The July 9, 2026 multiplayer showcase from King Art Games did something the previous Dawn of War IV trailers hadn’t managed: it showed each faction actually playing differently, not just looking different. Dawn of War IV launches September 17, 2026 on PC — Commander Edition available September 14 — with a 70+ mission campaign, Last Stand mode, and competitive multiplayer. Ten weeks to choose your army.
Four Factions, Four Entirely Different Wars
The setting: Kronus, the iconic Dark Crusade planet, roughly 200 years after the events of Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. All four factions compete for Energy Zones — map control points that generate resources — but their approach to dominance couldn’t be more distinct. Developed by King Art Games (the German studio behind The Book of Unwritten Tales series) and published by Deep Silver, the game brings asymmetric faction design that the Warhammer 40K RTS genre hasn’t explored before.
Space Marines Blood Ravens — Elite That Can’t Afford Casualties
Blood Ravens operate with small squads of individually superior fighters. Units cost more energy, and the resource generation rate decreases as the army grows — spam is structurally penalized. In return, Space Marines can deploy via Drop Pod anywhere on the map, reinforcing positions or disrupting enemy formations without delay.
The consequence is direct: every casualty is a significant loss. No resurrection, no cheap replacement wave. Blood Ravens reward players who manage unit positioning carefully and punish those who throw squads at problems hoping numbers will solve it.
Orks — Win by Refusing to Think About Losses
Orks skip the precision. Their game logic centers on sheer numbers, fast construction, and the Waaagh! — a collective mechanic that amplifies offensive power when the tide is moving. Where Space Marines count every casualty, Orks absorb losses and push harder.
The most immediately accessible faction, but also the most punishing when momentum stalls. An Ork force that slows down quickly finds itself outpaced in resources. The objective: never stop.
Adeptus Mechanicus — Build the Network Before the Army
The mechanically novel faction of the showcase. Adeptus Mechanicus buildings can be linked together via the Noosphere Network: the larger the network grows, the cheaper unit production becomes and the stronger defensive turrets get. King Art Games describes their playstyle as establishing devastating firing lines backed by interconnected infrastructure.
The structural risk: destroying key network nodes before the grid reaches critical mass collapses the defensive advantage at once. Adeptus Mechanicus rewards systematic, patient expansion — not a faction for players who want immediate aggression or straightforward early game play.
Necrons — They Don’t Stay Dead
Necrons advance by methodically extending their Power Matrix across the battlefield. Their defining mechanic: Necron buildings automatically resurrect fallen units for free. Their metallic bodies resist damage, regenerate wounds, and can only be permanently eliminated through total destruction — pushing them back doesn’t count.
This resurrection system changes how you read the map: Necron-held territory remains actively dangerous long after the initial skirmish. It’s the faction for players who prefer sustained territorial attrition over fast decisive strikes.
Which Faction Fits Which Player
Four options, four commitments:
- Space Marines: few units, each one critical — for players who manage micro carefully and want high individual unit value.
- Orks: constant pressure, volume economy — for players who want to push and never stop pushing.
- Adeptus Mechanicus: system-building before offense — for methodical players comfortable with a slower early game.
- Necrons: territorial attrition through resurrection — for defensive players who want every gained position to stay gained.
The Match-Up Matters More Than the Roster
Those labels are useful only if the early game creates different decisions. Blood Ravens should be able to turn a well-timed Drop Pod into a local advantage, but a lost elite squad cannot be replaced by simply clicking a cheaper production queue. Orks have the opposite problem: pressure matters because their economy and Waaagh! reward movement, not because every fight is automatically favorable. The showcase establishes the contrast; it does not yet prove how forgiving either opening will be when an opponent interrupts it.
Adeptus Mechanicus and Necrons are the more revealing pair. Both appear to want time and territory, but their incentives are not identical. The Noosphere Network asks the Mechanicus player to connect buildings and defend the nodes that make production cheaper and turrets stronger. The Power Matrix instead makes ground already held by Necrons harder to take for good. One faction is building a firing grid; the other is making retreat less decisive. That is a meaningful strategic distinction, not a cosmetic one.
For players coming from Dawn of War II, base construction is the practical change to watch. It creates an opening choice between claiming an Energy Zone, securing a firing lane, and converting a small lead into production. A good RTS faction is not defined by a slogan such as “elite” or “swarm”; it is defined by what it asks you to do after the first plan goes wrong. Dawn of War IV still has to show that recovery phase in a real match.
What the Showcase Cannot Settle Yet
The July footage documents mechanics, not balance. We do not know the costs, build times, counters, or map layouts that will determine whether a Power Matrix is a durable territorial tool or merely a late-game visual. The same caution applies to the Noosphere Network: a connected base sounds powerful, but the important question is how many exposed nodes a player must protect while expanding. Those are the details that decide whether an asymmetric system produces choices or a single correct build order.
That uncertainty is not a reason to dismiss the reveal. It is the reason to read it as a faction guide rather than a verdict. The strongest signal so far is that King Art Games has given all four armies a clear strategic problem to solve. The next useful footage should show failed attacks, rebuilding after losses, and the way those mechanics survive outside a polished showcase.
For players choosing a first faction, patience is the sensible position. Pick the army whose trade-off sounds attractive, then wait for a match that shows its counterplay. A reveal can explain a system; only a full game can show whether that system remains enjoyable when resources, territory, and timing are under pressure.
What Still Needs Answering Before September 17
King Art Games hasn’t yet shown how Noosphere Network and Power Matrix mechanics play out across the 70+ solo or co-op campaign missions against AI. Multiplayer asymmetry is the headline selling point — whether that asymmetry carries into the campaign will define whether Dawn of War IV actually delivers on a promise that Dark Crusade last made in 2006.
The Commander Edition (September 14) includes unspecified additional content. Details expected before launch.
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