Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 Command fleets that dwarf worlds

Twelve factions, straight from the tabletop game: Imperial Navy, Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, Chaos, Necrons, Orks, Tyranids, the Aeldari in three flavours, the T'au fleets and more. Each plays differently, so a Drukhari raid and a Tyranid swarm are two different games. Before a battle you outfit your ships, and the sequel adds more customization choices for fleets and individual vessels than the first game. Battles are far larger than before: whole lines of capital ships trading broadsides while escorts dart through the wreckage. It is a slow, heavy kind of spectacle, kilometer-long hulls burning in the dark, and the soundtrack and atmosphere carry the grim weight of the setting.

The story picks up the Gathering Storm and the 13th Black Crusade, the latest dramatic turn in Warhammer 40,000 lore, and this is the first video game set in it. You get three extensive, dynamic solo campaigns, one each for the Imperium, the Necrons and the Tyranids, and the story plays out differently depending on how your wars go. You fight across the Eye of Terror alongside famous names like Belisarius Cawl and Guilliman. The campaigns are story-driven and long, and the writing ties each battle into the larger collapse of the galaxy. Come for the battles, and the plot gives them stakes.

There is a full co-op campaign, so you and a friend can split the war between you, coordinating fleets over voice chat while the Tyranids eat another system. Online co-op and multiplayer modes let you jump into a lobby, pick a faction and fight together or against each other in team battles. It is the kind of game where a session starts as one quick match and turns into three, because the loser always wants a rematch with a different fleet setup.