A mobile game based on Warhammer 40k

As regular readers will know I’ve been struggling with time to get Hobby done due to real life distractions. One of these means I can’t spend a lot of time on an activity. To counter this I’ve been painted scenery and Hobgrots to itch the painting bug, but I also needed something to help with my gaming itch as well.

So, something short, that I could do on the go, and that I could put down when interrupted with no impact (or minimal impact) on the gaming experience. To solve this conundrum I went searching for mobile games in the Play store and came across Warhammer 40k – Tacticus, a turn-based-strategy game based in the 40k universe (Indomitus era mostly).

Price

As with most mobile games, this is a ‘free’ app with in-app purchases. So you can spend as little or as much as you like. I’ve currently spent nothing and had fun, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t spend a lot. Just remember that it’s only digital assets so if you do want to pay some money in the App make sure you’re happy before pressing ‘yes’. The packs in Tacticus seem very expensive to me (£40+ for a set of three characters), but maybe it’s at the normal mobile pricing point.

Format

There is an introduction series of combats which you have to run through which team the basics (movement, fighting, winning a Campaign game etc…) and after not to long you have a few Space Marines and are fighting a Necron character.

This is mission 15, which is the first appearance of the first enemy character (you can get him later). The screen simply lays out which units you are fighting, the difficulty of the mission and what you might expect in rewards. (The first time you play these you’ll get more rewards but I’m replaying the mission here for a screenshot!)

The money is a guaranteed item if you win, and the character icon has a random element (the dice above it), which you can click on to see the odds of getting it from playing the mission. This is important because you can replay missions to farm for the items or characters you need. (In this case we could get a shard for the Necron and we’ll need multiple shards to unlock (or upgrade the character)

Gameplay

It’s a turn based strategy game on a hex grid, and the entire game is based around this. In order to fit on a mobile screen the maps are small and your force is never above 5, although the enemies can be higher especially if they lots of weaker units.

Each character had a once a battle ability which is unlocked quickly. In this case I’ve selected my Sister of Battle (one of the early characters) and aim to move her and fire her more powerful flamer blast. The pink hex with a tick is where I’m moving and the pink hexes over enemies is where I can shoot.

This all means the GUI for the battles is nice and simple, the characters have at most 3 ways of causing damage (range, close combat, special), and there’s not a lot to remember. This definitely isn’t X-Com the computer game!!

Winning

Once you’ve killed the enemy you win… well done!

You’ll get some Experience (XP) to level up your characters (there are level caps depending on the type of character (Common, Rare etc…), some money and possibly some items or character shards.

With that you’re ready to progress to battle number 2.

Tutorial

The tutorial is a one time only affair so you’ll need to pay attention, but it is set up to ensure that you get first five Imperium fighters (4 Ultramarines, and a Sisters of Battle). It’s well paced gives you most of the information you need (although there is a bit of info overload), and ensures that the first couple of hours of playing have a lot of progress attached to them.

Going Forward

Once the tutorial is over you take your Imperium fighters and make more progress through the Indomitus Campaign, gaining Necron characters and other resources along they – making your characters more powerful, or gaining new ones. In fact there are so many different resources that I confess to getting a list lost initially.

Woehammer articles

I’ll be bringing you regular articles on the game as I progress and learn more; with the first articles being about some of the concepts of the game including the large number of resources available. I hope you’ll join me; and let us know if there’s anything in particular you would like me to cover.

I may even be joined by Woehammer Peter as he also plays so expect the occasional second opinion.

Linking up

If you think this game may interest you, follow along this series of articles. I have been playing for a while already so some of it will based on what I know from further down the process. Woehammer isn’t receiving any sponsorship for this article (it’s just Declan and Eeyore – and Peter – having fun), but if you want to support me on my Tacticus exploration then please use my referral code: LIT-20-RAP

See you all next week!

— Declan and Eeyore