UPDATE 3/28/2016: Tindalos, the development team behind Armada recently released a new patch that enables everyone who pre-ordered the game to play as the Ork faction and has promised that everyone who pre-purchases the game will gain access to the Space Marine fleet and one extra fleet that Tindalos has promised that they will “unveil soon.” What that faction could be is anyone’s guess. In addition, we now have a hard release date for Armada: April 21st. You can read more here.
In the grim darkness of the far future…
There are only LARGE CATASTROPHIC EXPLOSIONS using massive ships styled after Gothic cathedrals!
By now you all know that I absolutely adore Warhammer 40,000 so I apologize for throwing more of it at you, but I can’t ignore this very intriguing and utterly explosive (get it? Yeah? Yeah?!) new title in the Warhammer franchise. Surprisingly, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada takes a step away from the usually ground warfare centered themes of the many other Warhammer 40,000 titles and instead propels you into the horrifying world of space combat. Beset on all sides, the Imperium of Man must defend itself from xenos, heretics, and demons all the while struggling to maintain the trillions upon trillions that swear allegiance to their God-Emperor and the Imperium as a whole.
In charge of commanding your own fleet of ships ranging anywhere from the quick and lethal frigates all the way up to the utterly awe inspiring 8km long battleship and beyond, Armada looks to be a very intense strategy game somewhat stylized on the now defunct tabletop game Games Workshop released many years back. Called “Battlefleet Gothic”, players could assemble their own fleets from nearly every faction and battle it out in space with a variety of fun rules and scenarios to change up the gameplay. Unfortunately, Gothic became something of a niche game and Games Workshop eventually ceased their support of the product.
All is not lost, however, for Focus Home Interactive announced the development of Armada on January 16th of last year and the game is slated to release this month! No exact date has been given, but we should see it sometime soon!
You can ram your ship into the enemies. It is not only an effective tactic, but HIGHLY encouraged!
If you’re interested in seeing how the game will play, check out this gameplay trailer. It features the Imperial Navy, but you will be able to play as Chaos, Orks, and Eldar factions. Focus Interactive really looks like they’re incorporating powerful and innovative strategies (that make sense!) to Armada as well as adding familiar elements such as persistent captains and crews that level up as they survive battles and the ability to warp out to repair and warp back in later in the fight. The Chaos and Imperial factions look very distinctive and I can’t wait to see how the Orks and Eldar play. I can only imagine the Orks run like they do on the tabletop, their ramshackle vessels somehow operational and utterly terrifying with the amount of bullets they can expend, while the Eldar have advanced technology and incredible speed.
Did any of you ever play Nexus: The Jupiter Incident? Or maybe Star Wars: Empire at War? Armada looks like it takes a lot of inspiration from both of those games and I greatly appreciate the attention to detail on the literally Gothic cathedrals that make up the Imperial vessels and the disturbing chaotic marks that adorn the vessels of Chaos. I only hope the actual game delivers on all of its promises and truly lets us delve into a deep strategic experience.
Happy gaming, everyone! Victorus aut Mortis!
-Valiant