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, in particular the Blood Ravens
 * Orks
 * Eldar
 * Chaos Space Marines or simply, Chaos

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.

As of August 2006, Dawn of War has sold in excess of 1.5 million copies and is "very profitable".

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 Civil War, 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) (with an upgrade, otherwise two) heavy weapons: Heavy Bolters, Plasma Guns, Flamers 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. Many units have both ranged weapons 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. In addition, when a unit is defeated in close combat, the victorious unit will kill it off a special (and often bloody) finishing move - such as (in the case of a space marine to a space marine) unleashing a flurry of strikes on a stunned opponent before stabbing the blade through their 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 (which is, again, mostly deficient in modern RTS'). 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.


 * 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. Certain games can be won by a player holding two-thirds of map's Strategic Points for 7 minutes.
 * Critical Locations are always in uneven amount 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. They are usually located at "choke points", and certain games can be won by a player or team 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 can have listening posts built on them. Note: Strategic Points,Relics, and Critical Locations can be depleted (they produce less requisition permanently) but after depletion you still get bonuses from the relics.

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 to 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 easier 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 little-used and not useful tactics. 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 - this despite the ladder statistics which 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.

New Race

 * Imperial Guard, previously available in certain single player missions of Dawn of War

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.
 * 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.

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, which make a cameo appearance in one level.

Dark Crusade
In January 2006, a second expansion was announced. The expansion will feature two new races, and is expected to be released September 2006.

A leaked source that was later confirmed officially states that the new expansion's name will be Dawn of War: Dark Crusade and that the two new races will be the Tau and the Necrons. Including the Imperial Guard from Winter Assault, this means a total of seven playable races after the expansion.

The Tau Empire


The units for the Tau, seen so far are: Fire Warriors, Kroot (including Kroot Hounds, Krootox and Shapers) Skyrays, Hammerheads, XV15 and XV25 Stealthsuits,XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuits, XV88 'Broadside' Battlesuits and a Drone builder. The Tau Commander was shown using a version of the XV22 Battlesuit used by Commander Shadowsun, but it is unknown if Shadowsun herself will make an appearance in the campaign. Tau units not yet seen include: Ethereals, XV8 Battlesuit Commanders and Bodyguards, Devilfish Transports, Gun Drones, Pathfinders, Piranhas, Vespid Stingwings and Sniper Drone Teams.

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 Ork campaign). Several Necron qualities were implemented for them, such as "We'll be back!" and "Phase Out".

The units for the Necrons seen so far are: Warriors, Monoliths, Flayed Ones, Scarabs, Necron Lords, Wraiths, Tomb Spyders, Destroyers and Pariahs. The Necron Commander unit is The Nightbringer, although unlike the table top game, a Necron Lord, if properly equipped, transforms into the C'tan. The only Necron units not yet seen are Immortals and Heavy Destroyers.

According to Relic, the Necrons will have a different economy model than the other races. They won't need Requisition to gain more units, only Power. Capturing Strategic Points will allow them to build units faster. Necron players will be 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.

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. It is unknown if this abilitiy will also be given to other infiltrating units such as Space Marine Scouts or Eldar Rangers.

Although Relic previously claimed that the five older races will not be receiving new units in the expansion, 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, 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.

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

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 and a new option allowing commanders to be customised. One Relic representative has said that the company aims to make Dark Crusade "the greatest expansion pack ever made".

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 planet 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.

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. 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 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 blindsighted 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
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 sieze command of virtually any Imperial force, including the Imperial Guard but the Space Marines are the exception. 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 - a weapon of the Inquisition imbued to crush the Daemonic and those who would assosciate 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
Brom is an Imperial Commissar tasked with overseeing Tartarus's Planetary Defense Forces, or PDF. As a Commissar, he is utterly intolerant of backsliders and is authorized to perform field executions of any soldier "found wanting" on the front lines. 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 Commissar 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 novel Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War by C.S. Goto, Colonel Brom 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. That was how Chaos found its way into his heart. Colonel Brom was nevertheless killed along with the PDF and Imperial Guards who turned traitor. Only a handful of Loyal Imperial Guards survived and joined up with the Forces of Order (Eldar, Space Marines) 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 Maledictium, and seeks to prevent its release. Later events seem to show that her destiny is rapidly becoming intertwined with that of Captain Angelos.

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

Sindri Myr
A Chaos Sorceror of the Alpha Legion. Sindri used his powers to subvert Librarian Isador to fight for Chaos, 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 Inquisitor Toth and Force Commander Gabriel. 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 retrive the Soul Stone in anticipation of an impending Necron attack. She and her group saves General Sturnn's men on two different accounts, without them knowing until much later in Winter Assault. When General Sturnn returns the favor by shielding the Eldar from a huge Ork WAAGHH!, the two races form a temporary (and uneasy) alliance to further their own goals.

Other notable characters

 * Lord Crull - The Chaos lord featured in the Winter Assault campaign
 * Warboss Gorgutz - The Ork warboss featured in the Winter Assault campaign.
 * Warboss Orkamungus - The Ork warboss featured in the Dawn of War campaign.
 * Chaplain Varnus - The Ultramarines Chaplain featured in the Winter Assault campaign.

Novels
In December 2004, Black Library released a novelization of Dawn of War (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 Cassern 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.