Dawn Of War

So Yeah. What do you guys think about the franchise in general? Does Soulstorm fit So Bad, It's Good? Did Dawn Of War II fit your expectations? Or how did you feel about the caps from Dark Crusade onward? Discuss.

METAL BAWKSES.

I've been playing Dawn of War on multiplayer since the first game released, and I have to say, it's been an absolute blast. The one game I really can't say much good about is Soulstorm, but that's an entirely different issue. >_>

My friends and I are currently on Dawn of War 2, and while the balancing seems to be a bit better now, we were getting annoyed at how good the marines seemed to have it; for the longest time, a force commander with the Iron Halo equipped was nigh unstoppable.

Balance issues aside, Relic's managed to get the feel of the factions down right, I'll say. Especially important since I'm an ork player. Waaaaugh.

Yeah, and considering that in Dark Crusade, Gorgutz happens to be the third most powerful Hero Unit after all the wargear, only surpassed by the Necron Lord in Nightbringer form and an ascended Eliphas.

Still, SPESS MEHRENS and METAL BAWKSES... lol.

I'm not TOO fond of Dow2, the removal of the base-building was probably not a good idea considering the amount of interesting stuff they did with it in DOW (Teleporting invisible eldar bases was my favourite)

I kind of miss base-building in DOW 2. I'm also not really a fan of the Boss Battle type gameplay there, but that's mainly because it's a pain trying to get my units to listen to my orders. "Get out of range of the big kaboom now" doesn't mean "kind of saunter out of range after a couple more hits if you feel like it".

In the first game and expansions, I really like playing as the Tau, mainly because I suck at micromanaging the Drone Jam of melee combat. Unfortunately Tau vehicles are made of tissue paper, so I inevitably concentrate on lots and lots of infantry.

Ironically I found the Tau to be my Achilles Heel; I got to adopt to the other factions (even Eldar!) but their rather resource heavy approach didn't work out for me.

The bigger irony, though, is that my brother plays Tau as his best faction .

I love the Tau and Eldar the most. I had trouble with IG though.

Guys: How would you feel if the IG were implemented in a DoW 2 Expansion with 5th ed rules? You know, the one with the tank squads?

edited 4th Aug '09 3:38:19 AM by Kinkajou

I personally love the game, but I also agree in that because of the order lag when you play multiplayer, you really have to get your guys out of the way BEFORE the ominous countdowns of grenades even starts. That being said, Hilarity Ensues whenever an ork Stikkbomba chuck THEIR grenades.

Bit of irony is that in Dawn of War 1, I loved the Space Marines as my faction of choice. Now, I can barely stand them in 2, and I can't quite figure out why.

I really do wonder who they're going to add when the inevitable Expansion Pack comes out. Chaos? Imperial Guard? Tau? (Well, it would depend on what part of the Imperium the campaign's set in; if it's no where near the Damocles Gulf, then we can probably rule the Tau out).

Last minute note edit: can you explain the tank squad thing? I am not familiar with Fifth Edition.

edited 4th Aug '09 5:06:00 AM by Basarin

Tank squads from 5th ed onward contain 1-3 vehicles. Considering that they keep the stats of each individual tank, you can guess which Butt-Monkey faction is laughing now.

My friends all think I'm crazy, because I don't like playing multiplayer, which leaves only the single-player campaign for me.

I'm guessing that an expansion to DOW 2 will probably add Eldar and Orks at the least. Tyranids they've apparently gotten down mechanics-wise (I haven't gotten that far in the campaign, but I did play the beta), but having an actual story mode for them will be a little tough, unless they want Tyranids to start talking. They already had to kind of bend the setting a little for the Necrons in Dark Crusade.

I was pretty good (or at least not completely sucky) with Imperial Guard in Dark Crusade as well, but mostly because I tended to try to tech up to the Baneblade while swarming the enemy with lots and lots of vanilla Guardsmen, and plenty of vehicle support. I don't think it's really the best way to play, though.

This is also how I play the Tau: spam Fire Warriors, and tech up to the big dinosaur. Who ends up being only a distraction, since what I'm really going for is the additional upgrades for the Fire Warriors.

Hence why the Kauyon command post is preferable if you like uber Fire Warriors. If you prefer Hammerheads, though...

Eldar and Orks are already in Do W 2 as playable factions, just not in the campaign.

I played the hell out of the original, Winter Assault, (IG would later become my favorite faction) and Dark Crusade. Never bought Soulstorm, but looking at some of the reviews, that was apparently a good call on my part.

My PC was built by Neolithic hunter-gatherers, so I can't run Dawn of War 2. (That's my own special way of saying that the system requirements are too high)

I bought the novel instead. Which featured a Crowning Moment of Awesome at the end.

edited 4th Aug '09 1:38:41 PM by Éireannach

I can run Do W 2, just not very well though (lacks RAM)

I can run Da W 2 on my PC just fun. I just suck at it.

Have any of you played mods for Dawn Of War?

edited 4th Aug '09 8:37:34 PM by Kinkajou

I couldn't finish Winter Assault. Too difficult; I got stuck at the Order campaign where the IG have to bail out the Eldar from the Orks.

I've only played Dark Crusade. Love it. Not very good, probably, but I've never actually played against others so I have no basis for comparison.

I have a friend who has been promising me 2 since it came out, but that has yet to amount to anything. I used to be rather excited for it, but my hopes are gone.

Dark Crusade = peak of Do W? WA was good too...

IG can really be unforgiving - especially since 5th ed wasn't around yet when Do W was first made...

I remember thinking that Dark Crusade got a little ridiculous around endgame. Because I usually leave the Eldar for later, by the time I get around to them, I get flooded with possibly more Eldar than technically exist.

Oddly enough, apart from Chaos and Imperial Guard, the stronghold missions for each race are ridiculously easy compared to the other provinces they may be holding. I think part of it is that in a stronghold mission, the AI doesn't swarm you as often as in a regular province. And then there are the little side objectives that let you beef up your forces or weaken the enemy.

Chaos have the Blood Pulse (sucks if you concentrate on Infantry), while IG have Basilisk bombardment. Both tend to make it a very bad day. Necrons have all those tunnels, which aren't really dangerous as such, but quite annoying.

I found the Tau stronghold to be the hardest - urban warfare isn't my best suit.

I hated the Tau stronghold cause of the stealth suits, add the fact that the Tau use a larger and harder to kill force to attack your base which can come from two different sides in that mission. The Eldar is worse though.

I should have mentioned that I have never played the Tau stronghold mission, entirely because I like the Tau too much to want to see them lose.

I also find the Tau and Eldar strongholds difficult. Tau have all those stealth suits, plus the urban combat is just difficult for me. And I think dkellis was right: saving it for last might mean the Eldar stronghold has more Eldar than exist.