Realms of Ruin Announced, a New Warhammer RTS Set in the Age of Sigmar Universe

Frontier has announced Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, a new AAA real-time strategy game set in Games Workshop’s fantasy universe. It will be available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Realms of Ruin will feature both a story-driven single player campaign and PvP multiplayer modes, with support for 1v1 and 2v2 cross-platform matches. There will be four playable factions, and the cinematic announcement trailer reveals the first two of them: the Stormcast Eternals and the Orruk Kruleboyz. For anyone not fully familiar with the lexicon of the Age of Sigmar universe, that means thunder-powered humans versus cunning orcs.

If you are a Warhammer devotee, then you’ll recognise this Stormcast vs. Orruks set-up as the foundation of the current Age of Sigmar storyline, the Dawnbringer Crusades, which began in 2021’s Dominion tabletop box set. And, just like its miniature counterpart, Realms of Ruin’s story is set within the inhospitable lands of Ghur, often called the Realm of Beasts. There, Stormcast leader Sigrun learns of an arcane power than can protect Sigmar’s armies from the Kruleboyz. That story has been co-written by Gavin Thorpe, one of Games Workshop’s veteran designers and Black Library writers.

So far we know we know very little about Realms of Ruin, aside from a press release’s promise of it being an RTS that will feature “a diverse range of mission types and modes”. Maps will feature Arcane Conduits, resource-providing control points which must be fought over for control. This feature, combined with small-but-highly-detailed unit models and a camera that can zoom right in on the action, suggests that Realms of Ruin could well be the Age of Sigmar answer to 2004’s beloved Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War.

RTS games on console are typically a bit fiddly, but Frontier believes that it has solved the problem with DirectStep, a new interface designed to “enable tactical immediacy in the heat of battle” on controller. We’ve yet to see the system in action, but the trailer promises a “full gameplay reveal” in June and a beta coming soon, so hopefully it won't be long until we get a good look at it.

While we wait for our first look at gameplay, here is the confirmed unit list so far for the first two factions. The Games Workshop website will give you a good peek at each warrior type if you’re unfamiliar with them. Interestingly, while most of the Kruleboy units are drawn directly from the Dominion box set miniatures, most of the Stormcast hail from older models rather than the modern Thunderstrike armoured warriors.

Stormcast Eternals

• Liberators
• Vanguard-Hunters
• Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows
• Vanguard-Raptors with Hurricane Crossbows
• Celestar Ballista
• Prosecutors
• Evocators
• Annihilators
• Stormdrake Guard
• Lord-Celestant
• Knight-Vexillor

Orruk Kruleboyz

• Gutrippaz
• Man-Skewer Boltboyz
• Hobgrot Slittaz
• Beast-Skewer Killbow
• Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth
• Marshcrawla Sloggoth
• Murknob
• Swampcalla Shaman
• Killaboss
• Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof

For more Age of Sigmar, check out our review for the Storm Ground video game and a look at the Warcry tabletop set. Or if 40k is also your thing, we’ve got our Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun review. And for more strategy, take a look at the newly announced Total War: Pharaoh.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.