Hello, fellow Warhammer 40k and video game fans! SaltyJohn from TFG Radio, and one of the Las Vegas Open Head Judges, here to bring you a review of Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2!
Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 is a fleet based void battle game set in the iconic 41st millennium of the Warhammer 40k universe. The game begins with you commanding a fleet during the 13th Black Crusades assault on Cadia. You see the Blackstone Fortress, the Vengeful Spirit, and the Imperial Fists Fortress Monastery, the Phalanx, in action all during the tutorial! If that doesn’t get you amped to play this game can you even say you’re a 40k fan?
Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2 has its roots in two previous projects, one video game, one table top. The original Battlefleet Gothic was a tabletop miniature game produced by Games Workshop, and it was a great game. It would be even better if it was brought back, hint hint, GW. The tabletop game was great and had multiple factions as playable in the game. Like X-Wing, the game takes place in space but uses the mechanics of naval games that take place in the ocean, as it’s difficult to represent the 360 degrees 3 dimensions of space on a table top!
Battlefleet Gothic Armada followed the 2d plane and “naval” combat style of the OG tabletop game. BFG2 follows suit and the gameplay will feel very familiar to anyone who has played Total War: Warhammer Fantasy or the similar Total War style games. Your turn in the campaign begins on the main map of whatever sector you’re fighting over and you can upgrade your systems to produce better quality ships, add ships to fleets, or create new fleets. There is a lot of macro management in the campaign itself and building different fleets is probably my favorite part. You move your fleets to attack systems that aren’t yet under your control, or you move them to defend your systems that are under threat of imminent attack. Once a battle is joined you go into micromanagement of the fleets involved in the battle. Just like in the Total War: Warhammer Fantasy games. In my opinion, the game is the most fun when you’re battling. While I enjoy the more macro management aspects of the campaign map, it’s really controlling your fleets in void warfare against other ships that’s the best part of the game in my opinion. Which makes the multiplayer aspect of this game the best feature!
In the video above I play several multiplayer matchups with fellow #REKT 40k teammate Jeff Poole. You’ll see we spend a decent amount of time making custom fleets and trying out the different factions and types of ships. With Imperial Navy, Mechanicus, Adeptus Astartes, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Necrons, Orks, Tyranids, Chaos, and Tau all available for you to pick from the multiplayer is the best way to experience using those factions. The campaign only supports a few, but in multiplayer your chances to play the full panoply of factions is present. Available on Steam for less than $30 this game is a must play for anyone who has ever wanted to experience the void warfare as it’s described in the numerous 40k novels. Watching the video you will see we use Warp Jumps, tricks from the Eldar to move fast, ramming speed, full burn of the engines to move faster, Nova Cannons with immense power, Imperial ships firing broadside, boarding parties, void torpedoes, escort vessels, massive explosions, crew mutinies, you name it from the novel’s descriptions of void warfare in the 41st millennium and chances are this game has it! I highly recommend this game to all fans of the Warhammer 40k universe.
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
