We recently put together a list of the best Warhammer 40K games of all time and had so much fun doing it that we decided to do something similar for its slightly less popular (but still awesome) sibling, Warhammer Fantasy. This particular version of Games Workshop’s expansive universe has fewer video game adaptations compared to 40K, but there are still about two dozen or so titles to choose from.
As with our previous list, we’re not going to cover all of them and will instead only focus on the best Warhammer Fantasy games currently available. For the purposes of this list, we’re taking into account video games taking place in the Old World, Blood Bowl, and Age of Sigmar settings. There are a couple of other Warhammer Fantasy settings out there, but we’re going to ignore those because they’re honestly not very interesting.
With that out of the way, join us as the take a look at the top 10 best Warhammer Fantasy games of all time.
Warhammer: Chaosbane (2019)
Chaosbane is one of those middle-of-the-road Warhammer Fantasy games that can show you a good time as long as you don’t set your expectations too high. Marketed as the first Warhammer Fantasy-themed hack and slack, Chaosbane is what you might call a ‘Diablo clone.’ With all the pros and cons that come with that moniker.
The premise is as basic as they come: the Old World is ravaged by the forces of Chaos and it’s up to you to save it. You can do this either alone or along with a few buddies in co-op. There’s both local and online co-op so that’s always nice. There are only five classes to choose from but they play differently and are fairly enjoyable in their own right.
The best part of Warhammer: Chaosbane is undoubtedly the combat. The battles are fast-paced without feeling overwhelming and the action is always accompanied by pretty visual effects. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to write home about when it comes to enemy design and the boss encounters are pretty mediocre at the best of times.
All in all, not a terrible Warhammer game but there are certainly better choices out there. Though, granted, not many in this specific genre. If you’re looking for a Diablo-like Warhammer game, this is as good as it gets for now.
Warhammer: Mark of Chaos (2006)
These days it may be hard to believe that there was a time when Warhammer Fantasy roleplay games were very rare. Such was the case back before 2010 when these types of titles used to only launch once in a blue moon. Pickings were pretty slim back then but you could still find a couple of decent games if you looked hard enough.
One of the best Warhammer Fantasy games of that era was Mark of Chaos, an RTT that drew quite a bit of inspiration from the Total War series. You can field fairly large armies comprised of several regiments of infantry, archers, cavalry, and artillery. These armies are led by hero units, powerful faction champions that can take on entire regiments by themselves. Champions and certain regiments have special abilities to help spice things up on the battlefield.
There’s not much to do outside of combat as the campaign map simply has you traveling the Old World in a linear fashion from one battle to the next. If you’re not a big fan of the combat, and the way engagements force you to use specific regiments, you probably won’t find much enjoyment in Mark of Chaos. Though you might still have a good time with the army customization feature because it’s pretty well done.
With two Total War: Warhammer games out and a third one on the way, it’s hard to justify going back to Mark of Chaos now. But back in the day, this was definitely a solid title in spite of its flaws.
Warhammer Underworlds: Online (2020)
Warhammer Underworlds: Online is a video game adaptation of Age of Sigmar that manages to stay very faithful to the original tabletop game. The units are carbon copies of the miniatures that they are based on and the animations, while not the best we’ve ever seen, is good enough for a game like this.
In Underworlds: Online you lead warbands of units from different factions and wage war against others in competitive online PvP. There’s a tutorial that shows you the ropes but no real single-player component, hence the name.
The gameplay is quite interesting as it revolves more around completing objectives and less around smacking units around with a giant hammer. Though there is plenty of that as well, of course. But the real fun comes from carefully preparing your deck and warband before the match even begins. That said if you don’t like dice-and-card strategy games you probably won’t enjoy what Warhammer Underworlds: Online has to offer.
The game only launched with six warbands but a dozen more have already been added since as DLC. The developers seem very eager to support Warhammer Underworlds: Online for years to come so expect even more warbands, along with other types of content, in the near future.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground (2021)
Age of Sigmar is Games Workshop’s attempt at rebooting Warhammer Fantasy Battle after discontinuing the setting back in 2015. Most Warhammer fans still have mixed feelings about this new setting, which probably explains the severe lack of Age of Sigmar video game adaptations. Outside of CCGs, mobile games, and an underwhelming VR game, there are only two titles worth looking into. Storm Ground is one of them.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground is a turn-based tactics game with roguelike elements. Each of the three available factions – Stormcast, Nighthaunt, and Maggotkin – has a single-player campaign and if you’re looking for even more action you can duke it out against others in online PvP.
The aforementioned roguelike elements come into action when (and if) you decide to replay a campaign. Campaigns change with each new playthrough and give you new challenges to overcome, as well as new units and gear to collect. The game gets progressively better after a few playthroughs but can be a bit of a snooze fest when you’re just starting out.
On one hand, Storm Ground’s hex-based Heroes of Might & Magic-inspired combat system is fairly well put together and the great visuals really help sell the Age of Sigmar atmosphere. On the other hand, the game can feel a bit basic at times and could use a lot more content.
The game only received a handful of updates despite having been around for more than half a year and there seem to be no plans for DLCs or expansions. That’s quite a shame because the game has the potential to be great with a bit more support from the developers.
Total War: Warhammer Iii (2022)
In its current state, Total War: Warhammer III is easily the weakest entry in Creative Assembly’s otherwise fantastic trilogy. The game is not terrible by any means but it is far from being one of the best Warhammer fantasy games on the market. Not even close.
Warhammer 3 launched in a rough state that made it feel more like an open beta than a full release. More than one month since launch, the game still suffers from a plethora of technical issues, with many players having to resort to consulting an optimization guide just to get decent framerates. Creative Assembly already released a couple of small patches but a lot of the problems still persist.
The upcoming Warhammer update 1.1 will hopefully do more to improve the performance. At least for a portion of the player base. But even if it doesn’t, the update reworks the Realms of Chaos and brings mod support, which is one of the most highly requested features. Along with the Blood DLC and Immortal Empires.
There is hope that the game will get progressively better, just like its predecessors, but it may take longer than expected this time around. As it stands, Total War: Warhammer III is better in some respects than the previous two entries but most of its campaigns are extremely tedious. And, as mentioned previously, the game also suffers from many technical issues.
If you decide to check the game out, make sure to read our Warhammer 3 factions ranked list before you jump it. It will save you a lot of frustration.
We’ll revisit this one once Immortal Empires comes out and change its ranking if needed.
Mordheim: City of the Damned (2015)
Mordheim: City of the Damned takes place 500 before the present day (in Warhammer), a time of civil war within the Empire. After being struck by a comet, the titular city of Mordheim becomes a ruin of its former self but among the rubble, there are untold riches, including fragments of a highly sought-after material known as Wyrdstone.
The game gives you command over one of several different warbands vying for control of the valuable resource. The entire city of Mordheim is a massive battlefield and everybody wants to get their fill of Wyrdstone so expect danger at every corner.
Mordheim: City of the Damned is a turn-based tactics game reminiscent of XCOM. However, the game also incorporates quite a few RPG elements and uses an over-the-shoulder camera perspective that takes a bit of time to get used to. Just like XCOM, Mordheim is a very difficult game that rewards careful planning and punishes you for going into battle unprepared.
The game featured four warbands at launch – Skaven, Mercenaries of the Empire, Sisters of Sigmar, and the Cult of the Possessed, with two more in the form of Undead and Witch Hunters having been added later as DLC. Each warband features characters from a variety of classes, each with its own abilities and items, giving you a lot to work with in terms of customization.
Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide (2015)
Most games that use the Left 4 Dead formula tend to be shooters and there’s a good reason for that. Slaying hordes of monsters with a melee weapon doesn’t seem very practical or even enjoyable in most settings. Fortunately, Warhammer is not just any setting. And, even better, developer Fatshark managed to make a first-person game with melee combat that doesn’t suck. That’s a bigger accomplishment than one might expect even in this day and age.
Another big selling point of Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide is that it offers a genuine sense of tension and urgency. This isn’t really the case with most Warhammer Fantasy games. The titular Vermintide is more terrifying than any zombie we’ve ever faced, particularly if you’re not a big fan of rats.
Those sneaky bastards have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, including poisoning you, abducting you, filling you full of Warpstone using machine guns, and, in the case of Rat Ogres, beating you to a pulp with their massive gorilla-like fists.
The sequel improved upon a lot of what makes Vermintide great but it also added an obscene amount of paid DLC in the process. If you’re not a big fan of that, stick with the original because it’s still one of the best Warhammer Fantasy games around.
Blood Bowl 2 (2015)
I always liked to look at Blood Bowl as the British people’s attempt at understanding the American version of football. After failing to grasp its many rules and intricacies, Games Workshop eventually gave up and created an over-the-top parody of the sport that can be enjoyed, and understood, by people all over the world. Thus, Blood Bowl was born. Well, at least that’s how I like to imagine it happened.
There have been multiple attempts over the years at creating video games based on the Blood Bowl tabletop game. The most recent of which, Cyanide’s Blood Bowl 2, is by far the best of the bunch. The game is one of the best sports parodies out there and is genuinely hilarious both on and off the field. Some of the game’s best moments can be encountered when you’re listening to the commentators or watching players showcase their signature moves before the start of a match.
Like pretty much all the other Warhammer games made over the past decade, Blood Bowl 2 also has a huge amount of DLC available to purchase. I’m only bringing that up because Blood Bowl 2 has over two dozen factions to choose from in total, but only eight of them are available with the base game. To enjoy the likes of Lizardmen, Ogres, Norsca and many others you will need to spend a bit of extra money.
Also worth mentioning is that Blood Bowl 3 is set to launch sometime later this year. You can check out our Blood Bowl 3 hands-on first impressions if you want to learn more about it.
Total War: Warhammer (2016)
Creative Assembly’s first attempt at creating a Warhammer-themed Total War game was far from perfect. But it did give us the opportunity to finally experience wars on a scale never seen before in previous Warhammer Fantasy games.
This should be pretty obvious but everything in this universe revolves around war so getting that bit right is pretty important. There aren’t many developers out there brave enough to try to depict the true scale of Warhammer because it’s not exactly easy to make a huge strategy game with tons of lore-accurate factions, unit models, voice acting, and environments. Luckily, Creative Assembly’s vast experience with strategy games made it the perfect company to undergo this ambitious project.
Despite some missteps here and there, Creative Assembly managed to create something truly special with Total War: Warhammer. Every faction feels unique, especially now after numerous updates, giving you plenty of reasons to check out all the campaigns. And with every campaign lasting a good few dozen hours, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth with this one.
Even if you’re thinking about sticking exclusively with Total War: Warhammer II or the upcoming third installment, we still recommend getting the original just for the Mortal Empires campaign. But more on that a bit later on.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (2018)
In spite of what we’ve mentioned earlier regarding paid DLC, we’re still ranking Vermintide 2 higher than its predecessor because it is undoubtedly better. There’s more enemy variety, more maps, more loot, more everything. Vermintide 2 also looks a lot better and, perhaps most importantly, the melee combat has been honed to a fine edge. Outside of medieval games like Chivalry 2, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a first-person game with melee combat as good as this.
This time around you’re battling not just against hordes of ratmen but also against the ruinous powers of Chaos, an even bigger threat determined to obliterate what little remains of the Old World. Fortunately, the merry band of adventures from the first game has returned to put a stop to their nonsense.
There are no new characters in Vermintide 2 but the game did add an important feature known as Careers. This allows characters to specialize in a certain playstyle. Each career comes with its own unique skill tree, allowing for quite a bit of character customization. Speaking of which, there are also vastly more items you can get your hands on in this one. On the flip side, you will have to deal with a lot more RNG and loot box shenanigans. I guess you win some, you lose some.
Vermintide 2 had its fair share of problems at launch but most of those have been ironed out a while ago. After almost four years of development, Vermintide 2 is easily one of the best Warhammer Fantasy games around, as well as one of the most challenging ones.
Total War: Warhammer Ii (2017)
More than just an amazing Warhammer Fantasy game, TW: WII is easily one of the best grand strategy games out there. The scale and amount of content offered by this title blow everything else on this list out of the water. Total War: Warhammer II was pretty impressive even at launch but now, more than four years since its initial release, the game is simply jaw-dropping.
All in all, you have over a dozen races at your disposal, each with several factions to choose from. Most factions have unique gameplay mechanics and, of course, each race comes with its own unique set of units, Legendary Lords, quests, items, and more. The replay value here is pretty much endless even if you choose to stick exclusively to the single-player campaigns. You can easily spend thousands of hours playing this game without experiencing everything it has to offer.
Of course, this video game cornucopia does have a couple of caveats. First off, you will need to own the original Total War: Warhammer to be able to access a large chunk of the factions. And those can only be played in the Mortal Empires campaign, which essentially combines both games into one grand-scale campaign with over 100 starting factions.
However, and here comes the second caveat, another large chunk of factions are only available as DLC. You’ll need to check a Warhammer 2 DLC guide just to figure which ones are worth buying first if you’re new to the game. But that’s a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
As it stands, this is currently the best Warhammer Fantasy game by a country mile. But that may very well change once Warhammer 3 gets its Immortal Empires update.
With so many editions of Warhammer to choose from, there is something for everyone.
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