To celebrate Skulls 2026, there are currently a ton of offers on Warhammer 40,000 on Steam, including Gladius: Relics of War. You can get this Civilization-style strategy game for free until May 28.
In Gladius – Relics of War, you play as one of the various factions from the Warhammer 40,000 universe fighting for control of the planet Gladius Prime. While there is no “campaign,” each faction has its own tasks with victory conditions that are nearly equivalent to a campaign.
Gameplay is turn-based, where you build your city (or cities, depending on the faction), train units, and move across hex tiles to defeat your opponents. The game has a rating of “Very Positive” on Steam with 82% positive reviews.
Games Workshop presented new content for many Warhammer games at the Skulls event and published offers on all platforms to celebrate, including Gladius, which is available for free on Steam until May 28. The base game includes four factions:
- Astra Militarum
- Necrons
- Space Marines
- Orks
However, all DLCs remain paid, which still cost over 140 euros in total even with the current discounts. With the DLCs, you get new playable factions or – in the latest DLC “Eradication pack” – units like the Noise Marines of Chaos.
Gladius gives you a strong impression of what Warhammer 40,000 really is
If you want to dive deeper into the world of Warhammer 40,000 or discover it for the first time, Gladius is one of the best ways to do so. Hardly any other game in the Warhammer universe gives the factions such a strong profile.
Through the tasks, you learn more about the backgrounds and motivations of the various races. The unique units and buildings give you an insight into the iconic technologies. Gladius has even become one of my favorite games.
Next to Gladius, there are more offers and new content, such as a free update for Space Marine 2 that has attracted many players, new information on Rogue Trader and Dark Heresy, or Dawn of War 4, which now has a release date of September 17.
If you want to get to know the world of Warhammer 40,000 even better and are looking for alternatives to Gladius, the franchise has a ton of other games that are worth it – in the strategy genre, but also in others: The 7 best games to enter the world of Warhammer
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