When it comes to video games, Warhammer 40,000 has a lot to offer. The question usually is: is this WH40K game worth your time? There are a lot of games but there are also a lot of “things you should not play” among them. Is the new Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus among the good ones? Let’s find out in this review of Tacticus.
So what is Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus? It is a turn-based strategy game that uses hexes to measure movement in the battlefield. Players employ Heroes to combat enemy forces and these Heroes each have unique abilities that can help in clearing missions. After succeeding in said missions, players get resources to unlock new Heroes or level up current ones.
As a mobile game, Tacticus also has a daily timer that limits player actions. Each mission can only be replayed ten times per day and you also consume resources for doing so. Also, some game modes can only be played if you have the “charges” for them. Charges for these game modes refill after several hours. This system is usually found in most mobile games to limit player grinding and also to convince players to use real currency to play further.
Part of the grind is the gathering of resources. As you complete missions, you get resources that would allow you to level up your roster of Heroes. These Heroes then become stronger, allowing you to finish more missions and get more resources. That’s the gameplay loop for the game’s main campaigns. You get resources to make your Heroes better so that you can get more resources.
Now you might be wondering, “how the heck do I get Heroes?” In Tacticus, there are several ways to get Heroes. The basic one is through a resource called “Requisition” which needed to get into the game’s gacha system. Rolling with Requisitions nets you a random reward. The reward can be Hero Tokens, which you can collect to get a Hero; a Hero itself, or resources.
Other methods of getting Heroes include grinding missions, completing time-limited events, or getting them via the story.
As mentioned before, for you to get Heroes, your main method is to roll for them. Rolls are random and you may not get the Hero that you want and you may also get resources instead of heroes. So why is it pay to win? See, there’s a competitive ladder of some sort in the game where this is pretty apparent.
In the “Arena” game mode, you get to choose from a list of three players to fight with. Although this game mode uses AIs to stand in for the other players, you’ll see that some of the Heroes used by these players are overpowered for their bracket. If you get a bad list of players that are higher than your current stats, you can refresh the list or wait for it to change until you get players that are on the same level as you are.
Aside from the aforementioned the “Arena” game mode, a real-time PVP mode occasionally becomes available. This game mode is where you’ll see the discrepancy between levels or Hero rarity. It can be a bit frustrating to play if you have a low-level account or are a Free-to-play player.
Honestly, the game gives you free rolls that are enough to get you through more than half the game if you play it religiously. In line with this, campaigns in the game are only unlocked after you acquire the three specific Heroes needed. These said Heroes can be acquired by replaying missions in one of the available campaigns. This is a good thing. It can be grindy and, after a certain point, can be frustrating.
As you go further into the game, the difficulty curve scales up so fast that you’ll be forced to grind for other items or tokens for your current roster. Not that it’s a bad thing but the difficulty swings so wildly that I reckon that it would take a lot of convincing for most F2P players to stay.
Ultimately, I think that Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus is a very decent mobile game for the franchise. It has notable characters featured in it and the gameplay loop is quite okay. Campaign missions have a variety of difficulty that requires a bit of thinking to cleanly accomplish. Resource management is also a fun thing in this game as the limitations force you to make decisions that would more or less help or impede your progress.
I found myself playing it daily since I started and that I guess is a good sign. Note that I did not invest any real money into the game during my play with it, proving that it can be done. But it can still be said that the game can be quite tempting as they often give you advertisements to splurge to finally acquire a hard-to-get hero. But then again, if you are resolute, the Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus is playable as a free to play game. If you find it enjoyable after months, then I guess it’d be great to at least reward the developers with some of your hard-earned cash.
Although you get to experience most of Tacticus, a good part of it is hidden behind paywalls. As campaigns require certain characters for them to be available, you are at the mercy of the gacha rolls if you want to immediately play them. While you do get character tokens for missions, you need to grind a lot as these missions only grant you 3 to 4 tokens a day, and some of the required Heroes need 150 tokens to unlock. That’s only for the first level. You need more tokens to level up these Heroes for them to be usable in the mid to latter parts of the campaign. So yeah, happy grinding!
Suffice to say, Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus is one of the good Warhammer 40,000 games out there. A high praise especially since it’s a mobile game. The system is light enough for quick plays but is deep and rewarding for those that grind it daily. It can be played for free but do know that the difficulty and some of the game modes may become quite hard after some time. All in all, a good Warhammer 40,000 game that is a must-download for Warhammer 40,000 fans and for those with their beloved factions featured in the game (I have three!)
Visit the official Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus page for more info about the game.
