Proxy Studios and Slitherine shipped the first turn-based 4X game set in Warhammer 40,000 on 12 July 2018, and it strips the genre down to the part 40k actually supports. There is no diplomacy on Gladius Prime: you win by completing your faction's quest line or by killing everyone else. Four factions launched with the game, Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Orks and Necrons, and seven more arrived as DLC over the following five years: Tyranids in 2019, Chaos Space Marines in 2019, T'au in 2020, Craftworld Aeldari in 2020, Adeptus Mechanicus in 2021, Adepta Sororitas in 2022 and Drukhari in 2023. Each one runs a different economy, so switching faction changes far more than the unit art.
Starting Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War is a strategy game built around Five resources with faction-specific economies and Cities that claim tiles with influence. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Space Marines | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Astra Militarum | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Orks | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Necrons | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Tyranids | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Astra Militarum. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Tyranids as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Five resources with faction-specific economies
Ore, Food, Energy, Influence and Requisition are the five, but no two factions use them the same way. Astra Militarum and Orks feed cities with Food and build with Ore. Necrons sustain population on Ore instead of Food. Space Marines fold food and ore together into Requisition and pay building upkeep in Energy, and they must build Fortresses of Redemption as outposts to gather it. Orks generate Influence by attacking and gain Ore for every enemy killed, which makes peace an economic problem for them.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Five resources with faction-specific economies works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Wire weed
A bio-engineered acidic plant that consumes all of a unit's movement points the moment it enters, permits zero building slots and deals damage every turn to whatever stands in it. It is a wall drawn on the map, and routing around it is almost always faster than pushing through.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Leman Russ Battle Tank: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The Astra Militarum workhorse armour and the point where a Guard army stops being fragile. It gives the Guard the anti-armour and anti-heavy punch that Guardsmen and Heavy Weapons Squads cannot supply on their own.
Step 4: Understand Cities that claim tiles with influence
Cities expand by acquiring surrounding tiles, and every city tile carries an upkeep of 1 Influence per turn, so unchecked sprawl quietly bankrupts you. Where you can settle differs by faction: Necrons may only found cities on tomb sites, Space Marines run out of a single Fortress Monastery and grow vertically, and Astra Militarum and Orks can settle anywhere they like. Astra Militarum Techpriest Enginseers can found new bases as well as repair vehicles in the field.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Imperial Ruins
The remains of the human cities that were on Gladius Prime first. Buildings placed in ruins produce extra Ore, units inside take 33 percent less ranged damage and block line of sight, entry costs an extra movement point, and the tile caps at 2 building slots.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Five resources with faction-specific economies
Ore, Food, Energy, Influence and Requisition are the five, but no two factions use them the same way. Astra Militarum and Orks feed cities with Food and build with Ore. Necrons sustain population on Ore instead of Food. Space Marines fold food and ore together into Requisition and pay building upkeep in Energy, and they must build Fortresses of Redemption as outposts to gather it. Orks generate Influence by attacking and gain Ore for every enemy killed, which makes peace an economic problem for them.
Cities that claim tiles with influence
Cities expand by acquiring surrounding tiles, and every city tile carries an upkeep of 1 Influence per turn, so unchecked sprawl quietly bankrupts you. Where you can settle differs by faction: Necrons may only found cities on tomb sites, Space Marines run out of a single Fortress Monastery and grow vertically, and Astra Militarum and Orks can settle anywhere they like. Astra Militarum Techpriest Enginseers can found new bases as well as repair vehicles in the field.
Faction quest lines as a victory route
Every faction has its own scripted quest chain describing what it is doing on Gladius Prime, and finishing that chain is a win condition in its own right. The alternative is extermination. There is nothing else, no culture score and no diplomatic track, which is why the mid game is a race between pushing your quest and stopping someone else pushing theirs.
Wildlife and artefact guardians
Gladius Prime is already occupied when you land. Catachan Devils are tank-sized scorpion creatures that are lightly enough armoured to kill quickly but hit hard enough to erase a squad, Psychneuein kill a unit and spawn another Psychneuein from the corpse, and Enslavers mind control any unit sitting below 6.5 current morale while draining 2 morale a turn from anything adjacent. There is exactly one Enslaver squad per artefact, so every artefact on the map is a guarded prize.
Terrain that decides the fight
Wire weed is a bio-engineered acidic plant that consumes all movement points on entry, allows zero building slots and damages whatever stands in it every turn. Imperial Ruins do the opposite: buildings placed in them produce extra Ore, units inside take 33 percent less ranged damage, line of sight is blocked, entry costs an extra movement point and the tile caps at 2 building slots. Rivers cost an extra movement point. Ore fields, grox pastures and recaf plantations cannot be built on at all but raise the output of matching buildings around them.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Expecting diplomacy
There is none. Every other faction on Gladius Prime is hostile from turn one, and the only two ways to win are finishing your faction quest chain or killing everyone.
2. Playing every faction the same way
Space Marines fold food and ore into Requisition and grow one vertical Fortress Monastery, while Orks settle anywhere and need constant combat, so a strategy carried across from one to the other collapses.
3. Sprawling cities without Influence income
Each city tile is 1 Influence per turn, and the bill arrives quietly enough that many players notice only when heroes become unaffordable.
4. Ignoring wildlife until it reaches a city
Catachan Devils hit hard enough to erase a squad and Psychneuein multiply by killing, so clearing spawn points early costs far less than dealing with them at your gates.
5. Rushing a Baneblade or a Monolith with nothing screening it
Super-heavy units carry heavy upkeep and eat the budget that would have bought the infantry needed to protect them.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Five resources with faction-specific economies and Cities that claim tiles with influence
- Choose Astra Militarum as starting build
- Clear Wire weed main content
- Acquire Leman Russ Battle Tank or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Imperial Ruins
- Pick your faction by its economy. Space Marines run on Requisition and Energy, Necrons feed population with Ore, Astra Militarum and Orks need Food, and Orks additionally need to be attacking something every turn to stay solvent.
- Track Influence separately from everything else. Each city tile costs 1 Influence per turn in upkeep, and heroes plus their items also come out of Influence, so a wide empire with no Influence income seizes up.
Tips for New Players
- Pick your faction by its economy. Space Marines run on Requisition and Energy, Necrons feed population with Ore, Astra Militarum and Orks need Food, and Orks additionally need to be attacking something every turn to stay solvent.
- Track Influence separately from everything else. Each city tile costs 1 Influence per turn in upkeep, and heroes plus their items also come out of Influence, so a wide empire with no Influence income seizes up.
- Route around wire weed rather than through it. Entering a wire weed tile consumes every remaining movement point and the tile deals damage each turn, so a squad that walks in is out of the fight for at least two turns.
- Garrison Imperial Ruins whenever you expect ranged fire. The 33 percent ranged damage reduction plus the blocked line of sight turns a ruin tile into the best defensive position on most maps.
- Scout artefacts before you commit to taking one. Each has exactly one Enslaver squad on it, and Enslavers mind control any unit that drops below 6.5 current morale while draining 2 morale per turn from anything standing next to them.
- Kill Psychneuein at range if you can. They kill a unit and then spawn another Psychneuein from it, so a melee grind against them can multiply the problem instead of solving it.
- Read the resource features before placing a city. Ore fields, grox pastures and recaf plantations cannot be built on but raise the output of matching buildings nearby, so a city centred badly wastes them permanently.
- Remember a running resource deficit throttles you rather than killing you. Hitting zero on a building upkeep resource cuts that building's production by 10 percent per turn down to a floor of 50 percent, and the same pattern applies to population growth.
- Necron players should scout for tomb sites immediately. Necrons can only found cities on tombs, so map knowledge in the first dozen turns sets the ceiling on the whole game.
- As Orks, do not stockpile and turtle. Attacking generates Influence and every kill pays Ore, so an Ork army sitting still is an Ork army going broke.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many factions are there?
Eleven. Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Orks and Necrons came with the base game on 12 July 2018. Seven arrived as DLC: Tyranids and Chaos Space Marines in 2019, T'au and Craftworld Aeldari in 2020, Adeptus Mechanicus in 2021, Adepta Sororitas in 2022 and Drukhari in 2023. Each ships its own units and its own economic rules rather than being a reskin.
How do you win?
Two ways only. Complete your faction's quest chain, which is a scripted storyline unique to each faction describing what it wants on Gladius Prime, or eliminate every other player. There is no diplomacy, no trade and no cultural or scientific victory, which keeps the mid game aggressive in a way most 4X games are not.
Which faction is best for a first game?
Astra Militarum. They settle anywhere, run a straightforward Food and Ore economy, and their power curve is legible: cheap Guardsmen screens early, Heavy Weapons Squads and Leman Russ tanks in the middle, a Baneblade late. Space Marines are also forgiving but their single Fortress Monastery and Requisition economy behave unlike anything else in the game.
What happens if a resource hits zero?
You are throttled rather than eliminated. If a resource used for building upkeep hits zero while your income is negative, that building's production drops 10 percent per turn until it bottoms out at 50 percent. If a resource used for population upkeep hits zero the same way, population growth degrades on the same schedule. Recovering income reverses it.
How dangerous is the wildlife?
Dangerous enough to plan around. Catachan Devils are tank-sized and hit hard despite moderate armour, so they want anti-tank weapons rather than massed infantry. Psychneuein spawn a new Psychneuein from any unit they kill. Enslavers mind control units below 6.5 current morale and drain 2 morale a turn from adjacent units, and there is exactly one Enslaver squad guarding each artefact on the map.
More Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Guides
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Overview
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Best Builds
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Tier List
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Walkthrough
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Tips & Tricks
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Weapons Guide
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Combat Guide
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Boss Guide
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Maps & Locations
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Crafting Guide
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War Classes & Characters
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