A fine-tuned game with some absolutely gorgeous visuals. Despite some minor hiccups, it’s an experience well worth the low price of entry.

All in all, Chaos Space Marines is a good DLC for *inhales* Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War. It provides a good roster of units, a bunch of fitting mechanics and abilities, as well as some flavorful writing. Heck, the buildings that fill the CSM cities are carbon copies of the structures you built in Dawn of War 1! Aside from the Slaaneshi descriptions and the bug I mentioned, it has no other flaws and is well worth your time. Now, if only they fixed the AI that likes to spawn Imperial Guard Hydras almost to the exclusion of anything else…

There is something special about magic. The idea that one could easily lift a whole building with their powers and fling it across an incoming army is the kind of power fantasy games are apparently born to fulfil, yet one that rarely -- if ever -- happens. That is especially true of strategy games about magic, where their mystical, boundless capabilities more often than not are reduced to gimmicks and meaningless buffs but luckily, Driftland bucks that trend; not in a flashy way, but by making magic an everyday part of the gameplay. If you are looking for a polished, novel strategy game involving magic, look no further.

Empires lacks the breadth Imperator has striven for and is a few years behind what Total War is doing these days, but it's a smartly made game and gives a deeper military experience for those who prefer those aspects. It's definitely one to consider and an excellent new contender in the grand strategy space.

Urban Warfare has been a welcome opportunity for me to fire BattleTech back up, and I've been generally delighted to see how far the game has come over the past year. It's a game that I liked quite a bit off the bat, and now a good number of the rough edges have been sanded off, or at least been supplemented with ways around them. My recommendation, then, is to fire up a new campaign and see what's new. Knock the rust off those gargantuan metal legs and get a feeling of whether a stroll through the city would do you some good.

Truthfully, I was pleasantly surprised by Ancient Relics. It adds a noticeable amount of content especially to the late-early and mid-game, building up on Distant Stars’ ridiculous number of scientific events to prevent the game from drying up. If you like the idea of uncovering alien mysteries or just wants more story things to do in Stellaris, Ancient Relics is definitely worth a look.

The DLC promises six hours-ish of gameplay, and my experience matches that comfortably. If you’re a multiplayer gamer, I’d probably pass, but that’s not the fault of the DLC. If you are looking for a decent story, reminiscent of the good old days of narrative campaigns in the style of Age of Empires II, I think it’s worth your time – just try not to think too deeply – lest you begin to spot some gaps.

In the end, Green Planet and Project Laika are interesting DLCs. Taken together, they add several gameplay and cosmetic features, and the former significantly alter playstyles if you decide to go for the terraforming. While Project Laika is cute and fits the game’s overall “feel good” vibe, I do feel Surviving Mars is consistently stripping away its identity with each of its main DLCs. Regardless, if you enjoy or the game or want to try turning a barren planet into a giant planet-wide forest, give Green Planet a shot.

A clever jack-of-all games that tries to give players history and strategy in an accessible package and mostly succeeds.

I am extremely impressed with this little indie gem, and wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of strategy JRPGs. Especially, dare I say, to those of you who are looking for a true successor to Final Fantasy: Tactics. I am well aware of how ostentatious that may sound, but the praise is well earned here. Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark has earned my respect and admiration, and it deserves your time and attention. Go purchase this game, and support an indie developer who has seemingly done the impossible.

A worthy entry in the Total War franchise, Three Kingdoms gets a lot more right than it does wrong.

An excellent Cold War strategy game that cuts to the heart of the political and ideological struggle while still offering a fun strategic experience.

Big, busy and pretty, you can be confident of a good management game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, so long as they can get past some certain disheartening design choices.

Imperator: Rome has its moments, and some excellent foundations. But while there’s always the promise of what’s to come, right here and now there’s plenty to be found wanting.

Somehow, Creative Assembly managed to completely understand and encapsulate what each race is, and add interesting and fitting game mechanics that reward you for playing as they should. The Prophet and The Warlock is a surprising addition to anyone interested in the Skaven or Lizardmen, and it should definitely be given a shot.

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is a great game that I will always recommend to anyone. It’s a novel spin on the whole tactical RPG genre, and it’s a breath of fresh air as far as 40K games are concerned. Now, if only the studio got to remake Chaos Gate…

I can’t find many faults with Pathway beyond the occasional bit of bad luck with the map generation that puts camps and traders too far off-track to be worth going to or throws a particularly tough combat at you straight away. Apart from that small issue, this game is frankly amazing and it kept me up until dawn trying to find out what the Wrath of God was and I am so distraught that I died just before the finale. Let’s just say “I chose… poorly”.

A fun, functional but ultimately forgettable RTS in the style of Warcraft or Age of Empires.

Some technical stumbling blocks muddy what is otherwise another decent entry in a a beloved franchise.

This is C & C with a deep tech tree, modern graphics, and custom armies. It fails only because it was too ambitious.

A valiant effort but ultimately unrewarding, especially given the competition.

After Anabasis cleverly effected the Second Cylon War via the original's setting, Sin & Sacrifice might seem somewhat conservative. However, Black Lab Games continue their tradition of tight, tactical mission design, and as a farewell to this chapter of the First Cylon War, it's a solid one.

Overall, Retribution is a capable expansion for fans of the franchise, bringing in new gameplay options and two specialist races to round off an already well-developed roster. The expansion will not change the mind of anyone who already likes or dislikes the series, but it’s worth a shot if you like the game. GalCiv III might not have taken off the way Stardock intended, but the company’s decision to stick with it turned the game into a tailored experience virtually unmatched by any other sci-fi 4X on the market.

And if you’re a fan of APM based RTS and other acronyms, then Bannermen might provide some enjoyment. Bizarrely, if it was early access, I would recommend it as the developers have been releasing patches every other day. But for £25, I don’t see enough here to recommend in its current state.

When it comes to worth, Gathering Storm is fun, but hard to justify its full paying price of nearly £35. Unlike Rise and Fall’s multiple game changes involving timelines, eras, and mandates -- which effectively turn the game from a “live in the moment” endeavour to a proper long-term tailoring experience -- this new expansions mostly gives you more things to react to. Truth is, without Rise and Fall, Civ VI is still a worse game than Civ V, and with Gathering Storm alone, it’s not even in the same league at all.

Warhammer 40K Gladius’ Tyranids DLC is the best piece of game content concerning my least favorite race I’ve seen in a while. They play well and feel authentic, which I imagine was no easy feat, and they slot into the overall narrative and structure of the game more seamlessly than I was expecting. They could have been a bit more creative, perhaps, with the use of instinctual behaviors, but it’s a great effort, none the less.

Chucklefish have a proven record of publishing great games and making great games and Wargroove is no exception. If the modding community takes hold then I can see this becoming one of my new favourite tactics games. And if you’re a fan of Advance Wars, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

It’s a solid but not exceptional middle-of-the-road game with some UI hang-ups but a wide variety of factions and a solid amount of the old 40K charm.