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Space Marines
August 6, 2026 at 09:46 PM
Added orbital structure deployment and the Redemptor Dreadnought, and noted the faction deep dive is still pending
The Space Marines are one of the four launch factions in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV. They are the elite, superhuman warriors of the setting, and in this game they are played as two distinct Chapters over the course of the Campaign: the Blood Ravens and the Dark Angels. Both Chapters fight on Planet Kronus, each with their own leaders, units, and reasons for being there, and their stories form part of the wider Story and Setting.
Rather than presenting the Space Marines as a single generic force, the game splits them across two famous Chapters. Players experience both, giving the faction two different flavors of play within one overarching campaign.
The Blood Ravens travel to Kronus to rebuild their Chapter. They are led by Captain Cyrus and Chief Librarian Jonah Orion, two of the faction's key figures (see Characters for the wider cast and Commanders for battlefield leaders). According to pre-release previews, the Blood Ravens lean toward tactical finesse, with some accounts mentioning occasional stealth in smaller engagements; this aspect of their playstyle has been described ahead of release rather than fully detailed, so treat the stealth framing as a pre-launch description rather than a confirmed mechanic.
The Dark Angels bring two of their most iconic formations to the field. The Deathwing are Terminator-armoured frontline troops who close in with power fists, forming a heavily armoured spearhead. The Ravenwing are bike-mounted units built around fast, mobile lightning strikes that hit and reposition quickly. The Dark Angels are led by Company Master Astoran, who fights in sacred Terminator Armour, and Chaplain Ezrael, who rides with the Ravenwing.
Deathwing: Terminator-armour frontline troops armed with power fists.
Ravenwing: Bike-mounted units that deliver fast lightning strikes.
Company Master Astoran: Dark Angels leader in sacred Terminator Armour.
Chaplain Ezrael: Dark Angels leader who fights alongside the Ravenwing.
The Space Marine campaign builds toward a major moment: Lion El'Jonson is playable at the campaign's climax. He is billed as the very first playable Warhammer 40,000 Primarch to appear in any video game, making his playable appearance a headline feature of the faction. His role caps off the Dark Angels' arc within the larger story.
The Space Marines have the most straightforward base development of the four armies: structures are upgraded to unlock further units and research. What sets them apart is how those structures arrive. They are dropped from orbit anywhere inside your vision rather than built outward from an existing base, which lets a Space Marine player establish a foothold far from home.
There are two costs to that reach. A drop takes longer the further the target site sits from your headquarters, and the opposing player can see where a structure is about to come down, so an aggressive forward drop announces itself. See Base Building and Resources for how this compares with the other factions.
Alongside the Deathwing and Ravenwing formations, the Redemptor Dreadnought has been confirmed as a Space Marine unit. Beyond that, the Space Marines are the one launch faction still waiting on their own dedicated deep dive, which the developers have said is the next faction preview planned, so the full roster has not been shown.
Across both Chapters, the Space Marines combine resilient, heavily armoured infantry such as the Deathwing with fast strike elements like the Ravenwing, supported by their named hero leaders. As with every faction, their units grow stronger during a battle through Unit Veterancy, and their engagements are governed by the Combat Director system. The split between the two Chapters means players move between a rebuilding, tactically minded force and a Chapter built around armoured spearheads and rapid bike assaults, all within the same Campaign. For the wider list of named leaders and the playable Primarch, see Commanders and Characters.
