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Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War: turn-based war for a cursed planet
Gladius Prime was once a quiet Imperial world. Then ancient relics woke up, the warp tore open, and now four armies fight for every hex of scorched ground. Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War is a turn-based 4X strategy from Proxy Studios and publisher Slitherine, released on July 12, 2018. It's the first 4X game set in the official Warhammer 40,000 universe, and it stays true to the setting's motto: "in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war." There's no diplomacy and no trade deals here — only scouting, expansion, tech development and the total extermination of your rivals. When you buy from us, you receive the full base game as a Steam gift, delivered straight to your account.
What the game is and who you can play
Gladius follows the classic 4X loop (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate), reworked around 40K lore. The map is a single planet's hex grid scattered with ruins, anomalies, neutral monsters and the relics that grant powerful bonuses. The base version offers four starting factions, each playing in a fundamentally different way:
- Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard) — numbers and firepower: cheap infantry, Leman Russ tanks, artillery.
- Space Marines — few units, but each is worth ten: elite warriors, dreadnoughts, orbital drops.
- Orks — the more they fight, the stronger they get: population grows from combat, wild melee and luck-driven war machines.
- Necrons — ancient machines that rise again after "dying" and slowly but relentlessly grind the enemy down.
Each faction has its own research tree, its own levelling heroes and its own campaign with scripted events. Victory means wiping out every opponent, so the whole match is an arms race for survival.
What's included in the gift
You get the full base game of Gladius - Relics of War: all four starting races, multiplayer, the map generator and the campaigns. That's plenty for dozens of hours. It helps to understand the game's catalogue: beyond the base, Gladius has a huge lineup of DLC factions (Tyranids, Chaos, T'au, Craftworld Aeldari, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adepta Sororitas, Drukhari and more) and unit packs still being released — such as the Onslaught Pack (2025), Rampage Pack (2025) and Eradication Pack (2026). All of these are bought separately and require the base game installed. This gift does not include any DLC — it's the foundation you can later build on with whichever factions you like.
How the Steam gift is delivered
We deliver Gladius as a regular Steam gift through a sender bot. The flow is simple: at checkout you leave your Steam friend invite link and state your account region. The bot then adds itself to your friends, sends the gift, and automatically leaves your friends list after delivery. You don't need to accept the friend request manually, and Steam Guard is not required for this. The whole process usually takes a couple of minutes after payment, but we don't promise a strict timing — Steam can be slow at times.
Region and ownership: the two key conditions
For Steam to accept the gift, two conditions must be met. First, your Steam account region must match the gift region — pick the variant matching your country. Second, the game must not already be in your library — Steam won't let you gift a game to someone who already owns it, and that's the number one reason a gift "won't accept." Your profile privacy settings must also allow friend requests, otherwise the bot can't reach you.
Where to play: PC, Linux, Steam Deck
Gladius - Relics of War shipped with native Windows and Linux support, so it runs fine on a regular PC and on the Steam Deck. It's a turn-based strategy with no twitch reflexes required, which suits the handheld format well. The gift is the standard Steam version of the game; which platform you play on is up to your hardware.
If you love the 40K universe
Gladius is a great way into the strategic side of the 40th millennium. If the genre and atmosphere click with you, check out other games from the universe in our catalogue: the tactical roguelite Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus, the RPG Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader and the co-op shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. Different genres, but the Imperium, heresies and bolters are common to all.
Buying in short
In short: you grab the full base Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War, receive it as a Steam gift to your account, choose the variant for your region and make sure the game isn't already in your library. From there the bot does the work — you accept the gift and go conquer Gladius.
💚 Cheaper in another form
A few links that might help: Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War as a Steam key.