# Dawn of War 2 : Retribution PC Gamer Preview



## MadCowCrazy

PC Gamer Article

Each of the six can play through specially-tailored variations on the same 16 missions. I start my campaign as the new kids on the block: the Imperial Guard. Though they're billed as the common man's army, as opposed to the genetically engineered super-soldiers of the Space marines or the naturally tough Orks, in the field the IG packs a punch equivalent to anything the superhuman armies can muster.
My commander hero, Lord General Castor, is a superbly mustached, pompous hunter who reminds me of John Cleese. He specializes at ranged support and sniping, but always travels with an upgradeable entourage of bodygaurds that can be geared toward melee combat.
With him are Inquisitor Adrastia, a capable melee fighter and offensive spell-caster who's been sent to investigate the cause behind the Exterminatus, and gruff soldier Sergeant Merrick. Merrick plays a lot like Tarkus, with his grenades and bolters, but can also be equipped with heavy weapons and use stealth.

Midway through the first mission I make a defensive stand against waves of assaulting Tyranids, and that's where my extra troops got a chance to prove their worth. For those who missed our last big Retribution story, the big change is that this single-player campaign plays a lot like DoW2's multiplayer game. It's still got powerful, upgradable heroes that never really die, but you can also purchase squads of common soldiers as backup via captured points on the map. My heroes do the heavy lifiting, but having more squads at my disposal opens up a whole range of tactical options, like changing my force composition to deal with heavy targets and upgrading my Guardsmen grunts to carry flamethrowers on the fly.
Retribution is all about options, and the rewards screen has them in spades. First I'm given the choice of hero Wargear, unlocking a new squad type (Catachan Devils, who look like sci-fi Vietnam fighters) or an upgrade for my lowly IG squads. I choose the Devils- I'll be able to build them in the field next mission. I equip Merrick with a weapon that turns him into a heavy squad with amazing range. It proves handy in the next mission, where I'm up against corrupted IG troops-they love their armor. I face a lot of bipedal Sentinel walkers and the amazingly powerful Baneblade tank.

After that mission I wasn't really digging Commissar Bernn-I'm too much of a softy to execute my own guys as a team-building technique. But Retribution is built to allow to me to make this exact decision, so I benched Bernnie for the next two missions (which included a raid against an Ork convoy) in favor of bringing an extra heavy weapon squad, buffs to my heavy hitting Ogryn soldiers and increased population cap. The max army size doesn't rival SC2 for sheer headcount, but it will still fill a screen or two with action.
I also tried my hand at IG in multiplayer-there's a lot to take in, but my early impression is that the IG is imposingly powerful in the beginning thanks to their early armor support. Once enemy tech advances to counter that advantage, they can use long-range bombardment of Manticore tanks to support their front-line troops.
I love what I'm seeing here, as it proves that Retribution isn't simply another helping of content onto the DoW2 pile- it's its own game with a unique style of play. Relic says there's more new stuff coming to the awesome Last Stand co-op survival mode, as well, so there's plenty of war to look forward to.

Found this today on the DoW2 forums

Today, 07:57 AM Just read an article that confirms the Imperial Guard as the new race in retribution.
Some facts:

-imps are defensive once again (heroes can build several types of turrets and cover)
-weak infantry, strong vehicle (baneblade returns yay; basilisk, too which will be strongest arty again; leman russ as tier 3)
-first race to build vehicles in tier 1
-units include stormtrooper, HWTs (now suppress; equivalent to devestators) and catachan devils
-globals include orbital bombardements and unit reinforcements

heroes are:
-Inquisitor (offensive ranged; female witch hunter who can ignite single targets and has flame aoe)
-Lord General (healer; can... well, heal, call all sorts of reinforcements and has a mustache now Oo)
-Lord Commissar (melee supporter; can cloak and has melee specials, much like lictor alpha; regular commissars are also in)

Facts about the campaign:
-story is that ten years after chaos rising the Imperium orders an exterminatus on Aurelius and you have to stop it because there is a terrible secret hidden in the sector
-campaign story is very similar for every race but some details are changed every mission for each race (they wanted to make an own story for each race but ran out of time)
-different enemies each time you replay the campaign (generic; doesn't affect story i guess)
-imp campaign heroes are Castor, Adrastia and Merrick
-playing the campaign is now much more similar to multiplayer: you have a base, you tech for new units and you have to capture requisition points. (right now a regular guards squad is 280 req and 8 pop and they repair stuff)
you can choose if you spend earned xp on the known upgrades (willpower, strebgth) of your heroes or level your other units which increases their general combat performance














If you add Retribution to your wishlist on steam and then look at your wishlist you will see this picture :










I believe its pretty safe to say the new race/faction in Retribution will be the Inquisition as this picture pretty much confirms it.


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## GrizBe

The biggest non-reveal of the year goes to... this! lol. 

It is news, but I pretty much think everyone already worked out that it would have the =I= in it.


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## Lord of the Night

Nope this is very new!, the ][ symbol was a spoiler but it was not a complete and total confirmation.

Awesome, the Inquisition at last. The Grey Knights have arrived to spread His word.


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## Chompy Bits

Lord of the Night said:


> Awesome, the Inquisition at last. The Grey Knights have arrived to spread His word.



Actually, that looks more like the Ordo Hereticus. Which makes sense, seeing as a bunch of the Blood Ravens are, well, heretics. Also, from a gaming point of view, it wouldn't make sense to add even more marines to the game.


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## MadCowCrazy

I think its a Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor as well.

After seeing this pic and drawing my own insane conclusions I can see the 3 heroes for multiplayer being Hereticus Inquisitor, Canoness and either a GK or a Ecclesiarchy priest.

Since we are dealing with a heresy its most likely we will see Hereticus and Sisters of Battle atleast.

As for the possible units I would guess IST as the starting unit, Battle Sisters, Seraphim, Retributors.
T2 would be Penitent Engine, Repressor/Immolator and possibly Dominion squads, Ecclesiarchy priest as the solo dude
T3 would be Exorcists, Sister Repentia and Living Saint

Then again this would pretty much be a SoB army. So just to be safe we could throw in Arco-Flagellants and Gun Servitors with plasma canons since sisters can't field those.

I dont really see what else there would be to field going by what the other armies have.


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## GrizBe

Thing is though, there is chaos and demons, so GK's make sense too... but yeah... Defiantely a Witch Hunter =I=.


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## bitsandkits

its still gonna be a load of old shite though


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## Lord of the Night

It may be an Inquisition task-force, combining both Sisters of Battle and the Grey Knights into one mega-faction. Sisters of Battle are ok, and if this game makes them look and sound cool then i'd be fine with it, but Grey Knights would be the best addition they could make.

Plus who doesn't want the Grey Knights to be added?, nobody thats who.


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## Stephen_Newman

Also a mini part of me wishes that an option for Deathwatch kill teams are available.

Anyone know what the new unit is for Chaos yet?


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## Lord of the Night

No that will be confirmed next Thursday. Im hoping for Chaos Terminators or a Daemon Prince.


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## Chompy Bits

Lord of the Night said:


> No that will be confirmed next Thursday. Im hoping for Chaos Terminators or a Daemon Prince.


I think there's a much bigger chance of it being terminators as opposed to a daemon prince. Daemon prince seems like an uber/god type unit and they already have the ridiculously overpowered Great Unclean One. Though maybe they'll add some noise marines or daemonettes. Slaanesh hasn't gotten any representation yet. 

I'm actually curious to see what the orks get as a new unit, seeing as they're getting their own campaign.


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## MadCowCrazy

Chompy Bits said:


> I'm actually curious to see what the orks get as a new unit, seeing as they're getting their own campaign.


Orks got the Battlewagon
http://community.dawnofwar2.com/blog-post/multiplayer-unit-profile-ork-battlewagon


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## cragnes417

Lord of the Night said:


> It may be an Inquisition task-force, combining both Sisters of Battle and the Grey Knights into one mega-faction. Sisters of Battle are ok, and if this game makes them look and sound cool then i'd be fine with it, but Grey Knights would be the best addition they could make.
> 
> Plus who doesn't want the Grey Knights to be added?, nobody thats who.


 If they do add the GK I would think they be exclusive some how in away like more depends on which leader you use with your inquisiton force type ideal to balance the game


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## Necrosis

All the Imperial Guard players on the Dawn of War 2 forums are probably crying now. So what do you think the HQ will be? Inquisitor (spell caster), Canoness (Fighter) and Sister Hospitaller (support)?


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## Jezlad

I guess its time I picked up a copy of this game. I havent played any since DOW 1 years back.


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## turel2

Its good news to have Inquisition.

That Ork battle wagon looks great:good:


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## Azezel

There's nothing in that picture to indicate a specific Ordo - but isn't Xenos most likely? Deathwatch hasn't had any representation in the DoW games and we know it's not Hereticus because Relic swore never to use the Sororitas again.


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## MadCowCrazy

Jezlad said:


> I guess its time I picked up a copy of this game. I havent played any since DOW 1 years back.


You can probably get both from a bargain bin some place for cheap.

I dont think the game is as good as DoW1 but thats because I like base building, I also hate the concept of fleeing all the time. You take 1 loss and its time to flee before you lose any more, life is dirt cheap in the world of 40k so you having 2000 ppl die in a single game should be common but instead you are lucky to see the death numbers even reach 100 in most games.

Another thing I hate is that the game is on both steam AND windows live shit, if any of those 2 "services" go down so does your game.

Im really happy about them getting rid of windows live shit for retribution, steam is ok on its own but together with windows live its a horrible combination.

As for the heroes I could see a Canoness/Inquisitor be the fighter or support and maybe a priest for defence handing out buffs and morale to nearby units.

Then again there might not be any SoB at all in the expansion and it could be imperial guard and the Inquisition arriving to mop up. I guess we will find out in the weeks to come.


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## MadCowCrazy

Azezel said:


> and we know it's not Hereticus because Relic swore never to use the Sororitas again.


When did they say this? and that statement makes no sense at all since there are only 2 armies missing from the DoW1 series and those are Tyranids and Chaos Daemons.

Didn't they also say that they didn't add tyranids because they were too hard to balance yet they were amongst the first in DoW2?


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## turel2

You can get Dawn of War 2 Gold edition from amazon for about £13.


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## GrizBe

Azezel said:


> we know it's not Hereticus because Relic swore never to use the Sororitas again.


Umm... considering Relic had nothing to do with 'Soul Storm' as it was made by Iron Forge, which has since gone bust, and not Relic.... thats a false statement.


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## Azezel

MadCowCrazy said:


> When did they say this? and that statement makes no sense at all since there are only 2 armies missing from the DoW1 series and those are Tyranids and Chaos Daemons.
> 
> Didn't they also say that they didn't add tyranids because they were too hard to balance yet they were amongst the first in DoW2?


I admit that a brief google search failed to find the statement I had in mind but a Relic spokesman said that they were unlikely to feature the Sisters of Battle again.

The impression I got was that people hated soulstorm, so Relic has decided to steer clear of the Sisterhood, and probably DE as well, from now on.

From a business point of view, I cannot blame them - actual tabletop players are a tiny fraction of the DoW market, and no-one outside the tabletop subgroup could give a damn about Sisters.

It's much easier to reskin some marines into Deathwatch and call it good.


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## Barnster

Trouble with marines in DoW is theres already 2 marine factions, other than (veteran) marines what deathwatch offer?

At least if they went hereticus they would be unique, if a bit predictable


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## Khorothis

Lets hope they don't add any more power armour to DoW2 because so far thats one of the biggest and most welcome differences between the PC and the tabletop game. Though if its just a unit of Grey Knights for a combined Inquisition task force then I can live with that.

Sisters are tricky, in that you can go the easy way (see Soulstorm) or the hard way and make them badass (see Daemonifuge). Or the middle road where you make them the tsundere characters they appear to be every now and then: fanatical and zealous on the outside but utterly human on the inside, which leads to a rich, realistic character one can relate to. 

Same goes for the Dark Eldar. Easy mode: BDSM coven of space elves with lotsa spikes. Normal mode: cunning and twisted pirates and raiders. Hard mode: an army of Vect-style "just as planned" Dark Elves who consider the world their playground and they don't give a flying fuck about anyone - though if said person is screaming their lungs out then all the better.

AND in both cases you have to make them LOOK good, SOUND good, and generally FEEL good, so the players won't have that odd feeling of something being out of place. No wonder these two factions are avoided, their essence is by far not as easy to grasp as those already in DoW2. However, if Relic adds the Sisters and does a good job (thats a 7 out of 10) then... I've no idea, I think my head will explode or something.


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## Doelago

Now I have a reason to get this game...


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## bitsandkits

Jezlad said:


> I guess its time I picked up a copy of this game. I havent played any since DOW 1 years back.


well if you enjoyed DOW1 prepare to be disappointed


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## Stephen_Newman

I remember they did not do Tyranids not because they were unbalanced, there are plenty of downloads that disprove this but because the graphics engine could not do justice to the then recent models. Also why the Eldar were never reskinned despite being updated since during the DoW1 series.

Anyway so far the best DoW game has to be DC. It was just so well written even if unbalanced in some aspects like having marine tac squads with 5 heavy bolters vs guard or orks was just pure murder.


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## Kettu

GrizBe said:


> Umm... considering Relic had nothing to do with 'Soul Storm' as it was made by Iron Forge, which has since gone bust, and not Relic.... thats a false statement.


Lore, not Forge.

Just to add to this, they produced it under Relic's eye and Iron Lore were unable to finish the game itself (The whole going bust thing) it was handed over in entirety to Relic.
At this stage, Relic themselves were deep into development of DOWII and didn't wish to delay it by halving resources and so they took the Alpha stage game as it was, polished it up slightly and got the most outstanding problems fixed with it.
Then they released it.

Yes, whilst Iron Lore did develop it, any and all problems still rest solely at Relics feet.

Relic themselves, based on comments they have allegedly said in the past seem to fail to understand that most complaints are not about the content but lack there of and the bugs.
To them however, it failed because they included two relatively unknown/unplayed armies.


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## Chompy Bits

Azezel said:


> The impression I got was that people hated soulstorm, so Relic has decided to steer clear of the Sisterhood, and probably DE as well, from now on.


People didn't hate Soulstrom because of the races (well, at least I didn't). It sucked because it was coded badly, had lots of bugs and terrible voice acting. I remember that there were a few maps that your flying vehicles could get stuck on certain parts of the map. Then, unless you were playing SM and was willing to blow up your own shit with orbital bombardment, there was pretty much no way to get those units back.



Stephen_Newman said:


> Anyway so far the best DoW game has to be DC. It was just so well written even if unbalanced in some aspects like having marine tac squads with 5 heavy bolters vs guard or orks was just pure murder.


How about the librarian's Smite ability toasting whole squads at a time and then only taking like 30s to recharge.


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## Necrosis

Ya, well for an Inquisition we could see storm troopers, arco-flagellants, assassin, Chimeras, Penitent Engines and priests on top of any other units they would add in like sisters.


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## MadCowCrazy

Azezel said:


> There's nothing in that picture to indicate a specific Ordo - but isn't Xenos most likely? Deathwatch hasn't had any representation in the DoW games and we know it's not Hereticus because Relic swore never to use the Sororitas again.


Picture on Steam :









Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor :









Ordo Malleus Inquisitor :










I dont know what a Ordo Xenos Inquisitor looks like but from what Ive read they should look similar to Ordo Malleus as they wear power armour. If you look through the WH codex you will see many Inquisitors (all male though) that wear pretty much the same clothes as the picture from steam. If you have ever played Warhammer Online you should notice that the Witch Hunter class also looks pretty much identical to the picture on steam.

So if you take into account that (as far as I know) no Malleus or Xenos Inquisitor has ever been drawn or pictured in the above attire, whilst nearly all male Inquisitors have been dressed in those symbolic clothes. Im sure you can find tons of pictures here and there showing WH Inquisitors wearing other clothes but can you find Malleus or Xeno Inquisitors wearing the above attire?

All in all I think its pretty obvious it would be a Hereticus Inquisitor and that also makes the most sense both from a story point of view as well as an art point of view. If you have read the official stuff on Retribution you should know that the Blood Angels you played in Chaos Rising have been branded heretical traitors (except for Cyrus and the Techmarine) and the Blood Angels part of the campaign is focused about finding out the truth (Cyrus and the Techie are trying to convince the others of what really happened in Chaos Rising).

This brings us to the Inquisition, a group of members from the Blood Angels chapter have been branded traitors and heretics, the Tyranids got pretty much defeated in the first game with only remnants remaining, depending on how you played you "defeated" chaos in Chaos Rising.
There has been no mentions of a Chaos Daemons incursion so I dont see a point in Ordo Malleus showing up just yet, with the Tyranid threat "gone" there is no real reason for Ordo Xenos to show up either unless the new Orks bring about a whole sector wide WAAAAAGH!!
Im not even sure how often Ordo Xenos gets called in to deal with Orks or any other Xenos except Genestealer cults and the like.

This leaves us with Ordo Hereticus who specialize in dealing with Heretics, Witches and Mutants. Who they bring with them to help is a good question though, would they requisition the Imperial Guard who are stationed in the Aurelia sector? or could those be regarded as tainted/corrupted since they were saved by the Blood Angels from the Tyranids?
I think the only sound solution would be to bring their own purification fleet with them to ensure all taint can be controlled and purged as needed.

As for Multiplayer we should be able to guess the units fairly easily. The types does not have to follow the below at all since some are listed as Stealth, Healer, Ambush etc.

Heroes
Offence : Could be either the Inquisitor or a Canoness
Defence : 
Support : Could be a Sister Hospitaller but with the SM medic already in the game I see no point.

T1
Starting unit : Battle Sisters
Ranged : Celestians or Dominion squad
Jump : Seraphim
Suppression : Retributors

T2
Solo : Priest maybe?
Heavy weapons : Dominion squad or Retributors
Transport : Immolator or Repressor
Walker : Penitent Engine

T3
Tank : Exorcist or Immolator
Special Infantry : Sister Repentia, Arco-Flagellants
Unique : Living Saint


All of this is just guesswork and biased since Id like to see Sisters in the expansion but to me it makes sense (then again Im crazy so my view on reality might not be the same as yours).


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## rasolyo

Tall hats are used for hunting witches. :wink:

Also, that dude is a classy dresser.


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## MadCowCrazy

Lol, she looks pretty neutral for someone who's about to be burned at the stake...


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## GrizBe

Except in real life theres never been one recorded witch burning... that was just an urban legend made up by hollyweird.


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## cragnes417

I think the orders of xeno's are based on the men in black :laugh:
But anyway i think if you look at solomon lok's closely his left shoulder pad is distinict in away to be similer as the deathwatch you know like there left arm is silver and stuff maybe thats the way you could tell there part of the ordo of xeno's 
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Daemonhunters_/INQUISITOR-SOLOMON-LOK.html


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## Stephen_Newman

Yeah witches were not burned. They were killed most often because they were bound by hands and feet and then tossed into a lake. If they lived they were witches and then killed if not they were innocent but dead anyway.

Harsh luck.


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## Lord_Anonymous

GK would be nifty but i am so hoping for Deathwatch coz Cyrus served in Deathwatch and it would create some interesting story opportunities


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## Necrosis

GrizBe said:


> Except in real life theres never been one recorded witch burning... that was just an urban legend made up by hollyweird.


What about Joan of Arc?


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## MadCowCrazy

Wasnt she branded a heretic and not a witch?
She claimed she heard god speak to her or something?


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## Necrosis

MadCowCrazy said:


> Wasnt she branded a heretic and not a witch?
> She claimed she heard god speak to her or something?


Ah yes. That is correct. As a heretics and not a witch. It's funny that she was trailed as a Heretic and is now a saint.


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## Mathai

While I doubt they would be so nice to us, I would sure like it if they made it a general Inquisiton task force. I wouldnt mind the small logic gap if there was aspects of all three factions in one army. Maybe put Storm Troopers at tier one, Sororitas at tier two, and Grey Knights at tier three? 

Or maybe they will try something diverse like in that old Command and Conquer: Generals game and make different force layouts for each Commander you choose? That would allow for a few new units per army, as well as offering more diversity in matches. (I would LOVE to not always know how the Space Marine guy is going to play his army in DOW2  )


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## bitsandkits

MadCowCrazy said:


> Wasnt she branded a heretic and not a witch?
> She claimed she heard god speak to her or something?


I thought they burned her for being french


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## Necrosis

bitsandkits said:


> I thought they burned her for being french


They probably wanted to but they weren't allowed, thus they decided to trail her as heretic and burned her. Then the pope came in after the war ended and trailed the bishop who had trailed Joan of arc for also being a heretic and for abusing his power but now we are getting off topic.


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## bitsandkits

Necrosis said:


> They probably wanted to but they weren't allowed, thus they decided to trail her as heretic and burned her. Then the pope came in after the war ended and trailed the bishop who had trailed Joan of arc for also being a heretic and for abusing his power but now we are getting off topic.


its off topic, but its far more interesting that Dawn of harsh words 2, i think the pope should dispatch the inquisition to Relic studious and carry out some burnings for crimes against RTS games.

Shogun total war 2 , now that people will be a RTS game worth getting!


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## Khorothis

bitsandkits said:


> Shogun total war 2 , now that people will be a RTS game worth getting!


I didn't know about it 'till I came here. I'm speechless, man, I'm speechless. I guess a "thanks a bunch" is all I can think of right now. :shok:

Also, history and perceived history will forever be two completely different things. You might as well consider it fanfiction for the human race.


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## GrizBe

Necrosis said:


> They probably wanted to but they weren't allowed, thus they decided to trail her as heretic and burned her. Then the pope came in after the war ended and trailed the bishop who had trailed Joan of arc for also being a heretic and for abusing his power but now we are getting off topic.


That and if I remember rightly, it was a French Pope who Sainted her, so tis hardly surprising.


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## Tyrannus

My friend and I were speculating about the chaos campaign (If they do one that is).

I thought it would be interesting if the 4 heroes all serve different Gods. It would be sort of funny watching the 4 interact; like a sort of band of disgruntled maniacs having to work together because of Abaddon :laugh:.

Like I said this is how I'd like the Chaos campaign (If they did one) to be like. It would have to mean the new chaos unit has to be Slaanesh based. Maybe noise marines.


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## hungryugolino

The C-team. Branded blasphemers for crimes they did not commit...


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## MadCowCrazy

In M32 a crack team of storm trooper veterans were sent to purification by a Witch Hunter court for heresy against the emperor they did not commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security purgatory to the hive city underground. Today still wanted by the Inquisition they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem and no one else can help and if you can find them maybe you can hire the C-Team!


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## MadCowCrazy

Seems we will be getting some Slaneeshi stuff in Retribution


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## Tyrannus

MadCowCrazy said:


> Seems we will be getting some Slaneeshi stuff in Retribution


Yes! I was right! :biggrin:

Well, about the noise marines I mean.


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## cragnes417

eliphas is the new chaos lord ? huh didn't know that


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## lordjerry777

well if i remember correctly the gray knights could be played with the blood ravens in the orignal you could take either 1 or 2 squads of power armor gray knights.


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## korbaton

*Retribution: Imperial Guard announced in GameStar magazine*

I've been waiting for this sort of image to post something, so here you all go. Imperial Guard appear to be confirmed as a new race for Dawn of War II: Retribution.

Courtesy of the German magazine GameStar, and the folks at GameReplays.org, for this information. The good stuff's on Page 5, about halfway down.

http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=720159

Also this.








Ain't it pretty?


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## aboytervigon

I wanted a Leman Russ squadron!


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## Lord of the Night

Bah more Imperials for me to kill online, my Chaos Space Marines are ready :grin:.


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## Daniel Harper

Yeah, there's a 'leaked' video. Here it is.






If this is against forums rules I'm sorry.


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## IanC

Oh my word... that trailer is hilarious. Hearing some german guy say "Imperial Guard" made me giggle for some reason.


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## cubebus

waiting to see how this will work out, since IG is a lott about numbers, and firepower...
enybody know when the realese date is??


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## Hellados

march 2011 http://www.dawnofwar2.com/uk/home


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## Mathai

I....dont get why they insist on giving the IG a Baneblade. It feels silly to dumb down an apocalypse level super power to the same level as stuff like a measly Avatar or Some Carnifexes.

Or did I miss something and every army gets something that should, if true to itself, demolish most of everything in game?


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## korbaton

Mathai said:


> I....dont get why they insist on giving the IG a Baneblade. It feels silly to dumb down an apocalypse level super power to the same level as stuff like a measly Avatar or Some Carnifexes.
> 
> Or did I miss something and every army gets something that should, if true to itself, demolish most of everything in game?


Well, the Orks are getting a Battlewagon, and the normal Space Marines are getting a Land Raider. I would expect the Eldar to be getting something similar, the Chaos Space Marines to be getting a Chaos Land Raider, and maybe the Tyranids will get a Trygon or something, because a Hierophant's just too damn big.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, Noise Marines are one of the new units for Chaos Marines, maybe Relic will really press the envelope and give them a Keeper of Secrets or something. And the Hierodule's not too big for 'nids, either. Thinking about it still hasn't given me anything for Eldar, but from what I've heard their new hero's a one-elf-army.


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## Daniel Harper

As far as I know, the land raider/battlewagon/baneblade will be the answer to the Great Unclean One for CSM and the Avatar for Elder. And Swarm Lord for Tyranids. At least this is the conclusion I've come to, can't remember where I read it.


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## Horacus

Chaos land raider will be a nice addition, specially since in DoW 1 we did not got one.


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## MadCowCrazy

Found this today on the DoW2 forums

Today, 07:57 AM Just read an article that confirms the Imperial Guard as the new race in retribution.
Some facts:

-imps are defensive once again (heroes can build several types of turrets and cover)
-weak infantry, strong vehicle (baneblade returns yay; basilisk, too which will be strongest arty again; leman russ as tier 3)
-first race to build vehicles in tier 1
-units include stormtrooper, HWTs (now suppress; equivalent to devestators) and catachan devils
-globals include orbital bombardements and unit reinforcements

heroes are:
-Inquisitor (offensive ranged; female witch hunter who can ignite single targets and has flame aoe)
-Lord General (healer; can... well, heal, call all sorts of reinforcements and has a mustache now Oo)
-Lord Commissar (melee supporter; can cloak and has melee specials, much like lictor alpha; regular commissars are also in)

Facts about the campaign:
-story is that ten years after chaos rising the Imperium orders an exterminatus on Aurelius and you have to stop it because there is a terrible secret hidden in the sector
-campaign story is very similar for every race but some details are changed every mission for each race (they wanted to make an own story for each race but ran out of time)
-different enemies each time you replay the campaign (generic; doesn't affect story i guess)
-imp campaign heroes are Castor, Adrastia and Merrick
-playing the campaign is now much more similar to multiplayer: you have a base, you tech for new units and you have to capture requisition points. (right now a regular guards squad is 280 req and 8 pop and they repair stuff)
you can choose if you spend earned xp on the known upgrades (willpower, strebgth) of your heroes or level your other units which increases their general combat performance


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## MidnightSun

MadCowCrazy said:


> (baneblade returns yay; basilisk, too which will be strongest arty again; leman russ as tier 3)


Ah, shit. Why the hell is a Baneblade in a small, 500pt skirmish-equivalent? I could just about stand it in DoW1, but I don't know what the fuck's going through the Relic game designer's heads ATM.

The campaign story has had more holes than a colander since Chaos Rising. DoW2 I could understand, Soulstorm and DC had terrible plots. Is it really so difficult to do plots?

Midnight

EDIT: Oh look, they've decided to put a fucking Land Raider in there too.


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## MadCowCrazy

PC Gamer Article

Ogryns and Manticores? Hmm...

Each of the six can play through specially-tailored variations on the same 16 missions. I start my campaign as the new kids on the block: the Imperial Guard. Though they're billed as the common man's army, as opposed to the genetically engineered super-soldiers of the Space marines or the naturally tough Orks, in the field the IG packs a punch equivalent to anything the superhuman armies can muster.
My commander hero, Lord General Castor, is a superbly mustached, pompous hunter who reminds me of John Cleese. He specializes at ranged support and sniping, but always travels with an upgradeable entourage of bodygaurds that can be geared toward melee combat.
With him are Inquisitor Adrastia, a capable melee fighter and offensive spell-caster who's been sent to investigate the cause behind the Exterminatus, and gruff soldier Sergeant Merrick. Merrick plays a lot like Tarkus, with his grenades and bolters, but can also be equipped with heavy weapons and use stealth.

Midway through the first mission I make a defensive stand against waves of assaulting Tyranids, and that's where my extra troops got a chance to prove their worth. For those who missed our last big Retribution story, the big change is that this single-player campaign plays a lot like DoW2's multiplayer game. It's still got powerful, upgradable heroes that never really die, but you can also purchase squads of common soldiers as backup via captured points on the map. My heroes do the heavy lifiting, but having more squads at my disposal opens up a whole range of tactical options, like changing my force composition to deal with heavy targets and upgrading my Guardsmen grunts to carry flamethrowers on the fly.
Retribution is all about options, and the rewards screen has them in spades. First I'm given the choice of hero Wargear, unlocking a new squad type (Catachan Devils, who look like sci-fi Vietnam fighters) or an upgrade for my lowly IG squads. I choose the Devils- I'll be able to build them in the field next mission. I equip Merrick with a weapon that turns him into a heavy squad with amazing range. It proves handy in the next mission, where I'm up against corrupted IG troops-they love their armor. I face a lot of bipedal Sentinel walkers and the amazingly powerful Baneblade tank.

After that mission I wasn't really digging Commissar Bernn-I'm too much of a softy to execute my own guys as a team-building technique. But Retribution is built to allow to me to make this exact decision, so I benched Bernnie for the next two missions (which included a raid against an Ork convoy) in favor of bringing an extra heavy weapon squad, buffs to my heavy hitting Ogryn soldiers and increased population cap. The max army size doesn't rival SC2 for sheer headcount, but it will still fill a screen or two with action.
I also tried my hand at IG in multiplayer-there's a lot to take in, but my early impression is that the IG is imposingly powerful in the beginning thanks to their early armor support. Once enemy tech advances to counter that advantage, they can use long-range bombardment of Manticore tanks to support their front-line troops.
 I love what I'm seeing here, as it proves that Retribution isn't simply another helping of content onto the DoW2 pile- it's its own game with a unique style of play. Relic says there's more new stuff coming to the awesome Last Stand co-op survival mode, as well, so there's plenty of war to look forward to.


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## MetalHandkerchief

Still no Tau eh. I commence my not buying this game.


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## MadCowCrazy

MetalHandkerchief said:


> Still no Tau eh. I commence my not buying this game.


Still no Sisters of Battle eh. I commence my not providing a cure for cancer 


As far as I can tell this might be the last or second last expansion for DoW2 since DoW3 is scheduled for release in 2 years IIRC.


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## Mathai

Oh goody. Two more years and I can forget all about DOW2! But I just know they will do something like make DOW3 an RTS where you use only a squad or something, after the nerfing they did on armies between the first two games. x.x


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## MadCowCrazy

Dont forget they will launch with only 3-4 armies, SM, Orks, Eldar and something else. Then add one race once a year in an expansion for 2-3 years before DoW4 comes out where they restart with SM, Orks, Eldar and something else.

The something else will be your only chance to see your "unpopular" army as a playable race.


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## MetalHandkerchief

There is nothing unpopular about Tau. The Tau haters are just very vocal about their hatred of them. To back it up, since there are no numbers available on worldwide army sales, I asked my local stockist, and these are his sales per army in % for 2010:

1. Spess Muhreens (20%, includes all chapters)
2. Chaos Spess Muhreens and Demons (15%)
3. Imperial Guard (15%)
4. Tau (14,5%)
5. Eldar (14%)
6. Dark Eldar (10,5%) (Only the beginning of the upswing following recent release)
7. Tyranids (6%)
8. Necrons (3%)
9. Orks (2%)
10. Everything else (0%) that's right not ONE person bought ANY DH or WH in all 2010.


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## Necrosis

MetalHandkerchief said:


> There is nothing unpopular about Tau. The Tau haters are just very vocal about their hatred of them. To back it up, since there are no numbers available on worldwide army sales, I asked my local stockist, and these are his sales per army in % for 2010:
> 
> 1. Spess Muhreens (20%, includes all chapters)
> 2. Chaos Spess Muhreens and Demons (15%)
> 3. Imperial Guard (15%)
> 4. Tau (14,5%)
> 5. Eldar (14%)
> 6. Dark Eldar (10,5%) (Only the beginning of the upswing following recent release)
> 7. Tyranids (6%)
> 8. Necrons (3%)
> 9. Orks (2%)
> 10. Everything else (0%) that's right not ONE person bought ANY DH or WH in all 2010.


Congratulations, this is one location. Back at my old GW, sisters were more popular then the Imperial Guard.


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## MetalHandkerchief

Necrosis said:


> Congratulations, this is one location. Back at my old GW, sisters were more popular then the Imperial Guard.


That is true, and I only wanted to illustrate. I used to have the %ages of tournament armies brought to all tourneys in the UK in 2009, but can't find the site anymore. The Tau were 4th or 5th on that list anyway.

Regardless, I think anyone who plays at clubs won't say Tau are an 'unpopular' army.


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## MadCowCrazy

MadCowCrazy said:


> The something else will be your only chance to see your "unpopular" army as a playable race.


I did not mean Tau specifically, I meant every race that is not SM, Orks or Eldar.

After reading the interview with Task3r over at gamesreplay I got the impression they think its difficult to balance the 5 armies currently in the game, good luck adding the missing ones.

Another problem is time, they simply will not ever have enough time to add all the armies in 40k. They could do like they did with DoW1 and add 3 new races with every expansion but looking at the way they currently do things I dont see it happening.

So the future of Dawn of War seems pretty stale imo, a new game every few years restarting the cycle of SM, Orks, Eldar and something else.


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## MetalHandkerchief

I would play anything but SM, Orks or Chaos. And _just_ Eldar isn't enough for the price tag of 50£ (where I live)

SM, Orks and Chaos are the only armies I truly hate. Ok, Orks have at least some whimsical to them, but that gets old FAST.

And the campaign styles from DoW: Dark Crusade and DoW: Soulstorm were heaps more replayable and interesting than what I've seen from DoW II or the original DoW.

But meh. It's not like we should expect great WH40K games. Having DoW: DC and DoW: SS is in itself a blessing, and I still break em out every few months and never uninstall them.

I'm just so - sick - of - smurfs - toothygreens - and - wannabe - death - metal - guitarist - chaossmurfs


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## Necrosis

MetalHandkerchief said:


> I would play anything but SM, Orks or Chaos. And _just_ Eldar isn't enough for the price tag of 50£ (where I live)
> 
> SM, Orks and Chaos are the only armies I truly hate. Ok, Orks have at least some whimsical to them, but that gets old FAST.
> 
> And the campaign styles from DoW: Dark Crusade and DoW: Soulstorm were heaps more replayable and interesting than what I've seen from DoW II or the original DoW.
> 
> But meh. It's not like we should expect great WH40K games. Having DoW: DC and DoW: SS is in itself a blessing, and I still break em out every few months and never uninstall them.
> 
> I'm just so - sick - of - smurfs - toothygreens - and - wannabe - death - metal - guitarist - chaossmurfs


Welcome to the club.


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## TheAllFather

I am really looking forward to the Dawn of War game which will introduce the Chaos Daemons as a playable race, not just a side unit. A full playable army complete with buildings and varieties of units.


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## yanlou

TheAllFather said:


> I am really looking forward to the Dawn of War game which will introduce the Chaos Daemons as a playable race, not just a side unit. A full playable army complete with buildings and varieties of units.


Chaos daemons arent a playable race, there still apart of the Chaos Space Marines faction


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