This guide will be covering the missions in the Eldar campaign and give players the idea on how to complete the challenges in Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War. If you’re one of the players who is having a hard time completing this campaign, make sure to check the tips and tricks below.
The campaigns in Gladius are an interesting wrinkle in the standard 4X formula. Unfortunately, they can sometimes be a source of frustration rather than enjoyment. There’s nothing quite like losing a long game just as you were on the cusp of victory because of an event time limit or a massive invasion force.
There are three main campaign mission types: Explore, Produce, and Battle. During Explore and Produce missions, it’s frequently possible to put your campaign progress on hold while you deal with AI enemy factions or build up your forces, but you rarely know what the campaign will ask of you next.
Chapter 1: Through the Webway
Objectives
- Research Shrine of Khaine
- Construct Shrine of Khaine
- Produce Autarch
Produce. Once you produce one Autarch, you’ll gain some influence and move on to the next part of the chapter.
Objectives
- Kill the Umbra
Battle. Then you’ll need to destroy an “Umbra” enemy. There are far more fearsome foes than this neutral enemy, but at the very start of the game, they can feel overwhelming. Feel free to hold off on producing an Autarch until you’re ready to battle an Umbra. Once you defeat it, you’ll gain some energy.
Chapter 2: Anaris, Lost and Found
Ojectives
- Construct Asyuran’s Crucible
- Research Rangers
- Produce Rangers
- Visit Highlighted tile with Ranges and secure the perimeter
Explore. This mission involves production, battle, and exploration, but the part that’s easiest to do on your own terms is the explore piece. You can delay your progress to the next chapter indefinitely until you visit the highlighted tile with a unit of Rangers.
The combat portion of the mission is a nest of Tyranids. In my playthrough, it included 1 unit of Termagants, 1 unit of Gargoyles, 1 unit of Zoanthropes, and 1 unit of Tyranid Warriors. That’s a small threat for an Eldar army, but it will devour a lone unit of Eldar Rangers.
Chapter 3: The Oubliette of Heaven
Objectives
- Recover scattered unites
Explore. This is another mission with no time pressure. There are 3 Vaul Sentry units for you to collect (with their range-2 blast weapons), but the next part of chapter 3 is a sizable invasion force. You may want to leave one behind if you’re already fighting a war on multiple fronts and come back when you’re ready.
Objectives
- Survive invasion and kill all invaders
Battle. Next is a Necron invasion with 5 waves of enemies that appear every other turn. Each wave has four or five units that are a mix of Necron Warriors, Flayed Ones, Immortals, Heavy Destroyers, Tomb Blades, Annihilation Barges, and Triarch Stalkers.
This is an “invasion,” so the enemies are not particularly well-organized. They appear in scattered positions, which has its pros and cons. You’ll want a decent tech level and decent sized force to deal with them, though. If you’ve just got a couple of outdated defenders near your cities, you’ll quickly find yourself besieged when a couple of dozen Necron units come calling.
Chapter 4: The Anvil God
Objectives
- Research Farseer Skyrunner
- Produce Farseer Skyrunner
- Visit highlighted tile with Farseer Skyrunner and secure the perimeter
Explore. This is another good time to take a campaign break during another “do everything” mission. Yes, you need to produce a Farseer Skyrunner and battle a small Tau army, but progress stops until you choose to visit one particular tile with a Farseer Skyrunner.
In my playthrough, the Tau army consisted of 1 unit each of Fire Warriors, Pathfinders, Stealth Battlesuits, Crisis Battlesuits, Ghostkeel Battlesuit, Piranha, Devilfish, Sky Ray, and Hammerhead. Many of those units also launch drones, which are only active temporarily but can be a nuisance. This army is one cohesive army but isn’t too difficult for a prepared army to eliminate.
Once you’ve eliminated them, though, be prepared for a timed battle with a much larger army before you have ol’ Farseer Skyrunner step under the yellow arrow.
Objectives
- Defeat the Deamon Prince performing the ritual within 20 turns
Battle. TIMED. Yes, I know, 20 turns is a long time in Gladius, but if your entire army is off fighting Orks and Space Marines, 20 turns may not be enough. On top of the marquee Daemon Prince, my playthrough featured the following units: 11 Chaos Cultists, 7 Chaos Space Marines, 5 Khorne Berzerkers, 9 Havok Squads, 3 Chaos Rhinos, and 7 Hellbrutes.
If you limped away from the battle with the Tau army and pressed the big yellow button before rebuilding, you’re in some trouble. Fortunately, despite those impressive numbers, there’s a lot of fodder in that army, and they’ll struggle to inflict many casualties on higher-tier Eldar units.
Chapter 5: Cegorach’s Twin
Objectives
- Research Avatar of Khaine
- Produce Avatar of Khaine
Produce. This is one of those Gladius missions that reinforces my compulsion to take each campaign breather I’m offered. Sure, you won’t move on until you’ve produced an Avatar, but by this point in the game, there’s a good chance you already did, making this “mission” nothing more than a screen of lore before the real next mission begins.
Objectives
- Defeat the enemy camp
- Keep Avatar of Khaine alive
Battle. If you do already have an Avatar, you’ll move immediately into Chaos army battle part 2. Well, sort of. It’s led by a C’Tan from the Tau roster and my opposing army had more Imperial Guard units than Chaos units, but it’s another big army with plenty of Chaos DNA.
My playthrough featured the following units: 7 Wyrdvane Psykers, 8 Tempestus Scions, 6 Bullgryns, 8 Hydras, 3 Leman Russ Battle Tanks, 5 Warp Talons, 8 Obliterators, 8 Venomcrawlers, 1 Transcendent C’Tan.
Chapter 6: Umbra
Objectives
- Survive invasion and kill all invaders
Battle. After slogging through those army battles, it’s time for another “invasion” style battle with scattered enemies. This interminable campaign mission features ten waves of enemies that appear every other turn.
Each wave has six to eight units that are a mix of Umbra, Wraithblades, Wraithknights, Hemlock Wraithfighters, and a solitary Avatar (in wave 7).
Though smacking down a couple of Umbra or Wraithblade units at this point should be no problem, some waves have three Wraithknights each. That’s a lot of opposing health to chew through. It’s also so… long… I’m not sure a single other mission in Gladius includes so many waves.
That said, when you win, you are victorious over the Eldar campaign. Congratulations!
