Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin is a real-time strategy game from Frontier Developments. In the realm of Ghur, you command one of four armies from the Warhammer fantasy universe. Units fight over strategic control points, while reinforcements, positioning and the abilities of special heroes decide how battles turn out.

The game combines a story-driven campaign with single-player challenges and cross-platform multiplayer duels.

Released on Nov 17, 2023 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. All three versions were released at the same time.

The core game modes include the campaign, procedural conquest and single-player or multiplayer battles. Hero packs released later add to the available units.

Realms of Ruin has launched natively for Windows PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. On PC it is available through Steam, among others. A native PS4 or Xbox One version is not part of these releases.

Multiplayer matches support crossplay between PC and consoles. On Xbox, the game is optimised for Series X|S and supports controller as well as mouse and keyboard input.

Battles revolve around holding and capturing control points. Units have different roles, ranges and special abilities. If you attack the enemy head-on only, you quickly lose ground to well-positioned troops.

Skillful regrouping and using abilities at the right moment are what matter. New units and heroes change the tactical options of each army.

Four additional heroes are available as separate packs. On Dec 11, 2023, Yndrasta, The Celestial Spear was released for the Stormcast Eternals and Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork for the Kruleboyz. On Mar 20, 2024, Kurdoss Valentian, The Craven King for the Nighthaunt and Gaunt Summoner for the Disciples of Tzeentch followed.

The heroes add options in conquest and multiplayer modes. They do not replace the base campaign.

For Windows, Frontier lists at least an Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400, 16 GB RAM, and a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB or Radeon RX 5600 XT with 6 GB. DirectX 12 and 27 GB of storage space are required.

Recommended are an Intel Core i7-8700 or Ryzen 5 2600X and a GeForce RTX 2070 Super or Radeon RX 6700 XT. The recommended components aim for smoother gameplay with higher graphics settings.

Four forces are available: the Stormcast Eternals, the Orruk Kruleboyz, the Nighthaunt and the Disciples of Tzeentch. They differ in troop types, special heroes and their style of combat.

The Stormcast Eternals rely on heavily armored warriors, while the Kruleboyz work with cunning attacks and special creatures. The ghostly Nighthaunt and the magic-wielding followers of Tzeentch complete the selection.

The campaign leads into the wild realm of Ghur, where several factions fight for power and survival. The story was developed together with Black Library author Gav Thorpe and tells the conflict from different perspectives.

The missions combine narrative events with battles over territories and strategic objectives.

The Endless Conquest mode leads through a procedurally built sequence of battles. Maps, opponents and additional conditions change, so you must adapt your army to new situations.

Unlike the fixed storyline campaign, the focus here is on surviving under changing tactical conditions.

Realms of Ruin supports online battles in 1v1 and 2v2 formats. You can play with friends against other people or AI opponents. There is also a ranking feature for competitive one-on-one duels.

The online modes are designed for cross-platform play, so players on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series can compete together. Console online features may require the respective platform subscriptions.

The DirectStep system was designed to control large troop formations with a controller. It makes it easier to cycle through units and issue movement and attack orders directly.

On PC, mouse and keyboard are also available. On Xbox Series, the Microsoft Store also lists support for console mouse and keyboard.

The map editor lets you create your own battlefields and share them with other players. The tools available are based on those used when developing the game's maps.

Additional design features allow armies to be colored and figures arranged in dioramas. This takes customization beyond pure game mechanics.

The color system lets you design units in custom color schemes. Paint tones from Games Workshop's Citadel palette are used for virtual painting.

In the scene editor, you can arrange figures and props into freely composed dioramas.

The Standard Edition includes the main game. The Deluxe and Ultimate offers combine it with additional customizations and hero content respectively. The separately available Deluxe Upgrade Pack offers, among other things, alternative hero skins and profile customizations.

The variants are content packs for the same main game on the respective platform, not separate technical platform versions.

The PC version offers German on-screen text and German voice-over. The console stores list additional language options depending on country and platform.

The interface includes menus for army selection, battle orders, map editing and game modes.

Frontier Developments developed and published Realms of Ruin in collaboration with Games Workshop. Warhammer author Gav Thorpe was also involved in the campaign story.

The project combines the figures and armies of the miniatures game with its own real-time strategy systems for PC and modern consoles.