Playing the latter way makes the game into more of a race as each of the playable species want to control the power contained within the vortex and thus take control of the island – and from there, presumably, the world. The game is essentially a battle for control of this island, called Ulthuan, and you can achieve it in one of two ways: brute force or by solving enough quests and meeting enough objectives that you ultimately take control of the great vortex, and sort of magical whirlpool/cyclone. Set in fictionalised versions of Africa, America and Britain along with a mythical horseshoe-shaped Elven island, smack-dab in the middle of the Atlantic – nicely placed to break up an awful lot of monotonous sea scenery, but also a useful place to have elves find a home, away from traditionally human habitation. There are thirteen main games and four spin-offs in the series, with the first, Shogun: Total War having been released in 2000. Total War: Warhammer II is a real time, turn-based strategy game in the Total War series.
