History Awesome / DawnOfWar

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[[folder:Soulstorm]]
* In the wake of defeating up to 8 other armies in direct combat, something the Eldar continuously attempt to avoid having to do, they decide to leave the Kaurava system under the tenuous control of the Imperium (though anyone attempting to colonize Kaurava III soon finds themselves ambushed until they get the message), wrecking all the surviving remnants from the war before they vanish. Essentially a system-wide version of [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere "Screw you guys, I'm going home"]], at the very least a Crowning Moment for {{Manipulative Bastard}}s everywhere.
* When the Orks beat the Dark Eldar, they lock them in their own cages and have a ''throwing competition'' from the low-gravity moon they were based on.
* After defeating the Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle, the Space Marines... actually treat the survivors decently, sending the Sisters to their convent worlds and the Guard to other assignments (shame so few survived Inquisitorial debriefings, [[KillEmAll but that's the Inquisition for you]]).
* The entire Imperial Guard campaign is one massive SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Governor-General]] [[FanNickname Vance 'Motherfucking' Stubbs]]. Unlike all the other factions, who arrived at the Kaurava system in full strength, the Imperial Guard had been so poorly managed prior to Stubbs' transfer that they have lost control of the entire system, not helped by the loss of half of their entire garrison to the Warp Storm (Not to mention that [[MemeticMutation a shipment of 100 baneblades meant for reinforcing his regiment was transferred to another front with the worst timing possible]]). At the start of the conflict, they only have control of a single province, Dussala precinct on Kaurava I, which contains their central command. Stubbs not only managed to quickly reorganize and reform the survivors into an effective fighting force, but also fight off 8 other armies at the same time!
** General's Stubbs speech during assault on his stronghold.
---> '''Stubbs:''' Commissar, I would like to see this city built up again. I would like to see towers and spires of gleaming white. I would like to see our men on parade routes, not tours of duty! I WOULD LIKE TO SEE EVERY CITY ON THIS PLANET, EVERY COLONY ON THIS BESOTTED, MISERABLE SYSTEM TURNED TO THE SERVICE AND INDUSTRY OF THE IMPERIUM IN THE EMPEROR'S NAME!
** The conquest of the Orks deserves special mention. According to the narrator, they have infested the system for millennia, with the Imperium unable to do anything about it during all this time. Not only did General Stubbs manage to defeat the Orks once and for all, he did so when the Orks were at the height of their power under the leadership of Warboss Gorgutz and when the IG was massively under-strength.
** The Imperial Guard assault on the Sisters of Battle's stronghold. Stubbs was smart enough to understand that no matter how much his troops repent and confess, the Sisters are so fanatical that they will [[KillEmAll kill him and purge his entire regiment just to be sure that the system is free of the taint of Chaos.]] He therefore decides that the only way for him and his men to live will be to take the least predictable course of action possible... [[CrazyEnoughToWork to march the entire 252nd Conservator Regiment into the Sama District and attack the Adepta Sororitas' headquarters directly]], going as far as to have his tanks and artillery take on a Canoness and a Living Saint in battle. Much to everyone's surprise, [[CrackDefeat a poorly organized and undermanned regiment under the command of a recently transferred general actually managed to defeat their much better equipped and trained opponents.]] To further rub in the insult to the Sisters of Battle, Stubbs declared that the fact that his regiment was able to pull off this stunt was clearly a sign from the God Emperor himself that he is on the IG's side.
** The ending takes the cake though. After defeating all the other factions, Stubbs goes on to rebuild the entire system, stronger than ever, turning it into a proud Imperial Hub where famed Guard academies produce superior infantry that are only second to ''Karskin.'' Under his command, Kaurava thrived and prospered (Except Kaurava III; Stubbs got the message that [[DugTooDeep making a strong presence there is ill-advised]]), and it's [[EarnYourHappyEnding one of the most unambiguously positive endings in the entirety of 40k.]] [[VideoGame/DawnOfWarIII Shame it's non-canon.]]

* Every single one of Gorgutz' lines when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0FEo2WSLBM&NR=1 assaulting the Ork stronghold]] in ''Dark Crusade'' is a delicious win cake sprinkled liberally with awesome. No matter their motives or [[ForTheEvulz lack thereof]], the most any of the commanders succeed in doing with their taunting of the Warboss is mildly annoying him.
-->'''Gorgutz:''' Took ya long enuff to get to me, didn't it?\\
'''Eliphas:''' Chaos moves at its own pace, alien, not yours.\\
'''Gorgutz:''' How 'bout dyin'? Ya do dat any fasta'? I gotz to plan the rest of me day.\\
'''Eliphas:''' Ah, I shall miss this banter once you are dead, Ork.
** His quotes against the Necrons in ''Dark Crusade'':
-->'''Gorgutz:''' You looks like an oomie dats needs some feeding, metal boy!\\
'''Macabee:''' We exterminated all life on this planet before, and we shall do so again.\\
'''Gorgutz:''' Dat woz before me Waaaagh! got 'ere. Now, we is da wuns doin' da 'sterminating!
** His exchange against Shas'O'Kais is pure Ork glory:
--> '''Shas'O'Kais:''' Ork! You don't have a chance. Surrender, for the Greater Good!\\
'''Gorgutz:''' You don't know much about Orks, do ya Greyskin?
** And he's particularly annoyed by Farseer Taldeer:
--> '''Taldeer:''' Your infantilism is boundless, Ork.\\
'''Gorgutz:''' And she still won't shut it.
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrHhS5IkRR0 exchange]] between Shas'O Kais and Davian Thule in ''Dark Crusade'' when the Tau assault the Blood Ravens' stronghold is ''awesome'', both for O'Kais, showing compassion even for his merciless enemies, and for Davian Thule, showing defiance in the face of the Xenos onslaught.
-->'''Shas'O Kais:''' Surrender, human. If not for you, then for the Greater Good.\\
'''Thule:''' The Greater Good is coming to you from my bolter, alien!\\
'''Shas'O Kais:''' Do the deaths of your men mean so little to you? Are you that mad?\\
'''Thule:''' Do the deaths of yours mean so much to you? Are you that '''weak'''?
** Shas'O Kais also gets a comeback himself later on.
-->'''Thule:''' You will not squelch our faith so easily, alien.\\
'''Shas'O Kais:''' The Tau Empire will respect your faith, human, if you would only see reason.\\
'''Thule:''' Our faith is in the Emperor of Man, alien. To bow to you is heresy.\\
'''Shas'O Kais:''' Then you follow the path to destruction.\\
'''Thule:''' Better destruction than bondage.\\
'''Shas'O Kais:''' So says the slave to the free man.
** Kais brings down Eliphas the Inheritor in a storm of shame when attacking the Chaos Stronghold. Eliphas tries to contact him through telepathy, apparently unaware of the fact that Tau have an innate resistance to the Warp.
-->'''Eliphas:''' Alien, you come here to your doom.\\
'''Shas'O Kais:''' I've got a buzzing in my comms. Switching channels.\\
'''Eliphas:''' I am no static, alien, I am... Alien? Do you hear me?

-->'''Shas'O Kais:''' Fire Warriors, move forward. I want these Gue'la maniacs eliminated.\\
'''Eliphas:''' You come to your death, Tau.\\
'''Shas'O Kais:''' And shut down that comm chatter!
** Kais is doing possibly the most insane, insulting thing possible to the forces of Chaos, whose machinations have led to the ruin of the galaxy: ''he's ignoring it.''
** Hell, ANYTHING involving Kais qualifies. This is a commander who will accept your surrender gracefully even if you've just ''raped the MoralEventHorizon''. Of course, [[HonorBeforeReason this]] [[CrapsackWorld being]] [[DesignatedHero 40K]], he never gets the chance to demonstrate this.
* His Ethereal buddy Aun'el is no slouch himself -- his RousingSpeech at the start of the Tau stronghold is ''magnificent''.
-->'''Aun'el Shi O'res:''' Soldiers of the Fire Caste! Kroot and Vespid allies! Today, we stand as a bulwark against the selfish, the soulless and the mad! Today, we must drive our enemies from our city and our world! Today, more than ever before, we fight for the Greater Good! And we, ''will'', '''''TRIUMPH!'''''
* Speaking of assaulting the Blood Ravens stronghold, there's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMc5dCC41Ss Eliphas taunting Thule]].
** Not to mention [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HYidC-zg9Q Taldeer taunting Thule]]. She just gets one epic burn in after the other.
-->'''Thule:''' We have yet to meet our betters, alien! Certainly not on this forsaken world! All we have seen here are deluded tyrants, heretics, and alien scum!\\
'''Taldeer:''' You should have looked ''beyond'' your mirror, then.
** Can't let Macabee and the Necrons go unmentioned, either.
-->'''Thule:''' We will drive you from there, Necrons!\\
'''Macabee:''' You will only follow your Emperor into death.\\
'''Thule:''' The Emperor protects us! We will not fail!\\
'''Macabee:''' [[LittleNo You will]].\\
'''Thule:''' This fight isn't over yet!\\
'''Macabee:''' But your life is.
* When the Necrons assault the Tau:
-->'''Ethereal:''' Return to the graves that spawned you, monsters!\\
'''Macabee:''' Gladly, but first we must help you to yours.
* When the Necrons attack the Imperial Guard:
--> '''Governor-Militant Alexander:''' The Necrons are here! Drive them back to their tombs, men!\\
'''Macabee:''' It is your men who go to their tombs, Governor.
* The exchange between Eliphas and the Chaos Sorceror when attacking the Eldar stronghold.
--> '''Chaos Sorceror:''' Lord Eliphas of the Word Bearer Legion! Your forces will march for me once you lay slain.\\
'''Eliphas:''' [[EvilerThanThou You truly think your tiny cult can overcome my Legion? The thousand years of torment I suffered will seem gentle when you receive your sentence at my hands.]]

* Lukas Alexander's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84ZbXK1xY_4 speech]] when you attack Victory Bay, the Imperial Guard stronghold.
-->'''Alexander:''' Enemies of the Imperium, hear me. You have come here to die. The immortal Emperor is with us and we are invincible. His [[BadassNormal soldiers]] will strike you down. His [[TankGoodness warmachines]] will crush you under their treads. His [[DeathFromAbove mighty guns]] will bring the very sky crashing down upon you. You cannot win. The Emperor has given us his [[WaveMotionGun greatest weapon]] to wield. So make yourselves ready. We are the first Kronus regiment, and today is our VICTORY DAY!
* Gabriel has so many it would be futile to list them all, but this exchange with the Daemon of the Maledictum counts:
-->'''Daemon:''' Yes... Flee, and know that I will soon come to claim you all!\\
'''Gabriel Angelos:''' Then come and find your judgement waiting. You have escaped captivity, only to face annihilation. I know you now.
* Jonah's entrance, wherein he slaughters an entire company of Eldar guardians with his psyker abilities.
-->'''Jonah Orion:''' No more Blood Ravens fall this day. '''NO MORE!'''

* When Captain Diomedes fights through Kyras' army he basically tells the almost godlike Daemon Prince to [[ShutUpHannibal shut the fuck up]] and delivers this speech:
-->'''Apollo Diomedes:''' No more talk, Kyras. You have much to answer for; for all you have done to the Blood Ravens ''much'' shall be avenged this day! '''FOR GABRIEL! FOR THE EMPEROR!'''
* Azariah Kyrus might be a Chief Librarian and thus a bad choice for a Khornate, but in the pre-mission brief to the final level of Retribution he absolutely owns his reciting of the [[http://youtu.be/LP3JT8WgAEY?t=1m31s Khornate battle cry at the end.]]
* Gabriel's battle cry at the end of ''Dawn of War II'', when you spot the Hive Tyrant Alpha that serves as the FinalBoss.
-->'''Gabriel:''' There it is! '''TO WAR!'''
* In ''Retribution's'' Eldar campaign, Autarch Kayleth's speech to Azariah Kyras as a Daemon before the final battle counts.
-->'''Ascended Azariah Kyras:''' Ah, the Eldar. Slaanesh sends his regards. I might have known you would escape Typhon. A plague of Orks is simpler to stamp out than a handful of your slippery kind. So why come here, then? Why not run and hide in the corners of your webway? So eager to die in the name of holy vengeance?\\
'''Kayleth:''' [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Your ignorance is astonishing, Daemon. Our kind evolved past your petty grudges and childish zealotry millennia ago. We slay you for the sake of our kin. You are nothing. You merely possess something of ours]]. ''[[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu And we have come to reclaim it!]]'' [...] The Daemon is down! Summon the Eldritch Storm! For the fallen!\\
'''Veldoran:''' For the living!\\
'''Ronahn:''' [[ItsPersonal For Taldeer]]...
* Near the end of the Tyranid campaign, the Hive Mind summons the Swarmlord to fight beside you. This is the Tyranid equivalent of one of the Primarchs returning.
* Gabriel Angelos sets the tone for ''Retribution'' with a speech of manly awesome. And this is just ''setting the scene''! Also worth noting is that the last sentence is narrated over Gabriel charging at Ascended Kyras and swinging God-Splitter into his face.
-->'''Gabriel:''' I am Gabriel Angelos, Captain of the Blood Ravens. My chapter is in ruins, the sector is at war. Its worlds under siege. Chaos spreads, consumes us all. ''Here'', we will make our [[LastStand final stand]]. ''Here'', there will be... [[TitleDrop Retribution]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* There's the possibility of a player-generated SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome when assaulting the Eldar stronghold in ''Dark Crusade''. At the end, there's a trio of giant warp gates surrounding an ''absurdly'' well-fortified plateau accessible only by narrow, tactically suicidal ramps. The intended objective is to destroy the gates while fending off a constant stream of reinforcements from what the story sells as an utterly impregnable fortress. However, for a player in the mood for a serious SelfImposedChallenge, it *is* just possible to slug your way onto the plateau itself and wipe it out. (Wiping it out DOES end the mission in success right there). It's quite a thrill watching the damn space elves finally ground under your troops' boots.
* This troper has managed to produce a FailureIsTheOnlyOption level in harder difficulty skirmish mode. The cool part? Because the armies involved are Orks and [[AxCrazy World Eaters]], '''neither of them cares that they're in a neverending war'''. Indeed, they'd both be quite cheerful about it. Currently, the score is at 6000 daemons/cultists/Marines to 3000 orks/gretchin, after ''six and a half hours'' of mutually assured destruction. [[VideogameCrueltyPotential A beautiful game]].
** Update - Orks won.
* The Eldar stronghold in ''Dark Crusade'' developed into a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome on this troper's last playthrough, as I played the Orks. Once I managed to clear out both the Chaos and rogue Ork bases, I built a collection of Boy Huts and Settlements around the Eldar plateau, and then proceeded to launch endless waves of Slugga Boyz at the Eldar. Keep in mind, this was after I had the "More Sluggas" research completed, so said Sluggas were ''free''. I spent four hours doing nothing but cranking out Sluggas and sending them up the ramps while also sending out Nob Squads, Killa Kans, and having Looted Tanks provide artillery cover. The Eldar held out for four hours straight before the '''WAAAAGH!''' finally, inexorably ground them down. Thousands of Orks and Eldar died in a prolonged, psychotic orgy of explosions, dakka, choppas, and flying space elf body parts, but that was fine, because there's no Orkier way to win.
** The Ork upgrade "More Sluggas" is basically this in game format. What it does is make the basic Ork Slugga Boyz squad free for recruitment, but not reinforcing (neither with weapons or additional squad members), but lets you more or less infinitely pump out boyz. In true Ork fasion, literally pointing and clicking at a target, then have at least 5 huts producing boyz will result in victory, no matter what the enemy has. This is in spite of all common sense (Ork boyz should not be effective against anything beyond infantry, and a 4 member squad can be wiped out easily) you're tossing out the window, ''and it works''.
* I ran the ''Dark Crusade'' campaign as Chaos and saved the Eldar stronghold for last. Daemon Prince Eliphas against Avatar of Khaine.
** Hell, any time two epic units get into a fight. In ''Dawn of War 2'', Avatar plus Farseer against Great Unclean One plus Sorcerer (the Eldar won).
* This is a bit of FridgeBrilliance and a bit of FanWank, but it could be a great Crowning Moment of Awesome. Whenever you fight Orks, you'll soon realize their morale is extremely hard to drop. But when it does, you can hear the Orks scream ''"We're gonna DIE!"''. Now, in the 40K universe, the C'tan instilled the fear of death in every mortal race but the Orks (because they were the youngest race). So basically, your units have ''instilled the fear of death in a race that hasn't had it for millenia.'' Bonus points if it's a squad of [[BadassNormal Imperial Guardsmen or Tau Fire Warriors]] who pulled it off.
* This troper was playing a co-op campaign as Chaos in ''Retribution'' and was controlling Neroth and Kain. In the final mission, near the beginning, we got put into a chokepoint against what appeared to be nine squads of enemies; we had nothing but Eliphas, Neroth, Kain, and a squad of plague marines. Eliphas, whom the wargear gods had been unkind to and who happened to be in front, got mowed down in less than a second, followed by Neroth (attempting to get into position for a Doombolt) and the plague marines. This left just Kain and his anti-vehicle lascannon against nine full squads of everything from Chaos Heretics to Bloodletters, all infantry. Kain with his [[UpToEleven damage upgrade]] and [[LifeDrain life-stealing]] [[AlwaysAccurateAttack lascannon]]. He was quickly knocked down to 10% HP and it looked like a restart... then he fired once and gained all his health back. Both of us [[StunnedSilence sat there speechless]] as he proceeded to [[OneHitKill kill every single squad man by man]] over the course of at least five minutes because they couldn't do enough damage fast enough to kill him through his absolutely ridiculous life-stealing. He then calmly revived Eliphas and Neroth and we carried on with the mission. It made his earlier feat of solo-killing the Land Raider Redeemer land-battleship look trite.
* I play a Chaos Lord, and there was this one time I was up against Tyranids. So, anyway, I'm using the Lord as an assault beatstick if you will, and he's doing pretty well. Takes out the guy's Hive Tyrant at every opportunity and even managed to come out up on top of upgraded Warriors and even freaking GENESTEALERS alone in CC. But the ''true'' awesome moment came when the Swarmlord came out. He absolutely slaughtered my Marine squads and even the tanks I had. So I guess I might as well go out with style, so I send out the CL with his Dark Halo, Lightning Claws and a Harness of Rage and the Swarmlord barely gets the bubble off and all the while the Chaos Lord's sliced him near death!! The SL tries to make a break for it until the Lord finally corners him at his HQ, and by the Blood God, my jaw dropped when I finally see the Chaos Lord strike the final blow and the Swarmlord falls at last and explodes in a spray of gore! The Chaos Lord then rallies my surviving units and we destroy the enemy HQ, carrying the day! Needless to say, I thanked Khorne for standing with me in that battle. Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!
* This trooper recently had one of his own when he assaulted the Eldar stronghold as the Blood Ravens. After sitting on one side of the map and dealing with attacks by both Ork raiding parties and Eldar wraithlord trios, we finally managed to wipe out every visible Webway Gate outside of their base with a series of surgical strikes, in addition to destroying the Ork base with a pair of Predators aided by Captain Thule, and the Chaos base with a group of Space Marines also aided by Thule, who dueled and killed the Sorcerer in charge in single combat. After that, I massed the sizable army I'd put together over the course of the match at the head of the long bridge that divided the rest of the map from the Eldar base...then had them charge. The Blood Ravens charged into a maelstrom of fire from Falcon tanks, Fire Prisms, Guardians, Warp Spiders, Dark Reapers, and Fire Dragons, with a quartet of Predators and a Whirlwind spearheading the assault, supported by two squads of Terminators, a group of Grey Knights, along with Tactical and Assault squads. Then we got to the ramp that went up into the actual base. There, the Blood Ravens charged into a killzone and came face-to-face with the Avatar of Khaine, who was promptly engaged by every unit that could. Amidst explosions and gunfire and orbital bombardments, the battle lasted for at least fifteen minutes before the Avatar finally fell, after it and the prepared defenses had slaughtered a good portion of my forces. All this time I had my Chapel-Barracks and Machine Cult on auto-build, sending Predators, Dreadnoughts, and Land Speeders at them along with regular Marines. Eventually, even as we finally broke past the kill-zone and moved into the base itself to begin slaughtering what was left of the Eldar resistance, a squad of Tactical Marines supported by a Dreadnought moved up the right flank to capture the Webway Gate there as a group of Terminators, Assault Marines, and another Dreadnought moved left to do the same, as the center gate had been captured early in the assault. The maelstrom of war kept going on even as Captain Thule charged Farseer Taldeer, engaging her in single combat as the final two gates fell, triggering the ending cutscene. In short...most epic moment I've ever played in a game. Ever.
* As Sisters of Battle, on the Jungles of Rhea map against all AI. Used six Seraphim squads and the Saint to jump the walls and take out the enemy bases with much abuse of Angelic Visage (with the base defended by the heroes, Lightnings, Engines and an Exorcist). Finally, the only remaining army is the Dark Angels, whose base on the other side of the map I'd ''just'' started to attack, and of course, they show up on my doorstep with a Land Raider. I figured I might as well go down the way the Emperor intended, and attacked what I thought were only a few of their buildings (the AI having an annoying habit of setting up buildings all over the place). Just as the heretical Dark Angels were attacking the final bastion of the righteous Sororitas, the last building in the base collapsed, and to my great surprise the victory message showed up. Needless to say, much praise was given to the Emperor, who provided His faithful daughters with a much-needed miracle.
* On my last playthrough of Dark Crusade, I was leading the Space Marines against the Eldar Stronghold. After purging both the Ork filth and the taint of Chaos, I had their base encircled and had entrenched myself firmly at their entrances. The first attack, a combined force of Marine Squads, Terminators, Dreadnoughts and Predator Annihilators was thrown at the Eldar central base from a staging ground in the former Ork base. Amidst the general chaos of Fire Prism bombardment, Orbital Strikes, and desperate attempts to break down the Eldar buildings, the Dreadnoughts were all lost and the Predators suffered heavy damage, but my infantry squads all survived with minimal losses and managed to withdraw, even if Reclusiarch Mikaelus fell in battle. Then, forces were rallied, Apothecaries applied treatment for their wounds, new vehicles were brought in, and another attack came, this time from two fronts. The southern end of the pincer maneuver ended up engaging the Avatar, which was another hellish fight, even as the Eldar western flank collapsed from the pressure that the Marines were putting on it. As the western force rampaged through the base, the southern force brought down the Avatar with concentrated fire while a pair of Dreadnoughts held it in melee. After that it was just a question of quickly mopping things up, and the Emperor's Space Marines had secured Kronus from the heretics and aliens that had infested it.
* Scene: this troper as Eldar, going head to head against [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Brutal AI Chaos]] for the first time. Seven minutes in and Chaos tanks were knocking on my doorstep; ten minutes in and the Eldar were reduced to nothing but the Webway Assembly, an Aspect Portal, a Webway Gate in the corner, two squads of Guardians, and one Howling Banshee (one, not one squad). Closing in are four Chaos Marine Squads backed by cultists and Defilers - the end is inevitable, but then something happens. The Guardian squads don't die in seconds. It takes a full minute, during which the bonesinger escapes and starts a hidden Webway gate that the last Banshee goes into. Cue a two and a half hour long game of guerrilla warfare, as it was always meant to be - the dying Eldar having to rely on small, surgical strikes fighting against the endless hordes of the Warp. A Bloodthirster and a Daemon Prince show up. Three Warp Spider Squads slowly whittle both down while the Banshee survivor, now with a full squad and a Seer Council beside it, keep them in place. Enough time is bought and enough gates have been placed that there is no longer any safe place on the map for Chaos; no heretics can run and rebuild for everything is visible and accessible, and finally, after painting the brown map almost entirely red, the Eldar secure a victory. Neither the lone bonesinger or the lone Howling Banshee from the beginning die, and are at the front at the end, just to rub it in: "You could have stopped this."

As you would expect, being based on the ''TabletopGame/Warhamme40000'' universe results in many awesome moments sprinkled throughout ''Dawn of War''.

As you would expect, being based on the ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer 40000}}'' universe results in many awesome moments sprinkled throughout ''Dawn of War''.

* The treatment of Chaos sorcerer Sindri towards [[spoiler:Isador after he convinces him to betray the Blood Ravens]]. In [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder typical]] [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Chaos]] [[KlingonPromotion fashion]], he claims that he could simply betray Sindri and keep the [[ArtifactOfDoom Maledictum]] for himself. Sindri's response is to effortlessly force him to his knees using only his mind, take the Maledictum, and calmly walk away while remarking that Angelos and the Blood Ravens have arrived, and he must now kill them all, with the strong implication that [[spoiler:Isador]] has only then realised what a horrible thing he's just done. THAT is what a [[MagnificentBastard disciple of Tzeentch]] does.

*** GoneHorriblyRight: One MINOR detail, considering one line, though. [[spoiler: Get eaten by the Daemon he freed? Check. Oops.]]

*** Best thing about this BadassBoast is that he backs it up: the Orks are the only faction [[note]]not counting the Imperial Guard SelfImposedChallenge below[[/note]] who ''don't'' use the Titan to defeat the Necrons. They do it the right 'n proppa Orky way - going over to those metal gits and kicking their teef in! [[spoiler:[[FridgeBrilliance Which is exactly what the Old Ones created them to do]].]]

* The final mission, ''The Last Stand''. [[spoiler:Your strike force is on a mission to poison the Tyranid hive mind with a deadly biotoxin. They succeed, but their Strike Cruiser has been destroyed as has Martellus's Thunderhawk, they only have a single Force Commander, a four man Tactical squad, a three man Assault squad, a three man Devastator squad, a three man Scout squad, a single Dreadnought and a couple of eight man Imperial Guard Stormtrooper squads from the 85th Vendoland. They seem doomed to a BolivianArmyEnding as thousands of Tyranids of all sizes from Rippers to Carnifexes close in on them. Enter none other than ''Gabriel Angelos'' himself, who personally comes down, [[DropTheHammer God-Splitter]] in hand with dozens of Space Marines, as well as much of the Chapter fleet to bail you out. Then Gabriel himself joins you as the Marines engage the Tyranids to keep them at bay while you mow your way through hundreds of Tyranids to fight the oversized Hive Tyrant Alpha controlling the entire swarm.]]
** [[spoiler: The best part is easily when you think you're fighting the titular LastStand, facing down an army of Tyranids with nothing but your squads and a few squads of allied Guardsmen. You've struck the Hive Fleet a terrible blow, but it seems certain that you will fall to the swarm in the process. Suddenly, orbital bombardment strikes down the enemy forces, the music begins to swell, and finally you hear Gabriel's transmission and realise that TheCavalry has arrived.]]
--> '''Gabriel Angelos:''' [[spoiler: Hear me, forces on Typhon. You shall not fall this day.]]

** Tarkus screwing up a Farseer's predictions with said honors. [[spoiler:Instead of staying behind to defend Chapter relics like she assumed he would, he protected his comrades ''and'' the relics. ''By wearing them''. It's amazing how a Terminator squad in the right place can turn back the tide.]] This moment echoes Davian Thule's own Moment in how it makes a once difficult fight far easier, though you are quite likely to have done a lot more damage to Idranel by the time Tarkus has gotten to you than you probably did to the Hive Tyrant when Thule rescues you.
* Davian Thule, [[spoiler:returned as a Dreadnought]], has two things to tell a Hive Tyrant, after which he beats it to death with ease.

* By the end of ''Dawn of War II'', your Space Marines will have gone from EliteMooks with standard bolters and chainswords, barely able to fight off the Ork hordes, to veteran heroes of the Chapter clad in holy relics and Terminator armor, wielding plasma weaponry and Thunder Hammers. Your squads will have faced down Hive Tyrants, a massive Ork Warboss, and ''[[PhysicalGod an Avatar of Khaine]]'' all on their lonesome. ''Chaos Rising'' makes it even better, such as when you hold off the forces of Chaos attempting to sack the Imperial palace, while the governor rallies her troops by proclaiming that ''"the Emperor's Angels of Death fight with us today!"'' or when you defeat the Chaos Lord hounding the sector, a Lord who ''expects'' to not be able to take you on and retreats at every opportunity, until the end. The best, [[spoiler:if you're pure, is when you unveil the Chaos corruption in the heart of the Blood Ravens by ''assaulting the Honor Guard's main base without killing a single pure Blood Raven''. By ''yourself''. In the process, you slay several Chaos Terminators, use the Chapter's orthodoxy against them to avoid fighting loyalist forces, and hold off the Captain of the Honor Guard, a 400 year old veteran acclaimed by the Chapter Master himself as the finest warrior in the Chapter, while you destroy his main command post.]] And of course, there's the ending, where (despite taking [[MarathonBoss forever]]) you eventually defeat [[spoiler:a Great Unclean One]] as the forces of the ''Litany of Fury'' defeat the Black Legion.
* In the Jonah Orion betrayal, [[spoiler: the ''real'' Jonah gets one, when, too battered and beaten to resist in any other way, he restrains his daemonic parasite's healing powers long enough for his brothers to finish it off. The daemon declares that killing him will only ensure that he pulls Jonah screaming into the Warp, but Tarkus, touched by his sacrifice, answers that the man who has nothing can still have faith.]]

** The Ancient gets one on the Judgment of Carrion: [[spoiler: After learning that Chapter Master Kyras is a heretic, Captain Apollo Diomedes suffers a HeroicBSOD, and the Ancient reveals himself as Sergeant Tarkus and threatens to shoot him to snap him out of it. This being the setting it is, Diomedes is visibly moved that Tarkus would care so much.]]
** Apollo Diomedes gets one in the final battle: [[spoiler: When Gabriel is seemingly killed by Daemon Prince Kyras, Diomedes leads the remaining loyalist Blood Ravens with this rally cry: '''''"FOR GABRIEL! FOR THE EMPEROR!"''''']]
*** Gabriel Angelos gets one at the end: [[spoiler: After being crushed and burned by Daemon Prince Kyras, Gabriel ''survives'' those injuries, even if he now has enough Cybernetics to put Marneus Calgar to shame. Not only that, he becomes the new Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens.]]
** Lord Eliphas the Inheritor [[spoiler:has slaughtered every Alpha Legionnaire that pledged fealty to Azariah Kyras, he now stands before the Daemon Prince with his mighty daemon sword, drenched in blood and gore. Fires of rage, a gift from Khorne, engulf Eliphas' body, searing the flesh of his enemies. A sea of corpses surround the Champion of Chaos. [[WeCanRuleTogether The Daemon Prince looks upon Eliphas and offers him an alliance.]] Eliphas laughs, ''"Do not be so quick to make foolish offers, Daemon. Araghast once thought that I would be an asset to his cause; look now to what has become of him."'']]
*** Eliphas gets another one at the end of that fight. [[spoiler: after Kyras' body slumps lifelessly through the Pit of Maledictus back to the Warp, Neroth comes before him panicking about the Exterminatus. Eliphas calmly answers that he will do nothing; the Exterminatus will run its course. He basically signs off Neroth and all the others to their death, and allows Kyras' sacrifice to Khorne to proceed uninterrupted, while taking credit for it. And thus did the Blood God elevate him to a magnificent example of Daemonhood. The screen closes up on his face, and we have the pleasure of listening to one of the most nightmarish evil laughs in all of video game history.]]

** The Eldar get one at the end of their campaign, where they finally kill Kyras [[spoiler: not just to avenge the thousands of Eldar soulstones lost when Kyras called in the Exterminatus, but also to save [[PreviousPlayerCameo Taldeer's]] soulstone from Kyras himself, with the implication her knowledge of Necron strongholds would help Craftworld Ulthwe stop them from destroying more Eldar]]. Especially since the three Eldar heroes deliver an epic "AndThisIsFor" speech before delivering the final blow on Kyras:

--> '''Ronahn:''' "For [[spoiler:[[YouKilledMyFather Taldeer]]]]..."
** Sgt Merrick in the Imperial Guard campaign gets a simultaneous Awesome and SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming|Moments}} (yes, [[CrapsackWorld even in this universe]]) [[spoiler:after the destruction of Typhon. He punches General Castor in the face and points his gun at him, [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out for leaving thousands of loyal Guardsmen to die]]. He does this right in front of Commissar Lord Bern ''and'' Inquisitor Adrastia. Most guardsmen would be shot on the spot for insubordination after pulling that stunt. Merrick? He walks away alive.]]

** During [[spoiler:the exterminatus]] Bluddflag takes notice of the chaos champion trying to stop them. He doesn't let all [[spoiler:literal hell breaking loose]] stop him from looking for a good fight!

** The aforementioned Chaos champion gets a spectacular one as a means of introducing himself. Incensed at the Tyranids attempting to flee [[spoiler:the Exterminatus]], he goes one on one with a Carnifex, grabs onto the house-sized monstrosities face and stabs it repeatedly until dead, all while bellowing the praises of the Blood God. Carnifexs are notorious for tearing through whole squads of Astartes in moments, and this crazy bastard murders one in a ''fit of pique.''
** Defeating Kyras in the Tyranid campaign is a pretty awesome moment, sadly unappreciated due to their lack of witty banter. Bear in mind, the Tyranids don't have any PowerArmor or psykers or most ''anything'' that makes the other races awesome; it's just you the Hive Lord, a warparty of your fellow Tyranids and a potent mix of OrganicTechnology and ruthlessly efficient evolution a couple million years in the making against Kyras [[spoiler:as a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever massive]] [[BigRedDevil Daemon]] [[HornyDevils Prince]]]] and the armies of Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons he commands. Also bear in mind that just before the dreaded [[spoiler:Exterminatus]] Kyras basically laughs in your face, dismisses you as a threat or being in any way scary and tells you the title they gave your species -- the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Great Devourer]] -- was probably just an exaggeration. By taking him down, you're not just doing your duty for Hive Mind and Hive Fleet -- you're also demonstrating to that SmugSnake that when people call you the Great Devourer and other such names, it is '''not''' a joke.

* One word: [[spoiler: Exterminatus.]]

* Somewhat meta, but the description of the game itself on Steam reveals that after ''eight years'' of being left out, [[spoiler: [[HesBack Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter is BACK.]]]]
** Not only that but, [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster Farseer Macha]] is also returning to the fray ''[[LongBusTrip ten years]]'' [[LongBusTrip after her last appearance.]]]]

* When Captain Diomedes [[spoiler: fights through Kyras' army he basically tells the almost godlike Daemon Prince to [[ShutUpHannibal shut the fuck up]] and delivers this speech:]]
-->'''Apollo Diomedes:''' [[spoiler: No more talk, Kyras. You have much to answer for; for all you have done to the Blood Ravens ''much'' shall be avenged this day! '''FOR GABRIEL! FOR THE EMPEROR!''']]

* In ''Retribution's'' Eldar campaign, Autarch Kayleth's speech to [[spoiler:Azariah Kyras as a Daemon]] before the final battle counts.
-->'''[[spoiler:Ascended Azariah Kyras]]:''' Ah, the Eldar. Slaanesh sends his regards. I might have known you would escape Typhon. A plague of Orks is simpler to stamp out than a handful of your slippery kind. So why come here, then? Why not run and hide in the corners of your webway? So eager to die in the name of holy vengeance?\\

'''Ronahn:''' [[spoiler:[[ItsPersonal For Taldeer]]]]...

* Gabriel Angelos sets the tone for ''Retribution'' with a speech of manly awesome. And this is just ''setting the scene''! Also worth noting is that the last sentence is narrated over Gabriel charging at [[spoiler: Ascended Kyras]] and swinging God-Splitter into [[spoiler: his]] face.

--->'''Abaddon:''' [[BiggerBad You both serve me and that will not be forgotten!]] How you do so is entirely of your choosing, but fail me and your choices will narrow to how loudly you scream for the rest of eternity.

** Tarkus screwing up a Farseer's predictions with said honors. [[spoiler:Instead of staying behind to defend Chapter relics like she assumed he would, he protected his comrades ''and'' the relics. ''By wearing them''. It's amazing how a Terminator squad in the right place can turn back the tide.]] This moment echoes Davian Thule's own CrowningMomentOfAwesome in how it makes a once difficult fight far easier, though you are quite likely to have done a lot more damage to Idranel by the time Tarkus has gotten to you than you probably did to the Hive Tyrant when Thule rescues you.

** Sgt Merrick in the Imperial Guard campaign gets a simultaneous CrowningMomentOfAwesome and CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming (yes, [[CrapsackWorld even in this universe]]) [[spoiler:after the destruction of Typhon. He punches General Castor in the face and points his gun at him, [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out for leaving thousands of loyal Guardsmen to die]]. He does this right in front of Commissar Lord Bern ''and'' Inquisitor Adrastia. Most guardsmen would be shot on the spot for insubordination after pulling that stunt. Merrick? He walks away alive.]]

* Scene: this troper as Eldar, going head to head against [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Brutal AI Chaos]] for the first time. Seven minutes in and Chaos tanks were knocking on my doorstep; ten minutes in and the Eldar were reduced to nothing but the Webway Assembly, an Aspect Portal, a Webway Gate in the corner, two squads of Guardians, and one Howling Banshee (one, not one squad). Closing in are four Chaos Marine Squads backed by cultists and Defilers - the end is inevitable, but then something happens. The Guardian squads don't die in seconds. It takes a full minute, during which the bonesinger escapes and starts a hidden Webway gate that the last Banshee goes into. Cue a two and a half hour long game of guerrilla warfare, as it was always meant to be - the dying Eldar having to rely on small, surgical strikes fighting against the endless hordes of the Warp. A Bloodthirster and a Daemon Prince show up. Three Warp Spider Squads slowly whittle both down while the Banshee survivor, now with a full squad and a Seer Council beside it, keep them in place. Enough time is bought and enough gates have been placed that there is no longer any safe place on the map for Chaos; no heretics can run and rebuild for everything is visible and accessible, and finally, after painting the brown map almost entirely red, the Eldar secure a victory. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Neither the lone bonesinger or the lone Howling Banshee from the beginning die, and are at the front at the end, just to rub it in: "You could have stopped this."]]

** WordOfGod says that the Imperial Guard were the canonical winners of ''Soulstorm'', so all this stuff actually happened. For the Emperor, indeed.
*** Sadly, this has been retconned as VideoGame/DawnOfWarIII reveals it was actually Gorgutz who won the war in the Kaurava system.

* Warboss Gorgutz is a walking, talking CMOA. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9r5OKlQIkk This scene]] is the pinnacle of EVERYTHING Orky.

** In fact, the Titan itself deserves a CMoA of its own - its dormant husk stretches across half the map, and those guns that effortlessly blow away all comers? They're basically the Titan's ''point defenses'', tertiary at best.

* The Ork base in ''Dark Crusade'' is a CMOA for the entire Ork ''species''; it may be insanely self-destructive, but these are ORKS we're talking about. It's possible, if you destroy the Boss Banners from a safe distance (e.g. with Earthshaker rounds), to leave the Orks almost entirely intact yet implacably opposed to ''everyone''. They can then knock down other people's banners. Basilisk Crew get a CMOA, Gorgutz [[StuffBlowingUp blows it up]] and claims a CMOA, and all of the Ork clans get a CMOA for being sufficiently badass to rebel even when the Imperial Guard are in town.

* The entire Imperial Guard campaign is one massive CMOA for [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Governor-General]] [[FanNickname Vance 'Motherfucking' Stubbs]]. Unlike all the other factions, who arrived at the Kaurava system in full strength, the Imperial Guard had been so poorly managed prior to Stubbs' transfer that they have lost control of the entire system, not helped by the loss of half of their entire garrison to the Warp Storm (Not to mention that [[MemeticMutation a shipment of 100 baneblades meant for reinforcing his regiment was transferred to another front with the worst timing possible]]). At the start of the conflict, they only have control of a single province, Dussala precinct on Kaurava I, which contains their central command. Stubbs not only managed to quickly reorganize and reform the survivors into an effective fighting force, but also fight off 8 other armies at the same time!

* There's the possibility of a player-generated CMOA when assaulting the Eldar stronghold in ''Dark Crusade''. At the end, there's a trio of giant warp gates surrounding an ''absurdly'' well-fortified plateau accessible only by narrow, tactically suicidal ramps. The intended objective is to destroy the gates while fending off a constant stream of reinforcements from what the story sells as an utterly impregnable fortress. However, for a player in the mood for a serious SelfImposedChallenge, it *is* just possible to slug your way onto the plateau itself and wipe it out. (Wiping it out DOES end the mission in success right there). It's quite a thrill watching the damn space elves finally ground under your troops' boots.

* The Eldar stronghold in ''Dark Crusade'' developed into a CMOA on this troper's last playthrough, as I played the Orks. Once I managed to clear out both the Chaos and rogue Ork bases, I built a collection of Boy Huts and Settlements around the Eldar plateau, and then proceeded to launch endless waves of Slugga Boyz at the Eldar. Keep in mind, this was after I had the "More Sluggas" research completed, so said Sluggas were ''free''. I spent four hours doing nothing but cranking out Sluggas and sending them up the ramps while also sending out Nob Squads, Killa Kans, and having Looted Tanks provide artillery cover. The Eldar held out for four hours straight before the '''WAAAAGH!''' finally, inexorably ground them down. Thousands of Orks and Eldar died in a prolonged, psychotic orgy of explosions, dakka, choppas, and flying space elf body parts, but that was fine, because there's no Orkier way to win.

* Commissar Lord Bernn roaring this "Faster, Harder, MEANER, Better!"

* The [[RedshirtArmy Imperial Guard]] kill an Avatar of Khaine - the physical embodiment of the Eldar god of war - with massed lasgun fire while the Avatar is distracted by a lone Sentinel, should the Imperial Guard defeat the Eldar at their stronghold. Bear in mind that the lasgun is the weakest standard weapon in the setting.

*** Sadly this has been retcon as VideoGame/DawnOfWarIII reveals it was actually Gorgutz won won the Kaurava system.

'''Chaos Space Marine:''' No mercy! No pity! No hope!

** The Eldar get one at the end of their campaign, where they finally kill Kyras [[spoiler: not just to avenge the thousands of Eldar soulstones lost when Kyras called in the Exterminatus, but also to save [[PreviousPlayerCameo Taldeer's]] soulstone from Kyras himself, with the implication her knowledge of Necron strongholds would help Craftworld Ulthwe stop them from destroying more Eldar]]. Especially since the three Eldar heroes deliver an epic "ThisIsFor" speech before delivering the final blow on Kyras:

--> '''Ronahn:''' "For [[spoiler: [[YouKilledMyFather Taldeer]]]]..."

** Gabriel Angelos gets one at the end: [[spoiler: After being crushed and burned by Daemon Prince Kyras, Gabriel ''survives'' those injuries, even if he now has enough Cybernetics to put Marneus Calgar to shame. Not only that, he becomes the new Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens.]]

** Eliphas gets another one at the end of that fight. [[spoiler: after Kyras' body slumps lifelessly through the Pit of Maledictus back to the Warp, Neroth comes before him panicking about the Exterminatus. Eliphas calmly answers that he will do nothing; the Exterminatus will run its course. He basically signs off Neroth and all the others to their death, and allows Kyras' sacrifice to Khorne to proceed uninterrupted, while taking credit for it. And thus did the Blood God elevate him to a magnificent example of Daemonhood. The screen closes up on his face, and we have the pleasure of listening to one of the most nightmarish evil laughs in all of video game history.]]

** Special mention to the destruction of the final statue that makes him invulnerable. In place of a HannibalLecture, he can only suffer a short but epic VillainousBreakdown.

* The opening cinematic can be viewed as a Crowning Moment of Awesome for the franchise as a whole. Particularly when the dying Space Marine Brother-Sergeant - the last of his squad - crawls to the top of the hill and ''defiantly'' plants the Chapter's banner. That sums up ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer 40000}}'': brutal, violent, awesome, and pointless.

'''Asdrubael Vect (Dais of Destruction):''' '''BEG FOR MERCY!!!''' Not that it will help you...
** Relic units say awesome stuff, but the [[TankGoodness Baneblade]] really takes the cake. Everything the crew says is awesome.
-->'''Baneblade pilot:''' Ready to unleash [[MoreDakka ELEVEN BARRELS OF HELL!]]\\