It’s the one area of diplomacy that the Total War series has gotten right lately. That provides a delightfully thematic avenue for the High Elves to start wars without ever firing an arrow. Their campaign mechanics mainly deal with Influence, a currency earned mainly through making choices in court intrigue events that can be spent to bolster or sabotage relations between any two factions. Watching a unit of High Elf Swordmasters hold a charge is satisfyingly reminiscent of the prelude to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, with flashing swords cutting effortlessly through the varied horrors assailing their line. High Elf armies fill a niche that none of the previous factions really could, with a focus on small, expensive units that each represent the very peak of discipline and martial excellence. “The High Elves and their edgier Dark Elf cousins are about as far from reskins of one another as you can get, despite their shared heritage in the lore.
