History VideoGame / TotalWarWarhammerII

* YourSizeMayVary: The scale of the maps of the Vortex Campaign and the Mortal Empires differ somewhat with that of the original map from the lore. Ulthuan is a pretty notable example. In the Vortex Campaign, it's much larger than it really is while also being much closer to Norsca and the Southlands. In the Mortal Empires Campaign, Ulthian is instead positioned between Bretonnia and Estalia, and the Southlands are a bit further away. Ulthuan is also only slightly smaller than what is depicted in canon.

** Towards the end of the campaign it is revealed [[spoiler:the Skaven are ultimately the primary cause of the conlfict, engineering the sighting of the false twin-tailed comet to provoke the other three races into dumping magical power into the Great Vortex, destabilizing it and permitting them the chance to summon the Great Horned Rat to the material realm.]]

* GoodVersusGood: Well for a given value of "good" anyway. The High Elves and Lizardmen both have more of less the same goal, to restore the vortex and protect the world, but will inevitably come into conflict anyway due to differing views on how to accomplish this.

** Finubar the Seafarer, the actual king of the High Elves, is only ever mentioned. Considering Finubar is a [[NonActionGuy politician first and a warrior second]] and was never actually playable on the tabletop, this is understandable. His counterpart, the Everqueen Alarielle, also never makes a direct appearance. Though unlike Finubar, she ''was'' playable on the tabletop and, unusually for an Everqueen, has been known to lead armies to war.

* YouHaveResearchedBreathing: Teclis, Mazamundi, and Morathi are considered some of the most powerful spellcasters in the entire world, and yet they start out with all but ''one'' of their spells locked, and needing an investment of skillpoints.

** Unlike in the first game, the "expendable" rule has been rewritten, so now units around an expendable unit will not ''loose'' leadership as they get slaughtered, encouraging this trope much more.

** Caledor and the Archmages who helped create the Great Vortex are eternally bound to it, in a state between life and death, forever chanting spells in order to stabilize the Vortex or else doom not only Ulthuan (the Vortex itself is what keeps Ulthuan from being consumed by the ocean) but the world. [[spoiler: In the High Elf campaign it's possible to relieve him and his cohort of mages of their pain every ritual, and finally free them from there eternal suffering at the end.]]

** Caledor and the Archmages who helped create the Great Vortex are eternally bound to it, in a state between life and death, forever chanting spells in order to stabilize the Vortex or else doom not only Ulthuan (the Vortex itself is what keeps Ulthuan from being consumed by the ocean) but the world. [[spoiler: In the High Elf campaign it's possible to relieve him and his cohort of mages of their pain every ritual, and finally free them from their eternal suffering at the end.]]

* TheUsualAdversaries: Anytime any faction begins one of the Vortex-influencing rituals, it's magical protection will slip, allowing a brief surge of the energies of Chaos leaking into the world. This will cause armies of Chaos Warriors to spontaneously rise up and march toward whomever is channeling toward the Vortex, drawn as they are to the magical power. Anyone seeking to control the Vortex will need to prepare to defend against them, a feat which is complicated by the potential intervention of their rival factions during this time.

* ZergRush: The Skaven's hat. Their armies are made of huge numbers of disposable (seriously, they have a quality called "Meat Shield" and are Expendable to boot) Skavenslaves and Clanrats, which are designed to either overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers or hold them in place until the more dangerous Skaven units (Doomwheels, Rat Ogres, Hell Pit Abominations, Plague Monks, Stormvermin) can get around them and lay on the hurt.

** Getting captured by Dark Elves entails this. The kindest fate you can suffer under them is sacrifice to Khaine. In their settlements, you can stumble on ''corpse fields'' of slaughtered slaves, who have a look of perpetual agony.

* TheAgeless: Heroes and Lords do not age, and as such, can't die from old age or sickness.

* AndIMustScream: Caledor and the Archmages who helped create the Great Vortex are eternally bound to it, in a state between life and death, forever chanting spells in order to stabilize the Vortex or else doom not only Ulthuan (the Vortex itself is what keeps Ulthuan from being consumed by the ocean) but the world.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Lizardmen care only for protecting their sacred sites and advancing the mysterious plans of the Old Ones, and will show no mercy to anyone who infringes on either of those things. Notably, the Lizardmen are competing with the High Elves for control of the Vortex... [[GoodVersusGood even though both sides essentially have the same end-goal]].

* [[spoiler: ThatsNoMoon: The Skaven successfully pull this off in a ''[[BeyondTheImpossible fantasy setting]]''.]]

* CallForward: Interacting with a Skaven faction led by a grey seer will occasionally result in a reference to ''VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide'', despite ''Warhammer II'' being nominally set before the End Times and the attack on Uberseik:

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: At the climax of the Skaven campaign the scribe turns on Vulscreek for attempting to sacrifice his clan to the Horned Rat, ripping his throat out...and completing the ritual ''himself.'']]

* ATasteOfPower: Like the first game, you're given a small number of upper tier units as soon as you start the game. Like before, you wont be able to recruit them for a good amount of time, so it's best to use them sparingly.

* ForDoomTheBellTolls: The Skaven's "Screaming Bell", a war machine that helps them to cast their spells.

* DoingItForTheArt: The unique monster versus monster animations were initially not meant to be included due to there being no room in the budget for them. So the animators used their own free-time to make the animations so that they could be used in the final product.

** Similarly the FlavorText for the "Wasteful" trait is : [[{{Film}}/Braveheart "Yes, we will hit our own troops, but we'll hit theirs as well. We have reserves. Attack!"]]

** Similarly the FlavorText for the "Wasteful" trait is : [[Film/Braveheart "Yes, we will hit our own troops, but we'll hit theirs as well. We have reserves. Attack!"]]

** A possible one is the [[https://puu.sh/xM4ta/2eabb8d97d.png trait a lord gets from defeating Queek Headtaker]], which sounds pretty close to the "rat-flail" in the VGCats [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/images/040825.jpg Skittles comic strip]]

* TheGhost: As with the first game, numerous characters not yet featured in game are mentioned. Some mentions may count as Foreshadowing.
** Finubar the Seafarer, the actual king of the High Elves, is only ever mentioned. Considering Finubar is a [[NonActionGuy politician first and a warrior second]] and was never actually playable on the tabletop, this is understandable. His counterpart, the Everqueen Alarielle, also never makes a direct appearance. Though unlike Finubar, she ''was'' playable on the tabletop and, unusually for and Everqueen, has been known to lead armies to war.

* BlingOfWar: The High Elves, Dark Elves and Lizardmen all sport some *very* ornate armour amongst their ranks. The Skaven are the only ones who don't really indulge in this.

* ZergRush: The Skaven's hat. Their armies are made of huge numbers of disposable (seriously, they have a quality called "Meat Shield" and are Expendable to boot) Skavenslaves and Clanrats, which are designed to either overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers or hold them in place until the more dangerous Skaven units (Doomwheels, Rat Ogres, Hell Pit Abominations, Plague Monks, Stormvermin) can get around them and lay on the hurt.