Dawn of War

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a Real Time Strategy game for the PC developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War was released in September 2004.

Dawn of War features four armies:
 * Space Marines; the campaign features the Blood Ravens
 * Orks; several clans are featured in the campaign
 * Eldar; the campaign features the craftworld of Biel-Tan
 * Chaos Space Marines or simply, Chaos; the campaign features the Alpha Legion

Dawn of War introduces the Blood Ravens, an original chapter of Space Marines created by Relic. The Blood Ravens' history, organization, and other background information about them are described in the White Dwarf magazine (White Dwarf, 2004) as well as the novel Dawn of War (Goto, 2004).

The Single Player campaign deals with the Blood Ravens 3rd Company as they are called to assist against an Ork invasion on the planet Tartarus. This eventually pulls them into conflict with the Eldar and finally the forces of Chaos.

Notable features
Dawn of War has very different gameplay to most modern RTS games, because of its squad-based units, close combat options, morale, and point-based resourcing system, which had been featured to some point in certain games (such as Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, which included both morale and large groups of units) but was absent from most games produced as of 2000.




 * The squad system is innovative and had never really been explored in other modern RTS games, though some older RTS' had a system that was comparable. Squads can be reinforced by adding additional members, equipped with additional special weaponry, attached leaders or special units, also mostly unexplored in modern RTSes. For example, a Space Marine squad starts with 4 marines, but can be expanded up to 8 standard marines and a sergeant, and equipped with up to 4 (5 after a patch update) heavy weapons with an upgrade, or two without. These heavy weapons include: Heavy Bolters, Plasma Guns, Flamers (flamethrowers) or Missile Launchers, each of which has their own characteristics. It is also possible to attach a hero or other special units to the squad. The ability to reinforce even during battle creates interesting situations with armies being reinforced on the spot rather than new units being made in a player's base. The winner can usually expect little defense if he defeats the enemy army completely, since base fortifications are not as prominent as in most other RTS games.




 * The close combat units differ from other contemporary and modern RTS games as well. While the idea of close combat units dates back to Warcraft, one of the first "modern" real-time-strategy games, Dawn of War implements it more realistically. Most infantry units have both ranged and melee weapons rather than strictly one or the other, as is the case in most other modern strategy games. Any ranged unit engaged in close combat cannot fire and must engage its attacker in close combat in return. This makes tying-up enemy ranged squads with melee attacks, preventing them from firing, a tactical option and often a priority. Some units are better at melee attacks or ranged attacks than others. Some squad Leaders, Heroes, and Walkers also have additional close combat attacks that may send one or more attackers flying, temporarily removing them from combat and making them vulnerable to fire from supporting units. In addition, when a unit is defeated in close combat, the victorious unit will kill it off with a special (and often bloody) finishing move - such as unleashing a flurry of strikes on a stunned opponent before stabbing his blade through his enemy's heart. Units are invulnerable to damage while in their killing animations, which some players use to their advantage if the unit is taking fire while in combat; this is sometimes seen as a bug, although it should be noted that the invulnerable unit is also incapable of doing any damage to its attackers whilst engaged in the sync-kill.


 * An addition to the typical hitpoint system is morale. While units in a squad take damage individually, morale damage is applied to a squad as a whole. When morale drops to zero the squad breaks and its combat ability is greatly reduced. The player retains control of the unit and may decide whether to retreat and regain morale or stay and fight. Different weapons deal different amounts of damage to health and morale. Flamers and artillery, for example, are highly proficient at depleting enemy morale.


 * The game uses two kinds of resources: "requisition" and "power". Requisition is generated by the army headquarters and by controlling certain points on the battlefield. Only infantry can capture these points and it takes a certain amount of time for them to do so. Points can be de-captured and then captured by the enemy. There are three kinds of points:


 * Strategic Points are most common, quick to capture, and have an average line of sight. After capturing, a listening post may be built on them to protect them from de-capture; this also increases the amount of requisition generated. The listening post can be upgraded with defenses, which also further increases amount of requisition generated. If enabled, a player holding two-thirds of map's Strategic Points for 7 minutes can win a game through the Control Area Victory Condition.
 * Critical Locations are almost always in uneven number on the map. These take longer to capture and have a bigger line of sight, but cannot have listening posts built on them, thus making them harder to hold. A player or team can trigger a Take and Hold victory by holding half the critical locations on the map for 8 minutes.
 * Relics take the longest to capture and have a small line of sight. However, holding a relic gives access to the race's most advanced and powerful units. Relics may have listening posts built on them.

Note: Strategic Points, Relics, and Critical Locations can be depleted (they produce less requisition permanently) after a certain period of time has passed since their capture.

The power resource can be generated by building plasma generators: up to six generators can be built per headquarters. Additionally, some maps have special points called "slag deposits", at which special generators can be constructed. These are more expensive but produce power at much higher rate, as well as allowing buildings to be built nearby. As the player progresses up the tech tree reliance on power increases.

Other features include heroes, 4 completely different races, and clear distinction between infantry and vehicles, with vehicles being almost impervious to the attacks of non-upgraded infantry units, while being able to destroy many of them themselves. The engine allows for full 3D camera movement.

Gameplay
With the addition of a squad system and more realistic ranged-close combat dynamics (see above section), Dawn of War is different from the majority of strategy games. Troops have morale, which, when drained completely, causes the squad to "break" and scatter, severely decreasing firepower but granting a movement bonus. Squads can be reinforced on the spot rather than forcing the player to create new units at their base. The game contains many breaks from the norm of the genre, and introduced several new concepts.

The game is, overall, very micromanagement-oriented. With the reinforcement system, extra armament for troopers, and special skills, the player is often forced to switch back and forth between different squads and vehicles quickly, making fast decisions to keep their combat effectiveness. The strategic-point system favors aggressive gameplay; early in the game, skirmishes and battles within the first few minutes are common. The extra gameplay dynamics open up many new options for players - such as the strategy of sending in several well equipped squads against a stronger enemy force and reinforcing them as they lose their numbers, prolonging the life of the squad hopefully long enough for them to accomplish their objective (usually defense of an area until reinforcements can arrive).

Infantry units in the game more accurately reflect actual warfare; each individual squad is made up of many troopers, which act independently as individuals yet fight and move as a group. If a missile blast hits the squad, the troopers are blown away. If they survive, they get to their feet and resume firing from their position, leaving the squad scattered, as it likely would be in real life. The player could order the squad to move, thereby regrouping them, or leave them as they are, which might put them at a disadvantage, or indeed, in rare cases, an advantage (against artillery barrages, for instance). Troopers fire as they move rather than being forced to stop before they fire (though this is still the case with some heavy weaponry), unlike many other strategy games. When the squad is broken and ordered to retreat, the squad tends to act less cohesively, with troopers straying from the group more easily and not moving as tightly, actively reflecting their panicked and demoralized state.

The scope of the squad mechanics means that strategy plays an even bigger part in the game, especially with infantry warfare. Holding of strategic avenues (not necessarily Strategic Points), such as those with valuable heavy cover near a bottleneck leading to a player's base with Infantry becomes a worthwhile task, unlike in others, where the strategic value of a location without a building or resource on it is usually next to nil and not worth defending.

In other strategy games, retreat and "pulling one's losses" are not viable because unless the infantry is retreating to a place where it can find more units to help fight or take shelter in turrets or buildings, the squad will fight as well in any other location as it does at the point it is already fighting, thereby making strategic retreat and withdrawal a little-used and futile tactic. In Dawn of War, however, with the added scope of squad-based infantry combat and reinforcements, withdrawing a squad can allow it to replenish and regain its morale at the next set of fortifications or the player's base, allowing it to perhaps drive off its attackers once they attack again - this is mostly unique in the field of Real-time strategy.

Criticism
Dawn of War was mainly criticized for its short and repetitive single player campaign. All missions are fairly similar in both objectives and execution of therein, with few exceptions. Also, despite several patches, some fans still consider the game to be unbalanced in multiplayer. It should be noted though that the ladder statistics show a very balanced gameplay.

Winter Assault
An expansion pack entitled Dawn of War: Winter Assault was released in September of 2005. There are several changes in both the singleplayer and multiplayer aspects, some of which have been criticised.

Imperial Guard

 * Imperial Guard, previously available in certain single player missions of Dawn of War. They are a division of the Cadian Shock Troops.

New units

 * The Space Marines gain the Chaplain, a powerful close combat hero unit with a healing aura and the special ability to weaken an enemy squad's resolve and temporarily decrease their movement speed.
 * The Forces of Chaos gain Khorne Berzerkers, strong and fast close combat assault squad armed with bolt pistol and chainaxe.
 * The Orks gain the Mega-Armored Nobz, slow-moving, but powerful and heavily armored semi-hero unit.
 * The Eldar gain the Fire Dragons, short-ranged fusion gun wielding aspect warriors best utilized against vehicles and structures, although very weak against other targets, especially in melee.

New campaigns
There are two new single player campaigns, which focus around a lost Imperial Titan. The three leftover races from the original Dawn of War (Orks, Eldar and Chaos) are available in addition to the new Imperial Guard, with each race trying to find and gain control of the Titan for their own reasons. Although the Titan as a whole is not controllable, its weapon systems can be used to assist in the destruction of the Necrons, who make a cameo appearance in one level.

Simplification
Many of the units available in Dawn of War were simplified, reduced or limited for the Winter Assault expansion. For example, Space Marine Predator tanks were limited to carrying anti-tank weapons while Chaos Predators were limited to anti-personnel weapons. In the original Dawn of War game both sides could upgrade their tanks from anti-personnel to anti-tank. Likewise the Land Raider was converted from a heavy tank into a super-heavy tank the equal of the Imperial Guard Baneblade, and in so doing became limited to one per player. Limitations were mostly applied to the Orks who lost most of their upgrade choices and became severely limited in their weapon choices.

Dark Crusade
In October 2006, a second expansion was released. The expansion features two new races, the Tau Empire and the Necrons. Including the Imperial Guard from Winter Assault, this means a total of seven playable races after the expansion. Unlike Winter Assault, Dark Crusade is a standalone expansion that does not require prior installation of Dawn of War and Winter Assault to play, allowing the user to play as all seven factions in single player both in skirmish and campaign modes. Multiplayer is limited to Tau and Necron factions if Dark Crusade is installed alone, with the other factions 'enabled' with the installation of Dawn of War and Winter Assault.

At the 2006 gamesday at Birmingham NEC the pavilion hall had a THQ stand boasting a demo of Dark Crusade demonstrating the multiplayer quality of Dark Crusade and the power of the two new races. Representatives said that the official release date is 9th of October.

Issue 321 of the White Dwarf magazine contained an advertisement confirming the presence of Knarlocs, Pariahs and a Tau Skyray.

Story
The events of Dark Crusade takes place on the planet Kronus, a world on the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium, where the local human population co-exists peacefully with the nearby Tau Empire. Unbeknowned to the locals, Kronus also happens to be a world with hidden secrets of interest to the Blood Ravens Space Marine chapter and to the Eldar Craftworld Ulthwe. To complicate things, the insidious forces of Chaos and an incoming Ork Waaagh! are approaching the planet as well. And unknown to all, Kronus also appears to be a Necron Tomb World, with its inhabitants starting to awaken.

The Campaign mode of Dark Crusade explores the unfolding events through the unique perspectives of each of the factions as they battle it out for supremacy on Kronus.

The Tau Empire
The Tau are designed to be powerful in shooting, but weak in close combat, much like they are in the tabletop game. To protect themselves, the Tau rely on slowing down enemy advances, and using the Kroot to engage enemies in close combat before they can reach other Tau units. Also, unlike the other races, the Tau have no defensive structures other than fortified Listening Posts, nor do they have the ability to lay mines like the other races, though the Tau Commander does have the ability to deploy stealthed stasis traps along the ground, which greatly slows down nearby enemy units.



Another difference between the other races is that the Tau's tech tree branches along two separate paths. During a game, the player is given the choice of one of two buildings to construct, which are called the "Path of Mont'Ka", and the "Path of Kauyon", respectively, of which only one type can be placed in a single battle. The placement of this building allows a different selection of units and upgrades to the player, depending on which building is chosen. Also, the Tau do not need to capture any relics to build their most powerful units, unlike the other races in the game.

The Necrons
The Necrons appeared during the final mission of Winter Assault, where the player must defend a ruined Titan from them. The only units seen were Warriors and Monoliths; the latter are so powerful that only the Titan's cannons could destroy them easily, although it was possible to take them down with other means (specially evident during the Disorder campaign). Several Necron qualities were implemented especially for this race, such as "We'll be back!" and "Phase Out".



The Necrons have a different economy model than the other races. They do not require Requisition to gain more units, only Power. Capturing Strategic Points allows them to build units faster. Necron players are able to balance their forces between units to protect their base and attack the enemy, or upgrade their central HQ to eventually become a powerful Monolith.

The Necrons, unlike other armies, can only use their Tomb Scarab builder units to capture strategic points, critical locations and relics.

Only the monolith could summon more troops, while other buildings are needed for upgrades and unlocking necrons to summon into battle.

As shown in the Games Convention in Germany, Necron troops are extremely resilient and capable of fighting back. Unlke the other races, Necrons cannot build minefilds.

Other Updates
The Infiltration system that allows some squads to turn invisible to most enemy units may have also been changed. This was demonstrated in a promotional video where Tau Stealth Suit teams lay waste to a mob of Ork Nobz and steal their strategic point, whilst maintaining invisibility during the entire sequence.

A handful of players have managed to view playable versions of the game at media events that sport new units. These have been confirmed as Heavy Weapons Teams for Imperial Guard, a Daemon Prince for Chaos (which appeared in Dawn of War), Harlequins for Eldar, Grey Knights for Space Marines and Flash Gitz for Orks. This revelation comes after Relic earlier released some controversial screenshots, firstly revealing Grey Knights in action (speculated to be either a Space Marine unit or a campaign cameo unit similar to Imperial Guard in Dawn of War and Necrons in Winter Assault), and later Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons Teams. At THQ an article about the grey knights has been published, "Dawn of War – Dark Crusade developer Relic is offering new details of the combat styles and special abilities of the Grey Knights: a mysterious chapter of Space Marines that specialize in hunting and killing Daemons. All Grey Knights are gifted with powerful psyker abilities, and these powers give them devastating special abilities".

In addition to the new units, the previous five races will also receive a 'slight overhaul' to their tech trees, with many of the original units getting new abilities and/or appearances. For example, the Imperial Guard Hellhound tank gains an ability called "Let it Burn", where it spreads a wall of fire on the ground.

Dark Crusade is also going to feature wargear that the characters can pick up and use in combat to give them extra abilities. These wargear appears to be only available during the singleplayer part of the game, specifically during the campaign.

The expansion is also said to feature an "all new single-player experience", and a new campaign including a "meta map", similar to that in Westwood Studios's Dune games as opposed to the old, programmed, linear version. A new option allowing commanders to be customised will be added. Persistant armies during the campaign has been added as well. One Relic representative has said that the company aims to make Dark Crusade "the greatest expansion pack ever made".

Reception
So far the expansion has recieved rather acclaimed reviews, citing it's overhauled single-player campaign, balanced gameplay, stablised multiplater and overall enjoyment. Most were quite surprised of the quality of the expansion.

Gabriel Angelos

 * See the Blood Ravens article for more information.

In the game, Brother-Captain Gabriel Angelos is the commander of the Blood Ravens' 3rd Company. He carries a guilty conscience for destroying his homeworld Cyrene and agonizes over this continuously, though he does not often speak of it. Only his battle-brothers of the Blood Ravens truly understand his feelings on the matter. Gabriel himself, like most Imperial Soldiers, distrusts aliens immensely; it is for this reason he shows incredible disdain for the Eldar in his encounters with their leader, Farseer Macha (though in the novels, his disdain for them gradually lessens). He has also grown up with Librarian Isador Akios. He trusted him immensely.

Librarian Isador Akios
Brother-Librarian Isador Akios was the present Librarian of the Blood Ravens 3rd Company, and a secondary character in Dawn of War.

Much like Captain Angelos, Isador was born and raised on Cyrene, and became a Blood Raven around the same time as Gabriel because they were brought up together. Isador met Gabriel 30 years before the events on Tartarus when Gabriel was still a battle brother. Although his homeworld was destroyed, Isador did not blame Gabriel for his actions on Cyrene, since it had to be done. While the Blood Ravens 3rd company was on the doomed planet of Tartarus, Isador slowly succumbed to the powers of Chaos, tempted by the traitorous Sorcerer of the Alpha Legion named Sindri. When Inquisitor Mordecai Toth arrived, he detected a Chaotic taint and concluded that it originated in Gabriel. Because of this they were blinded to Isador's corruption and thus could not stop Isador before he finally seized the Maledictum and turned to Chaos, bringing Gabriel's trust in his old friend crumbling to the ground.

Isador was killed in a duel between himself and Gabriel, and Gabriel used his death as an example of the fate of Space Marines who fell to Chaos.

Inquisitor Toth
Mordecai Toth is a member of the Ordo Malleus, having been sent on assignment with some knowledge of Tartarus's dark past and a powerful daemonic artifact sleeping there. Toth's mere presence indicates something dark afoot on Tartarus, and none dare cross Toth directly. Toth, upon landing, immediately suspects Gabriel, the Blood Raven Force Commander, of being tainted by Chaos, citing that Gabriel willingly put his own world to the torch. As an Inquisitor, Toth has authority to seize command of almost any Imperial force, including the Imperial Guard. Toth realizes later, to his horror, that it was in fact Isador, not Gabriel, who had contracted the taint of Chaos. When the truth is known, Toth apologizes, and to steel Gabriel against the battles ahead, bestows upon Gabriel his holy Daemonhammer, named Godsplitter - a weapon of the Inquisition imbued to crush the sorcerer Sindri Myr, who became a daemon prince and those who would associate with them.

In the novel Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War by C.S. Goto, the Daemon released from the Maledictum escaped and either possessed or took the form of Inquistor Toth. This can be found at the last chapter/epilogue of the novel.

Colonel Brom
Carus Brom is an Imperial Colonel tasked with overseeing the 37th Tartarus Planetary Defense Force Regiment, or PDF. Brom accepts commands from Gabriel with little hesitation, having a deep respect for the commander; however the mere presence of Toth is enough to make the veteran Colonel break out in hives. It is believed Brom escapes off-planet with his remaining troops during the later missions in Dawn of War's single-player campaign.

In the events of the novelized version of Dawn of War by C.S. Goto, Colonel Brom instead turned to Chaos and attacked Captain Gabriel Angelos during his attack/push to the summit where the Maledictum was located. According to the novel, Colonel Brom was not satisfied being put down on occasion by Gabriel's orders, resulting in Chaos finding its way into his heart. Colonel Brom was nevertheless killed along with the corrupted PDF and Imperial Guard who had turned traitor. Only a handful of Loyal Imperial Guards survived and joined up with the Forces of Order (Space Marines and Eldar) in the battle to the Summit.

General Sturnn
General Sturnn is the stern and upstanding leader of the Imperial Guard contingent deployed in Winter Assault's campaign mode. He wields a pair of lightning claws, one of which has an integral Storm Bolter. He also carries a Laspistol, but only uses this for field executions (one of his special melee combat kills involves its use). Unlike other Imperial officers, he is willing to ally with aliens if it would mean reaching his objective.

Farseer Macha
A Farseer of the Eldar Craftworld of Biel-Tan. Macha was the one who sealed the Daemon in the Maledictum, and seeks to prevent its release. Later events seem to show that her destiny is rapidly becoming intertwined with that of Captain Angelos.

Macha takes a vow to kill him with the first chance she gets when he ignorantly destroys the Maledictum Stone, releasing the Deamon. Macha thinks twice of this after being put in a desperate situation in the second novel, where the Necrons are awoken. Again the humans are to blame.

Lord Bale
Bale is the Chaos Lord who brought the ruinous powers of Chaos, namely the Alpha Legion, to Tartarus. He was pursuing the Maledictum for himself, and the Chaos gods. He believed he was in control; however, Sindri Myr was actually making all the important decisions. Eventually Sindri left Bale to fight Gabriel Angelos by himself so that when Bale was killed in the duel, his "Sacrifice" added to the deaths needed to obtain the Maledictum.

Sindri Myr
A Chaos Sorcerer of the Alpha Legion, Sindri used his powers to subvert the Space Marine Librarian Isador to fight for Chaos, in return for the promise of power. Sindri himself killed, or had the Chaos Space Marines under his command kill, numerous Imperial citizens, Guardsmen, Space Marines, Orks, his own Chaos Marines, and even Lord Bale, to accumulate blood sacrifice for Khorne, the Chaos blood god. After releasing the Maledictum he chose himself as the carrier for the Daemon Prince, which was vanquished by Force Commander Gabriel, thus adding the last sacrifice to release the daemon from the Maledictum.

Farseer Taldeer
A Farseer of the Ulthwe Craftworld, Farseer Taldeer was part of the Eldar strike force sent to Lorn V to retrieve the Soul Stone in anticipation of an impending Necron attack. She and her group saved General Sturnn's men on two different occasions, without them knowing until much later in Winter Assault. When General Sturnn returned the favor by shielding the Eldar from a huge Ork WAAGHH!, the two races formed a temporary (and uneasy) alliance to further their own goals. Leading the Ulthwe again, she will return in Dark Crusade.

Davian Thule
Brother-Captain Thule is set to be the leader of the Space Marine deployment to Kronus in Dark Crusade. At this time, not much is known of him other than being part of the Blood Ravens.

Eliphas the Inheritor
A Word Bearers Dark Apostle who seeks the favour of the Chaos gods, he is the Warlord of the Chaos Marines on Kronus in Dark Crusade. What is known of him is that he seeks to restore Chaos' lost honour after it was defeated long ago on Kronus.

Lukas Alexander
Governor-Militant Alexander is the supreme commander of the 1st Kronus regiment of the Imperial Guard and has come to free the world from alien domination. Not much is known of him except like General Sturnn he appears to be armed with wrist mounted lightning claws and a storm bolter.

Shas'O Kais
The leader of the Tau forces on Kronus in Dark Crusade, he plans to liberate the entire planet from the other six races. Using a XV22 Battlesuit like the Tau Commander Shadowsun, he is at first only equipped with a Burst Cannon in his right hand, but later in the battle, at full weapon capacity, he carries a Fusion Blaster (replacing the Burst Cannon), then replaced by a Plasma Rifle, a Heavy Flamer in his left hand and Missle Launchers mounted on each shoulder. Though there is no evidence to directly support or deny this fact, it is worth noting that he shares the same name as the Tau protagonist from the game Fire Warrior, and may indeed be the same Kais.

Other notable characters

 * Lord Crull - The Chaos lord featured in the Winter Assault campaign. He desires to capture the Titan for his own personal gain.
 * Warboss Gorgutz - The Ork warboss featured in the Winter Assault campaign. He unites the Ork Clans on Lorn V to fight against Lord Crull's forces. He will also return in Dark Crusade.
 * Warboss Orkamungus - The Ork warboss featured in the Dawn of War campaign. He is bribed by Lord Bale and Sindri to mount an invasion that will distract the Imperials from their search for the Maledictum.
 * Chaplain Varnus - The Ultramarines Chaplain featured in the Winter Assault campaign. He leads the Space Marines who escort the Titan's crew to the Titan.
 * Necron Lord - No name has been given, but all that is known is that he is the Necron Lord of Kronus and leads the Necron forces.

Novels
In December 2004, Black Library released a novelization of Dawn of War by Cassern S. Goto (Goto, 2004). The story expands on the story found in the Single Player campaign, with additional characters and in more detail. A follow-up novel, Dawn of War: Ascension (Goto, 2005) was released in November 2005, continuing the story of Captain Angelos and the Blood Ravens. A third book titled Dawn of War: Tempest, again by Goto, is projected to be published sometime in October 2006; deviating from the plotline of the first two books, it will tell the story of Blood Ravens Librarian Rhamah and his struggle to save his chapter's gene-seed in the Eye of Terror.

Miscellaneous

 * Dawn of War has an active modding community. Relic Entertainment released official modding tools for the community to use.
 * Dawn of War is also the name of a cancelled Real Time Strategy game set in prehistoric times by SouthPeak Interactive.