Home / Games / Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War brings you to a world of terror and violence. Four factions will engage in a brutal war for dominance over the planet’s resources. In the first turn-based 4X strategy game set in Warhammer 40,000 you will lead one of four unique factions.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
68 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Amazing 4x game. I wasn't into Warhammer 40k before playing this game, enjoyed it so much I started playing other Warhammer games and now I'm painting a Kill Team! The game is Mod friendly, and DLC friendly. Whoever…”
“Civ if it was only war. Because in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. Took about an hour and a half of getting ♥♥♥♥ on to finally have the game click and now I foresee long nights in my future.”
“I haven't been very exposed to 40k despite years of seeing its games. I played the original Dawn of War back in 2004 and liked it but just played some skirmish games and didn't really get into the lore. I tried Gladius…”
9 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Civ if it was only war. Because in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. Took about an hour and a half of getting ♥♥♥♥ on to finally have the game click and now I foresee long nights in my future.”
“It's a 4X game but in turbo mode. Everything revolves around extermination and combat, and it's done well. Theming and factions are great, and it's very easy to pick up and play. Better with friends, but fun alone.…”
“Its okay, full disclosure I got this game for free a long time ago and only recently played it as I got into warhammer a bit more. All and all its a pretty simplistic civ game. It's focus is entirely on war for the most…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Amazing 4x game. I wasn't into Warhammer 40k before playing this game, enjoyed it so much I started playing other Warhammer games and now I'm painting a Kill Team! The game is Mod friendly, and DLC friendly. Whoever…”
“I love the 4X game play and ability to play with my friends in hotseat”
“The game didn't initially take off. Now it's my favorite. I strangely accepted it after the release of its sequel (Zephon), in which, alas, few people play multiplayer. So I started multiplayer in Gladius where the…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“A solid tactical Warhammer 40k game. This is one of the few games where I am alright with the nature of the DLC; you absolutely can play the game just fine without it, and in fact I recommend starting off that way.…”
“The game is incredible, get all the expansions. After that the mods are amazing, especially the one adding lots of new items. There's about 400 hours of amazing strategy gameplay here. Then you can start hotseat and…”
“A very fun turn based strategy game, especially if you enjoy 40k. Has a ton of awesome mods as well to really flesh out the rosters for each faction. It feels like playing Civ 5 with only conquer as the goal, and much…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“It's a 4X game but in turbo mode. Everything revolves around extermination and combat, and it's done well. Theming and factions are great, and it's very easy to pick up and play. Better with friends, but fun alone.…”
“Bel gioco 4X senza l'elemento di diplomazia, e uno dei giochi più belli per l'universo di Warhammer 40K”
“Warhammer 40,000: Gladius nails the dark, grim aesthetic. It’s technically a 4X game, but the focus is clearly on eXterminate. If you’re after deep city-building or complex economy, something like Civilization will suit…”
17 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“This game just disappoints me so hard. It's managed to breathe fresh air into the often diplomacy or "tall-gameplay" focused games of its kind. It is set in the Warhammer universe to boot... Unfortunately, it fails so…”
“Played about 7h. And here are my thoughts (I am an avid player of strategy games, especially 4x, been playing since the Civ3 days). - Graphics is ok, the color palette is too muted for my taste. Everything is a shade of…”
“WIsh I could say the game is good but the balance is actual dogsh*t, there is absolutely no reason certain units should be so busted whilst others are utter garbage. IF you buy this game and play it, prepare to mod…”
12 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Played about 7h. And here are my thoughts (I am an avid player of strategy games, especially 4x, been playing since the Civ3 days). - Graphics is ok, the color palette is too muted for my taste. Everything is a shade of…”
“>Warboss has 4/20 HP >I upgrade his passive that should give him +20% hp >He instantly dies of heart attack. I laughed, but a game still getting updated since 2018 shouldn't have sphagetti coding like that. It's a very…”
“It feels like an overpriced shallow game for what it is. Seems you'd need to buy all the DLC for it to be better, which I'm not willing to do.”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“>Warboss has 4/20 HP >I upgrade his passive that should give him +20% hp >He instantly dies of heart attack. I laughed, but a game still getting updated since 2018 shouldn't have sphagetti coding like that. It's a very…”
“It feels like an overpriced shallow game for what it is. Seems you'd need to buy all the DLC for it to be better, which I'm not willing to do.”
“Played it for a while thinking that it would pick up the pace and get more involved or interesting, but jeez. It really isn't a very complex game, very repetitive, no depth at all. It also doesn't really capture the…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Played about 7h. And here are my thoughts (I am an avid player of strategy games, especially 4x, been playing since the Civ3 days). - Graphics is ok, the color palette is too muted for my taste. Everything is a shade of…”
“Here's the thing: This game is fun. If it wasn't for the absolutly scummy DLC packages, I would recommend this to everyone who likes turn based strategy. Each of the four starter races feels indavidual and not just a…”
“This game is not lore-accurate, not that polished but i still like it for some reason ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If you want it, buy it on sale. (Also it was once free on steam that's why i have it.)”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“WIsh I could say the game is good but the balance is actual dogsh*t, there is absolutely no reason certain units should be so busted whilst others are utter garbage. IF you buy this game and play it, prepare to mod…”
“The game relay on a over 6 year old mod for voice lines. Only gunfire, walking, driving and flying sounds. No voice lines at all in the game, except for the intro for each faction. Otherwise I really love the game. But…”
“Wish I could say the game is good but the balance is actual ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, there is absolutely no reason certain units should be so busted whilst others are utter garbage. IF you buy this game and play it, prepare to mod…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 81.4% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“The 4X genre has been languishing in mediocrity of late...pushing out unrefined titles with a mess of unconnected ideas piled on top of each other, incompetent AI, and unreadable presentations (looking at you Civ VII). Galdius is none of the above. It is a stripped down 4X that…”
— a player, Steam review · 70 hrs played“Gladius taught me that I don't hate strategy games, I just hate micromanaging 40 different things in strategy games. It's minimal approach, with little to micromanage and a focus making your little dudes fight makes this a game I wish I picked up sooner. Pull off the 40k coat of…”
— a player, Steam review · 173 hrs played“its an overall fun 4X Hex-Grid based strategy game and the Warhammer aspect of it is cool, but there's a severe lack of overall quality in the game. My main problem though is just how many DLCs there are and the price of them. Free updates never happen, only paid DLCs that are…”
— a player, Steam review · 172 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 12:36 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
1.18.01 - Patch Notes
We're releasing a new update for Gladius. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game. Changes since 1.17.1 v1.18.01 G
Warhammer Skulls Festival - Free to try, Ultramarines DLC & Eradication Pack
Battlesector and Gladius are taking part in the Warhammer Skulls Festival. The Ultramarines have arrived in Battlesector and to celebrate this the base game will be free to try for the whole festival,
Battlesector & Gladius will take part in Warhammer Skulls Festival
We’re excited to announce that Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector and Warhammer 40,000: Gladius will be taking part in Warhammer Skulls 2026!The Skulls festival will run from Thursday, May 21st, at 5:00 P
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius | 1.17.2 - Patch Notes
We're releasing a new update for Gladius. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game. Changes since 1.17.1 Balance In
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - 1.17.1 - Patch Notes
We're releasing a new update for Gladius. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.Changes since 1.17.0Bug Fixes Fi
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Strategy |
| Player tags | Strategy · Warhammer 40K · 4X · Turn-Based Strategy · Turn-Based · Multiplayer · Hex Grid · Sci-fi · Turn-Based Tactics · Wargame · Co-op · Singleplayer (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · LAN PvP · Shared/Split Screen PvP · Co-op · Online Co-op |
| Languages | English * , German, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Simplified Chinese, French * |
| Achievements | 166 |
| Estimated owners | 1,000,000 – 2,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | http://www.slitherine.com/gladius |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 (64-bit) Processor: Intel Core i3 or equivalent Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Vulkan support with 3 GB VRAM (Nvidia GeForce 900 series / AMD Radeon RX 400 series) Storage: 4 GB available space