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House Hereptrax Knights are durable even by the terrifying standards of their brethren. They fight on where lesser Knights would have fallen, forcing your enemies to dedicate extra resources to slaying your war machines.

When the Cicatrix Maledictum tore across the stars, the Knights of House Khymere were amongst the nightmarish warriors who burst from the Great Rift to prey upon the worlds of the Imperium. House Khymere forces are most effective up-close and personal, unleashing devastating melee attacks that wound even the toughest foes with ease while shattering the morale of lesser enemies.

Centuries of service to these uncompromising masters has made them incredibly effective warriors. House Vextrix forces are punishingly accurate, making them great at both shooting and brutal melee.

No Imperial record exists of the nightmares that befell the world of Matarakh, but the Khomentis Knights now fight for the Dark Mechanicum. House Khomentis forces get stronger in melee as they take damage, meaning your Knights get more dangerous as the battle goes on — and considering how dangerous a Knight is to begin with, this is terrifying indeed!

Inexorable and unflinching, the Black Legion exemplify the threat posed by the Heretic Astartes, emerging from the Eye of Terror for the sole purpose of erasing the Imperium from the galaxy. Black Legion forces are masters of mobility, advancing on the enemy while keeping up withering hails of fire and using Terminators to devastating effect.

Clad in ornate armour of rich lapis lazuli and purest gold, the Thousand Sons are enthralled to Tzeentch, the Changer of the Ways. Few armies can match the psychic dominance of the Thousand Sons. As their Sorcerers unleash destructive powers, ranks of Rubric Marines march in lifeless lockstep, supported by hordes of deranged cultists and avian Tzaangors.

If you want to unleash foul magicks and arcane rituals, join the sons of Magnus. Once a proud and loyal Legion, treachery has transformed the Adeptus Astartes of the Death Guard into plague-ridden hulks. Now, they persecute wars across the galaxy for Nurgle and their Daemon Primarch, Mortarion. Death Guard armies are slow, inexorable, and unbelievably effective at mid-range. Twisted by the brain implants known as the Butchers Nails, they live only to spill blood for Khorne.

World Eaters armies are brutal close combat forces, leveraging Khorne Berzerkers to shatter foes in relentless melees. Few can remain standing when such an army gets into close range!

The Night Lords revel in fear and mayhem. They will take apart an opposing army piecemeal, dividing and isolating the weakest enemies so that their confused cries can be savoured. Night Lords forces shatter enemy morale through their terror tactics. This maximises the impact of your Chaos Space Marines — in moments, a single gruesome death can become a devastating rout. Cold-hearted warriors whose only faith is in their wargear, the Iron Warriors have perfected siege warfare, and are able to gouge out even the most stubbornly entrenched enemies.

Each lives by a brutal, uncompromising creed — Iron Within, Iron Without! The Word Bearers march to war for the glory of the Chaos pantheon, stirred into a rapturous state of fanaticism by blasphemous catechisms and the dark promises of the Ruinous Powers. On the tabletop, the zeal of the Word Bearers makes them resistant to devastating losses, allowing them to field vast units of elite infantry without any fear of them fleeing. The warriors of the Alpha Legion are masters of duplicity, able to mislead and misdirect even the most vigilant of enemies before delivering the killing blow.

Their loyalties are ever in question — their effectiveness is not. Alpha Legion forces are deadly on the tabletop, as they are harder to hit at a distance.

This allows their own fire support units to lay down withering fire with little fear of reprisal. The Brazen Beasts charge into the enemy with animal fury, tearing them limb from limb.

They leave behind nothing but mangled corpses and blazing devastation. Their legend may not be as long as those of the Traitor Legions, but given time, it will be just as bloody! Brazen Beasts forces can pierce even the heaviest armour in close, combat, with even standard infantry capable of punching holes in terminators, tanks, and more besides. The Red Corsairs are consummate raiders with vast resources at their disposal.

When they emerge from the warp, they strike fast with overwhelming force to achieve their objectives before the enemy can respond. With an array of strategic options to play with, Red Corsairs forces can capitalise on tactical tricks more than any other Chaos Space Marines — perfect for plotters, planners, and tacticians!

For the Crimson Slaughter, the maddening cries of tormented spirits can only be satiated by the spilling of blood. Crimson Slaughter armies turn carnage into strategic opportunity. The Flawless Host have an unshakeable faith in their own abilities, their every strike perfectly timed and expertly placed. The Purge seek to cleanse the galaxy of everything that lives, not moving on until each of their opponents is completely obliterated.

They worship Nurgle, but their true master is a relentless and unflinching nihilism. On the tabletop, forces dedicated to The Purge are utterly ruthless when it comes to finishing off damaged units. By focusing their fire, they can easily down even the most dangerous of enemies.

The constant whispering of Daemons ensures that The Scourged know what course of action an enemy will take almost before they themselves do. Serving Tzeentch, the God of Change, they are uncannily effective combatants. Charge a force belonging to The Scourged at your peril — with brutal point-blank accuracy on their side, these Chaos Space Marines are excellent at defending against melee-focused forces.

Fabius Bile is a figure of terror and legend throughout the 41st Millennium. Having mastered — and twisted — the arts of genetic modification, he goes to war at the head of an army of horrifying creations that match the strength of the Chaos Space Marines with sinister modifications of his own.

With Fabius Bile allowing you to customise your forces even further, this army is ideal for tinkerers, schemers, or just anyone who wants to rip enemies apart in close combat! Famed above all other craftworlds for the sublime skill of their Rangers, choose Alaitoc if you favour using stealth and guile to prove the superiority of the Aeldari in battle.

The Aeldari of Biel-Tan — the most militant of all craftworlds — are consumed with bitterness. Their numbers depleted and their craftworld shattered, they continue to pursue their campaign of xenocide against all the lesser races of the galaxy.

Biel-Tan is renowned for the sheer number of Aspect Temples it hosts — and for the quality of its warriors in their chosen field of warfare. If you seek to form an army around a solid core of Aspect Warriors, Biel-Tan is the clear choice.

The once-great craftworld of Iyanden is now a place of ghosts as much as of the living. Despite this, the Asuryani of that faded realm do not meekly accept their fate — instead they call ever more of their fallen ancestors back into the fight for survival. Since repelling a devastating attack from Hive Fleet Kraken at terrible cost, the people of Iyanden have relied upon their Ghost Warriors with increasing frequency. Iyanden is the go-to choice if you seek to wield the full might of the Ghost Warriors.

The jetbike-riding kindreds of Saim-Hann are renowned for their preference for fast, mobile warfare, striking as a serpent before falling back beyond the reach of retaliation. Theirs is a craftworld of ancient tradition and a proud warrior culture.

Famed for its Wild Rider clans, the warriors of Saim-Hann are masters of the skies. If you seek to use blistering speed and the dynamic movement to outmanoeuvre your opponent, then Saim-Hann is your Craftworld of choice. Now, with their own forces splintered and Chaos rampant, they are tested like never before…. Devoted to the worship of the new-born Aeldari god of the dead, Ynnead, the Ynarri are zealous warriors from the Drukhari, Craftworlds and Harlequins who have forsaken their former oaths in exchange for salvation — and strange, death defying powers..

The Ynnari allow you to combine some of your favourite Aeldari models in a single faction, offering access to incredible heroes with all manner of strange powers.

Though by far the largest and most influential of the Drukhari kabals, the Black Heart has been taught by Vect to never be satisfied, and to rapaciously pursue ever more power. Poisoned weapons, such as splinter rifles, are more effective in Poisoned Tongue armies. Unleash venomous volleys with your Kabalite Warriors and watch your enemies fall before you! The Kabalites of the Flayed Skull excel in aerial warfare, using their speed and manoeuvrability to harry the most elusive targets.

Load up your transports and get them into position easily with the Flayed Skull — flying models have increased movement and accurate firepower, making them exceptionally deadly. Every weapon produced in the workshops of the Kabal of the Obsidian Rose is a masterpiece, equal in accuracy and lethality to the finest armaments of the other Kabals.

Many of the weapons of an Obsidian Rose army operate at longer ranges than others, making this a choice for anyone who wants to engage from a distance and cut down the foe before they reach your lines.

There is no place for frailties amongst the Cult of the Cursed Blade, for they teach that weakness exists only to be exploited by the strong. Stronger than other Wyches, and less likely to flee, Cursed Blade forces are ideal for any player who likes to make an impact and stick around for the late game. Whether enthralling spectators in the arena or slaughtering their way through an enemy army, the Cult of Strife have developed a penchant for bombastically violent opening manoeuvres which are as beautifully orchestrated as they are viciously deadly.

Slashing and stabbing rapidly as they rush into melee, Cult of Strife armies are perfect for players who like to adopt a hit and run approach, hunting enemy units and striking hard. Wyches of the Cult of the Red Grief revel in high-speed murder, and there is fierce competition amongst their ranks as to who can butcher their victims the quickest. The Prophets of Flesh have modified their own bodies and those of their servants to an extraordinary extent — so much so that few weapons their enemies bring to bear against them can inflict damage greater than that they have already endured.

If you want an incredibly durable force, join the Prophets of Flesh — they are so inured to pain that they can survive even the most vicious attacks that would cripple lesser warriors. The Coven of the Dark Creed has perfected every method of inducing terror, to the extent that their mere presence fills the minds of their enemies with nightmarish dread.

The mere presence of the Coven of the Dark Creed makes enemies more likely to flee in terror. Use this coven if you want to reduce enemy numbers quickly with carefully targeted strikes. The practice of internecine assassinations that exists amongst the Coven of Twelve ensures that weapons and wits are kept razor-sharp at all times, and only those members who are master flesh-carvers survive long.

Coven of Twelve armies want to close with the enemy quickly and butcher them in close combat, their weapons piercing and carving through armour. The Cult of the Four-armed Emperor are cunning, wily and endlessly patient. They are the masters of subterranean assault. Wherever one of their devoted walks in the open, a thousand more lurk beneath, ready to surge up for the kill. Do you dream of patiently planning a decisive ambush? Then join the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor.

The cultists of the Twisted Helix did not have the Genestealer Curse thrust upon them, but instead voluntarily took it into their society through extreme medical experimentation. They harbour unnumbered bio-horrors amongst their ranks. Play the mad scientist with the Twisted Helix. They excel in the arts of insane alchemy and dark experimentation, creating monstrous hybrids of all sizes and shapes who have the energies of forbidden bio-chemical concoctions boiling through their veins to lend them uncanny strength and speed.

The Pauper Princes believe that greatness can only be found in self-sacrifice and humility. Zealous to the point of mania, they bring the edifice of the Imperium low to ensure the new order can thrive — even if it costs every life save for the Patriarch itself.

Do you see your heroes as the stars of your army and everyone else as just cannon fodder? Well, the cultists of the Pauper Princes are so zealous they would gladly hurl themselves on an active frag grenade to protect their cult leaders. The Hivecult are militant, organised and hierarchical. They infiltrate not only the criminal underworlds and hive gangs of their host planets, but also the Astra Militarum regiments that recruit from them.

To the Hivecult, it is a divine duty to be armed and dangerous. The members of the Hivecult are used to fighting in tight-knit military units. If you want a force well-drilled in the use of sidearms as well as repurposed industrial tools, then is your Cult.

In battle, they fight with an uncanny discipline that sees them triumph against the odds. The Cult of the Bladed Cog is born as much of metal as it is of raw human stock, and is further augmented by the extra-galactic anatomies of the Tyranids.

This great blend of human, xenos beast and war machine is a deadly threat to its Adeptus Mechanicus hosts. If you see no difference between man, machine and alien then join the Bladed Cog. Their belief that all three can be made into a single, all-conquering organism has given them a supernatural resilience that makes them strong and hardy combatants. The weather-beaten, rugged survivalists of the Rusted Claw are more at home on the open wastes than they are in the claustrophobic confines of an Imperial underhive.

They are the pioneers, the nomads and the prospectors of their kind. Throw away your material possessions and join the cult of the Rusted Claw. While they are often clad in rags and tattered leather, the skin and chitin beneath is as hard as oak.

The Masque of the Midnight Sorrow numbers many bands of Players, scattered far across the realms of the Aeldari, all fighting a constant war against the Ruinous Powers. The worshippers of Chaos face few more determined or single-minded foes: these Harlequins will perform any deed to defy She Who Thirsts.

Midnight Sorrow units can always be in the right place to launch a devastating counter-attack, making them perfect for players who want to control the flow of the battlefield. Facing the Harlequins of the Laughing God in battle is a terrifying experience, but few masques are as sinister or unsettling as those of the Silent Shroud.

The Silent Shroud affect the morale of nearby units, increasing their likelihood of fleeing under fire. If surgical strikes are your style, you might want to consider the Silent Shroud. Their victims barely have time to realise their danger before the Harlequins are dispensing death throughout their ranks. The Masque of the Veiled Path epitomises every mistrustful thought and resentful prejudice Humanity has ever held for the Aeldari.

Amongst the Asuryani, it is said that to trust the Veiled Path is to step willingly into the void. For all this, they are skilled warriors. The Frozen Stars strike wherever and however they believe will elicit the greatest and grisliest amusement. In some ways they carry themselves as a force for good, striving to inspire their fellow Aeldari and follow the steps of the Final Act.

Frozen Stars armies get more powerful when they play aggressively, and are a good pick if you like to engage quickly and devastate your enemies with a flurry of blows. In the Dreaming Shadow, the fervour and energy of the Harlequins becomes something grimmer and more funereal. They are the guardians of myriad symbolic underworlds; their charge is to ensure that the dead stay dead, and the slumbering never wake.

Mortally wounded warriors of the Dreaming Shadow will attempt to land one final strike upon their foe — perfect if you want to ensure that even in death, your units are effective. Since first settling on the planet Raisa — located upon the very edge of the known galaxy — House Cadmus have taken great pride in their autonomous nature.

In recent times, when the shadow of Hive Fleet Leviathan fell over Gryphonne IV, the Knights of Raisa fought ferociously in its ultimately doomed defence. The destruction of the forge world freed House Cadmus from their obligations to the Tech-Priests, resulting in a change of allegiance that was widely embraced.

The Knights of House Cadmus hone their skills in competitive hunts — they excel at destroying enemy infantry, cutting them down in droves with deadly sweeps of their chainblades and mailed fists. No knightly house exemplifies proud martial tradition like House Terryn. Its Nobles have fought for Humanity since its founding in the 25th Millennium. The house derives its name from Maximilian Terryn, first ruler of the tropical world of Voltoris, a planet colonised at the start of the Age of Strife.

Driving their towering steeds ever onward, the Nobles of House Terryn are amongst the most eager to get to grips with their foes. If you want to thunder across the battlefield, this house is for you. Legend has it, before the STC Knight suits could be completed, settlers were forced to fight these beasts from horseback. Wielding gargantuan weapons with the skill and grace of an expert duellist, scions of House Griffith live for the glory of combat. Griffith is your house if you want to revel in meeting out justice, up close and personal.

There is no knightly house more loyal than House Hawkshroud. Its Nobles have cultivated an impeccable reputation for honouring their debts and keeping their word regardless of the personal cost, often on campaign fulfilling the promises of their lords and laying down their lives to uphold past alliances.

Whilst their oaths remain unfulfilled, the Knights of House Hawkshroud will stand and fight to their dying breath. Ideal for a general who values outlasting their opponents. By the time the antecedents of House Mortan had arrived upon Kimdaria, the mysterious nebula known as the Black Pall surrounded the planet. The Knights of House Mortan know well the value of a well-placed strike — they honour a well-executed killing blow above all else. When fighting at close quarters, they rain deadly-accurate blows upon their quarry, each movement carefully calculated for maximum effect.

Chrysis was the first Knight world to be rediscovered during the Great Crusade. The Nobles of House Krast are driven to take on the largest foes, making them peerless hunters of renegade Knights. Their cold, calculated efficiency gives them the edge in lethal close-quarters battles and duels. Only a handful of cities remain on the Questor Mechanicus world of Kolossi. Ever advancing, the guns of House Raven never once let up.

If you want to stomp implacably across the battlefield, unleashing copious amounts of firepower, House Raven is for you. True servants of the Machine God, the warriors of House Taranis bear the honour of belonging to the first of the knightly houses, and although they bear the names of Noble and Knight, they do not follow the feudal ways of their kin.

Founded on Mars, House Taranis believe themselves uniquely favoured by the Omnissiah. It may well be true — their superbly maintained machines shrug off blows that first seem to have struck true.

If you like your enemies stare in disbelief at the amount of punishment you can take, choose House Taranis. Despite being one of the greater houses amongst those aligned to the Adeptus Mechanicus, House Vulker is reclusive and mysterious. Yet when called to war, the Knights of House Vulker leave behind their curious trappings, striding out to do battle with all the surety of their peers.

House Vulker places a premium upon well-coordinated plans for both attack and defence, always engaging the enemy at the optimal distance by utilising carefully cogitated trajectories. The accuracy of their close-range firepower is legendary amongst the knightly houses.

Every other clan knows that the Bad Moons are showy gits with too many teef for their own good. They also know to dive for cover when the yellow-daubed loons open fire — the sheer amount of dakka that a Bad Moons warband kicks out is amazing to behold.

Want to show off the biggest, loudest, and shiniest shootas? With all manner of targeting arrays, extra ammo feeds, and bandoliers of additional munitions, Bad Moons can typically lay down more dakka than any other clan. This reputation comes from their tendency to use actual battlefield tactics, often to great effect — nothing surprises an enemy commander like Orks who actually think about how, where, and when to fight.

Their instinctive grasp of battlefield strategy allows them to surprise even the most experienced enemies with their manoeuvres, feints, and ambushes. Orks of the Deathskulls are cunning, light-fingered, untrustworthy and insular, with a mean streak a mile wide. That said, there are none more skilled when it comes to looting the battlefield and cobbling together weapons and tanks from the resultant junk.

Are you superstitious? Is your favourite colour blue? If you want to surge across the battlefield in a roaring green tide, this is the clan for you. Once you get stuck into hand-to-hand combat, the Goffs quickly overwhelm their enemies by dint of sheer violent ferocity. Share Share Tweet Email. George Foster Articles Published. Genshin Impact: Best Compositions for Shenhe.

Armageddon is a hex-based, turn-based strategy game with an intricate plot that draws heavily on the rich lore of its planetary setting, bringing many of the characters of the tabletop game to life.

Combined with its online maps and terrain features, Armageddon presents a unique tactical experience and sets the bar for developers trying to center games around key points in 40k lore. The game expands upon the foundation of the original Dawn of War and its expansion Winter Assault, bringing two new factions and new units for all existing factions. These factions, representing a large portion of the diverse factions of the 40k setting, are given a unique general that players can upgrade by achieving campaign goals while they conquer the planet of Kronus.

Like previous installments in the original Dawn of War franchise, Dark Crusade is a real-time strategy game that forgoes the resource management typical of the genre, favoring lightning paced action. Similar games that used multiple factions would usually have set strengths and weaknesses for each army, but Dark Crusade goes further by giving each a non-linear story based on which enemy fortresses the player destroys.

It all comes together to make the game engaging and greatly replayable, and it still maintains a large group of online players and modders. Dawn of War holds up after so many years thanks to its massive battles, base building mechanics, and combat animations. Skip to main content. Level up. Earn rewards. Your XP: 0. Updated: 30 Jul am. BY: Matthew Pedersen. More on this topic: warhammer warhammer 40k Warhammer Sorcerer and scribe, I am always seeking out new stories, new worlds, new horrors.

Delving into dusty libraries and tombs, I work to drag the Weird into the light, even if its not a very good idea Gamer Since: Log in or register to post comments. More Top Stories. The core tabletop game continues to draw in new players and release new content, the tie-in novels They have been depicted in many Warhammer related PC games, primarily the first The franchise exploded with the release of Warhammer 40k in Each faction wielded units The company's Warhammer and Warhammer 40, franchises are dark, gritty, and violent, and reward players' tactical decision making and First of all, here's a full list of Warhammer 40, PC games: 1.

Space Crusade 2. Space Hulk 3. Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels 4. Final Liberation 5. Warhammer 40, Chaos Gate 6. Warhammer 40, Rites of War But how much do you Into hell you go. Spacehulk Deathwing Release Date The original release date was , but then they ran into some problems and thus have delayed it until further notice.

They could possibly get it finished and ready by the end of The work has been going on since Do not be fooled by the pathetic followers of the false God Emperor and their teachings, because the truth to real power lies beyond the Eye of Terror.

Join The Warhammer Community. The world of Warhammer is a highly detailed place and half the fun of the hobby is interacting with other players.

With its long and storied history and massive worldwide Reviews have not been kind to the latest game, however. In the World of Warhammer, There be Monsters One thing that Total War Warhammer brought to the popular war game franchise was a menagerie of great and terrible beasts for players to make use of. Coming in a variety of appearances, and sporting a number of different strengths and weaknesses, it This fierce brutal army is alluring to those who love lore, cool models, and destruction.

So many demons, factions, and strategies to choose from. I would like to What are some of the best Warhammer games to play in ?

There are a ton of Warhammer games that have been released over the years, but some of them stand out among the others as games that have remained and will remain good for a long time.

This adaptation of the first book did one thing right by casting Mark Strong as Eisenhorn. He's perfect, but the voice direction is weak and every cutscene is full of characters at wildly different levels of intensity.

Between the story bits is a mish-mash of third-person combat, collectible hunts, hacking minigames, that thing where you spin clues around to examine them—a bundle of features lifted from other games and artlessly glued together to fill the gaps.

It feels like the kind of budget movie tie-in game that used to be commonplace, only this time it's a book tie-in. Steel Wool Studios Steam. There are plenty of turn-based 40K games about squads of space marines jogging from hex to hex, but what makes Betrayal at Calth different is its viewpoint.

You command from the perspective of a servo-skull, a camera that swoops around the battlefield and lets you appreciate the architecture of the Horus Heresy-era up close. You can even play in VR. It's a cool idea. Unfortunately, you can feel where the money ran out. A limited number of unit barks repeat often from a different direction to the acting unit , some weapons have animations while others don't, and the mission objectives occasionally leave out details you need to know.

It started in Early Access and clearly didn't make enough money to keep it there until it was done. It's out now with a version number on it, but it doesn't feel finished. In Games Workshop released collectible cards with photos of Warhammer miniatures that had stats so you could play a rudimentary Top Trumps kind of game with them. It went through several iterations, and the version became a free-to-play videogame with painted 40K miniatures on the cards.

Don't expect Magic: The Gathering. You build a deck of one warlord and a bundle of bodyguards, keeping three of them in play, replacing bodyguards as they die. Each turn you choose whether to make a ranged, melee, or psychic attack and the relevant numbers get added up and damage exchanged.

Tactical choice comes via buffs to the attacks you don't choose which can pay off in later turns , and deciding when to play your warlord a powerful card whose death means you lose. Oddly, the only PvP is within your clan and mostly you play against AI that uses other players' decks. Not that Warhammer Combat Cards tells you this, or much of anything else.

Good luck trying to join a clan even after you've leveled-up the appropriate amount, thanks to a designed-for-mobile interface. NeocoreGames Steam Microsoft Store. Inquisitor—Martyr is pulling in three directions at once. It's a game about being an Inquisitor, investigating the mysteries of the Caligari Sector, chief among them a ghost ship called the Martyr. It's also an action-RPG, which means if it goes for more than five minutes without a fight something's wrong, and among the most important qualities your heretic-hunting space detective genius possesses are their bonus to crit damage and the quality of their loot.

Finally, it's a live-service game with shifting seasonal content, global events, limited-duration vendors, daily quests, heroic deeds, no offline mode, and the expectation you'll replay samey missions for hundreds of hours every time there's a content update. Why would an Inquisitor spend so much time crafting new gear?

Why do I need to collect a different color of shards every time there's a new "Void Crusade"? Every game wants me to collect shards of something and I'm just so tired. Scale is important in a setting where billions die and nobody blinks.

Mechs can't just be mechs in 40K. They're titans, god-machines up to feet tall that stomp through fancy gothic megacathedrals without slowing down. Dominus pits maniples of titans belonging to the Imperium and Chaos against each other in turn-based combat. You order a titan to move and a hologram appears at its end position; you choose who it's going to target and color-coded projections show which weapons will be in range.

You commit and the titan spends 10 seconds stomping to its endpoint, firing continuously the entire time—just spaffing out barrages of missiles and lasers while walking through buildings.

You get a lot of odd-looking turns where most of the shooting is at impenetrable rocks that happen to be between titans, which isn't helped by the AI's tendency to shoot when it has no chance of hitting, or the cinematic camera's tendency to clip inside mountains.

Another oddity: you don't plot out moves but simply pick where to finish. Sometimes you'll select a position within the movement radius and the hologram will instead appear on the opposite side of where you started because apparently you need to go the long way round and don't have enough movement after all. Some missions give you a fresh maniple, but partway through the campaign suddenly half the missions have to be completed with the titans that survived the previous one, a fact Dominus doesn't bother to tell you.

You're up against the forces of Chaos, which means Chaos Cultists, Traitor Marines, and half-a-dozen varieties of daemon. Meanwhile you're in charge of the Ultramarines, and while you can rename your troops and assign a limited number of heavy weapons per squad, after a while every battle feels the same. They drag on too, thanks to the Traitor Marines who litter most maps being able to survive multiple krak grenades and heavy bolter rounds.

The classic hex-and-counter wargame Panzer General has inspired a lot of 40K games, and Sanctus Reach, which pits Space Wolves against orks, is certainly one of them. It's not bad, but it is basic.

The objectives are often just capturing or defending victory points and only after three levels of those will you get something different like an escort mission or something, the story's a paragraph of text between maps, there's no strategy layer, and everything on the presentation side, from unit types to animation to level furniture, feels like the absolute minimum, where 40K should be all about maximalism. Other games do this identical thing better.

Take Civilization 5 or maybe Warlock: The Exiled, or Age of Wonders , then remove the diplomacy so it's all about war. Add some inspiration from RTS base-building, with separate barracks for infantry and vehicles around your city, then add heroes who level up and gain some quite Warcraft 3 abilities on top of that. Gladius is an intriguing strategy game Frankenstein, but it's got issues. On enemy turns it'll show a random battle happening to an ally rather than your own troops being slaughtered.

There's a storyline scattered about in quests, but to get anywhere with them you have to play an artificially long game or you'll defeat all the enemies and win by conquest before uncovering any of the tantalizing secrets it hints at.

Finally, even with wildlife turned down to Very Low, the early turns of every game are spent fighting alien dogs and bugs and floating mind-control jellyfish for way too long before actually going to war with the other factions.

Although it launched in a terribly buggy and unoptimized state, an enhanced edition rerelease fixed some of its worst problems. Now it's a competent claustrophobic multiplayer game where you can dress up your terminators real fancy. As a singleplayer experience it's let down by daft AI, and even with friends you'll have to overlook whiffy melee weapons and shooting that feels more like you're turning on a hose than opening up with a mark-two storm bolter.

Milton Bradley's follow-up to HeroQuest was a version of Warhammer 40, for ages 10 to adult, and Gremlin Interactive were once again responsible for the videogame. Like the adaptation of HeroQuest, it's a pretty direct replication—although for some reason the genestealers have been replaced by different aliens called "soulsuckers. It's quite slow-paced and you have to choose between music or cheerfully rinky-dink sound effects because it can't do both at once, and of course it's lacking the board game's slick miniatures and card art.

Nostalgia's a powerful thing though, and I adore these goofy pixel space marines. This was our first look into the grim darkness of a near future where there are only PC ports of 40K games made for tablets.

Space Hulk comes with all the limitations you'd expect from a game designed to run on an iPad Mini. This fine if unambitious version of the board game plays the same limited animations over and over, whether it's sprays of blood that appear sort of around genestealers as they're shot, or three red lines appearing in mid-air to mark a terminator falling to their claws. The way genestealers suddenly transform into a pair of bleeding leg-stumps when hit by an assault cannon is unintentionally hilarious.

Thanks to some patched-in improvements, like the ability to speed up terminators so your turns don't take forever, this take on Space Hulk ended up OK if all you want is a version of the board game with a singleplayer mode where you're the space marines. After the negative response to the PC version of their previous Space Hulk game, Full Control retooled it into Ascension, giving it a welcome visual upgrade and customizable marines.

More divisively it plays less like a board game, with reduced randomness, an upgrade system based on experience points, and tweaks to the way weapons work. Storm bolters gain heat when fired and jam when it maxes out, and instead of just filling an entire room or corridor with fire, the flamethrower has multiple modes of spray. And to make it look less like a board game there's fog of war, rendering the map dark beyond a tiny zone of vision.

Some of the changes are fussy and don't add much, but it's a slight improvement overall. Not many 40K games let you play aliens, but Dakka Squadron isn't just a game that lets you be an ork, it's committed to the bit. This is arcade aerial combat if Star Fox was violently Cockney and everything was soundtracked by wailing deedly-deedly guitar and shouts of "Dakka dakka dakka! It's maybe a bit too orky. Multiplayer is orks versus orks, and so is most of the singleplayer, though eventually you get to shoot down some Adeptus Mechanicus craft that look like flying boxes full of lasers, a few of the necrons' tin death croissants, and so on.

Mostly though it's endless orks in World War II fighter jets with nose-mounted spikes laughing as they krump each other. Missions drag on, with wave after wave of enemies and the same combat barks as you shoot them down, but fortunately a three-lives system was patched in so you don't have to re-do an entire mission because you got krumped at the end.