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Needless to say, the crowd was insane as the guys ran in, and the gathering throng burst into cheer. These two have become the celebrities of Warhammer Online, akin to the rockstar developers of yesteryear. I am happy to say it will not go to their heads, as after each presentation the pair took the time to chat with all the fans and sign autographs!

If you have been following the news behind Warhammer Online thus far, then I will give you some new information we saw at Paul and Jeff’s presentation. We saw loads of monsters in the game: Skaven, Ogres, Greater Demons (Bloodthirster and Lord of Change), and Screamers were all running around the monster test zone. The creatures look fantastic and do perfect justice to their table top counterparts. The funniest part that Paul showed from his video diary was a Skaven running around with a Bloodthirster’s axe! The axe was about ten times the size of the mutant rat who rushed around like he had just stolen a huge chunk of Warpstone, I mean cheese, I mean…you get it!

Paul Barnett sporting a Ten Ton Hammer card...in his mouth.

The guys also went into detail and showed great preview footage of the classes in the Greenskin, Dwarf, Empire, and Chaos armies. We got to see some footage of the Witch Hunter running around the Empire countryside with his sword, guns, and most importantly, his amazing HAT! The onscreen Witch Hunter looked great and moved quickly, making him a tough opponent to the forces of Destruction. We also got a look at the Warrior Priest from the Empire. The footage of this fanatical holy servant of Sigmar caught the eye of many players in the crowd as cool fighting and healing abilities flashed on the screen when the priest fought some NPC foes.

Along with the Witch Hunter and Warrior Priest we got to see early footage of the Chaos Chosen. Yes, the ultimate representation of a Chaos warrior running around the world hacking things apart with his giant two handed axe. The Chosen looks absolutely amazing as far as a Warhammer representation goes. The armor was ornately decorated with all kinds of Tzeentch symbols and designs. Even the boots have the representation of a vulture designed onto them. Empire beware, the forces of Chaos will pack a mighty punch. The Zealot was also shown for the first time, running around with his skulls and weapons. It was terrific watching the Zealot interact with his talking skull, which he regularly takes advice from. Seeing these two classes in action really got the crowd pumped up.

The Dwarf and Greenskin classes were also shown, but as they have been discussed in depth, I won’t go into details. However, I will say that the overhaul of the Dwarf and Greenskin zones looks fantastic.

Speaking of zones, we did get to see plenty of the landscapes in the game. One of the High Elf towers was shown to the group and it looked great, exactly like the Warhammer siege towers we have often seen in the table top version of the game. We also got to see the Vampire’s Tower, which gives you a hint about who else will be making an appearance in the game. All the landscapes we saw to looked terrific.

Some fans playing in Warhammer's RvR.

I know many of us love to rush to the end-game levels in many MMOs but this game has a lot to offer and definitely will be enjoyed if you stop and smell the… rotting corpses… so to speak. It is Warhammer after all; did you really think I would say roses?

At the end of the presentation, the guys took questions form the crowd. Most of them had been asked before and are nothing the readers of Ten Ton Hammer don’t already know. However, there was one thing blurted out by Paul that made me hope I was right back at GDC when Mark asked me to guess the expansion races. Someone asked if there would be other races in the game, which Paul responded by yelling, “Yes, Skaven and Brettonians!” While not exactly a fact, it is a darn good rumor.

The rest of the day was spent playing some Warhammer RvR battles and talking with Warhammer fans. The lines for the EA Mythic Game Play booth were long throughout the day and players got an exceptionally good taste of the fast paced action in the game.

Please stick around this week as we continue with more exclusive coverage from the Baltimore Games Day! My interviews with Paul Barnett and Jeff Hickman – as well as Mark Jacobs – are all coming up on Ten Ton Hammer! Loads of information is on the way, just hang in there!

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