A new trailer for Warhammer Survivors has revealed a roster of new characters who will shoot, stab, and zap their way through the roguelite arcade shooter, including the Old Man of Armageddon, Commissar Yarrick, as a playable character, and his hated rival, the Prophet of the Waaagh! himself, Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, as a boss fight. While we sincerely doubt that Survivors will be heavy on narrative, we're hoping for at least a little dialogue to acknowledge one of the least healthy relationships in a setting jam packed with incredibly unhealthy relationships.
Warhammer Survivors is a bullet heaven (or Vampire Survivors-like) game from Auroch Digital, the team behind the truly excellent boomer shooter Warhammer 40k: Boltgun (which ranks high on our guide to the best Warhammer 40k games). The new trailer dropped on Thursday, along with the news that the game will launch on "PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 on top of Steam" later this year.
It's actually a game of two halves, with both a Warhammer 40k side and an Age of Sigmar side, with separate characters and enemies. As well as Yarrick, the playable 40k characters revealed so far are: a squad of Astra Militarum troopers; a Space Marine Intercessor; Malum Caedo, the frothing Space Marine death machine from Boltgun; Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar; Salamanders Chaplain Fo'Baran, a minor character mentioned in the Salamander's 8th edition Codex supplement; and Knight-Commander Pask, a Cadian officer riding in the cupola of a Leman Russ battle-tank who used to be available as part of a tank upgrade kit.
The hatred between Ghazghkull and Yarrick isn't just a meme - it's canon. Ghazghkull has declared Yarrick his 'grod', an Ork word that means "best enemy", and which is the closest concept an Ork has to the human concept of "love", ie, an irrational fixation on another person that makes you do stupid things for them (the incredible novel Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waagh gives a more full explanation from an Ork perspective).
Yarrick wouldn't dignify Ghaz' with a title, but he is very demonstrative in his hatred, having personally led a retribution campaign to hunt down the Prophet of the Waaagh! after the second war for Armageddon - he didn't succeed, which is why the third war for Armageddon happened (and never stopped happening).
Will you be picking up Warhammer Survivors? Do you have a favorite hate-ship in the 40k fandom? Let us know in the Wargamer Discord community!