Base Building and Resources are at the core of **Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV**, which KING Art has described as a return to the series' classic real-time strategy roots. Players construct and expand a base, capture and upgrade resource points to fund their army, hold territory, and use cover and garrisonable buildings for tactical advantage. In total the game features over 110 units and buildings across its factions, many of which can be upgraded.
Building Your Base
A match begins with constructing and expanding a base. Buildings produce and reinforce your forces and unlock further options as you grow, and the game emphasizes upgrading what you build rather than simply placing more of it. With over 110 units and buildings in total and many of them upgradeable, base development is meant to be an ongoing process across a battle rather than a one-time setup phase.
Each faction builds and fights in its own way. The Adeptus Mechanicus, making their series debut, are a tech-driven force whose structures and units lean on the faction's growing battlefield network, so their base development reflects that ranged, technological identity. The Space Marines, Necrons, and Orks each have their own buildings and units to match their distinct playstyles.
Resource Points and the Economy
Armies are funded by capturing resource points spread across the map. The economy follows a capture, control, and upgrade loop: you seize a point, hold it against the enemy, and then improve it to draw more from it over time. This ties the economy directly to map presence, so expanding your income means pushing out and contesting ground rather than simply waiting at home.
Capture: Move forces to a resource point to take control of it.
Control: Hold the point against enemy attempts to retake it; losing ground means losing income.
Upgrade: Improve captured points to increase what they provide.
Territory control: Income and map dominance are linked, so spreading out and holding key points fuels a larger army.
Because income depends on holding contested points, the economy and the front line are the same thing. Pushing your territory outward grows your army, while losing points starves it, which keeps the map in constant motion.
Territory Control
Holding territory is both how you fund your war effort and how you deny the enemy theirs. Controlling the points across a map secures the income that pays for reinforcements and upgrades, so battles tend to revolve around contesting and defending key locations rather than a single decisive clash. The constant tug-of-war over points is a defining part of the moment-to-moment strategy.
Cover and Garrison Buildings
On top of the economy, the battlefield itself offers tactical tools. Cover protects units that fight from advantageous positions, and garrisonable buildings let squads occupy structures for defense and firing positions. Using cover and garrisons well is a core part of squad-based combat, turning the terrain and the structures on a map into part of your strategy rather than just a backdrop.
These tactical layers interact with the rest of the game's systems. Squads that fight from strong positions and survive grow stronger through Unit Veterancy, so good use of cover and garrisons both wins the immediate fight and builds up your veteran forces for later engagements.
Core Real-Time Strategy Systems
The table below summarizes the core systems that make up Dawn of War IV's classic real-time strategy gameplay.
System | What It Does |
|---|---|
Base building | Construct and expand a base of upgradeable buildings to produce and reinforce your army. |
Resource points | Capture, control, and upgrade points across the map to fund your forces. |
Territory control | Hold key locations to secure income and deny it to the enemy. |
Cover | Position units in cover for a defensive advantage in combat. |
Garrison buildings | Occupy structures with squads for defense and firing positions. |
Squad combat | Manage squads of units, with over 110 units and buildings across the factions. |
Beyond the Economy
Base building and the resource economy form the foundation that the game's other systems build on. The forces you fund are bolstered by Commanders, the hero leaders who anchor an army, and supported by Stratagems, powerful off-map abilities used during battle. The economy decides how much you can field and reinforce; the commanders and stratagems shape how that army fights once it is on the map.
Pre-Release Note
Dawn of War IV has not yet released. The base-building and resource systems have been described at the level of how they work rather than with exact figures. Specific build costs, resource types, upgrade values, and the full building roster have not been confirmed and may change before launch, so no exact numbers are listed here.