The next Warhammer 40k: Battlesector DLC faction will be the Daemons of Khorne, according to a Steam announcement on Thursday. Publisher Slitherine has so far announced eight units – an auspicious number for the worshippers of Warhammer 40k’s blood god – that will arrive on August 24.
The Daemons of Khorne will be Battlesector’s sixth Warhammer 40k faction, joining Blood Angels and Tyranids from the base game, and Orks, Necrons, and Sisters of Battle from DLC. Previous DLC factions were playable in multiplayer and in the Planetary Conquest single-player mode, but didn’t have their own narrative campaigns.
These are the Khorne daemons announced for the next Warhammer 40k: Battlesector DLC:
| Unit | Description |
| Bloodletters | Melee infantry |
| Bloodcrushers | Melee cavalry |
| Flesh Hounds | Fast beasts |
| Bloodmaster | HQ, can summon new units |
| Skull Cannon | Long range artillery |
| Soul Grinder | Huge ranged monster |
| Bloodthirster | Huge flying melee monster HQ |
| Daemon Princes | Large flying melee and ranged HQ |
According to the Steam announcement, “Every unit features distinctive, finely crafted models and unique special abilities”. It also promises “new HQ abilities that benefit the entire faction: Aura of Terror, Echoes of Endless Fury and Blood Tithe”.
Our Warhammer 40k: Battlesector review was middling, but that was due primarily to problems with the design of missions for the narrative campaign: the core mechanics of the game are strong. Units build up Momentum by killing enemies, and lose it whenever they don’t. It rewards aggression and dissuades turtling.
The way that factions gain Momentum gives them a very distinctive character; Blood Angels prefer to be up close and personal, while Sisters of Battle gain extra Momentum from taking damage.
We can imagine the Momentum system being used to capture the instability of Khornate daemons in the material universe; they might regain health when they gain Momentum, and lose health when it falls below a certain threshold.
If you fancy a turn-based Warhammer 40k game with more mechanics, consider Warhammer 40k: Gladius; it’s a 4X game, albeit one that’s very heavy on the eXtermination part of the four exes. Or if you’d prefer a game with more Adeptus Mechanicus, Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus has superlative sound design and great gameplay – it’s a cracking game like XCOM.