14 DAY TRIAL // Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War was a nice surprise when it launched in 2018. Fast forward one year and the folks over at Proxy Studios are still adding content to the game in the form of paid DLC.
The most recent one covers the Chaos Space Marines and it's now available for purchase on Steam for €12,5. If you haven't played the original game, we strongly recommend reading our Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War review, but here is a quick rundown of what this game is all about if you don't have time.
Although many compare it to Civilization since it's a 4X strategy game, I'd say it's more akin to Endless Space, but without the “boring” parts like resource gathering and politics. Instead, the game focuses purely on the fighting between various Warhammer 40K factions, each of them requiring a different playstyle.
That brings us to the latest DLC that adds a new faction – Chaos Space Marines. Before going into details, I'm going to say that this expansion is definitely worth the money, so if you've bought the base game already, don't skip the Chaos Space Marines DLC.
The most chaotic faction gameplay-wise
First off, I was amazed by how well the developers managed to capture the chaotic nature of this faction. Although the random aspect is prevalent when playing as Chaos Space Marines, it's you who decides whether not to take some risks or play safe. Every unit of this faction, except vehicles, has a small chance of becoming a “chaos spawn,” some kind of lesser demon, or a Daemon Prince, a very powerful demon, when killing another unit on the battlefield.
Obviously, you don't want your powerful infantry unit to turn into a weaker chaos spawn, but there will be times when you don't want them to turn into a Daemon Prince either. The only way to control the random aspect is to avoid killing enemies with units that you want to keep just the way they are.
Each infantry unit can get various bonuses from the four Chaos Gods: Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Slaanesh. Once you stack boons and marks, some of your infantry units will become very powerful.
Chaos lore fits perfectly in the Warhammer 40K universe
If you've played the base game, you'll want to know that the Chaos Space Marines faction plays quite differently. For example, in order to increase your population growth, you'll actually have to sacrifice cultists first. There are tons of new units included in the DLC, as well as a brand new research and technology tree.
As with all the other factions, Chaos Space Marines have their agenda and you'll have to complete various story objectives to win the game, or you could simply wipe out all factions from the map.
Story-wise, the new DLC fits perfectly with the Chaos lore, so if you're a fan of the Warhammer 40K universe, you'll definitely find it a great addition to the game. Long story short, if you liked Relics of War, the latest Chaos Space Marines DLC is a must-buy.
