Tabletop Tavern blends the strategy of Total War with the deck-building of Slay The Spire, all set in a medieval Games Workshop-inspired universe.

Tabletop Tavern is, currently, not quite where it needs to be to properly scratch that Total War: Warhammer itch. The units can be a bit flaky, charges lack impact, and there’s just not enough to do to keep early battles interesting. What is it, however, is a great concept with a lot of personality: you’re playing actual tabletop miniatures inside a medieval tavern, gradually building up your army across Slay The Spire style branching progression nodes. I’m absolutely rooting for it, simply because there’s still so little offering a comparable strategy experience to Total War, and also because it’s made by a solo dev. Trailer below, and here’s a Steam demo.

Once upon a time, when the world was young, god still loved us, and no-one was trying to force AI assistants into my toothbrush, Warhammer makers Games Workshop had the absolutely wild idea that building a community might actually help them sell a few toys, and so used to host regular games in stores. It’s the sort of thing you have to find a club these days for mostly, but that’s the framing here: you’ve settled in for a bit of wargaming and a pint of ale or six in your local tavern.

A lot of the controls will be immediately familiar to Total War players – the Ctrl-Alt-drag formation shift even makes an appearance, as do the little triangles to denote individual units within formations. Much like Total War, you’ve got your rock-paper-scissors infantry-cavalry-ranged archetypes, along with different types of terrain and weather. Pikeman have an anti-large bonus, shielded units are handy at blocking missiles, and so on. But it’s also just far less gloomy than Warhammer in general, with classic blinding green flock mats and notably less screaming about how Sigmar has abandoned us.

Again, it needs some work – there’s not much impact feedback, and so things feel a little limp. Plus, the gradual army building of the roguelike structure means early skirmishes are quite similar. Still, the events between battles to restore unit health or perhaps recruit a few bonus mates are a great touch, and I’m eager to see how this one develops. Between this and Strategos, it’s always good to see more games giving Creative Assembly a friendly poke out of complete complacency. Throw in an army painter, and I’m yours.