Elves can capture any settlement on the map (unlike all the other races) they can only build a single, simple ‘outpost’ in each with a basic (useless) garrison force.

The only place the Wood Elves can build their ‘main’ structures is within the four ten slot settlements surrounding the Oak of Ages. At the start of a campaign you’ll only control one of these and must either conquer or confederate with the other Wood Elf factions in order to utilise their building slots. These certainly give you enough room to build every available structure, but it does mean that your entire military and economic infrastructure is locked to a single region.

The ‘outpost’ settlements that you’ll capture serve to support your faction, and the more you possess, the more you can stack their various buffs to economy or defence. But each outpost is incredibly vulnerable and easy to lose.

I know some people may feel the amber cost associated with units may be too restrictive, but the amber costs only apply to top tier units and by the time you’re able to recruit these high end units, you should have more than enough amber to cover them. And which units cost amber will vary depending on which of the two available Legendary Lords you pick to play.

In terms of units, the roster has a great mix of infantry, cavalry and monster units, as well as new heroes. As you would expect, their archer units are their most effective. It may not seem that way, at least in terms of base stats when compared to archers from other races, but when you take their multiple arrow types into account and the rather insane buffs they receive from both Lords and Heroes in the form of passive and active augments, they can absolutely melt entire units in seconds.

And with the ability to fire on the move, they make for fantastic skirmish troops, not to mention significant buffs for fighting in forests. On the battlefield, the Wood Elves are far more micro intensive than any of the other races, but they can be an incredibly devastating force once you learn to play them effectively.

Overall, the Wood Elves are a fantastic new addition to Total War: Warhammer, with engaging new campaign mechanics and a diverse and extensive new unit roster to play with or fight against. Because like the other DLCs, even if you don’t think the Wood Elves are for you, they’ll still be added into and enhance your grand campaign as an AI faction.

So let’s turn our attention to the mini-campaign also included in this DLC. It’s essentially a ‘zoomed in’ map of the area surrounding The Oak of Ages. The objective is the same as in the grand campaign – to upgrade the Oak. But in the mini-campaign, every upgrade level spawns a new wave of beastmen stacks.

It’s not a terribly interesting campaign, and once you realise the beastmen invasions are only triggered by upgrading the Oak, it’s incredibly easy to take your time, expand and trigger them only when you’re ready which rather negates the challenge. It’s a short, forgettable campaign that you likely won’t play more than once if at all. This DLC is only worth buying for playing the Wood Elves in the grand campaign.

And that’s why it’s hard to recommend this DLC at its current RRP. I do recommend picking it up and playing as the Wood Elves at some point, but unless you’re desperate to play as them right now, I’d say it’s best to wait for a sale. Aside from the pricing and a few bugs, Realm of the Wood Elves is a good new addition to the core game and another reason why Total War: Warhammer is a strong contender for my Game of the Year.

6/10