Though mortally wounded, the Emperor of Mankind continues to shed his light over the Astronomican from the Golden Throne. This light continues to fight the dark and corrupted forces of Chaos in the warp with the hope that in “realspace,” the Adeptus Astartes — the Space Marines will bring even the Eye of Terror into the Emperor’s light. The story of Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf plays out in the midst of this, and we’re here to give you a leg up when first playing this game!
What is Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf?
Those who don’t know about Warhammer 40K games were probably confused by the opening of this article. So, first off, what is Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf? Space Wolf is just one of the many iOS and Android video games licensed by Games Workshop to use the world and characters from the Warhammer 40K games franchise.
This game was made by the Russian games studio, HeroCraft, who are well known for their Majesty and King of Dragon’s Pass mobile ports. It was announced on August 16, 2013, and released to iOS on October 28, 2014. This release was then followed by several versions, an Android version on July 16, 2015, a Windows version on February 17, 2017, a PlayStation 4 version on March 2019, a Nintendo Switch version on January 23, 2020, and finally an Xbox One version on June 30, 2021.
There are two more noteworthy things about this game. First is the musical score composed and directed by Cris Velasco, the same mind behind the music of Overwatch, Mass Effect 3, Starcraft 2, God of War 2 and 3, as well as Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Second is its smooth and visually appealing graphics with top-notch HD visuals, thanks to Unity Technology’s Unity Game Engine.
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Game Plot
Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf’s plot is set in the background of Warhammer 40K’s nearly ageless war between the forces of the Chaos Gods in the warp and the forces of Order led by the Imperium of Man. It follows a squad of the Space Wolves, a.k.a Legion of Adeptus Astartes, traversing the Segmentum Obscurus, whose strike cruiser falls to a trap by the traitorous Word Bearers legion of Chaos Space Marines. The cruiser falls into the feral world of Kanak, filled with even more Chaos Space Marines, Chaos cultists, and the world’s ruthless barbarians.
In this game, you play as Valgard Twice-Slain, a Grey Hunter, and a battle leader of the Space Wolves Legion. Originally landing alone, you must collect those who survived their descent and slowly bring to bear the might of the Space Marines onto the traitors and cultists who call the planet home.
Gameplay Format
The gameplay for this game is best described as a tactical battle mixed with collecting card games. The game has two set modes, a preparation mode and a battle mode. In preparation mode, you can change your game settings, look at the in-game shop, prepare your card decks, and create new cards by using the forge.
Battle mode, meanwhile, has three types: a single-player campaign mode, a 3 versus 3 multiplayer with leaderboards, and a daily challenges mode. All three modes are played through turn-based battles on a grid with movement and actions locked to your cards and card deck.
The game continues to get constant updates with new single-player missions like the Necrons update and game modes like the PVP mode.
Device Requirements
While considered an old game on iOS and Android, Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf does have decent system requirements. For Android users, you only need to have 1GB of RAM available on your device as well as a stable internet connection. iOS users have assured compatibility with iPad 3 and up, iPad Mini (Retina) and up, iPhone 5 and up, and iPod Touch 6 and up.
Starting up Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf For the First Time
If you are new to Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf, you’ll find yourself guided through the first couple of missions that work as a simple tutorial. This also happens when you first open up the different parts of the Armory.
Different parts of the game open up after completing parts of the first chapter of single-player missions. This includes getting the rest of the five other squad members: Elnar the Tactical Marine, Kai the Assault Marine, Ray the Devastator Marine, Harald the Terminator Marine, and Yngvar the Scout. Completing chapter missions also gives you rewards like additional cards, gold, credits, and runes.
Tips and Tricks When Playing Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf
Space Wolf’s gameplay is, admittedly, complex. While trying to figure out how you deploy units, there are also two different gameplay modes you need to understand. Even the word “complicated” is a bit of an understatement for this game. So, here are some tips to help you get started with the game.
General Tips
1. Effort is Easy to Learn but Hard to Master
Character turns are dependent on how much effort they currently have. The higher the effort, the later that character will get their turn. Using cards adds to your effort, and there are times where ending a character’s turn is better than using as many cards as you can. Proper planning can let you use a character repeatedly in multiple turns.
2. Shields are Your Friend
Even with varied playstyles, it is advisable to use shields as soon as you get the card for it. It can reduce a lot of damage to your characters and possibly save your game. Remember to power up your shield cards whenever possible.
3. Choose Cards Properly
Any card can be used as a movement card, but you should plan out your tactics before moving as you may need a specific card. You should also plan ahead on where your characters will face after ending your turn since you may find yourself unable to attack your enemies.
Battle Tips
1. Know Your Weapon Types
Each weapon type has a specific purpose, range, and strengths. While there are specific exceptions, each weapon type has a set range and hit area.
2. Take Advantage of Maneuvering
While the direction your characters are looking at can be used by enemies to their advantage, you can do the same thing to enemy characters. This lets you outmaneuver them and attack them from blind spots. Combining this with sniper rifles makes for a solid strategy.
3. Advance as One
Don’t let your squad scatter too much. Having a character far too forward makes them a target to be ganged up on and defeated. Make sure your troops are moving together so they’re able to cover each other’s blind spots.
4. Card Effects are Important
Equip weapons as soon as you can. These weapons usually have additional effects aside from being stronger than their one-use counterparts. One of the more useful effects is Overwatch, where it lets a character shoot at an enemy that finishes their turn in your character’s attack range. You should also use “chain” cards as much as you can. These are usually automatically activated when conditions are met.
5. Avoid Having High Effort
As we said earlier, effort dictates your character’s turn-order. Avoid having high effort numbers, as it can stop your characters from moving for more than a few turns.
6. Let the Rage Fill You
The game has a Rage meter that fills up whenever your characters receive damage. Once it fills up and activates, it allows your character to get 0 effort and have 100% accuracy for the next attack. It also gives you scratch cards that you can tap to increase your attack strength.
Deck and Card Tips
1. Card Diversity and Rarity
Having a diverse card deck isn’t as important as having rare and strong cards. Your deck will depend on your own playstyle and the cards available for you to use, however.
2. Get Forging
You can access the forge by going to the Armory. The forge has several settings with increasing difficulty. The higher the settings, the more weapon parts you spend for it. However, the more difficult your setting is, the bigger a chance your forging might fail. You can avert that by using Iron Runes, which guarantees a 100% forge success rate.
3. Armor Classes
Both Scout and Terminator armor classes add 30 more cards to play. This is due to the two more decks available to use. Although expensive to unlock, this opens up more tactical options and strategies.
4. Upgrade and Discard
Upgrade your cards as much as you can. When you get enough rare or legendary cards, it’s advisable to dismantle common and uncommon cards to get more weapon parts instead.
In-Game Currency and Items
1. Complete Challenges
Complete scenarios in the Challenges mode and receive better loot than usual. You can also take the Iron Priest Challenges that lets you open a free forge crate every Friday. “Clues” to unlocking these crates are on the Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Facebook Page.
2. Fight For the Emperor Daily
Take advantage of daily rewards and log into the game at least once a day. This lets you get free weapon parts, credits, gold, booster packs, and runes.
Fighting with the Sons of Russ
And that concludes this beginner’s guide for new players to Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf. We hope that other battle brothers have used this guide to understand the game a little better and improve themselves for service to the God-Emperor!
With that done, you might want to take a look at other similar genres like turn-based RPGs. If you’re looking to upgrade your phone though, we have a list of the best gaming phones currently on the market!
