The curse of the vampire coast has reached the rugged shores of Lustria, the adventurous new world is ready to host the madness of the vampire pirate Luthor Harkon and his treacherous henchmen. There are really a lot of news in this Total War: Warhammer II DLC and we got to navigate those rotting waters to reveal the most sordid secrets of the vampire coast.
Games Workshop has come a long way from 1975, when it was founded, to today. The imagery created by GW ranges from medieval fantasy to the most remote corners of the galaxy, weaving intricate plots concerning Orcs, Emperors, alien prophecies and devious betrayals, in a swirling infinity of tales and heroic deeds mostly represented by miniatures to be painted and deployed on imaginative war tables.
Years pass for everyone and for some years Warhammer Fantasy Battle has been abandoned by its loving creators to make way for the skirmish game called Age of Sigmar. The Creative Assembly is taking advantage of this to make us live in a narrative arc divided into 3 chapters the end times of the Warhammer world in an unprecedented apocalypse.
In a painstaking and faithful reconstruction of the entirety of the old and new world, each DLC represents a declaration of love to a universe pulsating with life and legends, able to add new races and sinister intentions in every corner of the game map.
The sword coast vampires and their malevolent general have never been represented by a canonical army of miniatures, but their exploits have been narrated here and there in the prolific Warhammer narrative universe, hence the work of the guys at Creative Assembly this time around. he did not limit himself to mere and faithful transposition, but to real invention of new units to merge with the incredible and varied panorama of units.
The result is exceptional as usual, the armies of the Vampire coast have charisma to spare and the glance resulting from the overview of an army is really satisfying. The core of our forces will naturally consist of undead led by vampire heroes, while the legends of the seas find their incarnation in hordes of amphibious and marine monsters.
The Vampire coast can be used both in the Vortex campaign and in the gargantuan "Mortal Empires", passing through the multiplayer sector. It is in the Vortex Campaign, more guided than the absolute freedom guaranteed by "Mortal Empires", that we will be able to experience the new faction PvE mechanics. As one of the four Legendary Lords proposed by the faction, we will not have to participate in the struggle for control of the vortex, but recover as the pirate tradition dictates, the pieces of eight in order to impose our dominion on the voluptuous ocean.
By collecting infamy we can climb the ranking of the most perfidious captain of the seven seas and send our crew to the excavations necessary to unearth the treasures by guessing their position thanks to the maps that we will steal from our many enemies. The campaign objectives are atypical compared to the factions proposed so far and the feeling is precisely that of being in command of a fleet of sea wolves, so much so that most of the crucial fights will take place boarding enemy ships in the middle of the ocean.
Sore point of the production is the absence of the highly anticipated naval fighting loudly requested by fans of the saga, who imagined that a faction of pirates could be the perfect opportunity to insert the coveted mechanic. Unfortunately, however, although on the map we will be represented by a ship that is boarding an enemy vessel, if we decide to manually fight the battle, the two armies will be transported to a random mainland scenario where the pitched battle will take place.
IThe roster proposed by the Vampires of the Coast is varied and fun to play, offering light and heavy shooting options, in an army that sees zombies as the cannon fodder and backbone of the army, passing through powerful and versatile infantry troops like the Sireen and the Abyssal Guards. The bestiary ranges from flying units to slower, more solid choices, such as Piombeado and titanic Necrofex Colossi to fearsome explosive corpses.
Probably what you will miss most, during your war campaigns in Luthor's company, will be the lack of cavalry and chariots, the opposite of what happens when using Tomb Kings.
Returning to lead a war campaign in the Warhammer land is always a pleasure and each faction that joins the Roster contributes to the creation of a world that is very detailed, dense and teeming with life. The curse of the Vampire Coast is able to donate hundreds of hours of gameplay by offering content of undoubted quality without revolutionizing the formula proposed to date, even if the absence of naval battles in a maritime faction undoubtedly has a considerable weight on the gaming experience.
Verdict: recommended to everyone
