The broad mix of minefields, nebulae and asteroid fields offers multiple sensor blind spots and hazards to navigate about as you engage enemy fleets. Speaking of maps, the tactical battle maps will be extremely familiar to anyone who played the original Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. However, while Total War: Warhammer II made this into a frustrating element given how Chaos doom stacks could pop in out of nowhere, it's instead a case of just thinking ahead. It's easy to become blindsided by an advancing fleet, and it encourages the need for a player to double back and cover their tracks rather than just focusing on the frontlines. While the original only retained minor benefits and a few notable choke-points to hold back the oncoming tide of Chaos forces, this one instead expands upon this to create a complex jump network. ![]() ![]() This is especially true of those which retain resource that reflect their origins, and it even gives old hands of the franchise an edge in terms of what to predict upon claiming a planet for themselves.Īway from the lore related fanwankery, the maps themselves are extremely well thoughts out with their mix of Warp lanes. Ranging from several First Founding Space Marine chapter homeworlds to prominent battlefields which have emerged over the years, it's a fun bonus to see these cropping up with their unique benefits, especially in the Imperial campaign. The actual worlds themselves are a broad mix of named systems from across the lore. This means that, even once the map is familiar to you, there is always a need to never fall back on the same line of thought in overcoming strongholds or devising means to cover your shortcomings. This isn't simply a Terran, Zerg and Protoss dynamic either, as you have to approach each force with a vastly different mentality on a grand scale. The very fact that each faction not only has entirely different resources they need to focus upon, and means to construct their fleets, gives the game immense replay value. The Tyranids, meanwhile, need to infiltrate planets, overwhelm their defenses, and then consume their biomass to further expand their fleets. The Necrons don't give a damn about this, as they need to unearth their greatest assets and find dormant facilities to benefit their power. They need to take and hold strategic locations. ![]() The Imperium is after traditional facilities, shipyards and established planets of importance. No, we're not just talking about different units and an emphasis on certain combat benefits, but entirely new sets of resources and means to claiming worlds. The aforementioned Necrons and Tyranids are the big ones, retaining their own benefits and strengths. Unfortunately, it largely stuck to established storytelling developments, so instead, it has offered up multiple new campaigns for xenos species. In the original, you had a cohesive, detailed and well-told saga with multiple mechanical developments and branching story elements. In the case of Armada 2, the big development here stemmed from its need for more campaigns. Like any sequel this one sought to take the original's strengths and refine them, keeping what worked while enhancing its grand strategy elements.ĭoes it work? Yes, but it's not without a few problems.Įvery good sequel always needs to look into what made the first installment work an then to expand upon it. As reviewed here, it featured a popular mix of controlled RTS and Action RPG elements along with 4X-lite mechanics. Tindalos Interactive's original Battlefleet Gothic: Armada was one of the best among these releases. ![]() Some have failed, others don't quite live up to their potential, but the successes stand out over these. Rather than closely guarding its IP, we have ended up with a broad range of AAA, B-list and the odd C-list release, all of varying budgets. Well, now that wait is over.Įver since Kevin Rountree has taken over as CEO of Games Workshop, we have seen a dramatic shift in attitude in terms of its attitude toward spin-offs. With distinct visuals, extraordinarily gothic designs and representation of every race, it long maintained a small but devoted fandom over the decades while it was ignored. Battlefleet Gothic has long been the unsung extension to the main setting, veering away from ground-based battles and into the stars. In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, there are only flying cathedrals.
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