As promised, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada has released its "Space Marines" DLC. The pack, released yesterday, makes the Space Marines playable in the game's multiplayer modes.

The Space Marines are divided into five chapters: Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists and Blood Angels. Each chapter has its own story and appearance. For example, Space Wolves are proudly anti-authority, and those who have become afflicted with the "Curse of the Wolfen" turn into wolf-like mutants.

Notably, gamers who purchased the Early Adopters Edition of the game will receive the "Space Marines" DLC, as well as the coming Tau Empire faction, free of charge. This means that if you pre-ordered Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, or purchased it within two months of its release, you are in luck.

If the excitement of these new vessels leads you towards the game, you can check out our beginner's tips guide. You might want to know about some of those other ships, too.

Which Space Marine chapter are you most excited to experience? Let us know in the comments below!

Space Marines are coming to Battlefleet Gothic: Armada on June 21st. For early adopters and fans of the series, this is not breaking news. The "Space Marine Fleet" DLC was promised for free to those who pre-purchased or picked up the game during the first two months. Early adopters will also receive the "Tau Fleet" DLC for free once it releases. No word on a release date for that yet.

A new trailer has been released for the new faction. It shows a number of fleets belonging to the five different Space Marine chapters included in the DLC -- Space Wolves, Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Imperial Fists, and Blood Angels. Each fleet appears to be unique in some way, which is good because it would be kind of hard to tell all of those tiny little marines apart from one another without some visual clues. The ships do tend to be very similar in appearance.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada is a RTS game based on the Games Workshop's tabletop miniatures game of the same name and is a fairly accurate representation. Players lead fleets of massive, cathedralesqe-looking killing machines to war in the vast emptiness of space where they try to blast their enemies back into the warp from whence they came. It's jolly good fun for the whole family. 

Players still have time to get in on the free DLC if they purchase the game before June 21st. If this game was ever on your radar, now might be the time to pick it up. "The Space Marines Fleet" will sell for $6.99 after release and one can assume the "Tau Fleet" will be similarly priced upon it's release. It's not the highest priced DLC ever, but free is always cheaper. 

Warhammer 40K Space Marine is a game that sounds too good to be true. A game that beautifully hybrids brawling mechanics with third person shooting that works great in single-player and multiplayer. Not only all this, but a game accurately representing the Warhammer 40K universe, and it was developed by a studio known only for strategy games before it's release. Yet somehow Relic pulled it off.

Despite being critically lauded, retaining an active fanbase, and some decent DLC expansion packs all seemed to be in the game's favor, most players I meet haven't even heard of the game or expected it to be "just another shooter". It is anything but ordinary.

You can transition from brutal melee kills to shooting off all manner of weaponry from Heavy Bolters to Laser Cannons with an ease and grace that contrasts perfectly with the otherwise grim and gritty science fiction setting. Warhammer 40K was one of the dark science fiction settings that existed long before Gears, and owns it's distinctive take on the setting with sincerity. This is a world of eternal war and insane scale as men in hulking suits do battle with thousands of space hill-billy like Orks and demons from nether regions of Hell.

The art direction is just like the miniatures from the role playing game, the voice acting is Hollywood grade, the characters all feel like they belong in this world, and the levels inspire awe in the scale of their designs and the game's many attempts to break the traditional "running down a corridor" shooter mold. There is a clear style and tone to the world that it just revels in it.

This is a game that loves it's universe and wants nothing more than to be the epic power fantasy of being an Ultramarine. This even transitions to the game's numerous multiplayer options, giving both Marine versus Marine combat and Marines versus Environment combat options for every fan. The multiplayer features three distinct classes with each filling a distinctive role and their own weapons to choose from. The game gives a huge leg up in accessibility by letting you copy any player's loadout, regardless of your level, if they kill you.

Once you've had enough fun beating on opposing teams of marines, you can take your friends into the game's dungeon crawler -inspired horde mode. Four marines enter, no Orks are left alive as you rely on team tactics and powers to hold back the unending waves of enemies across multiple linked maps that have different environmental bonuses and layouts. If you survive until the final map, the game ups the difficulty again and gives you bonus waves of Chaos Marines that will push you to the limit.

There is so much on offer in a single package, it's disappointing to realize that with THQ's closure, the planned sequels will never see the light of day. The one major negative as a result is that the game ends on a cliffhanger for the campaign's progatonist Captain Titus. The multiplayer has an unfortunate amount of progression padding as some levels don't even unlock new equipment for no reason. Regardless though, it is a worthwhile game and not something you want to overlook as a fan of either brawlers or shooters.

Here's one that really slipped you by unless you're a frequent browser of Steam's indie offerings. Gunpoint, is "A 2D stealth game about rewiring things and punching people". Imagine Inspector Gadget as a crime noir with just as much camp and silliness but with the added bonus getting to make chain reactions and a wealth of hilarious dialogue choices between missions.

The game has a demo that lets you try the first few missions freely, and the final game comes with a level editor. While the rewiring mechanic can take getting used to, the game feels very natural and offers an experience you really can't get elsewhere. It can run on basically anything, so if you have a computer, it's worth checking out. It should be noted though that the level editor doesn't have Steam Workshop support yet, so you have to manually get new levels from fellow fans of the game, but otherwise it's a great time.

Horror games often have trouble keeping players afraid when sequels arrive. FEAR 3 all but gives up on being a terrifying game in it's singe-player, but Day 1 Studios managed to craft something special with it's multiplayer. Despite most horror fans being doubtful of genuine horror working well in multiplayer, FEAR 3 managed to deliver thanks to it's tense modes. While Soul King was just a twist on Deathmatch, every other mode is built around some super natural element beyond the player's control while utilizing aspects such as mid-wave pauses to build tension. 

Contractions took horde mode but added visual blocking fog, unyielding enemies, limited means of acquiring supplies needed to survive, and Alma's spirit meddling with players by blinding them and teleporting them across the map.

F***ing Run prevents players from retreating and makes every shot count as you desperately attempt to escape the coming wall of death that grows louder and makes your screen turn grey the closer it gets.

Soul Survivor turns one of your own against you and as they eliminate your squad, your former allies become new enemies. By the end of a match, there can be only one player remaining, fleeing from three player controlled spirits possessing enemies and trying to consume the player's soul.

It was an innovative approach to multiplayer with fresh ideas. Similarly the game's cooperative play added in a number of new ideas to traditional shooters by letting players be the ghost of Paxton Fettel, letting you toy with levitating enemies, possessing foes, and guarding your partner as he slows down time for you.

While the campaign lacked the genuine intensity of the other multiplayer modes, it still took a number of risks with the franchise. Abandoning some of the traditional systems didn't pan out as well, but the new ideas presented took the series otherwise standard TDM, CTF, KOTH style multiplayer and spun it on its head.

It was exceptional for all the things you wouldn't expect a horror game to stand out for, but sold so poorly that Day 1 is now all but a skeleton crew. While the game's public servers are fairly vacant, the game has a loyal cult following, and is definitely worth looking up for co-op fans and those who'd like to see more experimental attempts at creating horror games.

In case Metro 2033 wasn't bleak enough a game for you, there's one option sure to both test your trigger finger and your moral stamina. Spec Ops: The Line is one of the darkest shooters available on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. 2K took a leap of faith that gamers would appreciate Yager's reboot of the Spec Ops franchise. However, sales barely broke one million, and even after being released on Playstation Plus, the game still hasn't reached a lot of gamers' radar.

You'll survive through a sandstorm plagued near-future Dubai as Captain Walker, a member of a Delta Force squad that gets pushed to the brink as they go to hell and back. What starts as a recon mission turns into all out war as your morals and skills are both put to the test. Do you choose to kill a fellow soldier to keep yourself hidden or do you let them live? Is it the civilian or the corrupt soldier who pays the price for justice? Are you even human anymore? Is this even reality?

Those expecting a traditional shooter experience need drop those expectations by the door upon entering Spec Ops: The Line. Beyond the brooding narrative, it offers a far more tactically styled control scheme. The shooting puts emphasis the player's aim over auto-aim assisting every shot while strongly encouraging assigning targets to your squad so you can focus on the most pressing hostiles.  The campaign, while short, has branching choices decided by gameplay preference over simple "good or evil" decisions. Failing one style of play may result in total failure for the alternative as well but the game continues on all the same. The game's multiple endings also give you a dramatic level of control for how the finale plays out. Last but not least, the game features a brilliant PC port that can scale to many different rigs.

The multiplayer was a wash due to the cumbersome nature of progression and the lack of content for both competitive and cooperative missions, but did feature the unique focus on using line of sight and squad tactics to succeed over super human abilities and magic knifing moves. If you had the right mindset, it could be a rewarding if still completely average experience, sitting somewhere between a squad shooter for co-op and a stealth shooter for the competitive multiplayer.

I have to give full disclosure for this one: I am actually in the "Thank You" credits for this one (right at the end, I'm "Paradigm"). I was a fan of it back when less than a thousand people knew it existed in ModDB. So if that at all worries you about my bias towards this, fear not, it's actually become fairly popular on it's own right (and was even reviewed by Game Informer), and I'm still openly critical of the things it could have done better. With that out of the way...

Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers will remind you of the time when game developers just took an idea and ran with it. It is an unconventional game looking purely to it's own designs rather than trying to fit in any particular genre. At it's most basic, it's a puzzle platformer, but with three core mechanics instead of just one gimmick.

You can cut almost anything with your laser, you can drag almost anything with your hook claw, and you can propel almost anything with a rocket. You can make your own bridges, platforms, or knock aside walls in your way to progress. With a custom made physics engine built for the game, it's almost a miniature sandbox of options. Despite a linear progression through the campaign, every level hides secrets and can be solved multiple ways. At one point near the game's end, I was able to just use my knowledge of the game to bypass a puzzle and it all continued to run properly.

Tiny & Big: Grandpa's Leftovers is the sort of game for people who really want a fresh experience, even if it's still got bugs and little slip ups due to the nature of it's freedom. Checkpoints can sometimes be unforgiving, your response time can be pushed to the limit in some boss fights, and the physics can get wonky if you do something -really- off the wall.

It's also a great game for indie music enthusiasts. One of the things you collect in the game is the game's excellent soundtrack, with some songs hidden in places most games wouldn't even let you access. Combined with a more meta-story about ancient gods you can only uncover through thorough exploration and some hilarious moments the developers have for certain playstyles, there's a hefty amount of replayability for collectors.

If any of this catches your interest, it's worth at least a try of the game's Steam demo. Considering the fairly low requirements for playing it on PC, Mac, and Linux, it's probably the second least stressful game on PC hardware on this list, so even primarily console gamers can give it a shot.

While Metro: Last Light has taken the post-apocalyptic franchise to new heights, a lot of gamers (especially those on PS3) missed out on the original Metro 2033. It's got more bugs and some serious design changes than Last Light, but it also offers are far more genuinely harrowing experience for 360 and PC gamers. Even on Normal, there are some scenarios that reach Silent Hill level of "oh my gosh how am I going to survive this?"

Stealth options are more problematic so those who played through Last Light first on a stealth run will have problems here depending on whether you used silenced weapons or knives. Despite those issues, the game feels far more visceral and far less cleanly handled like Last Light. It feels genuinely like you are clawing for every inch of life, so those wanting a more authentic, less shooter-y experience should definitely try the original.

First person shooters have run out of ideas, you say? Well, not in the case Syndicate's 2012 reboot by Starbreeze (also known for The Darkness, Brothers, and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay). Instead we got a distinctive cooperative shooter experience that presented one of the most aggressive shooter/RPG-lite games for 360, PC, and PS3. It could have been another break out title for EA; except for the small problem that almost no one played it.

A combination of way too limited marketing, a lackluster (and altogether unnecessary if still fairly polished) single-player campaign, the removal of the competitive component due to time constraints, and angry fans  of the normally isometric shooter series all combined to make Syndicate's release more of a silent puff than an explosive hit. Rumors have also swirled that the title was originally considered as an open world title, suggesting even more changes in design and development. Despite all these problems, the game was received average to above average reception from critics.

The strength for Syndicate lies in it's multiplayer co-op mode. It features nine missions from the original Syndicate, rebuilt with modern tastes in mind. In addition to highly aggressive AI, the game gives players an armory of breaches, tactics, and fully upgradable weapons to play around with.

Perhaps you want an armor piercing semi-automatic sniper rifle with a virus that damages and spreads amongst your opponents while you raise an overshield on each of your teammates. Maybe you go with the burst fire pistol, self-revive ability, and EMP so you can swoop in, grab an objective, stun all enemies, and be gone before they can even hit you. Instead of requiring players fit into traditional Tank/Healer/DPS/Buff roles, you use what works best for you and your allies can make up the difference. The game's various difficulties also change enemy spawns and behavior instead of just giving your opponents larger health bars.

One other notable aspect for those tired of Gears of War style of grit is the game's attempt to combine Mirror's Edge's high contrast color palette with an almost Goth-like sensibility to character design. Instead of war torn cities and grunting military men, you're in slick high rise corporate buildings fighting UAV drones, automated turrets, and riot police. Every location is made to be distinctive and features it's own specific theme.

While the PC community is all but dead, there are still active fans on PS3 and Xbox 360 who play the multiplayer. There has been no DLC released for the game, although Starbreeze is still apparently working on a new Free to Play experience called Cold Mercury that may take some inspirations from Syndicate. While singe-player fans have only average fair to look forward to, co-op fans would benefit from giving this title a look before EA cuts the plug on the servers.

Jetpacks are fun, aren't they? It seemed inevitable we'd finally get a game built around flying free as a bird. That game came in the form of Dark Void, developed by Airtight Games (also known for Quantum Conundrum and the upcoming Soul Suspect).

While a number of the game's weapons and assets changed over the course of development, the core focus on dogfights similar to Star Wars: Rogue Squadron remained the same.

Dark Void was the harshest critically received game on this list, receiving a mediocre scores from most news outlets, many criticizing the bland on-foot sections, limited campaign, and lackluster storytelling. One thing most critics agreed on though was that the actual jetpack mechanics and all combat scenarios utilizing the jetpack were outstanding experiences.

With the added bonus of the Survivor Missions DLC pack that adds a challenge mode focused purely on the best parts of the game, it's still worth consideration if you want to see what could have been. The flight mechanics are still impressive to see in action, and hopefully the ideas behind them will be revived by another developer for PS4 and Xbox One.

The new Warhammer 40k forums are now live. If you are subscribed to the Eternal Crusade newsletter you should have gotten an email containing details on the new forums. If you have not subscribed to the newsletter and are interested in Warhammer 40k, I highly recommend subscribing as you'll be among the first to know any new updates. To access the forums, go here and sign up.

To correspond with the forums going live, the Admins have launched a few polls to see what the fans think. Behaviour Interactive would like everyone to have a single place in which they can come together and get to know each other while they wait for the game to launch. For those that don't know Behaviour Interactive is the company that created games such as Wet and Dante's Inferno. You can get a better look at Behaviour Interactive on their website.

Here are the currently announced races, of which we've seen more details for the Space Marines' chapters and the Orks' clans.

For a brief recap of what has been released so far, June 10th Eternal Crusade was announced. Since then we've gotten a look at the Space Marines and the Orks, and an introduction to the team behind the game. With many locked hubs and nodes one can only guess as to what we will see next. I hope to see you all on the forums in the near future.

"For ten thousand years the Grey Knights have stood between the Imperium and the Daemons of the Warp."

The Main Force

Formerly listed as Daemon Hunters within the army lists from Games Workshop, the Grey Knights are easily one of the most powerful armies you could field in a game. Not only is the majority of the army made up of Space Marines, but each of these Space Marines could fight on equal footing with the lead units of other armies.

Almost every Space Marine model in the army carries a Nemesis Force Weapon. I believe the most notable exception would be the special character Castellan Crowe. Crowe's Blade of Antwyr (Crowe's sword) is treated as a normal close combat weapon. Furthermore, all Grey Knight marines are Psykers as well. While their available psychic powers are limited, and differ per unit, these powers make even a basic troop squad a force to be reckoned with.

Inquisition

If the Space Marines weren't daunting enough, there is also the Inquisitorial side of the army. The Inquisition contains the Inquisitors and their retinues of of minions. Some of the named Inquisitors can even match the ferocity of the greatest Grey Knights. Inquisitor Valeria wields powerful weaponry collected from the corpses of her enemies. The Dagger of Midnight, her close combat weapon, is the epitome of a "double-edged sword." If she rolls doubles on her two extra attacks, the attacks hit her instead.

My History with Grey Knights

I've never faced Grey Knights in a game, as either their own army or an ally unit of the main force. I however do run a contingency of Grey Knights in my Space Marine Apocalypse army. I field Brother-Captain Stern leading a squad of Terminator Grey Knights. I also recently acquired a Dreadnought with a Nemesis Force Sword close combat weapon, unused as of yet.

The last time I ran my Apocalypse army, I think I only lost one Grey Knight. Even though I deployed them with Deep Strike rule right in front of the enemy army they held until the remainder of my army caught up. One day, I do hope to expand my Grey Knight collection enough to create a separate standard army with them.

It's rare to see Grey Knights fielded in any capacity, mostly because there were limited options on models until the past few years, but if they are used it will be no easy battle for their opponents.

Painting Basics

So I’d like to make a basic guide for painting your Warhammer 40k models. I'll be using a Dark Angels Space Marine basic infantry model from the Dark Vengeance set for this guide. Also, the paints I use are from the Citadel Paints line so I'll be using the names on the current listing when I name colors.  You will need the following materials for this:

• Paint (preferably Citadel Paints as they supply the colors intended for use on the armies)
• 2 sets of paintbrushes. (2 of each of the following: fine detail brush, basic brush, and large brush. 1 set for light colors 1 set for dark colors. The dark color large brush can also be used for base coating. Games Workshop’s online store has all the brushes you could want for your projects basic or otherwise.)
• 2 brush cleaner bowls with water in them. (Again 1 for light colors and one for dark colors.
• 2 rags to wipe your brushes on.
• A few models to paint. (You’ll want to do a few at a time so you can work on one while another dries.)
• A plan for what you want your models to look like.(Basically pick an army color scheme before you start or they will look like crap later.)

Once you gather all materials and ideas you want to start with the base coat. Get your large dark color brush and paint a happy little base coat on all the models you plan on working on. Abaddon Black is the color I suggest using for base coating.

Next step is details

I like to do the details before the main painting because I can just do touch ups after if necessary. On the front side I used Ushabti Bone on the chest insignia and the scroll work on the gun, with the light color medium brush. It takes a second coat normally to paint light colors onto black.

I then cleaned the brush and used White Scar on the left shoulder insignia, note I will wash brushes after each individual section so just remember to wash your brush after each color is finished.

For the left knee, I used Flash Gitz Yellow, to hand modify it with what I assume is a company insignia. I'm using the base color scheme the set used for the Dark Angels, however some sections don't have the details molded into the model.

After that I switched brushes to the medium dark color brush to paint the tactical squad insignia on the right shoulder, as well as the main part of the gun in Evil Sunz Scarlet. Added in a dot with the fine detail dark color brush to each eye as well.

Next step was pretty basic, I just painted the main sections of the model Caliban Green.

For the final step

I removed all 3 pieces from the sheet. I then added the green to the kneepad. Afterwards, I touched up the areas where I had to cut away the plastic from. Finally, I added in the metal coloring with the fine detail light color brush, Runefang Steel on the gun and Auric Armour Gold for the skull on the back pack.

It’s the 41st Millennium and the armies of Man are at war. They are beleaguered on all sides by the forces of Necrons, Orks, Tyranids, Tau, Eldar, and their own traitorous brothers, the Chaos Space Marines. In this battle-worn universe it’s up to you to decide the fate of the war. So pick your army, grab some dice, and find an opponent to battle against. I'll give you a brief overview of the game, with future articles giving you a more in depth look at some of the armies you have to choose from. I'll also be sharing details of Warhammer 40k in other media in the future.

Warhammer 40k is a tabletop battle game set in a futuristic universe. Mankind’s greatest hope, the Space Marines, are bio-mechanically enhanced super soldiers. However, one does not simply have to defend mankind, instead you could aim to conquer it using one of the many Xenos armies. The game is played using miniatures of your chosen army using your codex for the reference material of skills and armory. After you have that you just need strategy and luck to win.

I currently run two armies: Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines. My Space Marines army is geared more towards the Apocalypse expansion, which allows for much larger battles that the standard 1500 point games. Whereas my Chaos army is geared more towards tournament play and standard games. For more info on the armies check out Games Workshop. There you can also purchase your armies as well. In future articles I will be focusing on specific armies of Warhammer 40k, I will also be doing a basic painting guide for new players. So I hope you all come back to check out these upcoming articles.