Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2's massive space battles look amazing

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2’s space battles look absolutely ridiculous. This time, it’s living up to the name, letting you field a proper armada of cosmic cathedrals and grotesque alien hives, not just a few ships. The fights shown off in the latest video, then, are big, messy and teeming with ships. And explosions by the boatload.

All 12 of the tabletop factions are duking it out this time, each with their own quirks. Their ships, movement, even how they sneak up on their foes differ depending on who you’re playing.

“Be it unique ways of moving through space or weird, alien weaponry and ships, each faction feels distinct from its peers,” reads the post accompanying the video. “Even those that share similarities such as the Aeldari Corsairs and Asuryani Craftworlds or the Tau Protectorate Fleet and Merchant Fleet have differences in what they can field. This makes your faction selection, and choice of ships, armaments, admiral skills, and fleet upgrades totally customisable and massively impactful.”

It looks like a lot to manage, so I’m wondering how Tindalos Interactive has tweaked things like the pace, balance and UI to make up for the big jump in scale. It looks faster, but that might just be for the purposes of the video. I really enjoyed the first one, despite being once again disappointed that the Space Marines got top billing and their own campaign, so I’m looking forward to getting back in the admiral’s seat. Or throne of bones.

A beta is coming next month, and Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 is due out on January 24.