Last Stand will challenge up to three players with surviving 20 waves of increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV has finally revealed the returning ‘Last Stand’ game mode, the horde survival mode first introduced in Dawn of War II in an action-packed 31-minute Battlefield Report video. Last Stand will be one of the main game modes available to players when Dawn of War IV launches on 3 December, alongside the single-player campaign and multiplayer skirmish modes.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV
Release date: 3 December 2026 (Early Access: 30 November)
Platforms: PC via Steam
Developer: KING Art Games
What is the 'Last Stand' game mode in Dawn of War IV?
Last Stand was a game mode first introduced in Dawn of War II as a three-player arcade survival game mode where players must select a faction and corresponding hero to defend against increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
In Dawn of War IV, Last Stand works much like its original incarnation and features a survive-upgrade-repeat core gameplay loop. At launch players will take control of their choice of Commanders and units from the launch factions–the Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, Orks, and Necrons–to survive 20 waves of enemies.
Each Commander in Last Stand can gain up to 30 levels in a playthrough, with each level unlocking dozens of skills and equipment to improve the players' chances to survive as the enemy waves become more difficult.
How Dawn of War IV's take on Last Stand separates itself from its implementation in previous titles is that each Commander leads a Strikeforce of up to four Companion units with their own specialisations to unlock, introducing greater strategic flexibility and new tactical
combinations. Players must also take control of key positions on the map and collect valuable health supplies as enemy waves keep coming.
Dawn of War IV's Last Stand game mode will launch with five Commanders from each of the aforementioned four launch factions, including both the Blood Ravens and Dark Angels Chapters for the Space Marines. Developer KING Art Games also said that more Commanders are set to arrive post-launch as free DLC.
What is Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV?
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV is the fourth installment in the classic Dawn of War series of RTS games set in the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000. Deep Silver (Saints Row, Dead Island) and King Art Games (Iron Harvest) have taken over development of Dawn of War IV from Relic Entertainment.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV will see the series return to its RTS roots, as base building and massive-scale battles once again take focus. The game also features an expanded ‘Sync Kill’ system, with units locked in combat having unique animations–with all the brutality one would expect from a Warhammer game–instead of just hacking and slashing at each other's direction.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV will have four factions available at launch: the stalwart Space Marines; the unending green tide of the Orks; the soulless robotic armies of the Necrons; and the cybernetic forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who will be making their Dawn of War debut.
Each faction will also have multiple faction leaders to choose from, with the Space Marines notably being represented by the Blood Ravens and Dark Angels Chapters.
Players will have to fight through over 70 campaign missions, either solo or with a friend, to experience a story written by Black Library author John French. For those looking to immerse themselves in Warhammer 40,000's grimdark universe of unending warfare, fan-favourite game mode Last Stand and the classic Skirmish will also make a return to offer near-endless replayabilty against AI opponents or in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 multiplayer.
A Painter tool will also be available to let players use existing factions from Warhammer 40,000, or take the field as their homebrew forces.
Dawn of War IV was first announced back in August 2025 with an initial release date of 17 September 2026. However, KING Art Games announced in August this year that they are delaying the game's release to 3 December 2026, with early access beginning on 30 November.
