Realism versus Fantasy in the Total War Series

A screenshot from my game of Warcraft: Total War. Despite the heavy fantasy elements, there is a smooth order of battle.

Part of the Races in Fantasy topic

There has always been a debate over how much realism can be present within a fantasy game. Some argue that the fantasy label grants greater flexibility to the rules within the game, while others stress the need to impose strict rules upon any magic. I fall into the latter camp since I am a firm believer in having an established system for whatever magic is introduced. Neglecting these details tends to allow magic to become unbalanced or serve as a plot contrivance at any given point in the story. Subjecting magic to certain restrictions thus maintains a logical flow of events and keeps gameplay balanced.

Fantasy has the opportunity to create very interesting scenarios by introducing magical elements in an otherwise realistic environment. Powerful mages can bombard areas from short to medium-range, giving players a form of advanced artillery in a premodern setting. Soldiers riding flying beasts act as air support before planes have been invented. Various magical spells provide positive effects to allies and negative effects to enemies, functioning much like modern battlefield support tech. All of these factors dramatically influence how the in-game factions wage war and the tactical decisions of players who control the armies.

That being said, some games handle the integration of fantasy into strategy better than others. It is very easy for magic to be made overpowered and mystical beasts can often be game-breaking due to their incredible stats. One of my favorite franchises, the "Total War" series, experienced this problem when it introduced extraordinarily strong "single entity" units into their games. In the past, Total War games had units made up of many soldiers who could die easily due to a lack of a "health bar" system. Careful positioning and precision timing attacks were key to protecting allied soldiers and breaking enemy units. Of course, even the most seasoned Total War player would still lose soldiers because of the deadliness of the realistic combat.

In the newest Total War games, legendary heroes and monsters were introduced, with each constituting a smaller unit or operating as a single entity. Instead of strength in numbers, these new units relied upon their high-damage single attacks and massive health pool during fights. As anyone could guess, this completely unbalanced the gameplay and made the traditional high-density formations obsolete. Numerous gameplay changes also simplified the complex tactical combat of previous Total War titles. Combined with the addition of single entities, these gameplay changes turned the battles into a disorganized mess where armies traded casualties based on their stats rather than player skill.

The common defense of the new Total War games is that the developer, Creative Assembly (CA), has simply branched into a new genre. The fantasy titles are presented as being separate from its previous "historical" titles. The fantasy version of Total War, it is argued, follows a different formula and should be allowed to stray from the realism roots of the historically-based games. However, as I mentioned above, many other developers have centered their strategy games around fantasy while maintaining a delicate balance between conventional arms and magic. Regular soldiers still play a pivotal role in battles, magi typically act in a support role due to their physical limitations, and large monster units have weaknesses that prevent them from being mass produced. In a well-crafted fantasy game, players should always be encouraged to build a diverse army. Combined arms makes for the most interesting gameplay, whether the game is fantasy or historical.

It is also worth noting that the "fantasy versus realism" argument for Total War does not hold up when considering the stylistic choices of its recent historical titles. The new problems in Total War have more to do with the structural changes that started with Rome II: Total War and have been present in every game since. The addition of health bars for individual soldiers made the gameplay less realistic and more like an arcade game. Single entity units in the fantasy Total War games were merely a more extreme shift to a reliance on individual unit stats over tactical maneuvers. In Total War: Three Kingdoms and Troy: Total War, the line between fantasy and historical was blurred. CA imported single entities from their fantasy Warhammer: Total War games into the "historical" China and Troy settings in the form of legendary heroes like Achilles.

In both types of Total War, the fundamental gameplay style is the same. It speaks to a weakness in the design, rather than an inherent feature of fantasy games. To illustrate this point, there are a number of Medieval II: Total War conversion mods that bring in fantasy elements while still preserving the realistic core gameplay. My favorite is Warcraft: Total War, which masterfully recreates the Warcraft universe within the Total War game engine. In addition to the standard infantry, cavalry, archer, and skirmisher units, Warcraft: Total War introduces several new dimensions to the original combat system by adding mages, multi-hit point monsters, and flying units.

Mages have powerful ranged attacks, but are expensive and slow to train. Multi-hit point units serve a very specific role as shock units that have a certain amount of survivability. Ultimately, large units lack the charging power or speed of heavy cavalry and cannot hold a sustained front like infantry. Large monster units thus complement existing cavalry and infantry units rather than acting as a late-game replacement. Flying units can leapfrog over formations and attack vulnerable flanks, but need to be carefully controlled in order for armies to fully benefit from their support.

All three new unit types fit neatly into the rock-paper-scissors formula of the base game, with mages countering large units, large units countering most melee units, and flying units being able to easily pin down mages. Regular archers are still the best for suppression against infantry and can soft-counter large units. Cavalry continue to devastate enemy flanks and can effectively hunt down mages if flying units are not available. And of course, infantry remain the backbone of all armies, providing a solid frontline defense. None of these base units are made obsolete despite the presence of magical units.

In terms of Warcraft lore adaptation, the creators of the conversion mod do an excellent job of making their custom map feel like Azeroth while retaining the spirit of Total War. There is a strong asymmetry among all of the playable factions. The unit roster of each faction neatly reflects their respective cultures, causing some armies to require different strategies than others. Players who use this mod and have a familiarity with the core gameplay mechanics of Medieval II: Total War can easily adapt to the fantasy elements. Overall, Warcraft: Total War proves that realism can indeed coexist with fantasy, and that the two genres can be mixed to produce a great game.