Upcoming real-time strategy game Dawn of War III will allow gamers to build their own custom armies, developer Relic has revealed.

It will also simulate the idea of a "war that rages eternal," Relic marketing manager James McDermott told Eurogamer.

"Looking at what we had real success with with Dawn of War II – Retribution, with the DLC, and with customisation and building their armies and collecting being a big part of what 40k fans really love, we want to make that a big part of DOW3," he said.

"There's going to be lots of opportunities to expand and build your own custom mega army. That's definitely an area we want to invest in. We see a good opportunity."

THQ core games boss Danny Bilson suggested the Warhammer 40K RTS would launch between 18 months and two years after Dawn of War II - Retribution, pegging DOW3 for an August 2012 to February 2013 release window. He also said the game "is going to have a much larger strategic component to it, more of a global battle going on with little tactical things, sort of MMO-like".