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Dawn of War 4 launches with four factions: Space Marines (with two Chapters, Blood Ravens and Dark Angels), Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus. No best faction can be named yet, because the game is not out and no balance data or tier list exists.
Dawn of War 4 has four playable factions at launch, per KING Art: Space Marines, Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus, each with its own campaign. The Space Marines play as either of two Chapters, the Blood Ravens or the Dark Angels. The game comes out on Dec 3, 2026, so everything below describes maker statements and pre-release builds, and no faction can honestly be called the best yet. The clip is the official Game Overview Trailer.
Quick facts
| Factions at launch | 4 |
| Space Marine Chapters | 2: Blood Ravens, Dark Angels |
| Commanders | 10 by count: 4 Space Marine, 2 each for the others |
| New to the series | Adeptus Mechanicus |
| Units and buildings | More than 100 in all |
| Fifth faction | Paid Aftermath expansion, unnamed as of Oct 31, 2026 |
| Chaos | Not at launch |
Sources: KING Art's Space Marines deep dive, Oct 8, 2026; KING Art's Adeptus Mechanicus post, May 7, 2026; KING Art on the Back to War trailer, Oct 14, 2025; KING Art's DLC plans, May 21, 2026. The total of 10 Commanders is this page's own count, not a published figure.
The four factions side by side
| Faction | How it plays | Its own mechanic | Commanders | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space Marines | A few expensive elite units that grow through gear choices | Reserves in orbit, Drop Pods, Thunderhawk Relay; buildings land from orbit | Captain Cyrus, Jonah Orion, Ezrael, Astoran | Not given overall; Astoran is slow, Ezrael fast; transport makes up the difference |
| Orks | Cheap units and armed buildings, constant expansion, fast Veterancy | Waaagh! meter, free Stratagems | Gorgutz, Guzcutta | Not given overall; Gorgutz is slow, Squighog Riders quick |
| Necrons | Slow spread that snowballs, hard to kill on their own ground | Power Matrix, Dominion, Resurrection Galleries | Thothmek, Ahmnok | Relatively slow, with teleports late on |
| Adeptus Mechanicus | Fast, ranged, cheap units backed by a growing tech network | Noosphere Network, Void Shield, Auger Vision | Potentia Delta-9, Sek-Ix-23 | Relatively quick |
Sources: KING Art's deep dives on the Space Marines, Oct 8, 2026, Orks, Jan 28, 2026, Necrons, Jul 29, 2026, and Adeptus Mechanicus, May 7, 2026; Deep Silver's game page, undated.
KING Art says it held all four to two rules: faithful to the lore first, then a playstyle unique to each. Unit costs, damage and health are unpublished for every faction, so the table describes intent and not measured strength. See the Units List and Commanders for the detail.
Four factions, or five?
Four. Deep Silver's site calls the Dark Angels a playable sub-faction of the Space Marines, and KING Art says the two Chapters share many units, with Commanders making the biggest difference. Gameswelt's Oct 23, 2026 preview says five at launch, which does not match the makers' count. A real fifth faction does come later, with the paid Aftermath expansion in the Year One Roadmap, and Jan Theysen would not say which in October 2026.
How each one is meant to be beaten
Deep Silver's site gives counters for each faction, the closest thing to matchup advice before launch:
| Against | The site's advice |
|---|---|
| Space Marines | Force many fights to stretch a small army, trade efficiently, and deny Resource Points, Power above all |
| Orks | Their units, ranged ones especially, are weak one on one, and their armed buildings fall easily, so chip at bases and punish reckless pushes |
| Necrons | Fight off the Power Matrix, go after their ranged units, attack elsewhere, and focus fire to kill outright |
| Adeptus Mechanicus | Destroy Cogitator Relays in key positions; do not try to outproduce them |
Source: Deep Silver's game page, undated.
Which is best?
Nobody can say yet. The closed beta of Oct 21 to 26, 2026 stays under NDA, and KING Art plans post-launch tuning from data and feedback. What exists is opinion. In a July 2026 AMA, Jan Theysen named the Adeptus Mechanicus his current favorite and Elliott Verbiest the Necrons. ComicBook, in a pre-release build, found Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus the harder two to learn. Which Faction to Play sorts them by taste, and campaign and multiplayer are balanced separately, so a unit strong in the story may be weaker online.
ComicBook also notes Chaos and Eldar are absent.
Frequently asked questions
How many factions does Dawn of War 4 have? Dawn of War 4 has four factions at launch: Space Marines, Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus. The Dark Angels are a Space Marine sub-faction, not a fifth.
What is the best faction in Dawn of War 4? No best faction exists yet, because Dawn of War 4 is not out until Dec 3, 2026 and the closed beta is under NDA. No balance data or credible tier list is available as of Oct 31, 2026.
Is Chaos in Dawn of War 4? No, Chaos is not among the four factions at launch. The Aftermath expansion adds a new faction, but its name is not announced as of Oct 31, 2026.
Are the Eldar in Dawn of War 4? No, the Eldar are not among the four launch factions of Dawn of War 4. The faction coming with Aftermath is unnamed as of Oct 31, 2026.
Which Dawn of War 4 faction is new to the series? The Adeptus Mechanicus, which KING Art says had never been playable in the series before Dawn of War 4.
Are the Blood Ravens and Dark Angels different in Dawn of War 4? They share many units and fight similarly, per KING Art, and their Commanders make the biggest difference. The Dark Angels also get the Deathwing and Ravenwing Elite units.
Sources
- Faction Deep Dive - Space Marines, KING Art Games, Oct 8, 2026
- Faction Deep Dive - Necrons, KING Art Games, Jul 29, 2026
- Faction Deep Dive - Orks, KING Art Games, Jan 28, 2026
- Introducing Dawn of War IV's Adeptus Mechanicus, KING Art Games, May 7, 2026
- AMA Developer Blog - Multiplayer, KING Art Games, Jul 24, 2026
- Official Game Overview Trailer, KING Art Games, Oct 21, 2026
- Game Overview Trailer, Previews & Closed Beta, KING Art Games, Oct 23, 2026
- Release date, pre-order & DLC plans confirmed, KING Art Games, May 21, 2026
- Meet the new faces from our epic Story Trailer, KING Art Games, Dec 12, 2025
- Crafting an epic Dawn of War IV story, KING Art Games, Nov 20, 2025
- A closer look at the Back to War trailer, KING Art Games, Oct 14, 2025
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV game page, Deep Silver, undated
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 Is a Return to Form for the RTS Series, ComicBook, Oct 21, 2026
- Dawn of War 4 interview, ComicBook, Oct 22, 2026
- Stundenlang gespielt, Gameswelt, Oct 23, 2026
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV - Official Game Overview Trailer, Dawn of War IV, Oct 21, 2026 (video)
Moments
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV - Official Game Overview Trailer
Dawn of War IV
Photos
Related
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CommandersDawn of War 4 names 10 Commanders: four Space Marines (two per Chapter) and two each for Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus. In campaigns they are story characters; elsewhere they are generic faction units picked before a match and usually produced mid-match.
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Units ListDawn of War 4 has more than 100 units and buildings, per KING Art, but no complete official list and no stats exist as of Oct 31, 2026. This page lists every unit a source has named, by faction, with KING Art's spelling where it differs from Wargamer's April roster.
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Adeptus Mechanicus CampaignDawn of War 4's Adeptus Mechanicus campaign centers on an expedition into a Necron tomb on Kronus and a choice between siding with Magos Dominus Nulpherus-1 as Marshal Sek-Ix-23 or breaking ranks with the Technoarcheologist Potentia Delta-9. It was in the Oct 2026 preview build in full; its mission count is unpublished.
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AftermathAftermath is a paid Dawn of War 4 campaign expansion that adds a new, fifth faction, placed at Summer 2027 on Steam's roadmap. As of Oct 31, 2026 the faction is unnamed, and Chaos is neither confirmed nor ruled out.
See also
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Adeptus MechanicusThe Adeptus Mechanicus make their series debut in Dawn of War 4 as a quick, ranged, tech-heavy faction built around the Noosphere Network, which makes linked units stronger and cheaper. Their Commanders are Potentia Delta-9 and Skitarii Marshal Sek-Ix-23.
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