Following on from Rome 2: Total War, the absence of naval battles from Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer 2 is notable. Although there are ship units in the game, naval battles cannot be played in-game. Players must auto-resolve naval battles. Now, a group of modders has created a mod which adds naval battles to Total War: Warhammer 2… in a way.
The GCCCM: Naval Battles Mod for Total War: Warhammer 2
Naval battles have been a major factor in several Total War games; Napoleon, Shogun 2, and Rome 2, for example, all featured naval battles. Creative Assembly didn’t include the feature in either of the Total War: Warhammer games, however. It also won’t be a feature in Total War: Three Kingdoms; in this instance, it may well be more of a historical choice. Three Kingdoms is set in China, during the Three Kingdoms period. That era of warfare did feature some naval engagements, but these took place on rivers and lakes and were fairly infrequent. Compared to the Mediterranean/European setting of Rome Total War, for example, it certainly makes sense for Creative Assembly to consider naval battles a lower priority.
Recently, several modders launched the GCCCM: Naval Battles for Total War: Warhammer 2 mod on Steam. The mod has two parts, both of which are needed for the mod to function correctly; these can be found here and here. While the mod does add naval battles to the game, it doesn’t add battles between ships. When two fleets in Total War: Warhammer 2 come into contact they will be able to fight instead of auto-resolving the engagement. However, rather than simulating a ship battle at sea, the battle takes place on islands and features armies of ground troops. The mod includes nine unique naval island maps.
The mod is currently in a beta form. According to the creators; “The mod is now at a point where we feel comfortable enough releasing it in a beta state… Due to the massive amount of backend changes, we cannot possibly test this enough on our own, hence the beta. Please report any and all issues so that we may fix them.”