I’ve got a Dark Heresy campaign slowly building now and I’ll be sharing some info on that game in the future.

As a ‘Prelude to Battle’ I’ll be talking about Dawn of War 2 today. It released a while back and I finally got around to getting a copy in the spirit of all things 40k.

For anyone that’s played the original DoW and not kept up with the news on DoW2 you will be surprised, a lot has changed. Apart from shinier graphics the base building has been taken away as well as the army massing. Capturing points is still a major focus — especially in multiplayer — and given the other two changes this creates a completely new gaming experience. The flow of combat is far faster and more brutal in DoW2 than it was in DoW, with plenty of tactics to spice things up. All of the units seem to be more closely modeled after the tabletop versions combat-wise so expect your infantry to get wasted by walkers and the like. Teamwork and counters are the primary skills you will need.

The single-player campaign is pretty good. The story/cut-scenes are pretty well done, the action can get repetitive though. The RPG elements added are my favorite part. Your Force Commander and his Squad Leaders all gain levels, have stats, traits and equipment that can be changed to suit your wants or needs. New pieces of equipment drop off enemies and have different levels of rarity. (think WoW-ish rarity ratings: common, uncommon, rare, etc)

I haven’t gotten a chance to delve deep into the ranked multiplayer battles — but it seems your commander can rank up and gain wargear. A nice addition. The typical multiplayer matches are over points accrued from capturing nodes. Up to 6 players can play on a map — three on each side. The available races so far are: Space Marines, Tyranids, Eldar, and Orks. There is a good bit of difference not only between races’ playstyles but also the three different commanders of each. Commander types are typically: Offensive, Defensive, and Support. Teamwork is essential to win these matches.

Dawn of War 2 is a great game for any RTS fan and any fan of the Warhammer 40k universe. Multiplayer has tons of potential entertainment and the single-player campaign is worth doing. Graphics are great, sound is good, animations are nice and the atmosphere is spot-on.