Best Warhammer 40k games that please the God Emperor

Not liking these games may be considered heresy

Saber Interactive / Focus Entertainment

Don’t expect peace, harmony, and tranquility in the best Warhammer 40k games – after all, the 41st millennium only offers one thing: war. Or WAAAAAGH, if you’re a barely sentient green mushroom that thinks the color red makes cars go faster. It’s difficult to explain what this setting is all about. There are no good guys, everything wants to kill you, and your planet might be blown up at any moment by your own government because someone said something mean about the deified corpse you’re supposed to worship as a leader. Oh, and it’s all just an ad for a miniature tabletop wargame. Just enjoy the overblown ridiculousness of it and don’t take it too seriously.

No matter if you’re simply curious about Warhammer 40k because of Henry Cavill’s new projects set in the universe or if you’ve finally found faith in the God Emperor after watching Astartes, these video games will be a great way for you to experience the grim darkness of the 41st millennium.

Warhammer 40k: Gladius – Relics of War

Gladius offers a ton of content for Warhammer 40k fans thanks to years of post-launch support. / Slitherine

Though the 4X game launched with a few problems in 2018, Proxy Studio really put in the work to make it a fantastic strategy title with subsequent updates and a lot of DLC that expanded the available factions and options. Mixing elements from games such as Civilization and Age of Wonders, Gladius provides strategic depth as well as intense combat. Keeping your units alive – and sane – is an important aspect of the game, especially when it comes to your powerful heroes, who gain equipment and experience as they discover new artifacts and vanquish their foes.

Warhammer 40k: Darktide

Darktide is one big adrenaline rush. / Fatshark

From the creators of Vermintide and Vermintide 2, Darktide brings the co-op game formula from Warhammer Fantasy over to 40k seamlessly. Join a penal battalion in service to the inquisition, choose one of four unique classes, and survive dangerous missions that bring you face to face with every horror grandfather Nurgle has to offer. Fun melee and ranged combat await you and your three comrades as you delve ever deeper into the fangs of chaos while preserving your resources and balancing your individual objectives with those of the team as best as possible.

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2

Time for some Dakka! / Relic Entertainment

One of the best RTS games ever made, Dawn of War 2 excels at squad level battles in which every unit is important and can be customized with additional upgrades or equipment. Adapt on the fly to changing circumstances as you play the campaign, lead a versatile assortment of factions in multiplayer, or survive in a surprisingly well-made and fun horde mode with a personal hero character. A deep coverage system and destructible environment are key ingredients to make this formula work, while base building is almost completely absent from this title. 

It really is a shame that Dawn of War 3 was never ever made, because Dawn of War 2 was an incredible foundation.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2

This? This is glorious. / Tindalos Entertainment

Whoever chose Gothic cathedrals as the primary aesthetic for spaceships of the Imperium of Mankind in Warhammer 40k is a genius – just look at them! And now, get this, you can ram them into other spaceships! Yeah. Battlefleet Gothic originally was a spin-off from the tabletop game and was used by Tindalos Interactive as a base for Armada and Armada 2, two amazing tactical space combat games. You have access to different factions, each coming with their own ship classes, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and playstyles. Line up your ships for broadsides, use nebulas and asteroid fields for ambushes, send Space Marines out to board the enemy, or boost the engines for an all-out ramming attack – the choice is yours.

Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters

Chaos Gate is an intense experience. / Complex Games / Frontier

This XCOM-like tactical RPG puts you in command of the Grey Knights, a Space Marine chapter with Knights Templar aesthetics and a connection to the inquisition. You need to investigate the origins of a mysterious plague, discovering a plot by the followers of chaos god Nurgle. As you travel the sector on your upgradeable capital ship, you send out small teams of Space Marines to combat missions, using the power of their equipment and psy-abilities to beat the odds. Cover and terrain play a huge role in your success, as you balance your resources carefully on every mission. A new DLC added an additional class as well as powerful Dreadnaughts into the mix, giving you additional options when building up your squad.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2

Putting the 'space' in Space Marine. / Saber Interactive

Before Saber Interactive’s Space Marine 2, Relic Entertainment’s original Space Marine game was the ultimate Space Marine power fantasy – the third-person shooter franchise delivers the action of Warhammer 40,000’s battlefields like nothing else can. Playing as Titus, a lieutenant of the fabled Ultramarines, you’re tasked with fending off a Tyranid invasion, but nefarious Chaos forces intervene in the conflict to execute their own agenda. Just like in the first game, you charge headlong into the fray, Bolter blazing, before slicing up enemies with a chainsword and an assortment of other melee weapons. Space Marine 2 features spectacular visuals and a great story campaign that’s set about a hundred years after the first game, resolving some of the open questions we were left with back then.

Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus

This game has the best soundtrack out of any on the list. / Bulwark Studios / Kasedo Games

Another XCOM-like tactical RPG, Mechanicus does away with the usual Space Marine hurrah and instead focuses on the Adeptus Mechanicus, the imperial priests of Mars worshiping the tech-focused Omnissiah. You’ll be going up against a unique enemy in the Necrons, a long-forgotten species that forsook its meaty existence and instead uploaded its consciousness into robots – which is something the Adeptus Mechanicus would also love to do, giving the story some great additional background, because the more you augment your Tech Priests to make them more efficient in combat, the more they begin to resemble the enemy they are fighting. Difficult decisions, a great story, and crisp tactical gameplay – praise the Omnissiah!

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War

Dawn of War deserves to be on the list two times. / Relic Entertainment

Yes, it’s the OG from 2004 and also one of the best RTS games ever made – Relic Entertainment was on quite a roll back then. While its sequel did away with base building almost entirely, it’s still present in Dawn of War, making it the better option for anyone who isn’t averse to a bit of macromanagement and economic space control in the style of the original Company of Heroes. Presenting action-packed battles between massive numbers of units with great art design behind it all, Dawn of War really did this combat-focused universe justice. Several expansions added additional factions and features, enhancing the game further.

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader

Rogue Trader is a sprawling epic. / Owlcat

Allowing you to take up the mantle of a Rogue Trader, a position inside the Imperium with unique freedom to interact with the universe, this CRPG is fulfilling many Warhammer 40k fans’ dreams with its sprawling and epic story set in the isolated Koronus Expanse. Recruit a retinue of mighty companions, expand your influence over the sector, and smash the enemies of mankind in very fun ground-based battles (and less fun space-based combat). This is Warhammer 40k like you have never experienced it before and a must-play for fans of the setting.

Regardless of genre or game, one thing most Warhammer 40k games have in common is a fantastic soundtrack, combining military music or futuristic synthwave with heavy organ sounds and monastic chorals to represent the atmosphere of the universe. Be they among the best co-op games or best strategy games, that’s one the most consistent aspects of all titles set in Warhammer 40k. Now go and sacrifice yourself for the Imperium!