Warhammer: Battle March is heading to Xbox 360 on September 12, bringing both the PC original Warhammer: Mark of Chaos and its Battle March expansion to console gamers for the first time, on one disc. The strategy action game features six unique, playable armies and over 100 unit types, with a focus on action and conflict over the more laborious trappings of the genre, such as resource management.

The game's factions are divided into two camps – essentially the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys'. We've teamed up with our sister site CVG to give you the lowdown on them both and, being the callous, 'walk the old lady out into the busy road and leave her there' people they are, CVG wanted to do the Bad Guys. So, without further ado, here are the Good Guys in the shape of the Empire and the High Elves.

Empire

The Empire is a nation of humans, ruled by an Emperor with their lands governed by powerful Elector Counts. They worship Sigmar who was their first Emperor and the founder of the Empire, he reunited the human tribes and was a true friend of the Dwarfs, saving their King from the Orcs, and thereby establishing the long time alliance between the two nations which has survived for over 2,000 years. They are beset on all sides by enemies mostly Orcs and Goblins and the forces of Chaos, who also try to subvert them from within.

The Empires main strengths are disciplined soldiers, the warrior priests of Sigmar and Gunpowder. Their soldiers mainly consist of halberdiers and swordsmen. The warrior priests of Sigmar are implacable religious zealots who fight to rid the Empire from the taint of Chaos, they gain power from their prayers to Sigmar and use war hammers in honour of their God Sigmar Heldenhammer to crush their enemies. Gunpowder, the Empire is one of the biggest users of gunpowder weaponry in the Warhammer World, they were taught it by Dwarf refugees and now have the Engineers school at Altdorf and the Gunnery school at Nuln to create their weapons, they have handgunners, cannons and the fearsome Helblaster Volley Gun at their disposal.

The units of the Empire that stand out are:

Warrior Priests of Sigmar: They can use their God given powers to heal and smite the unholy (and if that doesn’t work they are usually heavily armoured and equipped with a large Warhammer)

Flagellants: These are half mad religious zealots un-armoured but armed with mighty flails that think nothing of giving their lives for Sigmar.

Hand Gunners: Although standard troops, these guys are typical of the Emipre and can unleash a wall of lead shot at the enemy.

Cannons/mortars and the Helblaster Volley Gun:
The Empire love artillery, their cannons and mortars are powerful and have a good range. Their special Helblaster Volley Gun is a short range artillery piece which is basically a mass of small cannon barrels which, when fired, can decimate anything it hits.

The also have access to Wizards from the various schools of magic in the Empire.

To sum up the Empire draws a lot of influence from late medieval Germany.

High Elves

High Elves are an ancient, magical race that left the Old World many centuries ago, retreating to the hidden island of Ulthuan. They returned to the Old World by ships during the Great War, lending their magic and skill to the human ranks to push the Chaos invasion back. After the war, many elves stayed in the Old World and taught the realm of men some of their magic. The High Elves see themselves as protectors of the world, and will go to war again alongside the ranks of humans to thwart Chaos again.

Elven magic derives from a pure form of Chaos energy and is far more powerful than the magic used by men. A High Elf Mage on the battlefield is a powerful ally, and it's truly an awesome spectacle when he is wielding his spells. Because of their gifts in magic their ability to forge unique items and armour is also great. Quite often, you will see a High Elf wearing a magical piece of armour that was handed down to him, from father to son.

High Elves are highly disciplined, their archers and spearmen are particularly effective.
They are renowned for their powerful mages, Bolt thrower artillery pieces and their Swordmasters of Hoeth who effortlessly wield razor sharp two-handed swords with amazing skill.

Allies

A group of battle hardened Dwarfs who call the Worlds Edge Mountains their home and are led by a very capable Dwarf Lord will assist you in exchange for some gold.

For more information visit the game's official website and look out for our review very soon. And don't forget to read about the Bad Guys over on CVG.