A Total War artbook produced by Creative Assembly has accidentally revealed one of the worst kept secrets in gaming: an upcoming Total War: Warhammer game.

The artbook was not supposed to be released until the end of the month, but one reader received his copy early and revealed his discovery in the sort of anticlimactic announcement that marketing teams dread.

“Im [sic] guessing it was going to be revealed this week before the book officially launched,” said StormOfRazors, the forum user who received the artbook.

Warhammer is a tabletop strategy game set in a hyper-violent fantasy world filled with multiple savage races. The original game, developed by British company Games Workshop Group PLC, is well known for its intricate miniatures that often sell for exorbitant prices. The franchise spun out into several different formats, including video games, comic books, novels and movies.

The Total War series is a perfect fit for Warhammer, as the traditional tabletop game shares many similarities with Total War’s mix of turn-based and real-time strategy. Battles in Warhammer require strategic decisions about army composition and an effective use of terrain and combat tactics, all of which are also staples of the Total War series.

Total War is known for its use of historical settings and battles, with games set in feudal Japan, medieval Europe and imperial Rome. Total War: Warhammer marks the first non-historical setting for the series.

What about 40k?

While Warhammer has its dedicated fans, its popularity pales in comparison to Games Workshop’s followup series, Warhammer 40,000.

Warhammer 40,000 – often simply called “40k” by its fans – follows the same basic premise of the original game, but it takes place in a futuristic space setting that is even darker and more violent. Despite its popularity, however, Games Workshop is notoriously reluctant to make licensing deals for its bigger franchise in games that might compete with the tabletop version.

For example, Games Workshop allowed Fantasy Flight Games to create Warhammer: Diskwars, a tabletop game that uses inexpensive flat disks to represent units rather than expensive miniatures. Diskwars uses the Warhammer license, but there are currently no plans to create a similar version set in the 40k universe.

Similarly, there has been no mention of a Total War: Warhammer 40,000, but if the upcoming Total War title is successful, maybe Games Workshop will be more willing to consider it.