Age of Wonders: Planetfall’s first expansion is Revelations, launching November 19

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is my favorite real-time strategy game of the year, and publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Triumph Studios announced today that it’s getting its first expansion — Revelations, which will bring new campaign missions and location mechanics along with introducing something new: the “ancient Heritor Secret Technology.”

Paradox made the announcement today at its annual PDXCON fan convention in Berlin. You can buy this expansion or get it as part of the Xbox Game Pass. It launches November 19.

Planetfall came out in August for PC, PlayStation 4, and PC, and it’s the first game. Triumph’s Age of Wonders series to feature a sci-fi setting. Some folks worried that might make the series feel weird, but I’ve found that Triumph had little problems adapting their excellent moment-to-moment gameplay to a different milieu.

Revelations’ story is about the Es’Teq dynasty. Entombed for years, this ancient people’s descendants, the Heritor, aim to use their ancestors’ tech to “reincarnate” billions of followers throughout the galaxy … and taking over. The Heritor use Entropy in their weapons, which are strong against machines (kinda of an advantage in a sci-fi setting). According to Paradox, these weapons also “awaken ancient Es’Teq minds.”

Other features include, according to Paradox:

• Anomalous Sites Mechanic: You can explore more than 30 places, full of traps and foes, to earn rewards and uncover secrets.
• Additional Campaign Missions: This is all about the return of the Es’Teq dynasty and the rise of the emergence of their Heritor descendants. This adds more than 10 hours of gameplay over two campaigns.
• New Secret Tech — Heritor: With this tech, you can drain the essence of your foes. You get new abilities, Entropy weapons, and new units.
• Tomb World Scenario: The Heritor emerge to spread destruction in this scenario. It also has a multiplayer questline — and you and a friend take on these fiendish foes?
• New NPC faction: The Forgotten: As Triumph says, they’re “broken, insane, or otherwise unfit for Heritor’s utopian society. The Forgotten were never meant to be resurrected.
• New locations, pick-ups, and mechanics: You go to Essence Gashes or Es’Teq Wells to get new combat affects or abilities. The Holopad is a pick-up that gives diplomatic rewards and more influence over allies and foes. The Soul Beacon, Cluster Mine Launcher, and the Firestorm Missile Silo are new Imperial defenses that you can take over to aid in combat.
• Free content: Everyone gets the ability to take over Imperial defenses, unlocking Operations that improve the combat effects of your colonies. The Orbital Relays mechanic boosts your empire’s infrastructure, providing for near-instant unit transportation between sectors. But Triumph cautions to “beware of sabotage interference by enemies.”

You can check it all out when Age of Wonders: Planetfall launches November 19.