Battlefleet Gothic: Armada has launched on Steam after being delayed for a month after player feedback from the closed beta. The Warhammer 40,000 real time strategy is a video game adaptation of the Battlefleet Gothic table top game first released in 1999 by Games Workshop. Developed by Etherium developer Tindalos Interactive and Published by Focus Home Interactive, the game has received a very positive reception on both Steam reviews and Metacritic.
The single player campaign sets the player in the role of Admiral Spire, a newly appointed Admiral in the Imperial Navy who now commands the Battlefleet Gothic. Featuring a story driven campaign, micromanagement of ships and a well-designed naval style space combat system, there’s plenty of content to be had. In multiplayer players are set against in each with four factions to choose from including the war loving Orkz and speed focused Eldar, with two new factions on the way in the form of DLC including the Space Marines.
In my time with Battlefleet’s Single player campaign I’ve liberated worlds from Chaos corruption, stemmed the tide of Ork invasion and put a stop to the machinations of the Eldar. The campaign centres around a turn based system with limited deployments each turn. Each world in the Gothic sector has various resources attached to it, which if lost will apply debuff’s in different forms. This forces the player to make hard choices about which worlds to save, potentially leaving other threats to fester and grow worse.
With our full review coming soon, could Battlefleet Gothic: Armada end up on our list of The Best Strategy Games for PC?
The choices you make will have an effect in some form. I myself had to make the tough decision of either helping another battlefleet against some Orkz or help the Space marines battle chaos forces. I of course choose the Space Marines. After the battle the space marines rewarded me with a favour ability that can be attached to one of my ships however the Imperial navy was not happy and lost many lives and a forge world to boot. The game’s writing and dialogue did a great job of making me feel guilty when leaving a world to fend for themselves, adding a certain emotional component to the decision making.
The games combat is a joy to play and is the first RTS in a while to really require a certain tactical prowess. With a host of mission modes from straight up death matches to objective based planetary assaults, choosing the right ships for the task at hand is a must. Once in combat knowing your ships armaments is key as the range effectiveness of your weaponry is needed to deal effective damage. While most Ships armaments are fired automatically, the game remains a hands on RTS with the inclusion of abilities including special weapons like the powerful Nova cannon.
Successfully going toe to toe against forces who outnumber you and wining is a great feeling but losing is bitter. I sent my strongest battlecruiser into a battle I was sure to win. Little did I know that my slow tank of a ship would be a sitting duck for an agile Eldar fleet. Every time I tried to go after one, they would shoot away. My ship just sat there while ship and ship ran circles around my behemoth. It was like a pack of piranhas circling shark that was shortly followed by a death of a thousand paper cuts. Losing my strongest ship for several turns until it could be rebuilt.
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is ultimately a game that requires you to think tactically and manage almost every aspect of your ships. It’s a visual and audible treat for any Warhammer 40k fan. We have loved our time with the game so far with epic wins and heart breaking losses. Tell us about your experiences and heroic deeds in the comment section.
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