One of my favourite bits of British folklore is the concept of the Elfshot. There s a theory that Anglo-Saxons believed invisible Elves shot people with arrows, and that these attacks were the source of various maladies. Imagine it: a wee creature that just hangs around, waiting to give you arthritis or a weird rash at the end of an arrow. They were sneaky pests and pointy-eared irritants.

After playing through Total War: Warhammer s [official site] Realm of the Wood Elves expansion, I reckon that sounds pretty accurate.

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I’m sure wood elves are lovely folks but I know if I ever see one, there’s no way I’m not ending up mulched around a sapling. If that sounds a lark to you, hey, the Wood Elves have arrived in Total Warhammer [official site] with today’s launch of its latest expansion. ‘Realm of the Wood Elves’ adds the murderous hippy army with their own units, their own story campaign, and a few twists that make them different to play. Read what we made of them when we played a preview version. … [visit site to read more]

An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now brought up to date with the riches of the last two years. From intricate wargames to soothing peacegames, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. They’re all brilliant.

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Let me summarise my highs and lows as a Wood Elf general in one phrase: I’m very much a Dwarf guy. You know where you are with Dwarves. Or rather, you know where they are – all the way over there on that ridge, Ironbreakers in front, Quarrellers behind, Hammerers poised to waddle down the flank like a glacier performing a legal U-turn. Dwarves don’t do manoeuvres, they do gunpowder and big helmets and spurning alliances because somebody’s ancestor forgot to return the lawnmower. Micro? Well, I dare say some of those fancy northern Dawi tribes can find a use for it, but I’ve always set my watch by a good, solid shield-wall.

Wood Elves, it turns out, really, really do micro. When they aren’t doing micro, they also do getting knocked flat by a gentle breeze. A big round of applause, please, for Total War: Warhammer‘s definitive glass cannons. They’re being added to the game via the Realm Of The Wood Elves DLC and I’ve had an early play with them. … [visit site to read more]

Civilization VI romped out last night with its own alternate histories but for folks who know that history and the world were actually shaped by the Old Ones, Total War: Warhammer [official site] is still kicking. Last night brought the release of two new DLC bits, one free and one paid. Everyone will get to play with Wurrzag Da Great Green Prophet, while folks who slap down 6 can play as the Night Goblin warlord Skarsnik or the Dwarven king Belegar Ironhammer. I’d like to see Ghandi deal with a herd of Squigs. … [visit site to read more]

New community-created Warhammer Fantasy robes and wizard hats have arrived in Dota 2 [official site] to give thirteen heroes sillygrim makeovers, and I am displeased. No, I do think Disruptor riding a Squig looks awesome. Yeah, Pudge’s Nurgle outfit with teeth in his guts is gnarly. No, I don’t even massively object (any more than usual) to Dota’s random crate way of selling ’em. What’s riled me is Valve overlooking one amazing set I desperately want. I long for the submitted set turning cute faerie dragon Puck into a Tzeentchian horror bristling with tendrils, teeth, and tongues – the way my Puck must have seemed to cheery RPS fanzine PC Gamer as he devoured them.

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The Grim and the Grave is not a sitcom. It is not the weekly antics of Robert Smith, Andrew Eldritch, Morrissey, Siouxsie Sioux, and the disinterred corpse of Bela Lugosi sharing a flat in Penge. There is no running gag with Smith head-over-heels for Siouxsie’s pal Patricia Morrison. You will not see the famous season-closing spit-take freeze-frame after everyone realises how weird it is Moz just served them spag bol with actual meat… and Eldritch finds a shred of Lugosi’s cape caught in his teeth.

No, The Grim and the Grave is only new DLC released today for Total Warhammer [official site]. Disappointing.

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Even though Sega have been publishing PC strategy and simulation games for years now, I still can’t see the company logo or hear the word without thinking back to hours spent at schoolfriends’ houses, trying to work out if Sonic was too fast or I was too slow. The acquisition of Amplitude was the point that I decided that I needed to ask Sega a very simple question: “Do you want to marry PC strategy games?”

At Gamescom, I sat down with Jurgen Post, COO of Sega of Europe.>

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If there’s any sort of game you should expect DLC from, it’s Games Workshop. It wouldn’t feel right – wouldn’t feel authentic – if you didn’t, every few weeks, find yourself muttering “Oh for! Yes I do want that fancy unit but I just bought… for crying out loud, you flipping rotters. Fine. Fine, I’ll buy your ruddy ghost-drawn boneshrine!”

Want to field a Mortis Engine in Total War: Warhammer [official site]? You’ll need to buy the next add-on, The Grim & The Grave, which boosts both the Empire and Vampire Counts, see. But, in a very un-Games Workshop way, more freebies are coming too.

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Those boisterous Beastmen are now stomping around in Total Warhammer [official site], thanks to today’s release of the ‘Call of the Beastmen’ expansion. It’ll cost you 14 to play as that horny rabble yourself but, even if not, they can now appear as opponents in the Grand Campaign. A fairly big free update has launched alongside the expansion, also bringing oodles of fixes and tweaks, drafting the Amber Wizard hero unit for the Empire, adding new multiplayer maps, and more. But back to the Beastmen: here, you can watch a bit of them in action.

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