As the real-time strategy genre matures, developers are trying to figure out ways to evolve past the genre's formulaic gameplay of gathering resources, building a base, and enlisting a huge army to crush the other guy. Enter Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, a brand-new real-time strategy game from Namco that looks to advance the gameplay and graphics of real-time strategy to a whole new level. Based on the iconic Warhammer miniatures game, Mark of Chaos will let you take control of various fantasy-themed factions as they vie for supremacy. Due out next year, Mark of Chaos is being developed by Black Hole Games, the studio responsible for last year's beautiful real-time strategy game Armies of Exigo. Judging from the first screenshots of Mark of Chaos, it appears that Black Hole is upping the graphical ante even higher. Intrigued by what we've seen, we caught up with Namco senior producer Chris Wren to get the first details.

Get ready for some amazing-looking Warhammer battles.

GameSpot: Can you give us an overview of Mark of Chaos? So far, we've only seen a brief tech demonstration of the game and its playable sides. Will the game focus on resource-gathering and battles with good-sized armies, like Armies of Exigo? Is it a smaller-scale, micromanagement-heavy game, or a larger-scale, "epic" strategy game with thousands of units onscreen?

Chris Wren: Unlike a traditional RTS, Mark of Chaos puts the focus squarely on the battlefield. We are not encouraging players to "skip" battles or "win" the resource game. To succeed in Mark of Chaos, you must learn to command your army and defeat your enemies. Gameplay centers on taking territory, developing your army, strengthening the territories you have, and, if needed, defending them. In short, Mark of Chaos is all about war and giving you more control over the actual battling and not just the decisions that lead up to it.

There are no peons to mine gold or harvest crops in this game. Imagine if people were trying to do this sort of thing on a modern battlefield. It is a war zone, and there is no room for day-to-day errands and resource allocation. You will, however, have a capital that is the hub for all of your campaigning. Your capital can be expanded and upgraded with various technologies and defensive structures. Most of your capital management will be addressed outside of battle in our tactical mode. You won't build a blacksmith shop while your capital is under siege. You'll instead need to defend the walls with your army. That is not to say that there won't be anything to build or upgrade. You will be able to put up various structures on the battlefield to support the immediate effort, such as reinforcement camps and defensive structures, like towers. Existing structures can be garrisoned, modified, and repaired in real time as well. For example, a bridge may need to be repaired before your army can advance, or a small farm may provide a nice defensive bonus if occupied. Some of the regions of the game will have even larger structures, like keeps, which can be taken and reinforced. To support this, we have an entire siege game mechanic in the works, complete with catapults, ladders, and battering rams.

The scale of the army you take to battle will vary over time depending on the scenario at hand. In some cases, you may take a small force into a forest to recover an ancient artifact, or, if the battle calls for it, you might bring an army of a thousand or more. The campaign provides a lot of avenues to explore all of these different scales, and we think that for multiplayer, different players will all have their own preference for how they like to fight. You can expect the smaller-scaled combat to be much more about micromanaging each unit and giving them specific instructions, whereas the epic battles will involve giving more army-level commands. We are providing both a "general's" and a "sergeant's" toolbox to allow the player to wage war effectively at all scales.

GS: How many playable factions are there (and how many unplayable)? Can you list them and give us a brief overview of the different sides, as well as their motivations for appearing in the game? For instance, are the orks looking to accomplish a specific goal, or just to pillage everything?

CW: Mark of Chaos will include four of the 17 armies found in the Warhammer universe. These include the empire, high elves, skaven, and chaos, along with several units from other Warhammer armies, introduced as "mercenaries" that you can add to your ranks.

The empire is the most human faction in the game. The armies of men in the Old World are the frontline defenders against the chaos invaders from the north. They have a rudimentary form of magic taught to them by the high elves after the first Great Chaos War, and a faith in their ancient god, Sigmar, whom they worship devoutly. The empire has found that its ingenuity and ability to adapt is its greatest weapon against a world filled with monstrous beasts and supernatural evils. Their steel armor and swords, combined with their black powder and advanced tactics, allow them to stand toe-to-toe with some of the nastiest things in the Warhammer world. Politically, the empire is led by (you guessed it) an emperor, and beneath him are a collection of loose states, each under the command of an elector count. In times of peace (which never seem to happen in Warhammer), these states are political rivals fighting over trade routes or land rights. But when threatened, the emperor unites the counts to defend the empire.

The combat is visceral and downright gorgeous.

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 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 elves see themselves as protectors of the world, and if the need arises they 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. An elven mage on the battlefield is a powerful ally, and it's truly an awesome spectacle when he is wielding his spells. In addition to magic, the high elves are surgical warriors, whose orderly ranks and precise attacks make them deadly even in small numbers.