Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach

Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach is a PC turn-based tactical strategy game built around squad-level battles between the Space Wolves and Orks. Its current Steam listing uses the name Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach (Classic), while the GOG edition keeps the original title and remains available as a DRM-free purchase. The game combines campaign progression, customizable skirmishes, unit experience, map creation, and asynchronous multiplayer in a ruleset shaped by tabletop wargaming rather than real-time base building.

Turn-based battles with tabletop priorities

Sanctus Reach uses a 3D, grid-based battlefield viewed from an elevated tactical perspective. Each turn is about positioning individual units, managing action points, choosing firing angles, and exploiting terrain before the opposing force can punish an exposed flank.

The basic combat loop is direct: spend army points, assemble a force, select deployment positions, and fight for the mission objective. Units can move and fire in the same turn, but firing reduces their remaining movement, so every attack carries a positional cost.

Terrain is more than decoration. Buildings, roads, obstacles, and defensive positions affect how forces approach one another, while line of sight and facing determine whether a unit can deliver effective fire or becomes vulnerable to a counterattack.

Reaction fire gives the battlefield a second layer of danger. Units can cover specific tiles and automatically fire at enemies that enter their arc, making movement lanes, vehicle approaches, and infantry advances important decisions rather than simple point-and-click orders.

Campaign progression and mission objectives

The main single-player content centers on the Space Wolves defending the Knight World of Alaric Prime against Grukk Face-Rippa and his Red Waaagh!. The two principal campaigns are Stormclaw and Hour of the Wolf, supported by a separate tutorial campaign for learning the rules.

Campaign missions are not limited to eliminating every enemy. Objectives can involve capturing victory tiles, controlling a majority of the map, destroying an opposing force, or escorting vehicles to an extraction point. Some missions also introduce bonus objectives or add new goals while the battle is underway.

The campaign structure alternates major set-piece confrontations with randomly generated skirmish missions. This creates a rhythm between authored scenarios and replayable battles, while the result of one mission influences the forces available for the next.

Surviving units gain experience and unlock new abilities as they progress. Units can also carry over between scenarios, giving veteran squads a practical value beyond their immediate battlefield statistics and making unnecessary losses more costly.

Space Wolves, Orks, and tactical force building

The base game focuses on two opposing forces: the Space Wolves chapter of the Adeptus Astartes and the Ork Goff faction. Each side includes roughly thirty unit types, ranging from infantry squads and specialists to armored vehicles, heroes, and large battlefield threats.

Space Wolves forces include recognizable figures such as Ragnar Blackmane, Krom Dragongaze, and Logan Grimnar, alongside units such as Blood Claws, Grey Hunters, Predators, Dreadnoughts, and the Imperial Knight Gerantius.

The Ork roster is built around Goff units, heavy melee pressure, aggressive vehicles, and characters including Grukk Face-Rippa and Mogrok da Mangla. The faction also includes the formidable Gorkanaut, giving Ork armies a different tactical profile from the more structured Space Wolves forces.

Force selection is deliberately important. Units have distinct weapons, strengths, weaknesses, morale values, and battlefield roles, so a successful army is not simply the largest list available. Combining durable front-line units with ranged support, transports, heroes, and specialist attacks is central to surviving difficult scenarios.

Sandbox, editor, and additional content

Outside the story campaigns, Skirmish mode lets you configure standalone battles by selecting army size, terrain type, map size, deployment conditions, and faction. Generated maps provide a more flexible alternative to the campaign's authored battlefields.

The Sandbox Campaign mode expands that idea into a customizable series of battles. Players can choose any unlocked faction, select an opposing force, determine the number of battles, and set the difficulty. Its optional Ironman mode adds permanent unit death and prevents forces from being replenished between missions.

Sanctus Reach also includes a scenario and campaign editor. You can place terrain, buildings, roads, units, reinforcements, and victory conditions, then create either single-player or multiplayer missions. Carryover campaigns allow surviving units to remain available in later scenarios.

The official paid add-ons are Legacy of the Weirdboy, Sons of Cadia, and Horrors of the Warp. They add new campaigns, factions or units, heroes, scenarios, objectives, and narrative material rather than functioning as cosmetic packs. The base game remains a paid standalone title, and the expansions are separate purchases on the current GOG storefront.

PC platform details and multiplayer

Sanctus Reach was developed by Straylight Entertainment using the Archon engine and published by Slitherine. The available localization includes English, French, German, Spanish, and Russian text, with English audio listed for the PC edition.

The interface and controls are designed primarily around mouse and keyboard input. The official PC information does not advertise dedicated gamepad support, so players should approach it as a traditional desktop strategy title rather than a controller-first tactics game.

Steam provides the platform layer for the Classic edition, including achievements, cloud features, and online multiplayer listings. GOG provides the alternative DRM-free version, which does not require activation or an online connection for ordinary single-player play.

Multiplayer is centered on Slitherine's asynchronous PBEM++ system. Players can issue or accept challenges, take turns at their own pace, and continue matches without needing to be online simultaneously. Steam's current feature labels also include online co-op, but this is not a split-screen or local couch multiplayer game.

Who should play Sanctus Reach?

Sanctus Reach is a strong fit for PC players who want deliberate turn-based combat, persistent units, Warhammer 40,000 factions, and a campaign structure that feels closer to a digital tabletop battle than to a conventional real-time strategy game.

It is especially suited to players who enjoy studying unit roles, planning around reaction fire, protecting experienced squads, and replaying scenarios with different force compositions. The editor and sandbox systems also give it more long-term value than a campaign-only tactics game.

Players looking for base construction, economy management, fast real-time clashes, or a large roster of playable factions may find the scope narrower than expected. The official campaigns concentrate on the Space Wolves and Orks, while the other factions arrive through specific additional content rather than a broad 4X-style grand campaign.

Those who prefer compact tactical puzzles can compare its positioning demands with tight turn-based battlefield puzzles like Into the Breach, although Sanctus Reach is more focused on persistent armies, terrain control, and Warhammer-style unit warfare.

Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach FAQ

Is Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach now called Sanctus Reach Classic?

On Steam, the current listing uses Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach (Classic). This reflects its return under the Warhammer Classics branding. GOG continues to list the game under the original Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach name.

What is included in the base game?

The base game includes the tutorial, the Stormclaw and Hour of the Wolf campaigns, Space Wolves and Ork forces, skirmish battles, generated maps, multiplayer, and the editor. The three named expansions are separate content and are not automatically part of the standard base purchase.

Does Sanctus Reach have multiplayer?

Yes. It supports online battles through Slitherine's asynchronous PBEM++ service, allowing opponents to take turns without being online at the same time. Steam also identifies online co-op support, but there is no traditional local split-screen mode.

Can units gain experience and survive between missions?

Yes. Units earn experience, unlock abilities, and can be carried over between campaign scenarios. The system makes veteran units strategically valuable, while Ironman mode adds permanent death and removes normal force replenishment between missions.

Can players create custom campaigns?

Yes. The built-in editor lets players create maps and scenarios, place units and terrain, define reinforcements, set victory conditions, and build carryover or multiplayer campaigns. The Sandbox Campaign mode provides a faster way to generate a customizable sequence of battles.

Which factions are playable?

The core experience features the Space Wolves and Orks. Additional content expands the available forces with Imperial Guard, Chaos Daemons, and other units or heroes tied to the relevant campaigns and expansions. The exact faction selection depends on which add-ons are owned.