I’ve never had much luck with digital versions of Warhammer games so had put off picking this up until it was exceptionally cheap (which it recently was). All I ever wanted was an adaptation where you could build an army and fight turn-based battles just like the tabletop version, ideally with some form of leveling or upgrade system.
Yet every PC version features either real-time combat (most of them), 4X elements (Total War, Gladius), or has extremely limited army selection (Sanctus Reach). And unfortunately, this game falls into that last category.
You don’t really have many options here and all of the challenge lies in avoiding bad event choices until you have your first 3 Priests at about Rank 12 or so with access to an AOE weapon (like the Flamer or Grav/Torsion Cannon). Save scumming works, as does referencing someone else’s run. If you want to do things naturally, then make sure to listen to the other characters’ advice (if they suggest acquiring something, acquire it) and choose options that fit the mission objective (assuming everything’s a trap is a good rule of thumb).
After that point you can pretty much roll every encounter and clear missions with 0-1% awakening rates. Then once those Priests hit Rank 19-20 there’s little reason to bother looking for Blackstone any longer and battles just become an annoyance. I ended up upgrading two additional Priests into pure troop-summoners just for the hell of it; instantly summoning a flame-spewing battle robot anywhere on the field is mildly amusing.
So yeah, the game’s fine for one playthrough… but at this point I can’t imagine ever replaying it.
Some Stuff:
[Builds]
Tech 9, Lex 5, Explor 3, Dom 2
Tech 1, Lex 9, Explor 3, Dom 5
Tech 9, Lex 9, Dom 1 || Tech 1, Lex 5, & (Explor+Dom) 12
Tech 1, Sec 9, Dom 1
[Armor Stats]
Head
Explor = 2 HP, 1 P.Arm
Sec = 2 HP, 1 E.Arm
Tech = 2 E.Arm
Lex = 1 Arm
Engine = 1 P.Arm
Dom = 2 HP, 1 E.Arm
Arms
Explor = 1 P.Dam
Sec = 2 HP, 20% Crit
Tech = 1 HP, 20% Crit
Lex = 2 HP, 20% Dodge
Engine = 2 HP
Dom = 1 E.Dam
Torso
Explor = 3 HP, 1 P.Arm
Sec = 4 HP
Tech = 4 HP, 1 P.Arm
Lex = 4 HP
Engine = 3 HP, 1 E.Arm
Dom = 3 HP, 1 E.Arm
Legs
Explor = 2 HP, 3 Mov
Sec = 3 HP, 1 Mov
Tech = 2 HP/Mov
Lex = 2 HP/Mov
Engine = 2 HP, 1 E.Arm
Dom = 3 HP/Mov