In good news for fans of little painted fellas who stand about menacingly, Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II finally has a proper release date. It’s out on May 21st, arriving alongside the annual Warhammer Skulls showcase that typically offers a range of updates on games you have to decide whether to write out the number 40,000 in full when covering.

Having previously pencilled Mechanicus II in for spring, developers Kasedo Games announced the release date as part of a video showing off two leaders for the Adeptus Mechanicus and Necron factions.

Lector-Dogmatis Videx, the orthodox voice of the Omnissiah, and Obasis, the Necron Lord known as The Shield are their snappy names and by gum do they look like they’d be fun to introduce to your parents. Videx is a cyborg priest who offers long range support via powerful rituals, buffing allies within his ability circle each round. As such, if you want to go the pure support route with him, you’ll want to keep his robo-popeiness away from the front line of a battle, clustering minions around him so that they benefit from his magic. Alternatively, you can skill him up into a robed cannon who fires ranged artillery bursts from his magnarail lance.

Then, there’s the guy known as The Shield, who has a big shield. Obasis is a melee battler who leads the spooky knight-looking Necrons with “resilience, dominance and relentless advance”. Basically, that means you stick him next to his equally big-shielded Lychguards and they form a wall which grinds foes down. He’s got a tonne of defensive skills with the word shield in their names to help him stand his ground while generating dominion. You can also turn him into more of a direct area-of-effect tank by handing him a relic dubbed the Tesla Weave.

For slightly more in-depth Mechanicus II chat, check out James’ account of watching a Bulwalk dev play it at Gamescom 2024. As for what to expect from this year’s Warhammer Skulls showcase also set for May 21st, Space Marine 2, Darktide, Dawn of War 4, Total War: Warhammer 3, Rogue Trader, Dark Heresy, Boltgun 2, Battlesector, and Warhammer Survivors are all set to make appearances. God, that’s a lot of battletoolage.