After being teased last week the venerable Space Marines have finally brought their massive cathedral ships and equally massive weaponry to Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. Everyone who owned the game before June 21 will find themselves with a free copy of the Space Marine DLC, while the rest will need to offer up a sacrifice to the Emperor (in the form of €5,24 with the currently ongoing discount) in order to try them out.
As far as tactics are concerned, the Space Marines come with heavily armored ships, packed full with highly trained and genetically modified super-soldiers. Expect to do a whole lot of close quarters combat, aggressive boarding, and naturally, ramming anything even slightly smaller than you! If you're wondering what all of this looks like in action, here's the recently posted "Space Marines" trailer:
Since there isn't much to talk about the DLC itself, allow me to share a bit of lore the developers brought to the table for each of the five currently available Space Marine Chapters:
• The Ultramarines, known for their extremely disciplined and courageous warriors are one of the most prestigious Chapter of the Space Marines. They follow the sacred texts of Primarch Roboute Guilliman’s ancient Codex Astartes unfailingly, which teaches obedience, self-reliance, and battlefield perfection.
• The secretive Dark Angels hold traditions and rituals that date back to the earliest days of the Imperium – they were the first Legion, and one of the most powerful. Every single Dark Angel wishes atonement for a great sin their brothers committed long ago on their homeworld, Caliban. These monastic Space Marines have only a single goal: To eliminate the Fallen Angels, the Dark Angels that had given in to the temptations of Chaos during the Horus Heresy.
• Space Wolves are savage. They accept who they are, fierce warriors from the land of Fenris, proud of their anti-authoritarian ways. A mutation in their gene-seed makes Space Wolves who bear the “Curse of the Wulfen” transform into wolf-like mutants.
• The Imperial Fists are recognized to be among the most loyal Chapters to the Emperor and have been instrumental in holding the Imperium together during the bleakest of times, with renowned stubborn resilience. They are Siege Warfare specialists, a title exemplified with their role in leading the defence of Earth, which gave them the title of "Defenders of Terra".
• The Blood Angels are a Chapter known for their impressive bloodlust, and an occasionnal deadly rage, but also for their keen aesthetic skills and their exceptionnal longevity, even for Space Marines. Their Chapter Master, Dante, is more than a millennia-old, and leads his Chapter wisely and with exceptional efficiency.
If you're wondering if Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is any good, may I suggest checking out the review I've done on just that topic. Short version, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is an excellent Warhammer 40k themed RTS that is a whole lot of fun to play, though it suffers from some multiplayer balance issues that will occasionally leave you saltier than the Dead Sea. Whatever you decide to do, I would advise waiting for the Steam Summer Sale (which is coincidentally supposed to start today) before making any concrete moves.
