Is Warhammer 40,000 Tacticus Great or Trash? Game Review 

One of my biggest problems with the game, and one that you touched on briefly, it’s how long everything is and the grind. Characters take weeks to unlock since you can only raid missions 10 times and I average about 3 shards in those ten times. Scale that you to even uncommon units who need 50 shards and it takes a long time. Character progression is also really slow, they require a lot of XP per level (most of which you’ll give them through books, playing missions to level is insane) and leveling only really exists to increase skill levels. The ranking system is also really slow, and often times early to mid game makes you complete large swaths of the campaigns to get items needs to get characters out of stone 1. You can also get screwed over by items not being available in the campaigns you have unlocked meaning you just have to wait. That’s another thing, all the waiting. Completing 1 campaign mission means 30 minutes of waiting, arena tokens take 3 hours per, onslaught take 12, raid take 6, and salvage take 8. It’s kinda ridiculous and keeps me from getting really into the game. I love it, I play it daily at least, I just wish it moved faster than an iceberg

A point I would like to add is that the process of getting new characters is really slow. And once you do get those characters, they are very under-leveled, to the point you cannot play them in your current team at all because they will die instantly. So now you have to spend more time leveling them on a relatively playable (and boring) level, over and over until those characters are relatively playable. That is what made me quit the game, as it felt like I was being punished for unlocking new characters. I play Combat Cards more. Give that game a try Wes! Do it! As usual, love your work and please carry my nurglings.

...I swear, Games Workshop hates it's fans. Instead of doing the right thing and taking a few years off and making a proper 40k game that would blow peoples minds... a Mobile Pay to Play/Win dumpster fire. I am not mad at you Wes, I get it, need to pay bills. I am just over how Umbrella operates, sorry I meant Wayland-Yutani... sorry (get those mixed up) I meant Games Workshop.

Ive played it pretty much since launch - and it is *painfully* P2W. The only fun modes are Onslaught and Salvage Run, and theyve got insane cooldown. Getting shards is beyond a grind and down to luck. Ive got a mission to do damage with Thutmose. Except Ive only got 18 shards and it seems to only give 2-3 each 10 daily raids. So its gonna weeks to even unlock the character. Same story for energy - its gone within seconds, then you have to spend money to play again. Its just a P2W grind. Could have been really good - it was really promising, but its just another cash grab.

Been playing for a while and only spend money to get Yarrick and the only main gripe I have had is that unlocking characters takes a lot of time and actually improving them to keep up the pace with campaign enemies can be a pain. Especially when you need to be sharing XP books, gear and items across so many characters once you start unlocking more

Great review Wes. I just started playing Tacticus a few weeks back. Great game to fill time in during calls at work. Just hoping that Squats get a faction soon now!

I can't wait for the Tau to show up. Very happy the Aeldari have joined the field.

I threw $10 at this game just because I like it and felt like the devs deserved something for their labor & for bringing one of my favorite universes to life in my pocket

Free to play by it's p2p after about three days.

'Free to Play' means 'Freemium'. Basically you'll get into it and realize that to win consistently you need to spend money for weapons and other features. I'm not a fan of that format. Also, if it's not like that, it means there are burdensome ads littering the experience. If I could just drop like $5-10 on the game and get the whole thing without bullshit, I'd rather do that.

Bruh all they need to really get warhammer40k some REALLY serious clout is to make a first person shooter like warhammer40k: space marine, but it has a multiplayer, and good campaign

Back here after a year to say its even more grindy and less fun, 15 hrs for onslaught timer anyone?

First red flag 🚩 it’s a mobile game. Second it’s basically just a fire emblem heroes reskinned as 40k. It’s a good time killer on the train or on the toilet. It’s not terrible but it’s a mobile game.

Loving it so far. Nearly unlocked my third black legion character. The pvp summon spam gets very silly, I kinda love it.

I am loving it. I think the only thing I dislike is just the cooldown on some of the game modes. I want to play more but can't. But outside of that it has been a blast.

25 tokens to upgrade a character just one level (which is nearly nothing compared to what they throw at you). You can only get a token playing a specific level AND the percentage to get the token is incredibly low. Add to that that you can only play a level 10 times every 24hours.. it’s insane how much they push you back hoping to get you to pay for a loot box where the chance of getting what you need is also very slim. I must be playing a different game or maybe I’m in a timeline I don’t belong to, where most people just seem to bow down to these exploitative unethical corporations. Don’t get me wrong. I’d happily pay 20$ for this game if there were no lootboxes or microtransactions. And would even pay extra for “DLC” like the new T’au they are adding, to support development. But this casino style approach where they stretch progression as much as possible via inhuman grinding to force people to spend money is abhorrent.

It's a gacha game; so, if you want one of them, then go ahead and play it. If not? Don't. It's not a bad gacha game, a bit more grindy than I'd like, and got a bit more pay-to-win than I'd like as well, but overall, it's not at all a bad gacha game.

This review is straight up wrong. This is more like an early game review, from a person who hasn't played more than a couple of days. After that, the game absolutely turns predatory with it's microtransactions and putting you up against whales that have bought everything. You can't even go through the story mode all at once, you'll need to wait weeks to get stronger units unless you pay money or get an insanely lucky first pull. I like Wes a lot and I hope he's not lying about this stuff but this is completely off.

As a student that doesn't have a load of cash laying around to spend on books or way overpriced miniatures, I appriciate this game for allowing me to interact with Warhammer stuff for free.

I’ve been playing (free) for a week or two now. I have 4/5 Ultramarines, 3/5 Sororitas, 3/5 necrons, 3/5 Black Legion, 2 Orks and 1 Death Guard. My biggest issue, is that the progression is so goddamn slow past the first week. Having the chance for upgrades, spending precious little energy to replay or raid a cleared stage for just a chance at getting the needed upgrades is just insanely slow when those needed upgrades are forced to combine 3-6 of them for the true upgrade past the first week. The required character shards are few and far between, I’ve got a number of my characters “maxed” at their current level since it takes a long time to get enough shards to rank them up and continue leveling them. This could be a cool game, if they just charged $5-10 for it and got everything (not micro transactions for the campaigns). This game is typical P2W, the whales are going to keep this game going for years, while 99% of the playerbase quit within six months.

Great video, was veteran league the top league when you did the video?

I can respect you making a little passion project weshammer. It's ok to make a video like this even if they do sponsor you ! We appreciate the info and the honesty and all the other great vids you make too !! Some of us will be sure to give it a look no doubt now, and I hope you feel good, because you have directly helped the community, helped the company and developers behind the game, helped yourself and helped us find what no doubt will be an awesome game to some enjoyers, your a good man wes keep it up :)

It's alright, just hate the amount of time it takes to get characters just for them to be weak.

I will watch the review after writing this: The game is very grindy, many comments say that and it is true. But other than most gotcha games Tacticus can really be played on the side because of the long cooldowns and how long it takes you to upgrade certain characters. I find this really refreshing compared to Raid: Shadow Legends for example where you have so much to do that it fills an entire workday. What I find sad is that, yes the comments are right, there is not much tactics in most modes. The most tactic is in the raid mode where most bosses bring very different mechanics and sometimes you really need to think (or watch some youtube vids). What is VERY frustraiting is that there is, once you understand how the mechanics work, mostly just a very tiny roster you need for most modes (Eldryon and Ballator for example). But you have a steady progression from my point of view, I play for 4 months now and can beat most content without paying too much money (20€ in 4 months, thats like nothing and it was give something back to the devs). The problems start with most of the events to unlock new characters. The normal ones are easy but tidious, the legendary events are really annoying because you need a big and broad roster of champs. If you dont play since the start your progress will stop at 25 to 50% of the event. yeah they come back but to be honest often you need to level and gear characters you otherwise would NEVER use. Overall an okay expierence you can enjoy on the toilette, other than Raid which takes too much time.

I got the Game since u were the one who recommended it. I like it! Has a lot of potential for tons of characters and factions, tho it's evolution is quite slow, ngl

In my PvP experience, the victory points scattered around the map ensured skipping turn wasnt as viable as many players thought. In LIVE PvP, you must get 5 points, you get them from killing characters and taking tiles marked as Victory Points. A battle can be won or lost on capturing this points, even if you suffer many casualties, taking them ensures your opponent needs to wipe you out or remove you from them to win, while you only need to strike at their weakest forces to secure victory. Also, summoners mostly suck in PvP, except for the Black Legion sorcerer. and I have realised, maybe the reason there is no voice acting is because they try to keep the game´s weight on memory as light as possible. I have gacha games with dozens if not hundreds of characters each with their own voice lines in different languages and BOY! the difference in weight from those games to Tacticus is absurd!

Lol Wes we need a video of you playing the VR quest Warhammer 40k battle sister game that would be great content in my eyes

Ya, I’ve been playing it for a while now, it’s been a blast. I’m around level 120s-30s on the first campaign. Almost got 3 necrons. And my legendary I got is the typhus of the death guard.

The game is just alright. As I see it, a game needs to be either fun or interesting. Even if a game isn't the most fun, it should at least be interesting enough that I'm willing to keep playing through its less fun moments. Tacticus is somewhat fun, but nothing special in that regard. When it comes to being interesting however, it's really not very interesting a game and I feel that is its biggest flaw. I love 40K because it's so unbelievably interesting in story and style, and I feel like Tacticus forgoes all of what I love about 40K for something that feels a bit sterilized for the sake of selling a product to the general market. I didn't dislike the game while playing it, but I get more positive feeling out of watching 40K lore videos than playing a game that stirs nothing in me, positive or negative.

I love Tacticus. I play it every day….lots of stuff to do. The only real problem is how challenging it is to catch up…but they have it structured where even new players can engage with higher leveled players and not be totaled overran (Guild War, TA level limiting, etc.).

I run my own guild. 30/30 players, doing epic bosses just chilling with the homies. I play in my free time. I have two ways of playing. Deplete energy asap and move on or stay and grind for whats available, especially raid bosses. Super fun if you can accept that you're not playing FIFA therefore quite dumb to assume energy system is a cashgrab. This was my introduction to the overwhelming (and expensive here in Argentina) Warhammer series and honestly im grateful for it. Best game i've played in a while. Not suited for instant gratification type of players

So do they have the Aeldari yet?

we need a really good 40k mobile console and pc games

Great video mate, I agree - downloaded and played for a few hour after this video and it’s a great game. Uninstalled now however, the energy system is a dealbreaker for me, I don’t play games that dictate how much I can play the game. Shame, really enjoyed it.

When your early and just say nice

Can we get a lore Video on the characters in game please

Awhile back i made a shitty comment about your hair and bandanna and i have since watched a ton of your content, and lore videos, and now i feel terrible because you have made some awesome breakdowns and videos and i highly respect your passion and viewpoints. You are a good dude and valuable to the warhammer community and i hope one day you can forgive my shittiness.. you actually seem like a likable guy and i enjoy your videos

A sponsored review can't be called a review. You made a commercial, pure and simple....

Its trash, no question. Any game that feels like a job is trash, this game feels worse than a job and it keeps asking _me_ for money

I wish there were defined classes. If the PvP system had limits to how many of each class you could have it would be more fair. Example if you have the black legion summoner, the canoptek spider, and the imperial commisar you can spam the field with summons, a totally broken tactic.

BEST REASON 2PLAY ONLY FIVE HEROES PER FACTION EACH FACTION GETS ITS OWN CRUSADE NOT SIMPLY LITTER but INSTEAD INTEGRITY OF STATURE!

I love the game and recently spent 1k, there’s so many issues , firstly the shop , they charge you 50 blackstone to change what the shop offers which is an absolute joke and get nothing you want or need 1/5 times , the cost of the items in the shop are realistically 3 times too high and the creators are using it as a cash grab . Seriously creators of Tacticus lower the bloody prices and you will get more people wanting to spend money because they will actually see the value . They do put a lot of effort in fixing problems when they arise with glitches and reward you for that but it’s never really helpful for the higher level accounts , pump out the other factions and make new campaigns , create other characters in the existing and stop making it such a grind to get legendary characters. 5 min for 1 energy also is rubbish , 300 blackstone for a crappy requisition drop , come on seriously!!! 90 percent of them are worth 30 black stone . Definitely could make this one of the greatest mobile games if you actually listened to players and you would keep people playing instead of players losing interest before reaching level 15 . Need to keep player’s interested and not feel like a such grind . Yes I understand you can’t give out everything quickly but there needs to be a lot adjustments There’s my rant … none the less sick gameplay and most of the events are decent but the onslaught and salvage take way to long to be given again

Wes I'm deep in this game because of a video you did previously. I brought the chaos pack and a few bits a pieces, my only gripe with the game is how slowly you aquire shards, you need 300 for 1 summon which could be as little as 1 character motif and 3000 for 10 guaranteed 1 champion (you may already own) I understand that this is a new game, not many hero's to choose from or factions in regards to the amount available in the TT so it's not so bad right now however, I feel if they don't increase the shard acquisition rate as they begin to add units and factions then unfortunately this game will be dead in the water

I was into 40k back in middle school (04-06) but was only getting the figurines for decoration, later I had almost every dawn of war games but lost interests because of the clunky mechanics. This mobile game is honestly the first time I've been hooked onto this genre for the game play not just the story line.

I just started a week or so ago. I’m loving it. I have roster envy.

This game isn’t perfect but come on y’all, it’s not terrible. I have gotten into it recently and I’m having a great time. Plus it’s free!

Really love this review Wes! Hope you can make a comp suggestion video for Tacticus too.

It was fun at first but got boring when the difficulty ramps up and you have to grind. Maybe ill come back if they add the Adeptus Mechanicus

Going to try this, once I get a better phone.

Sir, once you said Mobil... I was out. Truly not interested. However, I do appreciate you honest approach to the review. So have my upvote.

I really love tacticus it actually required tactic unlike most other Warhammer game I roll Abaddon first try and he is pretty good I legit one shot Saint Celestine with his ability it was pretty hilarious

My biggest peeve is that I cannot customize any models' appearances. I find this very ironic.

Honestly for a fun time passer it's a good game

Downloading to try now! Thanks bro!

I think it’s pretty good

Tbh they should just remove the energy system in it's entirety. It's an arbitrary limit put on the player for no justifiable reason.

WesHammer keep up the great work, love your content. And thank you for turning me on to Warhammer 40k.

More 40k makes a better world for us all ;)

Damn I hate games which dictate how much you should play or not :'D You simply mentioned "energy" at 12:40 I already had my eyes rolling, even though the game looks pretty cool as a time spender while traveling~

Thanks man, I have been looking for a mobile game to play here and there casually. This looks great, as I've gotten tired of brown dust and fallout shelter. Will definitely try it out as a free to play

When you're used to playing Warhammer games on your PC then move somewhere with a bad connection to internet, paying for something like this isn't really all that different from the constant dlc lol

Love the game! Playing for awhile now! Climbing the ranks in Arena and the Clan is improving day after day! NOT 1 PENNY SPENT!!!

If your being paid to promote this game, you have no buisness presenting it as a review. Only a classless hack would do that, not the proud inheriter of Brett Michaels' head band collection.

Games workshop literally treats their IP like 🗑. Why don't they just get some RTS company to make a Warhammer (whatever flavour) game that's like a digital version of the table top. It would generate interest, teach people how to play and they could monetize the crap outta the customization options. Everybody wins.

Honestly I love this game so much especially all the factions and the charecters.

The only problem is live PvP. Everyone sits back, waits for opponent so they can attack first and then rng on crits decides the outcome. Such a waste of time.

lol, i downloaded the game about 15 minutes ago and now i see the video

The fact that there is only 200 views on this video is downright criminal because of you heathens I won't know in the future what Warhammer games are trash or not shame on you SHAME!!!!!!

How the fuck do you make a AAA mobile based on a heavyweight, ancient IP like WARHAMMER and have NO voice acting? Really? What a soulless piece of shit experience that must be.

Just wanted to say that I'm a Tacticus player now for about 4 months. I play every day. It's not at all Pay-to-Win. I'm a chess player and it reminds me of 40k themed chess and I really dig that!

I'm 2-3 weeks in and hoo boy have I had a blast. I spent $ on the Eldar quest but aside from that I've more than doubled my strength compared to my guild mates, though I'm most likely going to join a stronger guild as I never asked to be the leader xD. I agree with every single point you've made. I wish the devs would be a bit more transparent when it comes to factions as I really, really want my buggy bois to be playable.

The chests usually have a large number of raid tickets.

Wish we could buy individual characters because ive been trying to get some tyranids but i cant becuase requisition is the only way to get them currently

It's decent, Ok to be blunt but Getting characters is hard and all of the Eldar fans only have two (I'm waiting for Night lords and 1k sons) and mainly just the campaign just being that (yeah unlocking a Death Guard and Black Legion member is easy but considering i need 3 Chaos Members BLACK LEGION specifically). The game is more of a daily log in and a few battles or two..

One year later and most of the negative aspects are still present. There is no proper way to farm characters which takes out the fun of it unless you decide to spend a lot of money on pulls.

I have unlocked 4 campaign without spending any money... 😆 so that WesHammer on the ladder board is legit? i thought it was an imposter... 😅 Salvage mode is a bit tricky, sometimes i can't clean the board, usually because i summoned too many scarabs or groots... 😅

Maybe this is just my bias running wild but it kind of feels like Snowpoint is actively trying to limit the effects of whaling in the game. Not remove the benefits entirely, but limit them all the same. I for one am actually for this fresh mentality if it indeed exists. As for the grindiness of the game, or slow pace of unlocks, I sort of feel like that's more a problem with gaming mentality these days. Too many people who think Skinner boxes are great games. I want to take time unlocking things. I want to see a thing I can unlock, plan a route to it, then enact that. They give you ways to inevitably farm all the campaign characters through guaranteed rewards. Orcs are unlocked through dailies and quest XP. Necrons, at least the first 3 come quick from the campaign. Black Legion is sprinkled across a couple modes. They may take a little while, but you have time to focus on the first campaign in the meantime. I'm pretty confident a lot of people complaining about things taking too long would have left just as quickly if they unlocked everything in a month. The game just came out, there's only so much content there and they can only add things so fast. So far I've seen more optimistic signs than rain clouds so I'm gonna stick around for awhile.

I personally love the game but the whole thing of paying to win was stupid and always will be how games workshop is, now critique aside, Yarrik is excessively OP and I speak from experience since I have him

Ended up un-installing, gameplay is ok for the most part! just don't like how slow progression is... that alone just kill's it for me.

The cool down time is soul destroying. Progress seems very slow at the moment being a week into playing it. I wish I used all my requisition and black stones for the 10 drops with 1 guaranteed character. Possibly could have unlocked enough characters for another campaign. It's a snail pace at the moment.

Hey Wes the game is good is just one problem it will not be mainstream because it doesn't anime art style to attract more people.

ive been on this game for a day now, and i've already hit a wall. i cant progress at all. the game is getting too punishing, other game modes i have to wait for hours before i can play again, so now the only mode left for me, is pvp

I've actually been playing for a few weeks now, and have enjoyed it. I mean, I haven't spent any money, and still had fun. I will say that joining a solid, supportive guild will help make things better.

I just recently discovered war hammer a few months ago and haven’t bought my first set yet. But I’m liking the necron faction

If this is sponsored, that means you aren't going to tell me about serious problems that might be there or security issues. Not helpful. Peace.

man ligit spent 200 $ while explaining that the micro trasactions arent that bad LOL how about evertime you unlock a new Character you get.to spend 20$ to get a head start on the new hero? this drop is a Lottery machine dont get thia trash game guys if you do just play for free

Finally decided to give this game a try after the recent lore video. All the negative stuff seem to be exactly the same as a year ago ... I'll probably play this for as a side game. Can't do much to progress once u are stucked. The raids using the energy is by far the one i hate the most is for there just to slow the progression. Only been playing for like 2 days and i already felt everything the negative side of it. I'll probably play little longer untill the honeymoon phase goes away. I do the the graphics and how each unit looks and the main game play.

Ok, I came here to see if you did the games as well. Looking forward to your take on Rogue Trader

Honestly I believe we live one of those times when you need to get writers of games and actual 40k players and fans to get on the tabletop and really get into the lore. I'd guarantee that at least 3 or 4 good games could made. One might even influence Warhammer Fantasy/Total War Warhammer and related games.

The game just makes no sense khorne followers can use magic which khorne hates using magic and won’t let any of his followers use it.

I nearly rage quit this morning. Finally saved up 10 requisition orders and the damn rng decided to screw me over with 2 characters I already had. Terminator and 2nd necron boss chap. Pretty damn annoyed. Does requisition orders only give characters u already have or can it unlock new ones because the odds of 50 characters, having 9 unlocked and getting 2 I already have from the requests is rediculous.

New to warhammer and trying to engage the tabletop game but I think this game will help me cope up a bit since I can't afford a set yet.

Hi Wes. Can you do an actual review of the MTG cards and card game? Will you use any of those cards as proxies for the tabletop?

I literally just downloaded this game a couple day ago cause of you. It’s fun to a point. I you do have to pay to get the campaign’s areas is hard cause everyone has character with 4 start that people pay for.

I just wish they would make a tabletop VR Warhammer 40k game that is just like playing a standard game but animated in vr

Me- Finally an honest review. "This is a sponsored video". :/

For the Aren, also tap the enemy range tile to see their range, move to the edge and then skip to gain first strike.

I like the game, but there is a significant pay wall. And that pushes me away. Shit is too tight these days. I get against the wall and the grind is irritating. I haven't seen a War40k game worth anything since DoW maybe they could have come up with something better.

I uh, just wanna say that snowprint studios basically reused the ruleset from another one of their games called rivengard, the games damn great but thats mostly because this is theit wnd go at this format. Like check out rivengard same dev basically the same game.

They need to improve the progression, the daily mission should give you a requisition But man the designs dude? Theyre awesome, they really look like they gave life to a miniature