Historian & Armor Expert Reacts to Total War: Warhammer 3

[@IrregularDave]

Getting to make TWO Warhammer videos BACK TO BACK? Say it ain't so! In all seriousness, as a huge fan of Warhammer I love making this kind of stuff, and I'd like to extend another thank you to Toby for joining us on the video! If you want to see us break down more of the Warhammer universes, make sure to like the video and all that good stuff! ❤️

[@2prize]

reupload your old vids please 😭😭😭

[@IrregularDave]

@@2prize no. They're cringe.

[@lilkobabunga]

Do Elves and the Lizardmen as well, I want to see his opinion on Aztec Dinosaurs.

[@2prize]

@@IrregularDave you were my entire childhood😭😭😭

[@leapofaith97]

You've got to show him the Lizardmen, I need to know how he feels about dino cavalry.

[@peterebel]

This feels a little bit like a kid showing his favourite toys to his cool uncle.

[@r.coburn3344]

I was looking for the words, and you had them! Thanks I agree with you completely.

[@SendBreadPics]

Gotta love when the experts can break down the realism but also understand what fantasy is.

[@IrregularDave]

🍞

[@QuantumHistorian]

It's what happens when you bring in someone who is as much an artist as a historian.

[@supremeghost7950]

That's why Jonathan is so respected amongst gamers, because he understands weapons logic, but also the gameplay aspect on why gun X was nerfed or gun y is imba.

[@MoaRider]

18:45 "Oh, like a hamster wheel?" I hate the fact that I NEVER noticed that the Skaven Doomwheel is literally just a hamster wheel.

[@IrregularDave]

I felt the same way when he said it!

[@leadpaintchips9461]

What's even better is that it's supposed to be ran by two Skaven inside who are 'motivated' into running by absolutely _smothering_ them with warpdust.

[@YouCaughtCzars]

​@@leadpaintchips9461if you look closely at the in game model and the real life miniature, the bottom of the wheel has a bunch of giant rats in it. You can kind of see it in the clip. Sometimes the rats get irritated and attack the warlock engineer piloting it lol

[@leadpaintchips9461]

@@YouCaughtCzars I love that part of this unit.

[@brdjones3732]

Bruh

[@evejunkie1942]

The best part about Tobias as an expert is he's not just critiquing the arms and armor from a historical perspective, he's putting it in context of a fantasy video game setting and taking that into account. It's so great to see.

[@mrrodgers0]

You can tell he's spent a lot of time thinking about what makes good worldbuilding.

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

I love how excited he was when he heard a unit had slings. Very underrepresented fantasy weapon. Extremely practical.

[@loowick4074]

The same army is bringing slings and sticks and machine guns and mini nukes to a battle 😂

[@almister]

@@loowick4074yesyes

[@JacoDeltaco]

@@loowick4074 honestly I would rather have a sling than touch there guns with how unstable they are

[@PhantomJavelin]

@@loowick4074 Well, there's a whole lot more rats than there are guns.

[@bosknight7837]

@@loowick4074based-grounded and skaven-pilled yes yes

[@sbart23]

The historical accuracy can be largely credited to Perry twins who designed and sculpted miniatures for Warhammer for over 35 years and are nuts about historical reenactment (one of them lost an arm while loading up a reproduction of a medieval cannon during a recreation of Battle of Crecy).

[@JoshIdstein]

he lost an arm loading a cannon?! now THATS metal.

[@AbenZin1]

@@JoshIdstein Yep, and then learned to sculpt with his other hand, using a vice built into his prosthetic!

[@silverhand9965]

real Skaven behaviour

[@vladimirthegreen6097]

Badass

[@cerocero2817]

They have their own range of historical miniatures. Their knights are probably the most detailed and historically accurate on the market.

[@gstellar96]

My favorite aspect of Warhammer Fantasy has always been how these various depictions of human cultures merge with their mythologies to do battle with your classic high fantasy dwarfs, elves, orcs, demons, and undead. It keeps a very fantastical setting grounded and makes it feel very lived in while still having dragons and magic.

[@TaRAAASHBAGS]

Except they did that monumentally better in 5e and 6e than now. Nu-Kislev has been degraded to ice, bears, and ESG checklists.

[@HB-fq9nn]

@@TaRAAASHBAGS What’s ESG?

[@gstellar96]

@TaRAAASHBAGS While true, there's definitely too much emphasis on only bears. I wouldn't say it's a monumental loss compared to 5th and 6th and the models do look really good from the armor, uniforms, weapons,voice overs, magic, and it's been pretty universally accepted among the Eastern Europe fans from what I have been able to see from the online community.

[@npierce14]

African people: 😔

[@gearsandstars2489]

​@@npierce14Uh hello? Beastmen?

[@thespudofspuds8798]

Regarding Tobais's statements about how Warhammer doesn't bug him for having all this wild ornamentation and stuff: it's not just committing to the bit. It's about committing to being *fantastical*. Designs are meant to be reminiscent of real world history/armor, but real history doesn't have giant half-dragon half-ogres wielding clubs the size of minivans, so it's good to go all the way and embrace being a Heavy Metal album cover.

[@kaythough9604]

I think if you learn a bit about the universe and know that belief can be strength, all of a sudden the ornamentation starts to make a bit more sense. If you know that your devotion to Khorne can make you more powerful, attaching a few skulls to your armor might start seeming like a better idea.

[@silverhand9965]

@@kaythough9604 Yeah, it doesn't need to actually work, it just needs to make you believe that it does. Sure, you're probably going to get cleaved in half by a bloodthirster with or without an extra shiny armour, but in less severe cases, it might just save your life

[@IrregularDave]

You have to embrace the full send

[@berkekaradag1410]

Thats why i love Warhammer. It embraces what it is.

[@ElvishShellfish]

and the ornamentaion is not arbitrary, but reflects a culture and history, and exaggerates it a bit. i feel a lot of fantasy games have overly designed armor and arms that have not sense of context or history, and subsequently end up looking bland or unreal.

[@ButchJustice]

I feel like I could watch Tobias talk about all the factions for well over an hour or two. He grasps the parallels and the understanding of necessary design without even seeing the cause for the effect; axe on a musket being needed when you are shooting at literal charging demons that can sometimes shrug off a round but are less receptive to an axe wound.

[@Pedro-zu3uq]

Honestly I would watch a 12 episodes series of him talking about fantasy lol.

[@Teslijah]

Axe muskets were a real thing. I visited the army museum in Paris, and there were two of those weapons. One was a halberd with multiple rifle barrels. And the other was a spear with three barrels around the spearhead. I don’t know if they were ever used, but maybe they were supposed to catch on armor, then fire into the knight. Although, the ones I saw had the barrels open to the blade of the axe or spear.

[@bosknight7837]

@@TeslijahMuskets sometimes had axes attached,BUT using something like a bardiche as a musket stand was quite widespread. So,not even that unrealistic

[@grillmeisterkush6396]

"There are no half measures. Everything is as far as it can go." Yup. That's warhammer and why we love it so much.

[@martincann5052]

Regarding the the gyrocopters: I recall from the Grudge of Drong campaign pack in the nineties that only Dwarf Brewmasters know how to make the fuel for gyrocopters, which would seem to indicate that it's alcoholic in some way. That said, oil is also a thing in Warhammer, as shown in the Gotrek and Felix series, but it's not very well understood, and only Dwarfs use it in any way.

[@transorm987]

It's implied that dwarfs will, in emergencies, use their extremely strong ale to power things. Though they seem to have an even stronger version that they use as fuel.

[@kanrakucheese]

For what it's worth, pure alcohol is also a main component of biodiesel alongside fats.

[@44R0Ndin]

"Oil is for lubricating things, alcohol is for fueling things" might be the Dwarven way, with thier own bodies being no exception if they've taken sufficient cues from Tolkien type dwarfs ("a Dwarf's true friends are their flasks and tankards" sort of thinking). EDIT: Of course, this has real world precedent, Top Fuel Dragsters use fuel that is literally a specific blend of Nitromethane and Methanol (which despite being toxic, is an extremely high octane fuel in piston engines, and turbine engines will run on it too if the fuel pump and injectors can keep up with the higher fuel flow needed, or operate at a derated power level).

[@Woodclaw]

I remember the gyrocopter flavour text from 6th edition stating that the engine is alcohol powered (just like the pilot).

[@shmekelfreckles8157]

@@44R0Ndinin the game as dwarfs you can forge an enchanted item for your characters called Ironwarden’s Tankard, gives them “Immune to psychology” and healing when at high enough morale. So yeah, alcoholism sometimes helps.

[@samueltrusik3251]

I am super glad you have someone who knows the game side of the game explain the things happening on the screen, so that the professional is not confused.

[@IrregularDave]

🫡

[@Ake-TL]

13:52 “Especially from cavalry” Gets run over by a ship on land. What a great timing

[@AshenVictor]

Look CA just really didn't want to do naval battles so the ships have to have legs or wheels.

[@james6792-m1w]

I had a good chuckle at that part 😂😂

[@oooeee5556]

25:20 pretty sure those are Royal Pegasus Knights of Bretonnia, the reasons why they specifically don't carry bombs is because it goes against their troths and oaths and the knights consider ranged weaponry to be something only peasents use

[@IrregularDave]

I bet a Pegasus pooping from 130 feet up isn't very knightly.

[@Brother_O4TS]

Yeah, he's looking in the wrong place if he wants flying creatures that carry and drop bombs

[@ComissarYarrick]

Lorewise Bretonia is all about chivarly and ranged weapon are concidred "ungentlemany" and threted with disdain. There is also religious/social taboo about useing guns on bretonian soil. Their navy has a lots of cannons tho :D

[@wmandthings]

​@@ComissarYarrickBretonian Bombards are a thing again in The Old World I believe

[@LeoNardo-wm7ug]

@@wmandthingsThey are, but they’re for exiled knights/border princes. So moreso disgraced knights

[@lyooyiylklykyokyklky]

Anything with Dr. Capwell in is going to be an instant watch from me, he is such a fantastic source of info.

[@connorbozynski1006]

His comment of about the dwarf weapons and armor feeling architectural and almost like tools reminded of how during ww2, the usa made their hand grenades closer to t he shape of a baseball so new recruits were more comfortable throwing them. I imagine a similar logic is used by the dwarves. If EVERYONE in your society knows how to swing a hammer from forging and building or knows how to swing an axe because of logging or again building and cutting wood, making your primary military arsenal out of those same types of shapes could be really useful for training.

[@Teslijah]

Their weakest melee unit carry pickaxes, right?

[@screamingcactus1753]

@@Teslijah Yeah. They aren't dedicated warriors, they're actual miners going into battle with their tools. They can even use blasting charges as improvised grenades and get vanguard deployment to emulate them literally tunneling under the battlefield to come up where the enemy doesn't expect them.

[@Mr.Mister3-26]

@@screamingcactus1753 Well somehow most of the Dwarf Warriors are not dedicated Warriors. More like a Militia. If they were called to arms, the left everything behind, go to battle, and after the fight is over, they go back to whatever they were doing. But some are really Warriors like the Ironbreaker or Hammerers.

[@Empiriarch1945]

Him reacting to Elves, wood elves, dark elves, lizardmen, tomb kings would be really cool.

[@MetallicMutalisk]

That's what I thought too, add in vamp coast and dawi zharr too!

[@Caldwing]

The vampire counts are indeed modelled as basically dead Empire (Germanic) soldiers of various kinds. I have often wished they could get different models when they raise dead in different cultures. No need for a stat change just Bretonnian or Kislevite clothes/armour.

[@loganwallace101]

That is such a good idea it would look amazing

[@20storiesunder]

There's an amazing mod called necromancy that does something similar.

[@scarystories1800]

There is a reskin mod for the zombies like that, and a necromancy mod that lets you raise skeletons of different units like the monsters

[@TheGingusa]

@caldwing theres a mod for undead factions that lets you raise skeletons themed after the faction you recently battled, and the ai uses it too. i attacked some undead who have been fighting dwarves and they had skeleton dwarves in their army edit: i just realized the others said it too lol

[@Regarded69]

Just a nitpick, I would say HRE (Holy Roman Empire) and not Germanic, since ''Germanic'' can refer to a massive timespan and the HRE also included cultures like the Czechs and Sorbians that are Slavic and Walloons that are French but all used the same style of armour, fashion and weapons in the 16th centuary ☝🤓

[@SarahExpereinceRequiem]

A lot of the older minis were sculpted by people who were into historical war games, especially Michael and Alan Perry (who now run Perry Miniatures). They were known for making things "historical" even when they were asked to make something more fantasy. The reason that the chaos dwarves are the way they are is that they were told, repeatedly to not make the hats historical. Make it more fantasy. And boy did they. I think the influence they've had on the aesthetic has carried over to things they never touched like Cathay and Kislev.

[@silviuvisan505]

I think their helmets are inspired by mesototamian ancient cultures.

[@QuantumHistorian]

Capwell's artist side really comes through here. It's delightful to hear from someone who understands arms & armour well enough to know how form fits function, but who is enough of an artist to understand that the feelings evoked by how something is represented is the more important than direct plausibility in a game (especially in a fantasy setting). It's a perfect fusion of knowledge that makes the final analysis very insightful without being snobbish at all. More of him please!

[@louisbrandthansen4517]

I'm so glad you got him back, 1 minute in and he's already great!

[@nakenmil]

One of the reasons why Warhammer Fantasy appealed to me so much more than Age of Sigmar, as a world, was that Fantasy was much more anchored. It had ordinary spearmen and swordsmen, who were basically just regular people. Then you could BUILD FROM THAT to show how terrifying Chaos Chosen were, or Ogres or whatever. But with the launch of AoS, they kept all the attention on the Stormcast and others similarly exaggerated groups, like the new Ironjawz or the ghost guys or Fyreslayers, etc. so it all felt so disconnected from anything with verisimillitude. It was like slapping action figures together, there was no meat to it, imho. I'm glad Age of Sigmar has introduced setting-specific regular dudes now (I mean, they had the leftover Imperial models previously, but they never promoted them, obviously), so maybe I'll start feeling like it's not so theatrical.

[@reaver11122]

While I somewhat agree with you, I think it's also conserved in AoS. The Cities of Sigmar are just people doing their best

[@snakehead7529]

I’d say listen or read the Slayer series with Gotrek as it does show more of the regular people and how stormcasts while good have their faults and can be killed by orcs or basically anything

[@WreckItRolfe]

It was made to look more like 40k because 40k sold much better.

[@zwenkwiel816]

​@@reaver11122they pretty much threw all the more grounded factions together in cities of sigmar though.

[@PilgrimEnge]

23:02 He makes SUCH an excellent summary of the view I have on Fantasy, especially that bit about the lazy argument of "In fantasy you can do whatever you want".

[@softcatsocks9618]

Yes so much. The "So? The world has dragons and magic" argument never made any sense, but people sure love to use it.

[@dud5606]

As for the Polish Hussars, it is believed that aside from their wings looking cool they also made a terryfying thundering sound when hundreds of hussars at once would charge on horseback.

[@MPostma72]

You don't need wings for that, hunderds of horses charging at you will make a thundering sound with their hooves.

[@adamnowicki1425]

there is quite a lot of discussion about it, I heard the thundering noise came from flags on lances, also Poland had amazing technology of... making longer sticks, hussar lances were allegedly way longer than any pikes commonly used on battlefields, also wings were attached to saddles, not rider backs and mostly for decorative purpose during parades etc, not on battlefields

[@_TkiT_]

In contemporary Polish history most scholars agree that those enormous wings were largely a ceremonial thing. When they had wings in battle it was usually a one, smaller wing on the back of the horse.

[@FarceFox]

Took Dr. Capwell pointing out the Skaven shield shape being non-human for me to think why they'd be that shape and they remind me of one of the Skaven symbols from Vermintide which might explain it

[@m41282]

Yeah, the symbol of the 3 horned rat. It's a conserved motif across most of the faction.

[@Srymak]

its basically like having a crusader with a cross painted on their shield, taken to the fantasy extreme of having a cross shield

[@Duke_of_Quenelles]

And if you think about it. Skaven shields being triangles makes more sense than not. Since it would cover most of their body, due to their prominent hunch, and the weight distribution wouldn’t be as bad for a skaven as say a Norman kite shield would be. If you have complaints on my grammar, I’m tired.

[@arcticfox5769]

one of my favorite things about playing kislev is the war bear riders are meant to fight in the frontlines like heavy infantry and your winged hussars are used for shock tactics. so i often use my bear riders to hold up chaos heavies and then come around and smash them with the hussars.

[@FungWarb12]

19:36 I think the reason Stormvermin have triangular shields is because that's a "Symbol of the Horned Rat, which signifies not only the deity of the Skaven but also the Skaven race as a whole."

[@RYUcaEU]

God i can't describe how much i love Grand Cathay's design/armors/unit style. The ancient chinese empire is just beautiful and i love the fact that this historian guy actually confirmed that all cathay units they showed him are totally accurated to ancient chinese armory/weapons❤️

[@leadpaintchips9461]

TBF he was talking at the time that they were showing them that it was a fantastical version of their arms/armor, or a logical extension of reality.

[@RYUcaEU]

@@leadpaintchips9461 yes, with "accurate" i meant relatable to their real historical weaponry/armory/etc

[@ogre-m2z]

Eh I commented on this topic - as an enthusiast of Chinese history (esp. Song/Ming), I was pleasantly surprised when the units were revealed. If anything they tend to be on the light side of what historical Song/Ming armies would have worn, but remain very close (including the collar piece he discussed about, although the IRL version was actually more advanced than the one shown for Cathay). Only drawback IMHO is the aesthetics of some of the gunpowder weapons, particularly the cannons and iron hail guns considering there were plenty of IMHO better-looking examples to pull from. I also find the Dragons a bit too "short", but I understand they may want to depart from the traditional representation.

[@marcog.verbruggen674]

@@RYUcaEU The word you're looking for is "verisimilitude" or "verisimilar" - which, as you may be able to tell just from reading it, describes something that while not *accurate* to reality, carries that feeling of accuracy in its own way :)

[@tobiashagstrom4168]

Yeah, the guy does articulate a lot of the things I like about Warhammer that I haven't seen done as effectively in other settings. That sense that even some of the wackier elements have a purpose and a context to them, that the cultures have their own ways of thinking, their own ways to solve problems.

[@AStandsForFrench]

Soooooo many game developers, movie directors, manga and comic artists, they could learn a lot of incredibly important points just from watching this video. Tobias does such an incredible job of explaining how fantasy and reality can, and often should, be interwoven to make it feel more natural.

[@Scandic45]

The fact you comment and inform him on the units , their names a little Lore helps the reaction so much since it gives context. Makes the experience so much more enjoyable.

[@jamesnigelkunjuro12]

Having people like Toby Capwell and Jonathan Ferguson who respect and appreciate the Fantasical aspects and reasoning for the equipment and gear make it super fun to listen to their analysis of video game mechanics :) love seeing them featured.

[@Vimes1982]

I've been watching Tobias Capwell's older lectures recently. You've got to love the humor behind all the knowledge.

[@pierre-mariecaulliez6285]

Next up : Tomb "I brough a door to battle" kings, and comparing High, Dark and Wood elves ;7

[@noelspillis6734]

My favorite thing so far is that he talls about how similar the lore and such to actual design and structure when the makers of Warhammer have said "we love to steal from history"

[@Icetubexd]

I didn't really expect much going into this video. Fantasy Armour, especially Warhammer, is so fantastical that I thought a historian couldn't give much input or would be put off by the material. However this video was surprisingly really enjoyable, Tobias observations about the nature of armaments, design and his little tangent on appreciating the scale of the game were very entertaining. I liked that you kept the little exchanges between the producer and the historian in the video as well, very good content.

[@captainmckeggor]

The fact bombs he drops at the end needs to be blasted on full volume for modern show makers and game developers to hear.

[@CrossedKatana]

I have always apreciated grounded fantasy. I often found them more compelling than ones that go completely out there. I think its a real show of skill when creators can pull off such effective suspension of disbelief.

[@Crytica.]

This man who never played this game ever encaptures exactly what we love about Warhammer fantasy and what Warhammer tries to convey. Loved this video with him as usual!

[@sirshotty7689]

There’s one thing I really love about Sylvania and it’s that it’s derived as much from actual Romanian history as it is from the mythology of vampires. For instance, one of the order of blood knights in Sylvania are called the Order of the Blood Dragons. They were inspired by the real life Order of the Dragon which Vlad Dracul, father of Vlad Tepes (aka Dracula), was a part of. I don’t really get that with a lot of other vampire myth interpretations.

[@Vanq17]

Wow, I think Tobias finally captured what has bothered me about Age of Sigmar all this time. Old Warhammer Fantasy was of course fantasy, but it felt plausible. Age of Sigmar goes all in on the fantasy aspect and just doesnt feel quite as plausible anymore. The AoS models all look fantastic, but its just too much.

[@grimalkin8082]

Lets be honest, AOS was made when the MCU was taking off, and GW just wanted to capitalize on that cash grab. Unfortunately it came at the cost of a much better setting. Warhammer fantasy is timeless and can stand on it's own because of how grounded it is, and the problem with cash grabs is they need to be constantly kept afloat or they sink fast.

[@CantankaGrin]

I don't see what it has to do with the MCU. It's more to do with the fact that in 40K space marines outsell everything and they wanted more of that. They just didn't care that it doesn't really fit in a fantasy setting. It's actually worse than 40K as at least they have the Imperial guard to compare against.

[@alexalex4041]

@@grimalkin8082 AOS has absolutely nothing to do with the MCU. The GW suits were trying for years to put Space marines into WFB because they sold like crazy, they didn't care that it was out of place, cue the Sigmarines. GW were also very protective of their IP and coming out of their lawsuit loss to Chapterhouse (or at least not the crushing defeat they wanted), so they basically nuked the un-copyrightable Old World and rebranded everything with silly copyrightable names like Orruks.

[@WreckItRolfe]

​@@alexalex4041 Ironically, the Orruks looks far more generic than Orks

[@MegaNever2010]

Always nice to see Tobias talking about Fantasy elements, while understanding that they're fantastically historical in a way. ( Also nice to see my comment from last time helped with the camera work ;p )

[@Matchbox1585]

loved the way he recognized the internal consistency between factions

[@jossypoo]

I'm so glad we've reached the era where a video about historical accuracy can have an expert that ACKNOWLEDGES that fantasy involves imagination and creative license.

[@awestruckcardboard3431]

Love how the Slavs, Germans, And french from the 1100s to 1600s were teleported to Elfs, Dwarfs, and Greenskins, With Chaos Gods there.

[@lolcatjunior]

Don't forget the Scandlnavian vikings and the Chinese.

[@Jaggaraz218]

I was surprised that he didn't immediately mention the real life axe guns when Kislev came up

[@vladimirthegreen6097]

Yeap. I see a couple of similar weapon in Moscow museum

[@kirkwells5134]

I was awaiting mention of the Streltsi who used a combination of poleaxes and firearms to conquer the steppe. Ah well.

[@phill2065]

Probably outside his scope of expertise since he focuses on Europe mainly

[@vladimirthegreen6097]

@@phill2065 Eastern Europe is still Europe

[@vladimirthegreen6097]

@@kirkwells5134 they didn't conquer the steppe.

[@Zacho5]

Its easy to see CAs work on real historical games have really elevated Warhammer art. Nice to see someone that gets it.

[@Mastercheap]

5:20 If you put spike everywhere, your will eventually put one where it is useful

[@Lars6138]

I think the reason why the departure from realism makes so much sense to him, is because we don't know how armor and weapons would work in this world. Spiked armor and horned helmets, for instance, might make perfect sense if you fight flying enemies and enemies with bodies which force them to compromise in their armor design and so on. You can't point at something in particular and say "that won't work" because you can't know for certain, since this world and its physics work so differently from our own. And as he said, if there's a logic behind the choice, and that logic is consistent throughout, it lends itself to the plausibility of every piece of equipment. It's nice to see him open to this and commenting based on the premise of the game, while adding lots of interesting historical stuff. The idea of a "man catcher" is so much more interesting as a real world, historical weapon than the rat holding it ingame. I'd never known about it otherwise.

[@deadlyydude5522]

this guy nailed what makes warhammer so special. Fantasy that has bits of history sprinkled in

[@perrenchan6600]

More! More Tobias! More warhammer! MORE!!! Having Jason and Tobias review the space marine armouring sequence would be a dream come true.

[@Shinobito1]

To be fair, Chaos Armour is magical and it adapts to an mutation and/or change that occurs in the wearer. So if a warrior grow a horn or something else, his armour will change to accomodate it.

[@AveMandrakon]

16:31 regarding the purpose, it was twofold as far as I recall - first was to instill terror in the enemies, as the sound of such an amount on feathers created a disorienting humming noise, and the second, more practical, was to foil any attempt at dragging the rider off the horse by using anything akin to a lasso, mainly then used by ottoman janissaries, which was one of the most feared units of that period - it was said the wings caused the noose to slide off much more easily, or even "catch" an incoming one entirely, when mounted to the saddle instead of the back of the soldier.

[@AwesomeLionSaurus]

This was a great video. The expert explained things really well, but was open minded about the fantasy setting and viewing it for what it is. Really agree with his argument about fantasy still needs to be grounded. Absolutely great take!

[@SgtSax107]

Absolutely love that he takes the historical accuracy at the same time as the storytelling/fantasy elements and has such a good understanding of both.

[@nathanduncan6919]

Toby has a great deal of understanding and quite a nuanced take on most of these designs. Its really interesting to see his perspective!

[@TheHyny]

Love his positivity and fairness. So many of these reactions with experts in general have a person who knows what they're talking about, but only talk about how unrealistic the aspects they're reacting to are. Shooting something down for not being realistic or having fun with the ridiculousness of the idea have such a huge impact on the entertainment factor of a reaction.

[@Jerk0matic]

I hope we will see him in another episode for Total War Warhammer!

[@H2OSoarin]

@17:19 Yes we do have quite an extensive library of historical literature at Creative Assembly, it's a collection made up largely of recommendations given by our historical consultants over the years.

[@AngryLemon19]

Fun fact about the goblins tied to the stones. They do that because it settles a grudge the dwarfs have against goblins and because the goblin screaming as it falls gives the same effect as a whistle on a dive bomber

[@someguy1ification]

Wait, the dwarfs do it too?! I thought some Doom Diver Catapults got snuck in there somehow.

[@AngryLemon19]

@ the grudge throwers. If you zoom in on the ammo in the air you can see the goblin.

[@bmoney2011]

Just before the 5 minute mark (starting around 4:49) he inadvertently gives the entire game away in regards to the Warhammer universe; "It's like they're so committed to what they're doing...there are no half-measures." That's essentially the ethos behind all of Warhammer.

[@sweracoon7931]

Toby's take on the Vampire Counts being the undead of the Empire is actually bang on, seeing as Sylvania is in fact a province of the Empire.

[@wilhelmscream6919]

Makes my heart happy when an expert on an aspect of realism can still appreciate the different directions it can be heightened in for games :)

[@archthrone5815]

Definitely need more parts of this! Ogres! Dark Elves, High elves, wood elves, lizard men, vampire coast etc!

[@haywire3482]

I'd definitely love to see Toby's take on the various elven factions, especially the High Elves. Curious to see what he might have to say about the really tall helmets.

[@overlord3051]

The heart of Warhammer Fantasy's early days was cultivated by a bunch of history-loving individuals, so the realism isn't surprising even though it has been many years of iteration since.

[@jorgeluismarchesini6482]

It's very gratifying to see a historian's reaction to Warhammer Total War! Please make more videos of him reacting to other factions!

[@MeanBeanComedy]

Wait, Tobias isn't just an Expert on European arms?? He's just an Arms Expert in general? That's so cool!

[@jackiekennedy4902]

Could listen to Toby for hours

[@awsomesaucekirby]

Love lizardmen ptero riders. They do do bombardments, just with *massive rocks*. They famously killed Belakor with rocks in a White Dwarf after action report

[@KanuckStreams]

Fun fact! There are historical examples of "axe guns", although they were not widely spread because they were kind of more of a "hey look at this novel idea" rather than the simpler solution of "put a bayonet on the end of your musket and now you have a short spear."

[@daroth7127]

Please show him the 3 types of elves and their armored units! especially the spearmen from each elf faction!

[@purplefood1]

I like this guy, I totally agree with what he says about internal consistency.

[@Nyarlathotep_Flagg]

I love this guy, best conclusions, and viewpoints I've ever heard on all of this so far. And an emphasis on it being believable, and internally consistent - But not necessarily exactly like the RL of our world. Chef's kiss, great review.

[@keegobricks9734]

@5:30 As the Mekboy from Dawn of war 2 said "More 'umies, more prayin! Just wiff spikes dis time"

[@Luizguilherme-iz9yl]

BTW how he said the thing about the vampires and landsknecht was sooooo cool

[@rockandrolljew89]

I never get tired of watching him talk about weapons and armor. Keep these videos coming.

[@theengine]

Buffy's strategy in the 90s...

[@zodbones]

I love the historical context for the factions of warhammer. Its really fascinating seeing where the designs pulled influence from the real world, and further explains the factions geological locations too since the map mirrors the real world in a way.

[@theprime8]

What a wonderful video… 🤩 The interviewer describing details of the game to the historian who politely goes along with it has real *me talking to my dad about Warhammer* vibes as a kid... 😂

[@Lolzer621]

Very glad to see more of Toby, his insights are plenty interesting!

[@daniellogue8365]

I love how Toby recognizes it's fantasy and doesn't just give it zero for realism, but is really thoughtful in what the designers were trying to achieve and replicate.

[@neilculta3698]

I love how he said at 13:47 "what would musketeer do against cavalry" then a boat his them.

[@Manlikepegasus]

Part 2 to show off the rest of the factions, and you should also have him react in depth to the armor/weapons of the Vermintide games.

[@lotfj]

I am literally playing this right now and I hope we get to see my favorites: Kislev!

[@Zhentarim]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in addition to the game's merits, many of the visual elements are well thought out, as the company that made them was originally designed to make tabletop miniatures, so much of this must have a good amount of thought put into it.

[@bar_jumper1312]

legend of dwarf comes from the mointains, where italian miners travel up to the peak to get the gold and sold it down in the city for supplies

[@deathtrooper9003]

I love when the expect GETS it Who appreciates the homework done on the reality in the fantasy. And someone who can appreciate the directions and choices behind the departure

[@thewanderer8460]

Bring him back!!! Absolutely fascinating to hear his perspective and to put Real life and fantasy together loved it!

[@thomasparsons9866]

Capwell is such a good person for this kind of stuff. Respectful to both the modern media and history.

[@Lewlew97]

13:45 I love the ship flying past as soon as he says cavalry 😂

[@Joker-yw9hl]

I like that he seems genuinely into this

[@1003JustinLaw]

The Warhammer franchise really is quite special, it’s high fantasy with gods and daemons and over-the-top magic and monsters, but the parts that’s more grounded are such a well thought-out and designed combination of realism and the fantastical that it becomes more believable and easier to visualize things as being possible. There are so many fantasy settings where things are either so non-fantastical that you feel like there was a gap in understanding or something, or were so completely fantastical that you can’t possibly imagine them working. To strike that balance and have the two sides synergize is so satisfying to see.

[@brdjones3732]

This guy nailed what makes the Warhammer Fantasy world so great.

[@Medard22]

This man is speaking facts especially with the rules! Should've shown him some lizardmen too!!!

[@TheRedWon]

I could listen to Toby talk about anything for hours on end.

[@tommysoliz3064]

I love Warhammer Fantasy. I wasn’t always a fan of Warhammer but pulling it back in time makes the world so lore filled.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

About the Kislev soldiers, real Russian streltsy used a big 2h axe called the bardiche to stabilise their arquebuses, while most arquebusiers would use a cane for that. So they had something big ready if the enemy came close.

[@Kozo-Sushi]

Kislev Strelsi also used Bardiches for the past thirty years until this revamp. It caught everyone by surprise. Also the war sleds used to be War Wagons, but they were given to the Empire in a release instead. But a Jan Ziska or Muskovy army was entirely possible and plausible. I'm more shocked he missed the Tsar Cannons on the back of the artillery. That's such a notorious weapon.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

@@Kozo-Sushi do you mean a cannon based on the massive real Tsar Pushka ? Hussites would be more fitting as a rebel faction from the Empire as Bohemia was part of the HRE, not of the PLC/Kievan Rus/Russia.

[@michatrofimczyk1877]

For people wondering wings on husars were used as psychological warfare and the noise they made in charge gave enemy inpresion of biger force than size of unit. Usualy it resultet in enemy routing because they thought that they were outnumberded. Also you need to remember that dust that rose in charge never alowed to indentyfy husars unit size by sight.

[@LoremasterLiberaster]

"Knightly champions" 8:21 this guy really getas it lol, in-game they're called Legendary Lords