Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War is currently 92% off on Fanatical — down to $3.19 from $39.99.

At 92% off, this is one of the deepest discounts Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War reaches on Fanatical — near its typical floor.

That works out to $36.80 off the Fanatical list price of $39.99.

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Warhammer 40,000: Gladius, Relics of War

If you’ve ever wanted to run a full-scale campaign in the grim darkness of the far future without needing to know decades of tabletop lore, Gladius is a solid entry point. Proxy Studios built this as the first turn-based 4X strategy game set in the Warhammer 40K universe, and the hook is simple: a supposedly quiet archeology dig on Gladius Prime cracks open something ancient and hostile, and four very different factions get pulled into the fight to control the planet. It’s classic 4X structure (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) wrapped in 40K’s particular flavor of grimdark violence.

How it plays

You pick one of four factions, Astra Militarum, Space Marines, Orks, or Necrons, and each plays nothing like the others, with its own tech tree and approach to war. You’ll found and grow cities, put up buildings and fortifications, and manage resource production to keep your war machine funded. The map is randomly generated each game, so you’re never memorizing the same terrain twice, and it’s dotted with wildlife and environmental hazards that can wear down your troops’ morale before the enemy even shows up. Scattered ancient relics give a real incentive to push into unexplored territory early, since holding them can tip a fight in your favor. Combat and expansion are backed by city edicts, tactical operations, and hero units who level up and can be kitted out with gear, from grenades to genuine relics of the past. Each faction also has its own story thread tied to Gladius Prime’s fate, which gives single games a bit more shape than a pure sandbox. You can play against AI, or go up against other people, cooperatively or competitively.

Who it’s for

This is built for people who already like 4X games, think Civilization’s structure but denser and more combat-focused, and who want that formula filtered through Warhammer’s aesthetic and factions. If you enjoy asymmetric factions that genuinely force you to rethink strategy each time you switch sides, that’s where Gladius shines. It’s less suited to players hoping for a fast, casual skirmish game or a narrative-driven RPG experience. Newcomers to 40K don’t need a lore degree to enjoy it, but folks who bounce off turn-based strategy in general won’t find anything here to change their mind.

Is it worth it?

For a strategy fan, this is the kind of game that rewards the time you put into it: faction variety and randomized maps give it real replay value beyond a single campaign. It’s not a game you blitz through in an afternoon, so it suits players who like sitting with a strategy title over many sessions. Given that it’s a Steam title that regularly goes on sale, it’s a reasonable pickup at full price for a genre fan, but it’s the kind of deep, replayable strategy game that’s especially easy to recommend grabbing when it’s discounted.

Quick facts

Genre: Strategy (turn-based 4X). Developer: Proxy Studios. Publisher: Slitherine Ltd. Platform: PC (Steam). Released: July 12, 2018.