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
 * Orks
 * Eldar
 * Chaos Space Marines

Dawn of War introduces the Blood Ravens, an original chapter of Space Marines created by Relic. As a side note, the Blood Ravens' history, organization, and other background information about them are described in the Australian White Dwarf, issue 298. (The same article was printed in issue 305 of the English magazine edition.)

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

General Concept
Dawn of War is a squad-based real-time strategy with a slightly different balance than classic RTS's. In the game every unit has at least one "specialty" that might in some way bring an advantage, and many can be customized after being built. Space Marines Squads can throw grenades, add leaders, and equip from up to 4 different heavy weapons groups. Leaders have "spell-like-abilities" that, when used, can turn the tide of a battle. Some troops can use Jump-Jets, run faster, or teleport at the click of a button, allowing them to rush, force, or beam their way into a melee with enemy ranged combat units. Nevertheless, overall Dawn of War is more of a macromanagement game, with most of the battles not requiring the kind of attention to detail given the sheer number of units.

The game has 2 resources: Power, and Requisition. Power is gained by building power plants. In addition, more powerful plants can be built on Slag Deposits.

Requisition is gained in two ways: having a Headquarters building, and by taking control of certain points on the battlefield. These are called Strategic Points, Critical Points, and Relics. Most infantry units can take a point by planting a flag on it and staying there for a short period of time.


 * Strategic Points are the most common. After their capture, a Listening Post can be built on the site by a builder, which prevents enemy infantry from taking the point unless the post is first destroyed.  It also increases the amount of requisition it generates.  The post can then be upgraded to generate more requisition, as well as be able to defend itself.  Under the Control Area victory condition, an army or team can win the battle by holding more than half the Strategic Points on the map.
 * Critical Locations are similar to Strategic Points, except that they cannot have Listening Posts built on them, and generate more Requisition than the normal points. The Take and Hold Victory condition works similar to Control Area, except using the Critical Locations.  Critical Locations are normally located at "choke points" that are the site of many battles.
 * Relics may have Listening Posts built on them, and also generate Requisition. In addition, by holding a Relic, an army is allowed access to their most powerful units.

Furthermore, holding any of the above locations, whilst a listening post is constructed on the point, creates Line of Sight and a Control Zone (area in which you can build) in a small area around the location. Listening Posts also have the chance to upgrade to get some weapons, except for the Ork variety, which already has some.

Each of the four races has a unique twist regarding their ability to build and fight with their armies, and no two races are even vaguely similar (even the Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines).

An innovative concept of the game was a squad-based system that had never really been explored in other RTS games. Each race controls their infantry units through squads, which is much different than other RTS games, in which every unit is controlled individually. Squads can be upgraded, increased in size, given different weapons, assigned leaders and even special units. While rather simplistic, this concept is a highly innovative feature that could lay the ground for other RTS games.

The game also featured excelling graphics for an RTS game at its time of release and high quality sound, but its faults included a short and repetitive single player campaign and only a handful of terrain sets.

Expansion Pack
An expansion pack entitled Dawn of War: Winter Assault was released in September of 2005. Winter Assault features a fifth playable race, the Imperial Guard, who previously only appeared in certain single player missions of Dawn of War. There are several improvements in both the singleplayer and multiplayer aspects. Each of the existing races gains a new unit.

The Space Marines gain the Chaplain, a powerful close-quarters unit with the special ability to weaken an enemy squad's resolve. Build limit restricted to 1.

The Forces of Chaos gain Khorne Berzerkers, Close quarters assault squad armed with bolt pistol and chainaxe.

The Orks gain the Mega-Armored Nobz, slow-moving, but powerful armored killing machines likened to the Space Marine's Terminators.

The Eldar gain the Fire Dragons, fusion gun wielding aspect warriors best utilized against vehicles and structures. A word of caution; they don't have much range, so you'll have to get in close.

There are two new single player campaigns, which focus around a lost Imperial Titan. The four non-playable races from the original Dawn of War are available, with each race trying to find and gain control of the Titan for their own reasons.

Novel
In December of 2004, The Black Library released a novelization of Dawn of War, written by C.S. Goto. The story expands on the story found in the Single Player campaign, with additional characters and a more detailed story. A follow-up novel,  Dawn of War : Ascension, is scheduled for release in November, 2005, continuing the story of Captain Angelos and the Blood Ravens.

Misc.
Dawn of War is also the name of a less successful Real Time Strategy game set in prehistoric times, published by (the now-defunct?) SouthPeak Interactive.