Warhammer 40,000 animation 'Astartes II' looks stunningly brutal in new trailer

The long-awaited and suspiciously AWOL Warhammer 40K animation 'Astartes II' has finally resurfaced as Warhammer Community revealed this epic trailer. No more chatter, watch the trailer, and then get back here.

Watched it? Good, how sick was that?

After the gorgeous visuals of the first Astartes, it's no surprise that the animation is top-notch, but what really impressed me was the variety in the trailer. We saw marines from various chapters battling across the galaxy, with appearances from all of their biggest foes: Chaos Space Marines, Orks, Tyranids, and even the Tau. Not to mention all the recognizable units and vehicles from the miniature game that popped up throughout. This really looks like a Warhammer nerd's dream come true.

Fears that the original creator of Astartes had parted ways with GamesWorkshop were unfounded too, as the article explains that "The Warhammer Studio and the creator of the original Astartes animation, Syama, have been working closely together, blending his incredible flair for action and storytelling with decades of Warhammer 40,000 lore to unleash a compellingly grimdark story."

Screenshot from Astartes 2 trailer showing a pair of Predator tanks driving down a highway. (Image credit: GamesWorkshop)

Three members of the Scythes of the Emperor chapter of Space Marines walking down a road, capes billowing in the wind. (Image credit: GamesWorkshop)

A swarm of Tyranid Hormagaunts running through a desert with a Space Marine Rhino tank in the background. (Image credit: GamesWorkshop)

A green space marine fighting a Tau Stealth Suit in a sandstone courtyard. (Image credit: GamesWorkshop)

We should dial the variety expectations down for the actual show though, because as the Warhammer Community article explains, the trailer is not comprised of clips from the show itself, but instead, it's a "compilation of shots that represent the former lives of the characters that will appear in the show". So really it's more of an incredibly stylized prologue, and that's such a fantastic idea. It also allowed the creator to sprinkle in a ton of factions and races from the universe into the short without needing a lore explanation.

We expect the actual show will be more focused on a team of Space Marines and a single enemy faction. Given that we see Marines from various chapters, we could be looking at the backstory of a Deathwatch Killteam - a group of Space Marines pulled in from various chapters to form a single Xenos hunting squad.

The Warhammer 40,000 miniature game is in a golden age of popularity at the moment, and this isn't the only show in the universe that we've got to look forward to, as Henry Cavill's 40K project with Amazon Prime Video was confirmed to be moving forward back in December 2024.

Astartes II is set to land in 2026 on Warhammer+, GamesWorkshop's somewhat strange creation that's part streaming service, part rules compendium.