Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Status
Not open for further replies.

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
(I have not been able to find another thread on this.)

So, I recently finished playing the first part.
It was nice I suppose. But there was a total lack of variation in level design which made it not only long, but often tedious.
And there was a winning combination for every level:
All squads of space marines except for one assault squad, 4 Hellfire Dreadnoughts, and 4 Predators. All fully upgraded--you pwn.
I'd probably give it 5-6 on a scale of 10. Maybe a 7, I did not see that twist at the end coming.

Now Winter Assault, I'm only 4/5 levels in, but I find it much more impressive.
Multiple paths of play, the campaign is much more diverse, even at this stage. And the mechanics added to the game make it a lot more fun. I've even had some difficulty with levels in this one. Holding off the Ork assault was a real $%&#$ since all my Sentinels got destroyed and I didn't have enough rec to produce enough to take down those $%^& tanks. So they were just pounding the crap out of my infantry.
It was a close call even after the Baneblade showed up.

All the levels are long though. Not too sure how to feel about that at times.

More later on.
 

efkelley

ow
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
1,493
Reaction score
86
Location
Atlanta, GA
I've not noticed if Orks generate req slower.

Gotta say I love my Necrons. They're practically cheating.

DOW2 is a great game. I've been waiting for a STEAM special to pick up the expansion.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
Have not gotten to DOW 2 yet, waiting until they're finished with all the expansions/patches and for them to bundle it. Like they did with DOW 1.
 

Sophia

Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,539
Reaction score
1,751
Location
U.K.
I really enjoyed DoW I. At first, it was all about learning the best way to use the different troops, but the storyline kicked in quickly, and I was drawn in to that. I played it on the Normal difficulty setting, and I'm expecting to play differently on the higher ones. My only quibble with the game was the abrupt ending; the 'go on to next mission' option lead to the credits, which was a bit disappointing.

I like the Skirmish option, and intend to play a lot as the different races, as well as play some multiplayer games online with friends. I did notice that giving my custom Space Marines pink armour and lilac guns caused the computer to blue-screen, although the patch fixed that. Lilac is not A Sign Of Weakness! :D

It's a fantastic game, great value for money. I'm playing Winter Assault next.
 

efkelley

ow
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
1,493
Reaction score
86
Location
Atlanta, GA
Ah, Winter Assault. How do the Guard win? They choke the enemy with their dead. ... Seriously, they start throwing bodies at the bad guys and aim for their mouths. They've got the corpses to spare.
 

SPMiller

Prodigiously Hanged
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
11,525
Reaction score
1,988
Age
41
Location
Dallas
Website
seanpatrickmiller.com
Used to be that the Kasrkin or whatever were really strong, so unless that has changed, I wouldn't quite say IG is weak man for man in DoW.

But the normal grunts, lol.
 

Sophia

Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,539
Reaction score
1,751
Location
U.K.
I like the Imperial Guard because they are normal humans. I feel like I need to look after 'em. :) In DoW I, I always used to max them out, and then leave them to rest up in cover. :D

Besides, they get Baneblades, which, besides maybe the orbital strike, are more powerful than any weapon the Space Marines could call on in DoW I.
 

efkelley

ow
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
1,493
Reaction score
86
Location
Atlanta, GA
Oh, don't get me wrong. I love the Guard! 'Gimp Guard' for me is a term of affection. Even flashlights can take down the strongest Marine, given enough of them. And Guard do have PLENTY of flashlights.

And, of course, the tanks. And artillery. LOVE the tanks and artillery.

The Guard's biggest weakness is their morale. Break that, and you win. That said, they do have some solid tools to counter that weakness. But a half dozen flamers will set their heels to work, if you know what I mean.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
Just got to DC (been playing a lot of other things).

Anyone got any hints or tips? This new design is kind of throwing me, although I love it compared to the previous games. (Do they keep this design in DOW2 in any way?)

I'm going Necro ATM. Slow and a bit long to build even at 100%, but I love how their sheer power makes even a single party of them a match for a whole army of pretty much anything else early game.

My biggest defeat so far was to the Chaos Marines. They assaulted me on that little island just to the east of their stronghold (I forget the name, some M- Swamp.
Their Black Apostle came at me with an honor guard of 7 and I didn't even have one yet, I'd been spending my point on reinforcements.
So I still had the leftovers of my previous base in this zone when I kicked the Imperial Guards out (why are the Imp Guard and Space Marines separate factions? Makes no sense.). But, as usual, the AI beat me to most of the resource nodes. That's usually not a problem for me, but in this case, my bases own chokepoint worked against me. They kept sending enough to keep my mostly bottled up in my base. That's where the AI tricked me: the majority of its attacks came from the south, some came from the north but not many. So I built up a force and wiped out the southern base, took awhile but I did it. Unfortunately, it was only the secondary base I had destroyed >.> As soon as I destroyed that HQ, a freaking RIVER of red moved down out of the northeast part of the map. Their main base had been sitting just out of sight this entire time, and holy crap did they spend the time well. Siege machines by the dozens, enough infantry to drag down even my Necron units by themselves, and, worse yet, Demon Princes and Avatars of Khorne. That's right, plural.
I immediately teleported my whole army back, but even with a maxed out population of units and vehicles I just could not defeat them. I held them for awhile but they just kept coming... Power wasn't an issue, but the slow build rate and movements of the Necrons tipped the battle against me, even with a res orb used 3 times I just could not stop those Demon Princes and Avatars fast enough. Essence of Nightbringer is practically useless compared to those two. I even dragged my Monolith out of the ground and sent it to the front lines. That helped me push their lines back halfway. But then they got their second wind and threw out a fresh DP and AoK with a full contingent of tanks and crabs. I was screwed.
 

efkelley

ow
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
1,493
Reaction score
86
Location
Atlanta, GA
Treat scarabs as throw-away troops. Set up a long queue for them to build obelisks on all the control points, then forget about them. They'll get killed often, but no worries.

Necrons live and die by power generators. And the things decay over time. I build between four and six right off the bat and then set up a rotation for decommissioning and reconstructing. I forget the timing (it has been at least two years since I played last) but you should be able to handle about sixteen of the things at once. That number may be off.

Necrons have amazing mobility. Don't worry too much about the fancy troops. Your basic warrior / slasher (forget their name) / immortal squads are plenty to deal with most threats. Troops that can't teleport can be a hindrance. When the enemy attacks, port in a billion troops and handle it.

The Monolith is a juggernaut of destruction. Use its teleport ability as often as possible to get it where you need it to be, and then unload squad after squad. It's also a building, so you know what that means.

In all truth, I loved the feel of the Necron army. I did not like how vulnerable it is to rushes though, and everyone knows that if you don't rush Necrons, you're probably going to lose.

Oh! One other point. Necrons can build their basic Monolith cheap. Find an out of the way corner and set one up. No need to even really guard it as you can always port in troops to deal with any imminent threats.
 

SPMiller

Prodigiously Hanged
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
11,525
Reaction score
1,988
Age
41
Location
Dallas
Website
seanpatrickmiller.com
Yeah, I haven't played in years, but the Necrons were ridiculously overpowered if they survived the early game, even with their somewhat buggy vehicle-theft units. I just started basic troops and the leader unit as quickly as possible. The upgrades you choose for the leader guy really matter.

In that particular situation, it sounds like you got swamped by overdeveloped, undercontrolled AI.
 
Last edited:

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
In that particular situation, it sounds like you got swamped by overdeveloped, undercontrolled AI.
Yeah.
I've always preferred turtling in strategy games, but that doesn't work well in DOW because it results in the enemy AI snatching up every resource point on the map...
 

Prozyan

Are you one, Herbert?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 9, 2007
Messages
2,325
Reaction score
657
Location
Nuevo Mexico
(why are the Imp Guard and Space Marines separate factions? Makes no sense.)

Just a side not, the Imp Guard and Space Marines have always been separate factions.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
Just a side not, the Imp Guard and Space Marines have always been separate factions.

Not really, in Winter Assault they worked together.

Regardless, it still doesn't make any sense for them to go to war with one another when they both serve the Imperium.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
The Imperium isn't exactly a monolithic entity.

Agreed.
But I don't often see it conflict with itself like this often.
I mean, in this case the motivations don't even make any sense. The Space Marines want to Purge the planet, the Imperial Guard want to reclaim it.
The Guard should just be like, "Alright, we'll sit back here and wait till you're done." And by "back here" I mean outer space.
 

SPMiller

Prodigiously Hanged
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
11,525
Reaction score
1,988
Age
41
Location
Dallas
Website
seanpatrickmiller.com
I believe the fluff for tabletop handles the conflict between SM and IG, but I couldn't tell you exactly what that is beyond the fact that various factions are often in conflict. If the goal was simply to purge the planet, however, they could just call in an Inquisitor...
 

Prozyan

Are you one, Herbert?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 9, 2007
Messages
2,325
Reaction score
657
Location
Nuevo Mexico
Agreed.
But I don't often see it conflict with itself like this often.

Within the context of Dark Crusade, the Space Marines and the Imperial Guard have conflicting orders. The Blood Ravens have been ordered to purge the planet (with some ulterior motivations) and the Imperial Guard have been ordered to reclaim and defend it in the name of the Emperor.

Since Space Marines hold no authority over the IG, or vice-versa, and it would be death for either side not to fully obey orders, they come into conflict. In the literature of Games Workshop, this isn't a terribly rare occurrence.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
Within the context of Dark Crusade, the Space Marines and the Imperial Guard have conflicting orders. The Blood Ravens have been ordered to purge the planet (with some ulterior motivations) and the Imperial Guard have been ordered to reclaim and defend it in the name of the Emperor.

Since Space Marines hold no authority over the IG, or vice-versa, and it would be death for either side not to fully obey orders, they come into conflict. In the literature of Games Workshop, this isn't a terribly rare occurrence.

I haven't delved too much into 40K lore, so I'll take your word on that.
I originally thought the conflict was because the Governor wanting to retake the planet on his own--but I just destroyed Victory bay and was reminded that the current Governor is more like the acting Governor and is actually a General--and the Space Marines just being zealous as usual. If they have orders, that makes more sense, especially in a non-centralized government.
I'm waiting for the BL's digital collection to grow a bit larger before I begin buying.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
It would be centralized if the Emperor were ... uh ... not in his chair.

But the Emperor can't do anything beyond help map out star travel, AFAIK. How does his existence not make a central government possible?
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
Ah, Winter Assault. How do the Guard win? They choke the enemy with their dead. ... Seriously, they start throwing bodies at the bad guys and aim for their mouths. They've got the corpses to spare.

Reminds me of the level in Winter Assault as the Guard where you need to defend a base against the Orcs for a time.
O.M.G. there were soooooo many bodies...taking the two factions in the game with the highest body counts and throwing them at one another for 30 min...if corpses in DOW had volume and collision detection to them, I coulda built a freaking wall out of them. No joking.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.