STORM APPROACHES

WARHAMMER AGE OF SIGMAR: REALMS OF RUIN is a fast, accessible RTS – and a grand introduction for Games Workshop’s mythic setting

- Robin Valentine

In 2015, the Warhammer world ended. You know, that place you fight over in Total War: Warhammer and Vermintide 2? Games Workshop blew it up. From its ashes rose a new setting, in a new era: the Age of Sigmar.

Such a dramatic move, driven by business realities more than narrative passion (it’s complicated, but basically Warhammer Fantasy models weren’t selling) inevitably upset huge swathes of the fanbase. Many of them have turned their nose up at Age of Sigmar ever since. But in the years since, the new setting has grown into a wonderfully rich, mythic and exciting universe of its own, where gods and their armies war over eight Mortal Realms formed out of pure primordial magic. It’s a fresh canvas for Games Workshop’s biggest and boldest fantasy ideas, with a rapidly rising popularity among players.

Videogame adaptations, however, have been thin on the ground. It’s had a smattering of mobile games and smaller titles, but nothing remotely on the scale of something like Total War: Warhammer. With its new RTS Realms of Ruin, developer Frontier is hoping to fill that void – and introduce gamers to a whole new world of Warhammer.

MARSHCRAWLA SLOGGOTH

These weird swamp beasts can smell blood from miles away, and are ridden into battle by screeching Grots (goblins) who beat out an invigorating drum beat.

STORMDRAKE GUARD

The Stormcast Eternals have a long-standing alliance with dragons, and some even ride to battle atop their flying, flame-breathing friends. You wouldn't want to be that Orruk getting it right in the face.

HOBGROT SLITTAZ

These malicious allies of the Kruleboyz act as intermediaries between them and Age of Sigmar's equivalent of Chaos Dwarves, trading captives for resources and supplies. That's where their toxic grenades come from.

LIGHTNING FAST