New Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV dev blog details unit customisation, destruction system, and more

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV looks to be bringing a level of detail to the RTS franchise we've not yet seen in the grimdark far future. Base building is back and improved, units have additional levels of customisation, there's a destruction system for our surroundings.

It all sounds great in a new developer blog, which King Art Games has used to dig into the recent Back to War trailer. What's likely to take your eye first in this lengthy post is the discussion of base building.

As in the first Dawn of War game, you'll be able to build up your bases, accessing more powerful units and upgrades through having more power and influence. Speaking of units, there are absolutely loads of them, and they all have their own customisation options. You can equip your Intercessors with regular bolt rifles, or replace them with Auto or Stalker bolt rifles instead, with different tools being better for different jobs. Some weapons will crack open vehicles like cans of tuna, while others will be better for cutting down hordes of melee infantry.

For people looking for an in-depth singleplayer campaign, King Art Games promises we'll have some important decisions to make in Dawn of War IV's story. Choosing different missions across the map can lead to different outcomes, with settlements falling if we don't choose to defend them.

Finally, when it comes to making the battles feel cinematic, Dawn of War IV gives us loads of sync kill animations to show custom animations for units battling it out, at any stage of a fight. The destruction system will also mean that a battlefield feels changed by your actions and your battles with your enemies.