Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector news & patch notes

We're releasing a new update for Battlesector. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game. Changes since 1.7.1

General

• Fix for Steam Deck users so that the game works on Proton 10 (default Steam Deck software) again.

• Addressed several issues with the in-game Map Editor to allow players to load and modify their maps correctly again

• Fixed several Multiplayer desync issues

• Added additional logging for Multiplayer play to help the team verify and identify future desync issues

• Increased likelihood of getting different enemy factions in adjacent zones in Crusade

• Updated some icons and vfx

• Added new units barks for the Ultramarine Oath of Moment ability

Units

Ultramarines

• General

  • Fixing Merit to the Chapter giving bonus Momentum when the unit kills the Oath of Moment target

• Bladeguard Veterans

  • Update to Shield Bash to stop issues with it consuming MP and not attacking. 

    • N.b. There is still a visual issue with “suppressed” showing when charging, we will address this in next patch

• Ballistus Dreadnaught

  • Added to the Vehicle category so that Anti-Vehicle abilities will work against it

• Terminators

  • Costs reshuffled to avoid confusion when purchasing the unit in crusade

Other Bug Fixes

• Fixed issue where Heavy Intercessor wasn’t gripping the Heavy Bolter correctly

• Removing wrong description from Rites of Battle status effect

• Fixing issues with the T’au Crusade unlockable techs

• Placed units in the Map Editor could look like they were facing the wrong direction to intended

• Fixing Storm Speeder being able to be melee engaged

• Fixing Merit to the Chapter showing wrong range when mousing over the casting unit

• Fixing Hyperfrag Rounds showing wrong AoE when hovering

• Adding Unholy Strike to Chosen in Crusade

• Fix for units that are picked up by Valkyrie sometimes disappearing for the other player in Multiplayer

• Fixed all caps description of Mental Fortress

• Fixed graphical issue where Hormagaunts seemed to have grown a beard

• Fixed decals on Ultramarines Librarian

• Fixing issue where the wrong icon was shown on some unlocks in narrative campaigns

• Fixed some issues where some Crusade army units didn’t have their default loadouts correctly unlocked

Hi,

We have added an Open Beta branch to Battlesector on Steam to both help get an early fix for Steam Deck out to players and also to help the dev team diagnose some of the issues that we've had reported since the release of Ultramarines at Skulls 2026.

The Open Beta has:

• A fix for Steam Deck users so that the game works on Proton 10 (default Steam Deck software) again.

• Additional diagnostic logging to assist with finding and reporting any stability and connectivity issues. These are currently focussing on boot-up issues and connectivity drops when playing Live Multiplayer.

If you are willing and able, we would love it if our players could switch to this branch and to play the game as normal.

Note for multiplayer users, this version of the game connects to a different server and so you will only be able to play against other users who are also on the Open Beta.

We would really appreciate it if you could take the time to try the game out on this branch. It is fully compatible with all single player saves and those saves will carry back over into the default branch when you switch back.

To switch to the Open Beta:

• Go to the Game Library page in Steam

• Select the Manage (Cog) button from the right-hand side (or right click the game in the Library)

• Select Properties from the menu that appears

• Select Game Version and Betas from the left-hand column

• Select the battlesectorbeta (Open Beta Branch) from the list

Steam will then automatically switch you to the correct version of the game.

To switch back, repeat the above and select Default Public Version.

Thanks for your help!

The Battlesector Team

Battlesector and Gladius are taking part in the Warhammer Skulls Festival. The Ultramarines have arrived in Battlesector and to celebrate this the base game will be free to try for the whole festival, while the Eradication Pack has just been released in Gladius. Let's take a look!

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector

We are really excited to announce that the Ultramarines DLC is now available for Battlesector. This legendary Chapter brings a massive roster of eighteen units to the battlefield, embodying tactical perfection and unwavering discipline.

Free to try

To celebrate the release of the DLC, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector will be free to try for the whole festival, from May 21st to May 28th. This is the first time that Battlesector is available as free to try and on top of this we are also releasing a free major update for the base game. This new update is focused on the Crusade game mode and a fresh, new balance update for the Daemons of Khorne faction.

Ultramarines DLC

The Ultramarines, the noble sons of Macragge, stand as the very embodiment of discipline and duty in Warhammer 40,000. Guided by the Codex Astartes and the legacy of Roboute Guilliman, they are the Emperor’s finest: unyielding, methodical, and unwavering in the face of heresy. “Courage and Honour!” is not just a motto, but a way of war.

The new faction DLC introduces the iconic Ultramarines to the battlefield, with a comprehensive roster of units, available for all game modes:

• HQ Commanders: Captain in Gravis Armor, Primaris Apothecary, and Primaris Librarian.

• Troops: Incursors, Heavy Intercessors, and Intercessors.

• Elites: Bladeguard Veterans, Terminators, Aggressors, and the Invictor Warsuit. ● Fast Attack: Inceptors and the highly versatile Storm Speeder (available in Hailstrike, Hammerstrike, and Thunderstrike Loadouts).

• Heavy Support: Eradicators, Eliminators, Redemptor Dreadnought, Ballistus Dreadnought, Gladiator (available in Lancer, Reaper, and Valiant Loadouts), and Hellblasters.

New Major Update - Crusade and Daemons of Khorne

Crusade

A major update brings the roguelite-style Crusade Mode to its full 1.0 version. This challenging new gameplay feature focuses on building your army and fighting through waves of enemies to reclaim vital worlds. The major update includes:

• Players can select three lengths of Crusade, Short (1 planet), Medium (2) and Long (3);

• Each planet has a number of zones, each with a number of battles within it against the same enemy faction;

• Each Zone also has its own unique gameplay modifier and completing a zone gives a significant resource bonus and also a one-off choice of additional rewards;

• The army starts with 1000 army cap, but only 500-600 points worth of units within it. Players are free to spend some of the initial resources to customize the starting force;

• After each battle players earn HQ Tokens and Requisitions equal to the current Income for those two resources. This is shown in red on the strategy map. Income can be increased by some zone rewards.

Daemons of Khorne

The Daemons of Khorne are getting a major balance refresh to make them highly competitive against current factions! Nearly every unit, weapon, and ability has been rebalanced to give the Blood God's legions the staying power they need.

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War

Eradication Pack

Deploy eight new units to the battlefields of Gladius Prime with the Eradication Pack.

This expansion diversifies your offensive toolkit and unlocks powerful new tactical possibilities for every commander.

Celestian Insidiants - Adepta Sororitas

Anti-psyker melee infantry able to track down and eliminate strategic enemy assets.

Wazbom Blastajet - Orks

Experimental ground attack aircraft.

Thunderhawk Gunship - Space Marines

Super-heavy airborne assault transport with an array of weapons.

Harpy - Tyranids

Flying monstrous creature able to drop explosive spore mines.

Warp Spiders - Craftworld Aeldari

Jet pack infantry specialized in hit-and-run tactics.

Seraptek Heavy Construct - Necrons

Super-heavy walker with powerful ranged weapons.

Armoured Sentinel - Astra Militarum

Fire support walker.

Noise Marines - Chaos Space Marines

Deafening ranged infantry unit.

Free-to-keep week

Gladius is going to be free-to-keep on Steam for the duration of the festival. It is the perfect occasion to try Gladius if you haven't: it is the ultimate 4X strategy game set in the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000.

Warhammer Skulls Festival

Warhammer Skulls is the ultimate celebration of all digital games about Warhammer video games.

There are loads of amazing discounts and new announcements from other studios, too. So we hope that you will check them out here.

"War, as with the Warp, is ever-present and always changing. However, the Codex Astartes grounds us in all circumstances. It is through its teachings that we serve the Emperor and keep the enemies of the Imperium at bay"

Librarian Antolinus of the Ultramarines

Change is good, isn’t it? Perhaps not, but it is at least always inevitable!

Following the release of the Black Legion earlier this year, the Battlesector team have been breaking ground on several new fronts, and we thought it about time to let you know what’s afoot.

Firstly, the Spring Update is nearly here and brings some very exciting new things. There’s too much for us to share entirely here, but there’s three big things that we have to share!

As you’ll remember from our announcement and roadmap, the Ultramarines are the next faction to arrive in Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector. There will be more to say on their army list and unique ways of adhering to the Codex Astartes very soon.

There are also changes coming to the forces of the Immaterium. With the Black Legion having arrived, we felt it was time to go back and add a bit of extra spice to the Daemons of Khorne faction.

This faction is already available but we’ve aware that some of you find them a bit low down on the faction power table. So, with the Spring Update there will be a significant refresh of the faction to switch up their weapons and abilities and to bring a whole new feel to playing as the Daemon hordes of the Lord of Rage.

Additionally, the Spring Update will see the largest upgrade yet to the Crusade game mode. Crusade has been in Preview in Battlesector since it was added last year, allowing you to play the new mode as we developed it from a basic line of battles into something much, much more. We’ve really appreciated the feedback of the community and all of your comments have helped us build towards the version that will arrive in the next update.

There will be more to share soon, including some more detailed updates and live streams with the development team. For now, we’d love to hear about what you’re excited about for the path ahead for Battlesector!

We’re excited to announce that Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector and Warhammer 40,000: Gladius will be taking part in Warhammer Skulls 2026!

The Skulls festival will run from Thursday, May 21st, at 5:00 PM UK until Thursday, May 28th.

Don’t miss the live showcase on the official Warhammer Twitch channel on Thursday, May 21st at 5:00 PM UK time.

Stay tuned, and discover more about Skulls here.

We're releasing a new update for Battlesector. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

Bug Fixes

• Reverted changes to the Fortress of Redemption map. Units should no longer be floating 50 meters off the ground.

We're releasing a new update for Battlesector. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

General

• This is a general bug fix and stability patch, reacting to some of the issues that we’ve seen reported since the release of the 1.6.001 patch and the Black Legion.

• There are several “under the hood” fixes that address errors that we have seen reported in our analytics and aim to increase general stability.

Balance

General

• Oath of Protection (Celestian Sacresant) and Bodyguard (Ogyns) updated to match Guardian Protocols (Lychguard) and not be able to be disabled.

Bug Fixes

• Removed purple corruption from the trees in the Feeding Grounds map

• Fixes to cover not being provided by some buildings on Despoiled Lands

• Fixed description of For The Dark Gods to correctly state the 3x3 affected area

• Fixing Raptors Jump Pack not giving their status effect changes immediately

• Fixing issue where Havocs would sometimes get stuck in animations

• Fixing some issues with Black Legion AI

• Potential fix to some of the reported issues where Command Points are not capturable in some multiplayer situations

• Fixing Skull Cannon and Ectoplasma Cannon being marked as artillery (they’re direct fire weapons)

Black Legion out now

The most infamous Chaos Space Marines have arrived in Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector with a brand-new faction DLC, introducing fifteen fearsome units that bring the wrath of the Warmaster. Originally born from the once proud Luna Wolves, one of the original sixteen founding Legions of the Space Marines, these warriors fell from grace during the Horus Heresy of the 31st Millennium and were reborn as the dreaded Black Legion.

Led by the feared Chaos Lord, the Sorcerers of Chaos, the Masters of Executions and the Cultist Firebrands, the faction offers a brutal arsenal. Chaos Terminators, Legionaries, Raptors, Chosen, and Havocs form the relentless backbone of the Black Legion’s armies, each contributing distinct tactical strengths. Supporting them are the terrifying Daemon Engines, whose power can unleash torment and savage destruction.

With this DLC, available on Steam, Xbox and PlayStation, players can embrace the unholy might of Chaos Undivided and experience a new level of strategic brutality in Battlesector.

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector - 1.6.001 - Patch Notes

Changes since 1.5.331

General

• Added new faction, Black Legion

• Added new map, Despoiled Lands

• Updated Weapon Tooltips to be more consistent and show Attacks count everywhere

• All enemy units in a Crusade Boss battle gain a debuff when you kill the Boss unit

Balance

General

• Jump Packs now have a minimum movement range of 1 (was 2) and can be activated when a unit has no movement points remaining.

• Hover Packs (Seraphim, Zephyrim) can be activated with no movement points remaining

Adepta Sororitas

• Celestians and Dominions

  • Meltagun

    • Increased to 8AP for consistency with other Melta weapons (was 6)

• Paragon Warsuits

  • Reduced Spirit of the Martyrs to only give 1 stack to Paragon Warsuits (was 2)

• Rhino

  • Armour reduced to 8 (was 9)

• Exorcist

  • Armour reduced to 8 (was 9)

  • Cohesion to 1/1/2 (was 1/2/2)

Astra Militarum

• Cadian Castellan

  • Plasma Pistol upgraded to officer standard (same as Adepta Sororitas Canoness Plasma Pistol)

Tyranids

• Hive Tyrant

  • Clarified that Sonic Scream does splash damage and removed splash falloff so that it’s 30-40 damage to all units

• Trygon

  • Bioelectric Pulse now splashes to all models on adjacent tiles

Necrons

• Plasmancer

  • Harbinger of Destruction will now hit all models on tiles it affects

Bug Fixes

• Removed Necron Ruins layout with central temple from Crusade roster

• Fixing some Crusade armies to have the correct upgrades/weapons/cost

• Added Retributor loadouts to Crusade tech tree correctly

The wait is almost over, Commanders. We’re excited to announce that the next faction DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector — Black Legion — will launch on February 24th.

Prepare to bring the might of the Warmaster’s chosen to the battlefield, with new units and new ways to dominate your enemies.

Warriors, it’s been a while since we updated you on how Battlesector is proceeding, so now is the time.

Firstly, a reminder that Battlesector was featured in December’s Slitherine Next presentation where we gave the first sight of the upcoming Black Legion faction and we also revealed our roadmap for 2026:

The Battlesector team is hard at work bringing all of these plans to fruition and we’ll have more news on each of them throughout the year ahead. For today, however, we return to the subject of Abaddon's forces, the Black Legion.

The ways of the warp are unpredictable at best, and whilst we had ambitions to release the faction to your beclawed hands in December last year, our machinations did not play out as we’d hoped. I can tell you that the Faction is now feature complete however, and it is in closed beta testing to ensure that we have a fantastic new force to add to Battlesector. We’ll have a release date for you very soon!

The Black Legion store page gives some details on the units that we have selected for the faction, but we thought that you might be interested to know a little bit more about how these were decided upon.

There are many potential units for the Black Legion. Their codex is not small, and it shifts and grows as Games Workshop finds new fantastic units to bring to us all.

Our first long-list was 37 units from the latest codex, each of which also had a physical version available. This is important for our model making processes (see our previous dev logs on the Astra Militarum Primaris Psyker) and also so that we can agree our interpretation of that unit with Games Workshop.

This list was then much debated, voted upon and finally squeezed into an agreed list which featured some important elements that we want our initial faction releases to have.

Great HQ Units

On the tabletop you have access to some amazing name characters and epic heroes. In Battlesector we aim to give each faction 3 to 4 “HQ” units, which can lead your forces with distinction, and also gain access to the potentially game changing CP abilities.

We knew from the start that we needed a Chaos Lord and a Sorcerer as iconic leaders and wielders of the powers of the warp. We then took a look at the other warlords and dark powers available and decided on two that would stand apart as distinct and unique in their own right. The Master of Executions provides something unique, a melee-focused whirlwind of death that can pose a very immediate threat to any opposition leader. And the Cultist Firebrand gave us a Chaos Cultist HQ to let players engage with their merely human side (and also gain access to a flamer!).

A Solid Core

The core of the Black Legion is well settled. Chaos Terminators, Legionaries, Raptors, Chosen and Havocs each lend a very different element to a Black Legion army, but they are all recognised as the heart-beat of their infantry. We had to have them all.

Something that might cause discussion is that the Legionaries and Chosen have been given their own distinct roles in Battlesector, with the Legionaries wielding Bolters and grenades whilst the Chosen bring Accursed Chain Weapons and Power Weapons. Many of you will prefer to take these in different guises on the tabletop (maybe all melee, or swapping their ranged and melee specialities), but we always try to give Battlesector units a unique identity and we agreed as a team that the Chosen needed to be the ones getting stuck into the hand to hand combat.

Add to this the Cultist Mob and Warband, and there is a fantastic battleline that can take on any challenge.

I’m sure there are some of your favourites that aren’t here (Possessed? Chaos Spawn? Warp Talons?), but we only had so many spots and there’s always a chance for these units to arrive at a later date!

Daemon Engines

The last group are the great Daemonic Engines of war that add epic power and impact to the forces of Chaos. The Helbrute was one of the first names on our teamsheet, closely followed by the Heldrake to be our aerial support unit.

We chose to take only one of the Maulerfiend and Forgefiend, and with the Helbrute already getting up close and uncomfortably personal with the enemy, we selected the Forgefield with Hades Autocannon and Ectoplasma Cannon loadouts to add some extremely durable long range support.

Our final selections were the Chaos Rhino (absolutely selected because we loved the idea of some Power Weapon wielding Chosen and a Master of Executions being unloaded onto an exposed enemy flank!) and then the Obliterators and the Venomcrawlers. These last two not only added a great swiss army knife  of fleshmetal guns and a horrifically quick skirmisher, but they are two of our favourite kits from the tabletop in recent years!

The forces of Chaos are gathering.

We’re excited to announce that beta sign-ups for the upcoming Black Legion DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector are now officially open!

The beta will be available on Steam, and players must own the base game Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector in order to access it. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be notified automatically when the beta goes live.

Sign up now here and prepare to spread Chaos across the battlefield.

Black Legion DLC

For the first time ever, we unveiled the Black Legion DLC, bringing the Warmaster’s most ruthless Chaos Space Marines into Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector.

Fans got a full first look at units, abilities, and the sheer brutality the Black Legion will unleash when they arrive. More details and gameplay previews will follow soon—prepare your forces.

Roadmap 2026

We also lifted the veil on our 2026 roadmap, confirming two major additions coming next year:

• Ultramarines Faction – The Emperor’s finest will soon join the fray as a full, playable faction.

• New Narrative Campaign – A brand-new story experience is in development, expanding the Battlesector universe with fresh missions, characters, and strategic depth.

New tournaments open for sign ups:

Do not miss the chance to sign-up to two new tournaments: Domination Elimination and Dual Duals. You can sign-up here. The tournaments follow Swiss Tournament rules: you can find the full list of rules here. The first round will commence on Tuesday, 16th December 2025. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun. The tournaments will last 7 and 6 rounds, 11 days each. Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. All you need to do is sign up, then the system will pair you with opponents and create your PBEM games. You will be notified by mail of when the tournament is starting and when it will be time to play your turns.

Dual Duals

Round Info:

• Round 1 - Mode: Strategic Command - Map: Feeding Grounds - Army Size 2000, Target 75

• Round 2 - Mode: Domination - Map: Feeding Grounds - Army Size 2000, Target 75

• Round 3 - Mode: Strategic Command - Map: Aisle of Tithes - Army Size 2000, Target 75

• Round 4 - Mode: Domination - Map: Aisle of Tithes - Army Size 2000, Target 75

• Round 6 - Mode: Strategic Command - Map: Salt Exchange - Army Size 2000, Target 75

• Round 7 - Mode: Domination - Map: Salt Exchange - Army Size 2000, Target 75

Domination Elimination

This is a two stages tournament with a ranking round and knockout stage.

Match info:

• Mode: Domination - Army Size 2000 - Target 75

Stage info:

Stage 1 - Ranking match

Stage 2 - Tournament bracket - Knock out tournament

We're releasing a new update for Battlesector. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

This patch is for PC platforms only, the issue that it fixes was not present on PlayStation or Xbox.

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed issue that was causing Assault Terminator Lightning Claws and Storm Shields to be rendered without textures

Players, We wanted to inform you that the release of the upcoming Black Legion DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector has been delayed. The team is working hard to ensure the new content meets the level of quality you expect, and we appreciate your patience and support. We're sorry that the DLC won't be releasing this year as intended. We’ll be sharing more details, updates, and a closer look at what’s coming during Slitherine Next, our live streaming event on December 9th. We hope you’ll join us as we reveal what's next for Battlesector. Thank you for your understanding.

We're releasing a new update for Battlesector. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

Bug Fixes

Orks

• Kustom Boosta-blasta

  • Fixed issue with Splash Damage, now splashes to one additional unit (was zero)

  • Fixed issue where Rivetin’ Dakka was unlocked incorrectly in crusade

General

• Fixed issue for PlayStation and Xbox players where the second player in Hotseat was not able to change their army or use some UI elements

• Fixed issue where hovering units weren’t able to charge over the top of allies and low obstacles

• Fixing some issues with initially unlocked techs not being shown as purchased in Tech Trees in Crusade mode (partial fix only)

To celebrate Warhammer Day, we are really excited to share some really important news about Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector.

As part of the celebration, all our Warhammer games have joined a special sale, starting from 7.00pm CEST. Please check our steam page to see all the details:

https://store.steampowered.com/dev/slitherine

Black Legion DLC

The Black Legion will arrive as a playable faction in Battlesector on December 9th. The Black Legion, the dreaded sons of Horus, are the latest faction to join Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector. Fifteen new units will be at our disposal to fight for the galaxy.

Unit List

• Chaos Lord

• Sorcerer

• Master of Executions

• Legionaries

• Chosen

• Havocs

• Raptors

• Chaos Terminators

• Helbrute

• Forgefiend

• Venomcrawler

• Obliterators

• Chaos Rhino

• Cultist Firebrand

• Chaos Cultist Mob & Warband

• Heldrake

Free major update - 1.05.328 - Patch Notes

We are very happy to announce that a new free major update for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is available for everyone on all platforms from today. This new game update brings ever-shifting conflict to the 41st Millennium, a free new iconic Ork unit, and Domination game mode.

For those of you who want to know every detail of this new major update, a detailed changelog is available here. This document outlines all the changes made in the update, from major new features to minor bug fixes.

Kustom Boosta-Blasta

It’s everything a Speed Freek dreams of in a vehicle.

Available for free for all players who own the Ork Faction.

New tournament open for sign-ups

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector - Domination introduction

Do not miss the chance to sign-up to the new Domination introduction tournament which will feature 3 rounds of action. You can sign-up here. The tournament follows Swiss Tournament rules: you can find the full list of rules here. The first round will commence on Friday, 31st October 2025. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun. The tournament will last 3 rounds, 11 days each. Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. All you need to do is sign up, then the system will pair you with opponents and create your PBEM games. You will be notified by mail of when the tournament is starting and when it will be time to play your turns. Round Info:

• Round 1 - Mode: Domination - Map: Munitorum - Army Size 2000, Target 75

• Round 2 - Mode: Domination - Map: Settlement - Army Size 2000, Target 75

• Round 3 - Mode: Domination - Map: Aisle of Tithes - Army Size 2000, Target 75

Soundtrack DLC

• Dynasty of Stars

• Great Awakening

• Infinite Empire

• Forward into Battle

• Imperial Creed

• Our Service is Eternal

• With Faith!

We are releasing a new major update for Battlesector. This is going to be the first of two updates that bring new features, a new game mode, a new free unit and great news regarding future releases. Today's major update focuses on the latest Crusade mode and introduces a new map. Next major update, releasing on Oct. 23rd, will bring a new game mode and a new free unit.

As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

Changes since 1.5.297

General

• Updates to the Crusade Campaign (see below for more info)

• Added new Skirmish map - Munitorum

  • Fight over an Imperial Munitorum amongst the cranes, crates and cartways

• All Tech Trees for all factions are now more spread out and list every unit and upgrade

  • Some have also been reworked to be less linear, giving the player more choice in their upgrades

• Updated Army Generator for AI in Skirmish, Planetary Supremacy and Crusade

  • Aiming to have the enemy armies be more “army like”, with a larger spread of units

  • You should see less instances of “mini officer corps” and more appropriate spreads between HQ’s, Elites and Battleline troops

• Improved the Music Manager to select from a larger variety of the in-game music tracks

• Added 50 and 75 as target scores for Skirmish and MP

• Added 3 new default loading screens

Crusade

• PLEASE NOTE: Save Games are not compatible from previous versions. Too many updates have been made to retain compatibility. There is a legacy branch available on some platforms which can be switched to should you wish to play older saves.

• Planets now branch, giving multiple routes across them and with multiple potential boss encounters

  • A Crusade is still across 3 planets, but they are now 7 tiles wide (rather than 5-4-3 previously)

• Planets now have a choice of multiple start points

• Added Exchange Events to some tiles, where players can exchange Requisition or Tech Tokens for new units, XP or other bonuses

• Planets can now have Planet Modifiers, which affect all battles on that planet

• Most battles no longer drop bonus units, players must use their requisitions to buy reinforcements

• Units no longer gain XP from momentum gained directly from Status Effects (e.g. Ordered, Embrace The Blood)

• Added a “Target Unit Level” system for planets which will help balancing between factions/units that are better/worse at gaining XP

• Increased turn limit for most Crusade battles to 10 turns (was 8)

• Reduced target score for Crusade battles to 75 (was 80)

Balance

• Unified splash damage from all Volatile unit abilities, no matter the faction

Necrons

• Updated Reanimation Protocol

  • Models reanimate with 100% chance (was 40%) and reanimate with 10% HP (was 50%)

  • Reanimation will not occur if the entire unit is destroyed

  • Units gain a small momentum boost when a model reanimates

  • As before, an individual model can only reanimate once (so if you kill it and it comes back in turn 1, it won’t ever reanimate again). This is consistent with previous, but much more notable now

• Added Reanimation Protocol to Tomb Blades

• Reduced Momentum bonus from Protocol of Unending Will to 50% (was 100%)

Sisters of Battle

• Zephyrim

  • Reduced base Evasion to 5 (was 15), to match Seraphim

  • Power Sword

    • Base Accuracy to 95 (was 100)

    • Damage to 30 (was 35)

• Dominions

  • Increased cost to 85 (was 75)

  • Storm Bolter

    • Increased AP to 2 (was 1)

  • Meltagun

    • Reduced cost to 10 (was 20)

• Celestians

  • Increased cost to 80 (was 75)

• Castigator

  • Increased cost to 220 (was 215)

  • Reduced Battle Cannon upgrade cost to 0 (was 10)

• Rhino

  • Storm Bolter

    • Increased AP to 2 (was 1)

• Exorcist

  • Missile Launcher

    • Increased Min Range to 3 (was 2)

    • Reduced Accuracy to 75 (was 80)

    • Reduced AP to 5 (was 6)

    • Increased Splash damage to 60% (was 50%)

  • Devastating Refrain

    • Increased cooldown to 3 turns (was 2)

    • Added charge time of 2 turns (was 0)

Blood Angels

• Furioso Dreadnought

  • Reduced cost to 155 (was 165)

  • Frag Cannon

    • Reduced action point cost to 0 (was 1)

    • Changed Ammunition to 3 (was 2 at normal, 4 at empowered)

  • Storm Bolter

    • Increased AP to 2 (was 1)

    • Reduced Accuracy Falloff to 5 (was 10)

  • Furioso Fist

    • Increased Splash Damage to 70% (was 50%)

• Librarian Dreadnought

  • Reduced cost to 230 (was 240)

  • Storm Bolter

    • Increased AP to 2 (was 1)

    • Reduced Accuracy Falloff to 5 (was 10)

  • Quickening

    • Reduced Action Point cost to 0 (was 1)

    • Increased Charge time to 2 (was 0)

    • Reduced MP bonus to 2/3 (was 3/3)

    • Reduced Evasion bonus to 5/20 (was 10/25)

    • Removed Action Point bonus from Empowered version

  • Shield of Sanguinius

    • Increased status effect duration to 2 turns from 1 turn

• Baal Predator

  • Storm Bolter

    • Increased AP to 2 (was 1)

• Inceptors

  • Cost increased to 110 (was 100)

  • Assault Bolter

    • Increased Damage to 4 (was 3)

  • Plasma Exterminator

    • Cost reduced to 10 (was 40)

• Invictor Warsuit

  • Invictor Fist

    • Increased Splash Damage to 70% (was 60%)

Astra Militarum

• Basilisk

  • Barrage Ability

    • Increased Cooldown to 3 turns (was 2)

• Valkyrie

  • Units disembarking from a Valkyrie gain the Disembarked status effect giving -5% ranged accuracy for one turn

Daemons of Khorne

• Bloodletters

  • Murderous Tide

    • Corrected Murderous Tide to give +10 Crit Chance, was giving x0.1

Bug Fixes

Crusade Mode

Fixes for:

• Boss units getting massive HP buffs

• Average Accuracy on the Campaign Complete screen was always showing 1%

• Seize and Control objective should now always be central

General

Fixes for:

• Orbital Ion Strike & Typhoon Missile Strike were not dealing splash damage correctly

• Castigator and Zephyrim health bars were very hard to see

• When a unit has 9 models, they will no longer all stand in a circle

• Rites of Intercession and Grace status effects sometimes did not apply correctly in Async play

• Clarified that abilities that require MP sacrifice will not work without any MP (e.g. Flasky Krumpin and Hail of Fire)

• Units being able to stand inside the building near the centre of Defence of Eonis

• Penitent Engines should no longer use their Torment Amplifiers at the end of their turn

• Updated description of Deathstrike Missile

• Fixed blocking issues in Tutorials and issue in Tutorial 3 if using a gamepad

• Bonus Health was not always carrying into the opponent turn in Async games

• Fixed misaligned lights on some Necron buildings in the Necron Ruins maps

• Updated tooltip for multi-target abilities to make it clearer that the player can press Enter to start the ability without all targets selected

• Suiciding your last unit could sometimes give you an unwarranted victory

• Fixing Nobz to use the correct weapon when fighting back in melee

• Entering Tactical Map on Mission 1 of Deeds of the Fallen would cause a strange camera transition

• Updated some area abilities which could have been used to deduce where camouflaged units were hidden

• Fix for rare issue where a hero character could be inside a transport and become stuck after using Second Chance

Welcome to the second episode of our behind-the-scenes vlog on Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector – Deeds of the Fallen. This time, we explore the deep dive our team took into the lore and universe of Warhammer 40,000. From poring over codices to working closely with Games Workshop, discover how research shaped the characters and storylines of Deeds of the Fallen.

Get a glimpse of the creative foundations that drive the game forward.

Deeds of the Fallen DLC | Vlog #2 - Research

We're releasing a new update for Battlesector. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

Changes since 1.5.288

General

• This is a patch fix update to address some issues that were added with the Deffkilla Update

Bug Fixes

• Fix for Valkyrie not returning transported units to the battlefield

• Corrected tooltip on the Reinforcements option when starting a Daemonic Incursion campaign

• Corrected Deffkilla HQ priority so more likely to be the CP ability user

• Updating some charge abilities (Furious Charge, Devastating Charge, Battering Ram) to correctly ignore pistol reaction shots

• Updated Angel's Leap to encourage the Harpy to be more active

• Fix for Righteous Aura adding an extra tile than intended

• Fix for enemy AI units being able to sometimes move through your units if they are trapped in a corner

• Updated Mission 11 of Deeds of the Fallen to reduce memory footprint and improve console stability

• Fixing terrain on Breach in the Heavenwall

To celebrate our 25th anniversay, during Slitherine Next we have announced a new update, releasing today. On top of several fixes and balances, this new update features a new brand unit: the Deffkilla Wartrike. In order to be usable in your armies, players must own the Ork Faction DLC.

During the event, we talked about the origin of the game, its history and also the next steps. In case you missed the event, you can rewatch it here:

As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

Changes since 1.5.275

General

• Added new unit for the Ork Faction, the Deffkilla Wartrike

  • This is a HQ unit for the Orks. It requires the Ork Faction DLC to be usable in your armies.

• Added new Imperial City map biome for Crusade and Planetary Supremacy

• Added 5 new T’au themed buildings to the Map Editor for players to use in their custom maps and campaigns

Crusade

• Rebalanced Enemy Army Sizes for all battles

• Added Uncommon and Legendary Level Up Upgrades

• Enemy Boss HP reduced to +100% from +200%

• Added a selection of Boss Army upgrades

  • These will buff all of the other units in a Boss’ army

Balance

• Updated Ork “Speedy Boyz” army

• Tweaks for some Crusade level ups.

Bug Fixes

Crusade Mode

Fixes for:

• Moved objective spires in Crusade mode “Siege” games to be closer to the player spawn

• Initial T’au army was larger than the initial battle size allowed

• Some Flamer units could cause an occasional game hang on level up

• Units would face the wrong way when activating capture points in Crusade

Deeds of the Fallen

Fixes for:

• Mission 4 side objective does not count turns correctly after Save&load

• When Leona dies first time in mission 10 then the objective marker disappears and makes mission incompletable

General

Fixes for:

• Visual fx of some Adepta Sororitas abilities, which played too quickly if gameplay time speed up was being used

• Tweaked main menu button background to aid readability

• Some tech trees were placed too far to the right on the screen, obscuring the token cost icons

• Mines no longer count as units towards location capture (like in Conqueror game mode)

• AI controlled Canoness and Sister Superior will now actually use their swords

• Clarified the description for abilities that trigger a modified charge (like Devastating Charge) and require at least 1 movement point to be used

• Issue where starting Armoured Sentinel in Crusade had Plasma Cannon, not Flamer

• Some rocks in the Defence of Eonis map were badly placed and did not match the tilemap

You still have the chance to sign-up to the new Defence of Eonis tournament which will feature the new multyplayer map:

• Defence of Eonis

You can sign-up here. The tournament follows Swiss Tournament rules: you can find the full list of rules here.

The first round will commence on Friday, 11th July 2025 at 11.00am GMT. No further entries can be accepted after the tournament has begun. The tournament will last 3 rounds, 11 days each. Games are paired, so each matchup will be played both ways. All you need to do is sign up, then the system will pair you with opponents and create your PBEM games. You will be notified by mail of when the tournament is starting and when it will be time to play your turns.

Round Info:

• Round 1 - Mode: Strategic Command - Map: Defence of Eonis - Army Size 2000, Target 80

• Round 2 - Mode: Strategic Command - Map: Defence of Eonis - Army Size 2000, Target 80

• Round 3 - Mode: Strategic Command - Map: Defence of Eonis - Army Size 2000, Target 80

Welcome to the first episode of our behind-the-scenes vlog on Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector – Deeds of the Fallen. In this chapter, we dive into the art and strategy of Map Design. Discover how our team crafted the immersive battlefields that bring the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000 to life.

Join us on this journey through the war-torn landscapes that set the stage for epic clashes.

Deeds of the Fallen DLC | Vlog #1 - Map Design

We're releasing a new update for Battlesector. As per usual, please let us know what you think of the list of changes. Your feedback is essential to keep improving the game.

Changes since 1.5.264

General

• This update fixes several bugs and issues and adds expanded functionality to the Crusade game mode

• Added New Skirmish map for SP and MP: Defence of Eonis

• First steps to updating how enemy armies are selected for game modes like Crusade and Planetary Supremacy to try and reduce instances of massively overpowering enemy armies at low player level (more to come on this in the future)

Crusade

• Rework of the level up rewards. There are now 40 upgrades divided in common and rare.

  • NOTE: Old save files will load, but your upgrades will be reset and must be rechosen. If you load a Battle Save then your units will temporarily have no upgrades.

• Upgrades are filtered for Melee and Ranged only upgrades to reduce instances of useless upgrades.

• Added the ability to reroll upgrades by spending Requisition points.

• Added new map layouts to existing map theme: Bastion, Incursion and Necron Ruins

• Added new map theme: Forest Clearing

• Updated Boss Battles to require the elimination of both the Boss and the accompanying Army

Balance

Adepta Sororitas

• Castigator now gives correct momentum reward on death

• Blessed Onslaught no longer stacks all attacks if you select a single target

• Empowered Sacred Healing now gives +70Hp immediately to all models in a unit and then +75HP split between the unit models on subsequent turns

Astra Militarum

• Added Disembarked Transport status effect that gives -5% ranged accuracy for units that are dropped by Valkryie

Bug Fixes

Crusade Mode

Fixes for:

• Biome Tile not appear under Boss Pillar

• Boss Tile is not selectable

• Save&Load cause flags and playermarker on the tile to disappear

• Level Up Reward assigned to Units is different from the selected one

• Clicking proceed without selecting an upgrade always select the middle one regardless of the selected one in the UI

• CriticalChance and RangedDamage (for transport Unit) powerUp, they were using the wrong status effect

• Issues with Gamepad interface on level up panel

• Reduce Cost don't have Description

• Tooltip Increase Requisition Cost say Health instead of Cost

Deeds of the Fallen

• Fixes for issues where objective markers didn’t respawn on save game load

• Wrath of the Ecclesiarcy gives +25% Crit Chance, not +0.25%

General

Fixes for:

• Bastion of the Faith was retaining extra stacks when it shouldn’t

• Selected loadout wouldn't transfer properly after adding a unit to the army

• Reduced SFX count for Zephyrim and Seraphim to reduce overwhelming noise

• T’au AI will now correctly target units which have been Markerlit

• Allowing the From the Sky achievement to be unlocked outside of the Age of Crimson Dawn campaign

• Occasional issue where “charge” skills (like Devastating Charge) would not trigger their final attack correctly

• Ground based enemy AI units should no longer try to walk through enemies, thus suppressing themselves

• Siege battles didn’t always end when all enemy units defeated

• Melta Mines were sometimes invisible to all players

General

• This is a bug fix / issue fix update following the patch release for Skulls 2025 which added Deeds of the Fallen and Crusade mode.
• There will be more balance updates and improvements to the new Crusade mode in the coming months.

Balance

Crusade

• Corrected army size for Boss Battles
• Corrected the Tyranid starting army to be 1000 points
• Various balance changes for the Crusade level ups

Deeds of the Fallen

General

• Moved Castigator unit unlock to be after Mission 4
• Added Sister Superior Power Sword upgrade to Selicia’s tech tree

Mission 2

• The Inspiration Status Effect on the Garrison Battle Sisters now lasts for the entire mission

Mission 3

• The Inspiration Status Effect on the Battle Sisters now lasts for the entire mission

Mission 5

• The Defiance Status Effect now lasts for the entire mission once it has been applied

Mission 6

• Removed the Orks that spawned in the room with the Paragon Warsuit and instantly attacked, often killing the Repentia before the player could use them…

Mission 11

• Mixed up the locations of the Weirdboyz on the map to ask the AI to use their CP powers sooner, not just to save them up for an end mission alpha strike

Bug Fixes

Crusade Mode

• Fix for Cohesion limits not applying nor showing in battle
• Added popup to show when insufficient requisitions
• Updated some tooltips to improve understanding of level up awards
• Fixed HQ units not showing CP button
• Fixed Siege Objective showing Exterminatus goal
• Fixed unlocked difficulty levels not being saved correctly on Xbox
• Fix for gamepad controls to allow Warzone selection to work correctly
• Fix for Conqueror Objective spawning in a new place on Load game
• Fix for transport unit powerups using the wrong status effect

Deeds of the Fallen

• Updated some textures from later missions to improve resolution
• Fixing issue with audio volume mixing on Narrative voice lines
• Fixing issues where some subtitles did not match the voice lines
• Fixing issue where game UI was sometimes shown during cutscenes
• Fixes for some issues with wrong tile traversability
• Fix for some locations where shots could go through cover (e.g. end of mission 6)
• Fixed Saintly Benedictions to be HP buff per model
• Fix for some interaction markers not being restored on save/load

General

• Fix for Sister Verity mission objectives not proceeding correctly in Age of Crimson Dawn
• Fix for Choppa Boyz not having all their barks
• Fix for Blood Angel’s Lieutenants spawning when they shouldn’t (may not be 100%, please let us know if he still arrives)

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector

Deeds of the Fallen DLC

New major update

New game mode - Crusade

New free units

Future

Warhammer 40,000: Gladius

Free-to-keep week

Onslaught Pack

Warhammer Skulls Festival

General

• Updated Localisation Strings that were missing from v1.04.160
• Added unique unit icons for the Retributor variant loadouts

Balance

Astra Militarum

Cadian Sergeant

• Fixed missing Requisition Points value. Now set to 1 (was zero)

Sisters of Battle

Shield of Faith

• Max Stacks restricted to 3 (was 5), meaning a max armour gain of +2.

Faith and Fury

• Damage bonus reduced to +15% (was +30%)

Power Sword (weapon for Sister Superior and Canoness)

• Armour Piercing reduced to 7 (was 8)

Canoness

• Cost to 215 (was 200)

• Base Evasion reduced to 15 (was 20)
• Starting Momentum reduced to 25 (was 30)
• (This means that the Canoness returns to starting the game with 20 Evasion in total)

• Divine Deliverance:
• Momentum Gains reduced to 20% (was 25%)
• Empowered Divine Deliverance:
• Movement Points to +1 (was +2)
• Extra Attacks to +1 (was +2)

• Blessed Blade
• Damage per attack reduced to 70 (was 90)

Celestian Sacresants

• Base Armour reduced to 5 (was 6)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed typo in Path of the Penitent description
• Fixed issue with Critical Chance bonus from Divine Guidance being multiplicative rather than additive
• Fixing excess SFX if Divine Inspiration activated with multiple stacks
• Fixed bug with Expanded Authority not gaining charge from Battles in Planetary Supremacy

New forces for the Astra Militarum

Cadian Sergeant

Leman Russ Battle Tank

1.04.160 - Patch Notes

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector franchise sale

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector - Dev Diary #16 - Sisters and Soldiers