Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Assault Pack
Proxy Studios / Slitherine Ltd.
Since its debut back in July of 2018, Proxy Studios (along with Slitherine as publisher) has given Warhammer 40,000 many hours of geeky pleasure with their 4X title: Warhammer 40,000: Gladius. It came with four races—the Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard), Orks, Necrons, and of course, Space Marines.
Since that time, they’ve released some really fun DLC such as the Chaos Space Marines, Tyranids, and T’au. Another DLC that I appreciated was the defensive-minded Fortifications Pack, which introduced some powerful late-game buffs to each of the game’s factions.
Seemingly in response to that pack (it was released in October of 2019), is the new offensive-minded DLC, titled the Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Assault Pack. This pack introduces some new units (one per race) that offer speed, mobility, and offensive power to their respective forces.
Here’s a breakdown of them:
Astra Militarum – Chimera
The Chimera is an amphibious transport APC with manned weaponry and communication equipment. It’s one of the most common vehicles of the Imperial Guard and its chassis serves as the basis for other vehicles such as the Basilisk artillery pieces.
Just because this APC is so prolific, doesn’t mean that it’s any slouch on the battlefield. Indeed, it fields some powerful anti-personnel (or anti-alien for that matter), and the Imperial Guardsmen that inhabit it can also lay down additional firepower from within its armored chassis.
Tyranids – Scythed Hierodule
Scythed Hierodules are classified as Tyranid Bio-titans and are gigantic monsters capable of hacking through entire armies. They have thickly armored chitin carapaces that are highly resistant to arms of all kinds.
Meanwhile, their four huge scythe-like arms are capable of slashing whole tanks in half. Just imagine what they can do to soft, fleshy targets.
T’au – Tidewall Gunrig
Tidewall Gunrig are heavily armed platforms that double as troop transports for T’au armies. It field formidable rail weapons that can devastate enemies on the battlefield. In fact, it is only called in when T’au forces are faced with only the most powerful of foes.
While its railguns shred through tanks and monstrous enemies alike with hypersonic rounds, it can transport T’au shock troops into the fray where they can be the most effective in dealing with their foes.
Orks – Warbiker
The Orks get somewhat a humorous unit: The Warbiker. They aren’t funny to their enemies, however. These Mad Max-esque vehicles rush into battle at suicidal speeds while their oily exhaust belch out clouds of greasy smoke. Environment-friendly, these are not.
Normally, these bikeboyz travel in packs so that they can obscure each other in billowing clouds of filthy smoke and dust. By the time their enemies know what’s going on, the Warbikers are already upon them and unleashing their powerful dakkaguns left and right.
Necrons – Flayed One
The Necrons get one of the most disgustingly creepy units in the Flayed Ones. These ghastly creatures dwell in a dusky, haunted dimension, until they sense carnage and pain. Once they do, they seep into our reality and creep up on their hapless victims. You don’t want to know what happens next…
Chaos Space Marines – Chaos Land Raider
The Chaos Space Marines finally get their Chaos Land Raider, a unit that goes hand-in-hand with any large Chaos force. These gigantic, massively armored and armed transport units can not only ship Chaos Space Marines to the front lines, they usually do so relatively safely since their adamantine and ceramite plates can withstand all but the deadliest anti-tank weaponry.
Meanwhile, their twin lascannons can melt through enemy vehicles that would dare to attempt to stop their murderous incursions.
Space Marines – Razorback
And last but not least, the Space Marines get their own heavily-armed transport vehicles, the mighty Razorback. These potent war machines roar over the battlefield with powerful weaponry that can threaten even enemy tanks. Their crew can also slam them into anything in front of them in order to deliver their Space Marine cargo to the frontlines.
In all, I’m really happy to see that the armies of Warhammer 40,000: Gladius are getting more fleshed-out. My only hope is that its developers keep churning out new units, even after the inevitable Eldar and Dark Eldar factions arrive (hopefully).
SCORE: 83%
The Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Assault Pack has some pretty good looking graphics that make its strategy gameplay truly shine. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig:
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