Attention Admirals, and welcome to the first devblog for Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2. In this series we’ll go over everything you need to know before release in January, from story to gameplay and back again. In this first piece we’ll go over the basic overview of the game, changes made to game modes and general concepts, as well as the key facts you’ll need to know.

Much like the original game, Armada 2 is a space RTS focused on recreating the feel and flow of naval combat, only with the giant starships and monstrous creatures of the 41st millenium. Positioning, speed changes, and turn rates must be taken into account as you manage your broadsides, rams, boarding parties, and much more.

On top of that baseline we’ve built a sequel improved in every way. All 12 factions from the original tabletop game are included and fully playable in multiplayer and skirmish games, updated and expanded for the modern Warhammer 40,000 universe. Three full campaigns tell very different stories of the fate of the galaxy as you command the Imperial, Necron or Tyranid fleets to dominance. Plus leaderboards, a custom fleet builder, along with balance and gameplay improvements.

Campaign: The campaign begins with a tutorial that depicts the fall of Cadia, an ancient fortress world that has held back the evil hidden with the Eye of Terror for millenia. Its destruction by Abaddon the Despoiler’s 13th Black Crusade sets off a chain of events that form the backdrop for our Imperial, Necron, and Tyranid campaigns. We’ll go into further detail on each in the future, including co-op, unique campaign mission elements, and the redesigned, deeper campaign structure.

Skirmish & Multiplayer: As well as the inclusion of all 12 factions, we’ve overhauled how Skirmish games are played. Each map has a number of zones that must be captured to gain points every second. You also gain points from destroying enemy ships, and wiping out the opposing fleet is still the most direct way to victory, but not the only one. You can play 1v1 and 2v2, an AI able to take any slot, with various new and returning map features.

Fleet Customisation: After picking a faction you must also select a subfaction, admiral skills, fleet upgrades, and build a fleet. Each of the 70 subfactions has a unique colour scheme, and some have their own skills or upgrades to select which represent their take on that fleet. Admiral skills are powerful abilities that only your flagship possesses, and come with long cooldowns and devastating effect. Fleet upgrades are more broad, affecting all or a subset of your ships and changing their playstyle.

Finally when building a fleet you select which ships to field, restricted only by a point total you cannot exceed. Whether you form that total out of dozens of light cruisers and escorts or a few heavy battlecruisers is up to you. Individual ships have varieties, so a single hull might be the basis for four different ships to select from, each with their own specific weapons and points values.

Multiplayer Progression: All ships and factions are unlocked from the start, so you can always deploy whatever fleet you wish against your opponent. More details on how ranked play works are coming soon.

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Please look forward to learning more about Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 in future devblogs. Next time we’ll do a deep dive on the lore of the new galaxy, as well as exploring the game’s three campaigns.