Total War: Warhammer 40k's biggest info dump yet shows off ranged combat, cover, and army abilities

Creative Assembly ran a full live battle demo during the latest Alpha Strike livestream — the Astra Militarum defending a river crossing against the Orks, played through three times from the player's perspective. It's the most detailed look at Total War: Warhammer 40k yet, and the info dump was substantial.

Ranged combat is getting a serious overhaul. Line of fire is now tracked per entity within a unit, meaning individual soldiers can independently target different enemies depending on what they can see. All projectiles are physically simulated, ammo is unlimited, and units can be suppressed. Tanks and heavy vehicles like the Baneblade get sweeping fire to maximise damage output. Units can also strafe — firing while moving slowly in a direction, though accuracy takes a hit. A new Sentry Mode lets units pre-target enemies before they enter range. On the command side, Astra Militarum Regimental Orders only affect units near command figures and voxcasters, staying faithful to the tabletop rules. The balance of power bar now visualises off-field reinforcements, and you can choose to hold reserves and deploy them mid-battle — Space Marines, for example, can drop in via drop pods or Thunderhawks. Heroes now come with customisable bodyguards rather than running solo as in Total War: Warhammer. Units have expanded stat sheets to reflect multiple entity types carrying different weapons, making matchups and loadout decisions genuinely matter. Psykers were mentioned for the first time, grenades and unit abilities are confirmed, there's a morale system, and units visually degrade as they take damage. Blood is in the game at launch with no paid DLC required.

Total War: Warhammer 40k is Creative Assembly's first entry into the Warhammer 40,000 universe after three mainline Warhammer Fantasy titles. The shift to 40k demands a fundamentally different combat model — ranged firepower, cover, and line of sight dominate the tabletop game in a way that melee-heavy Fantasy never required. The new engine's per-entity line of fire and full projectile simulation are direct answers to that design challenge, and the emphasis on positioning and cover looks like it could push the series closer to something like a real-time tactics game than the blob-warfare that sometimes defined the Fantasy trilogy's late battles.

The build shown is reportedly two months old, so the closed beta should be further along. Creative Assembly says more Alpha Strike livestreams are coming before the beta, with Space Marines and Eldar expected to feature. If those streams match this one for detail, players will have a thorough picture of the game well before they get their hands on it.