Games

The Best Warhammer Strategy Games, Ranked

Published

2 months ago

October 10, 2024

The Warhammer and Warhammer 40K franchises are both incredible tabletop games, and they have each had their amazing share of video games as well. Stretching across several decades and many genres, the Umbrella franchise of Warhammer has managed to contain a great list of various video game adaptions under its belt.

The 10 Best Warhammer Fantasy Video Games Ever Made (According To Metacritic)

Table of Contents

The massive amount of lore behind the Warhammer Fantasy games has led to engaging titles that Metacritic has listed among the best.

However, there is one genre that has been far more popular and enduring than any other for Warhammer video game adaptions. This is the strategy genre, having proven huge for the franchise across both Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K games. With no end in sight for the several huge series developed using a strategy formula for the Warhammer franchise, the list of great games in this area will only keep growing.

Updated on October 10th, 2024, by Chris Harkin: Though the biggest and latest news in the Warhammer & Warhammer 40K universe is all about Space Marine 2, that doesn’t detract and hasn’t stopped the onward rush of great new strategy games in these franchises. With the huge success found from individual sub-franchises within these worlds and the overarching success of the other branches of media, not to mention a huge upcoming Warhammer 40K TV series, there are likely to be many more strategy games released under these banners. The ever-growing popularity and sheer volume of success already across different platforms make Warhammer a household name, and its strategy games are at the very heart of that.

12 Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach

A Fast-Paced Deep-Dive Into The Board Game

Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Released: January 2017
Developer: Straylight Entertainment

Sanctus Reach is another game not known to every Warhammer fan, but those who know about it absolutely love it. Sanctus Reach was released in 2017 as a video game adaptation of “The Red Waaagh” campaign from the Warhammer 40K tabletop game. This famous campaign made for a great story, as players chose to side with either the Space Marine Blood Wolves or the Orks.

Much praise was leveled from Warhammer fans and critics toward the unit and faction design put into Sanctus Reach. Besides having a great multiplayer mode, the flexibility of various tactics that could be used was praised. Although it somewhat pales in comparison to the very best of the Warhammer 40K strategy games released in the last twenty years, Sanctus Reach was a bold attempt to step away from the Dawn of War franchise.

11 Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector

Brings Turn-Based Tactics & Grid Maps Back In A Big Way

Blood Angel Space Marine squads in WH40K Battlesector

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Released: July 2021
Developer: Black Lab Games

The Tyranids have always been a true force to be reckoned with inside the Warhammer 40K Universe. They are a terrifying idea, moving with a Hive Mind and no conscience, unreasonable even by the standards of the Orc and Chaos factions. The campaign of Battlesector put them in the spotlight against the Blood Angels, a fantastic journey that highlights the great strategic gameplay.

As opposed to the Dawn of War games, Battlesector uses turn-based combat and a grid-like map that focuses on the movement and combat between unit-sized armies. This lets the player focus on combat and strategic movement, a slightly different style from many Warhammer strategy games, but one well worth trying out.

10 Battlefleet Gothic: Armada

Space-Based Strategy With A Laundry List Of Options

Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Released: April, 2016
Developer: Tindalos Interactive

Although the majority of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K are earth-based, focusing on units and armies colliding, there are some that boldly take the space battles into account. The Battlefleet Gothic board game did just this, and the Armada video game adaptation is ingenious.

Allowing players to take control of a space-based armada for one of six factions, customize their ships, and take on a variety of missions. The tasks range from destruction of enemy fleets to transporting specific vessels, defending areas, and even stealing data from the enemy. This makes for a fantastic ride through a very different type of strategy game in the Warhammer 40K Universe.

9 Warhammer: Mark Of Chaos

Focuses On Action, Detracts From Base-Building Aspects

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Released: November 2006
Developer: Black Hole Entertainment

Mark of Chaos was one of the earlier attempts to put a fun Warhammer Fantasy spin on the idea of an RTS game with a great story. It takes place in the old world and gives players the opportunity to choose between one of four armies, including the Empire, Elven Forces, Chaos, and Skaven. This offered players the chance to explore different strategies and ideas through the various forces they were able to command.

There are two separate campaigns that players are able to explore in Mark of Chaos in addition to the excellent multiplayer mode. Mark of Chaos came out at a great time for strategy games, but Warhammer Fantasy RTS games have always had a harder time than 40K games in garnering a fan base. Mark of Chaos is one of the best that have achieved it, enamoring fans with taking down the Chaos Gods.

8 Space Hulk: Tactics

Brings To Life One Of The Most Famous Board Games

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One & PlayStation 4
Released: October 2018
Developers: Cyanide

There have been a number of great tabletop games based on the Warhammer franchise, starting with the original game that can be played with the miniature figures at the core of Warhammer. However, one of the most popular board games to come out of this is Space Hulk, which was later adapted into this turn-based tactics video game.

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There have been a few Warhammer video games that adapt tabletop games, but nothing quite as well-executed from tabletop to adaption as this one, although the console controls were a complaint for critics. Space Hulk: Tactics is a great example of how a video game adaption of a board game can change and update the source material without altering too much of what made the board game itself great.

7 Blood Bowl 2

The Most Surprisingly Perfect Brutal Sports Game

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One & macOS
Released: September 2015
Developer: Cyanide

One of the wilder spin-off franchises within the Warhammer Universe, Blood Bowl, has managed several games, each a sports game that occurs in a turn-based strategy format. A violent version of American Football, Blood Bowl games involve a lot of violence and random events, such as helicopters being crashed onto the field of play.

After attempting various ideas that didn’t pan out in the first Blood Bowl game, this sequel mastered the formula, being entirely turn-based and having an extremely fun single-player campaign mode in addition to the other modes that returned from the last game. While it is by no means the most traditional Warhammer setting, the humor the series is capable of is shown off fully in this spin-off series.

6 Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2

Nails The Focus On Warhammer’s Space-Based Battles

Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 Battle gameplay

Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Released: January 2019
Developers: Tindalos Interactive

There is so much lore and story around the Warhammer 40,000 Universe, including a great deal about different planets and the races that reach across the stars in order to try and claim as many of them as possible. Given all that, it is surprising how few games about the Warhammer franchise involve space itself.

Battlefleet Gothic is an RTS game set in the Warhammer 40K side of the Universe, adapted from the miniatures around the Battlefleet Gothic wargame. Armada 2 was released in 2019 and was praised for making great advancements over the first entry in almost every regard. Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 doesn’t deal with that many of the most familiar elements to Warhammer or Warhammer 40K fans, but it is one of the most perfectly put-together strategy games in that universe, with a great modding community.

5 Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus

Turn-Based Tactical Combat With Amazing World-Building

Warhammer 40000 Mechanicus

Released: November 15, 2018
Developer: Bulwark Studios

The cybernetically-enhanced warrior priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus have hardly ever gotten a look in on the long list of Warhammer 40K games that have been created over the past few decades. But Mechanicus finally gave them a proper highlight in a turn-based tactics atmosphere.

Highly praised by many critics, Mechanicus was a somewhat simplified version of the board game of the same name. It was a fantastic jumping-on point for new players and strategy game beginners while being an enjoyable ride without adding anything particularly new for seasoned vets.

4 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2

A Tactical Masterpiece Featuring Many Armies

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2

Released: February 19, 2009

Similar to the Total War: Warhammer franchise, the Dawn of War series managed to hit an incredible peak with the sequel. Dawn of War is known for being some of the very best games, not just strategically, for Warhammer fans to try out, and Dawn of War 2 is arguably the best of them all.

In story and character terms, as well as so much love being delivered by fans and critics alike for faction and individual unit designs, Dawn of War 2 is one of the absolute peaks of the franchise, and part of what made it so great was the brave decision to take away much of the base-building available in previous entries, forcing players to strategically choose the units available before scenarios began.

3 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War

The Original Strategic Space Marine Masterpiece

Warhammer 40k Dawn of War real-time combat

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War

Platform(s): Microsoft Windows
Released: September 20, 2004

One of the most defining games of all time for the strategy genre and for the Warhammer 40K Universe, the first Dawn of War was a huge success that told an amazing story about the Blood Raven Space Marines who land on a planet under siege by orcs and find themselves in the depths of a darker conspiracy.

The Dawn of War franchise has produced some of the very best strategy games set within the Warhammer Universe, all because of the great first foray made by this game into storytelling, with a great campaign alongside the amazing real-time strategy mechanics that involve capturing points of interest on the battlefield and moving on to enemy bases in turn.

2 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War Dark Crusade

Goes From A DLC Into The Best Version Of Dawn Of War

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade

While the first Dawn of War game is one of the best-regarded games ever released under the Warhammer or Warhammer 40K banner, it is actually the second expansion to that game, which stands as a game in its own right, that has managed to become one of the very best entries in the history of the franchise.

Genestealer cults, Robot Guilliman and Leagues Of Votann

Warhammer 40k: Weakest Factions In The Lore

Every faction in the Warhammer 40k universe is powerful, but some have struggle in their quest for domination.

Dark Crusade centered on the planet Kronus, where seven different factions from the Warhammer 40K Universe were entangled in a war for control of the planet and the valuable locations there. Players got to choose from the seven factions, by far the most options available in a Warhammer game up to that point, and work to take control of different areas in RTS format, battling individual other factions and defending player-controlled areas from other faction’s attacks, until finally gaining control of the whole planet. With the Dawn of War franchise having quietened down, a remake could be on the cards.

1 Total War: Warhammer 2

The Ultimate Strategic Conquest Franchise Nails The Warhammer Universe

Systems

Released: September 28, 2017
OpenCritic Rating: Mighty

The Total War franchise is one of the best-known strategy video game series in history, having spanned a huge number of civilizations and eras of human history with the games that have been released over the past few decades. However, they also went into the Warhammer Universe to create a fantastic series of games about that franchise.

Working similarly to games like Dark Crusade, players would move their armies around the map in the turn-based format before meeting armies on the field in a real-time strategic fashion. After an initial foray into the franchise, Total War: Warhammer 2 was one of the absolute peaks of the Warhammer Universe throughout history.