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Dawn of War - Dawn of War: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Relic Entertainment based on Games Workshop's popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000. It was released for the PC by THQ on September 20, 2004 in North America.It would spawn a series of sequels that would prove to be the best-selling Warhammer 40,000 video games of all time and would serve as the entry point into the Warhammer 40,000 universe for countless fans.Since the original game was made available, three expansion packs have been produced: Winter Assault in 2005, Dark Crusade in 2006 and Soulstorm in 2008.The Game of the Year Edition was released on September 20, 2005 in the USA and on September 23, 2005 in Europe, containing 4 exclusive maps. Later, the Game of the Year edition and Winter Assault were bundled in the Gold Edition in the USA.Most recently, Dawn of War and the first two expansions were released together as The Platinum Collection in the USA or as the Dawn of War Anthology in the PAL regions. The sequel title, Dawn of War II, was released in February 2009.
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Dawn of War - Gameplay: Gameplay is initially focused on base and unit construction. The player starts with a single headquarters building and a few basic units, usually just one construction unit. The subsequent focus of the game then shifts to capturing and holding strategic locations on the battlefield. These control points are captured by infantry squads and provide resources to construct additional units and buildings or unlock certain units in an army's tech tree. Battles are won either by holding a certain number of control points for a period of time or by destroying all of the opposing armies' base structures.
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Dawn of War - Resource management: Two primary resources exist: requisition and power. These resources are not harvested or otherwise gathered by the player's units. Instead, requisition is generated constantly by the army headquarters. The player can increase the rate at which requisition is acquired by using infantry squads to capture and control certain "strategic points" on the battlefield. These points can be reinforced with defensive structures that also increase the rate of requisition accumulation. Though resources are unlimited, all sources of requisition will eventually decay, dramatically decreasing their supply rate.Power is gathered by building generators, with each headquarters supporting up to six generators. Additionally, some maps have "slag deposits", upon which more powerful generators can be constructed to produce power faster. As the player progresses up the tech tree, reliance on power increases.In addition to these primary resources, the Orks also have the Ork resource, which represents the Ork species' gestalt psychic field that grows in intensity as the population of Greenskins in a given area expands. The Ork resource is generated continuously by WAAAGH! banners and is used up when creating Ork troops and vehicles. The number of banners and the size of the Ork population determines the Ork's WAAAGH! level which in turn determines the technology tier the player has access to.
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Dawn of War - Warfare: Infantry units are given orders as squads rather than as individuals. Most fully reinforced squads consist of about 10 units. The squad moves and attacks as a single entity. Squads can produce and replace their own units anywhere in the field. They can be equipped with special weapons and have heroes or special units attached to them. For example, a Space Marine squad starts with 4 marines, but can be expanded up to 8 standard marines and a sergeant, and individual marines can be equipped with heavy weapons. The player is also free to choose particular upgrades and can specialize each squad for a specific purpose.Infantry units can fight in both ranged and hand-to-hand combat, and most units will have weapons for both types of combat, and if attacked in close combat will respond in kind. Hand-to-hand combat is played out as a series of attack animations between combatants. When one combatant kills the other, a Finishing move commonly called a Synch Kill plays out as the victorious fighter finishes his opponent off. More powerful units, such as Heroes, Walkers, and monstrous Super Units, may have personalized Synch Kills against each other.Vehicles are highly resistant to standard infantry rifles, so they must be targeted with specific weaponry (e.g. rockets) to be destroyed. Vehicles can also be upgraded with multiple weapon systems, usually differentiating between anti-infantry and anti-vehicle armaments. Walkers are a variant type of vehicle that is capable of fighting in close combat.In addition to a typical hitpoint system, infantry units also have morale. Morale applies to a squad as a whole. When morale drops to zero, the squad "breaks"; at this point the squad's accuracy at a range, damage dealt in melee, and defensive capability while using cover are significantly reduced, however the squads movement speed is slightly increased. The squad's morale will regenerate on its own while the squad is not in combat. Some weapon types, such as flamethrowers, are made specifically to demoralize the enemy. Favourable terrain gives units a defensive cover bonus, while water and swamps slow units down and decrease their defensive ability.
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Dawn of War - Units: The number of units a player may field at one time is determined by population and vehicle 'squad caps'; these limit the number of infantry troops and vehicles a player may have on the battlefield. Squad caps may be increased using methods differing between races. Most units have a melee attack and a ranged attack. Units are often specialized to be better using one attack type. Certain units are "hard capped", meaning a player may only have a certain amount of them, such as Skull probes and Apothecaries (both of the Space marine faction) being limited to 4, and commanders and ultimate units being limited to 1. All units also have stances; these affect how the units respond to enemies. There are three types of units: commanders, infantry, and vehicles.Commanders are hero units, and each commander can only be fielded one at a time. If they perish, they may be rebuilt. A sub-class is the semi-commander unit, which has many abilities like the commander unit but several may be fielded at once. Infantry are foot soldiers, and may either be regular or heavy, with heavy infantry being much tougher than normal infantry. Vehicles serve as heavy weapon platforms and/or transports, and include tanks, artillery, troop carriers and walkers.Infantry come in squads that are commanded as a single entity. They may be reinforced with additional members, equipped with special weapons, or be attached to hero units. Some squads have special abilities, such as grenades, teleportation, and stealth, unlocked with research or leader units. Unit longevity is determined by their health and morale points, which govern a squad's fighting effectiveness. Both are reduced by weaponry; morale recharges independently or due to unit abilities, while health is increased by natural regeneration, healer units, or repair.Each of the four races has access to a unique special unit whilst in control of a "relic"; they are superior to normal units. To obtain one of the special units the player must complete all pre-requisites (research, own specific buildings) and be in the final tier of research. These special units also require substantially more resources and time to create.Space Marines: Terminators, Assault Terminators, Land RaiderChaos Space Marines: Bloodthirster, ObliteratorsOrks: SquiggothEldar: Avatar of Khaine
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Dawn of War - Buildings: Aside from their initial headquarters, each faction or race may build research and resource centers, unit-producing facilities, and defensive fortifications. Research buildings may research special upgrades that increase the abilities of that race's units, while resource buildings produce resources. Unit facilities produce infantry and vehicles. In order to access their next tier, a race must build certain buildings to unlock new technologies and buildings.
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Dawn of War - Setting: The game is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, a dystopian vision of the far future with Gothic and Lovecraftian undertones. Humanity has forged a galaxy-spanning empire, the Imperium of Man, with the God-Emperor of Mankind as humanity's leader and only deity. The Imperium is in a state of constant war with the Orks, Eldar, and the human servants of Chaos. The single player campaign is set on the planet Tartarus.
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Dawn of War - Factions: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War features four playable armies:Space Marines - The Space Marines are the elite genetically-modified superhuman soldiers of the Imperium. Space Marines have the highest morale in the game. Their troops and vehicles are more expensive, however. The Space Marines are the only playable race in the single player section of the game, and the 11-mission campaign features the Blood Ravens Chapter as the protagonists, led by Captain Gabriel Angelos and Librarian Isador Akios.Chaos Space Marines - The Chaos Space Marines are members of the Traitor Legions who chose to betray the Emperor of Mankind and the Imperium during the Horus Heresy and instead serve the Chaos Gods. In Dawn of War, they use troops that are similar to their Imperium counterparts. In addition, they employ morale-draining daemons and psykers. The campaign features the Alpha Legion, with their leaders, Sindri Myr and Lord Bale.Eldar - The Eldar are an ancient, technologically-advanced race. Eldar in Dawn of War are fast and fragile. They are able to move quickly across the map via Webway gates. The campaign features the Craftworld of Biel-Tan, and their leader, Farseer Macha.Orks - Orks are a savage, warlike race. In large enough numbers, they gain morale immunity. The tech tree for Orks differs from the other races in that it depends on the amount of Orks currently in your army and the number of erected WAAAGH!! banners. Several clans are featured in the campaign, as is the Ork Warboss, Orkamungus.Imperial Guard - In addition to the four fully playable races, the Imperial Guard also make appearances in the single-player campaign as allies of the Space Marines, led by Colonel Brom. They would later be made into a featured race for the first expansion pack, Dawn of War - Winter Assault.
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Dawn of War - Campaign: The single-player campaign is set on the planet Tartarus, an Imperial Civilised World that is under siege by a large Ork WAAAGH!. The campaign begins with Colonel Brom and his 37th Tartarus Planetary Defense Force Regiment under attack by a large group of Orks. The Blood Ravens 3rd Company, led by Captain Gabriel Angelos makes planet fall and saves Brom and his remaining men and then proceed to exterminate the remaining Orks in the vicinity. In the aftermath of the battle, Gabriel is joined by the Space Marine Librarian Isador Akios. Brom asks Isador about a recently conducted Exterminatus of the planet Cyrene, Gabriel Angelos' homeworld, however Isador makes it clear he is not to bring it up again. The Blood Ravens then prepare for a mission of extermination of the Orks surrounding the port, in order to protect the evacuation craft of the planet's population.Isador, sensing that the captain's mind is troubled, realises why, and tells him that there was nothing he could have done to save his home planet of Cyrene. However, Gabriel tells him not to mention it again, stating that his homeworld was his responsibility. After the extermination of the Orks, Scout Marines reveal to Gabriel that the Forces of Chaos are also operating on the planet. Soon after this revelation, they are joined by an Inquisitor, Mordecai Toth, who orders the Blood Angels to leave the planet, warning that a Warp Storm is approaching the planet and will consume the world in 3 days time. Toth orders a complete evacuation of the planet's remaining Imperial population. On further investigation, it is revealed that the Eldar of Craftworld Biel-tan are also operating on Tartarus. The Blood Ravens find an altar dedicated to Chaos Undivided, confirming Gabriel's suspicions, and he resolves to destroy the Traitors, unknowing that Isador is already under the influence of Sindri Myr, the Chaos Sorcerer of the Alpha Legion warband already on the world.Upon destruction of most of the remaining Eldar by Gabriel's forces, their Farseer Macha pleads with Gabriel to heed her words; however during their moment of distraction, Sindri steals an artefact, which Macha reveals to be a key to "the undoing of this world." Upon inquiry, the Biel-tan Farseer shows surprise at the Astartes' ignorance, commenting that the Inquisitor "keeps them on a short leash" and implying that he knows more than he is telling, and advises them to ask him, before telling the Blood Ravens where to find the entrenched Chaotic forces. Gabriel and Isador confront Inquisitor Toth in the ruins of a temple of the Imperial Cult, following a pitched battle with Alpha Legion forces, and Toth reveals that the world is cursed, and was home to an artefact of Chaos: the Maledictum, a stone that contains the essence of a Greater Daemon of Khorne. The forces of Chaos now bear all that they need to unearth it. Toth also explains that the Eldar were fighting to protect the stone, as it was they who imprisoned the daemon in the stone originally: as he puts it "as Chaos's oldest enemy, the Eldar see themselves as the only capable defence against its influence. And we have paid for their arrogance." Toth also says that the power of the Maledictum is enough "to turn the faithful and drive men mad", having already corrupted much of the population of Tartarus and the Imperial Guard, as well as affecting the Blood Ravens somewhat with its Chaotic influence. Gabriel and Toth form an alliance and make plans to find and destroy the Maledictum, however, Isador is then completely overcome by the temptations of Sindri and Chaos, and resolves to steal the Maledictum for himself.The Blood Ravens destroy the army of the Alpha Legion's Chaos Lord Bale, who was betrayed by Sindri, during which time Isador seizes his chance and steals the Maledictum. In the face of Isador's betrayal, Gabriel pursues him in an effort to bring him to justice. The Blood Raven forces are successful in destroying Isador’s Traitor Imperial Guard troops and Gabriel defeats Isador in single combat. Isador pleads for forgiveness to Gabriel. Gabriel tells him, "If redemption is what you seek, then that is what I will give you," before shooting him in the head with his Bolt Pistol, using his former friend as an example to his fellow Astartes of the insidious dangers of Chaos. Inquisitor Toth then reveals that he had known that Chaos was corrupting one of the Space Marine officers on Tartarus, but he had suspected it was Gabriel, not his Librarian, and they had paid the price for his error.Meanwhile Sindri had used the power of the Maledictum to turn himself into a Daemon Prince. Inquisitor Toth bequeaths the Daemon Hammer God-Splitter to Gabriel. They then, with the Blood Ravens and the aid of the remaining Eldar forces of Farseer Macha, attack the Chaos forces, eventually killing the Daemon Prince Sindri. The final scene sees the Eldar and Blood Ravens standing around the Maledictum. Despite the warnings of Farseer Macha, who begs them not to destroy the stone, Gabriel obeys Inquisitor Toth and his own judgment, and destroys the Maledictum with God-Splitter. The Eldar forces then retreat, Macha warning prophetically that Gabriel has doomed them all, and the Blood Ravens leave to be evacuated. However, Gabriel stays back, and encounters the Greater Daemon of Khorne, an unnamed Bloodthirster, which he unwittingly released from the Maledictum. The daemon lets Gabriel and his men leave safely as thanks for its release, but tells Gabriel that he will soon come to claim him and his men. Gabriel vows to destroy the daemon, before following after his departing Astartes.
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Dawn of War - Reception: Upon release, the critical response to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War was on the whole extremely positive. It was congratulated most frequently for its varied and balanced factions and units, its polished presentation, in particular the high quality of unit animations, and the user interface.One of the first reviews was by IGN, who awarded the game 8.8/10, in particular praising the large level of graphical and animation detail. They also cited the skirmish and multiplayer as one of the game's strongest points. Gamespot came to similar conclusions, in particular praising the game's presentation and audio.Conversely, an area of the game that drew criticism was the single player campaign, which many reviewers found to be too short and unchallenging. Another area of weakness identified was a lack of originality in the gameplay. However, these weaknesses were considered to be minor, IGN summarising "Nothing about the gameplay will really surprise anyone (though the addition of reinforceable squads is pretty neat) but it doesn't particularly matter...Relic kicked ass creating a great piece of entertainment." The French website Jeux PC (lit. "PC Games") awarded the game 16 out of 20, in particular praising the simplicity of the user interface and the intensity of the battles. German reviewer Daniel Matschijewsky awarded the game 83 out of 100, in particular praising the user interface and the sound, but identified the campaign and the AI as weaker areas.Overall Dawn of War was well received by critics, earning aggregate scores of 86/100 from Metacritic and 87/100 from Game Rankings.
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Dawn of War - Awards: Gamespy: 7th Best PC Game of 2004, Best Use of License 2004, 7th Best PC Game of 2006(Dark Crusade), Best Expansion of 2006(Dark Crusade)IC-Games: Editor's Choice AwardIGN: Runner-up in Best Strategy Game of 2004, Runner-up in Best Multiplayer Game of 2004, Best Expansion Pack of 2005(Winter Assault), Best Expansion Pack of 2006(Dark Crusade)Tom's Hardware: Must Have award for December 2004Gamespot: Best Expansion Pack of 2006 (Dark Crusade)According to the game box, the Game of the Year Edition is based on the awards from GameSpy and Computer Gaming World. However, it only won a Top 10 (7th place) award from GameSpy and "Best Real-time Strategy" Game of the Year from CGW. Dawn of War did not win any overall GOTY awards from any major publication. This is based on a quote from CGW not for an actual award, which is why it says ("game of the year" GCW) in quotes at the bottom of the box.
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Dawn of War - External links: Official website
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Dawn of War - Dark Crusade: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade is the second expansion pack to the PC-based real-time strategy (RTS) game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dark Crusade was released on October 9, 2006. The expansion features two new races, the Tau Empire and the Necrons. Including the Imperial Guard from Dawn of War's first expansion pack Winter Assault, this means a total of seven playable races in this expansion.Unlike Winter Assault, Dark Crusade is a standalone expansion that does not require prior installation of Dawn of War or Winter Assault to play, allowing the user to play as all seven factions in both single player Skirmish and Campaign modes, though not in multiplayer.Parallel to the release of Dark Crusade, THQ also released a triple pack of Dawn of War, Winter Assault, and Dark Crusade, dubbed Dawn of War Anthology. The case is embossed with images of all the faction leaders of the campaign dressed in their respective wargear.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Gameplay: As with previous Dawn of War titles, Dark Crusade is focused on the conflict portion of gameplay; in order to obtain more resources players must fight for them. Each player starts off with a base and wins by fulfilling mission objectives. There are multiple tiers of technology, with each allowing for more powerful units and upgrades.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Units: The number of units a player may field at one time is determined by population and vehicle 'squad caps'; these limit the number of infantry troops and vehicles a player may have on the battlefield. Squad caps may be increased using methods differing between races. Most units have a melee attack and a ranged attack. Units are often specialized to be better using one attack type. All units also have stances; these affect how the units respond to enemies. There are three types of units: commanders, infantry, and vehicles.Commanders are hero units, and can usually only be built once. If they perish, they may be rebuilt. A sub-class is the semi-commander unit, which has many abilities like the commander unit but may be built multiple times. Infantry are foot soldiers, and may either be regular or heavy, with heavy infantry being much tougher than normal infantry. Vehicles are heavy weaponry and transports, and include tanks, artillery and troop carriers.All units, aside from most heroes and vehicles, come in squads. These are groups of infantry that are commanded as a single entity. They may be reinforced with additional members, equipped with special weapons, or be attached to hero units. Some squads have special abilities, such as grenades, teleportation, and stealth, unlocked with research or leader units. Unit longevity is determined by their health and morale points, which govern a squad's fighting effectiveness. Both are reduced by weaponry; morale recharges independently or due to unit abilities, while health is increased by healer units or repair.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Buildings: Aside from their initial headquarters, races may build research and resource centers, unit-producing facilities, and defensive fortifications. Research buildings may research special upgrades that increase the abilities of that race's units, while resource buildings produce resources. Unit facilities produce infantry and vehicles. In order to access their next tier, a race must build certain buildings to unlock new technologies and buildings.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Multiplayer: Players may either connect directly by IP connection, play on their LAN or play through an online service offered by Gamespy. There are eight game modes available for online skirmish play, such as Annihilate, which requires the player to destroy every enemy unit and building, or Sudden Death, which causes a player to be eliminated if another captures one of their strategic points. Multiple game modes may be enabled, calling for multiple winning conditions. Due to its nature as a standalone expansion pack, the player may only play as the Tau or Necrons in multi-player. They must enter their original Dawn of War CD key to gain access to the original four races. Likewise, a Winter Assault CD key is needed to access the Imperial Guard.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Campaign: The expansion features a "Risk-based strategic layer", which is a campaign including a "meta-map" of the world of Kronus, the game's setting, similar to those in Westwood Studios' Dune games as opposed to the old, programmed, linear storylines common in most real-time strategy games. Due to this lack of linearity, there is no plot aside from the opening cinematic; rather, as the player conquers various opposing factions for control of Kronus the game provides a narrative specific to whom the player has conquered. If the player wins the campaign, a cinematic is played that depends on which faction the player was controlling. With the release of Dawn of War II, it is learned that the Blood Ravens (Space Marines) were officially the victorious faction, and that they were the army that both defeated the Imperial Guard present on Kronus at the city of Victory Bay and the Word Bearers Chaos Space Marines who had sought to conquer the world. It is left ambiguous whether or not the Blood Ravens were the faction that eliminated the other combatants.The player may pick a faction to play as, and then engages in turn-based combat with the other A.I.-controlled factions. There are multiple provinces, which are conquered by fighting a regular skirmish match over them. These may give either a special bonus or supply special 'honour guard' units, which are powerful, non-trainable versions of regular units. They may only be made on the main battlefield overview screen, and, like provincial reinforcements, cost planetary requisition, a resource gained on a per-turn basis based on how many provinces the player controls. Honour guard units transfer over provinces and may be used repeatedly. There are also seven 'Stronghold' provinces that function as bases for the respective factions; these are made like more traditional campaign games, with multiple secondary and primary objectives that vary from faction to faction.Also, a race's commander unit may be upgraded with special "wargear", unique, customizable upgrades that vary by race. These are awarded at battle milestones, ranging from a certain amount of kills to conquering many provinces.Campaign scenarios are persistent, meaning that all player structures are 'saved' when a game is won. For example, if a player builds a base and conquers a province, only to have a neighbouring faction attack aforementioned province, the player will start out with his previous base, with the exception of having no technology researched. Players may also choose to garrison provinces with units that are instantly available should the province be attacked. These are bought with planetary requisition.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Setting: All the pre-existing factions gained new units in Dark Crusade, and two new playable races are made available, including:
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Tau Empire: One of the two new races in the game, the Tau are unique in multiple ways. Tau Fire Warriors and their anti-gravity vehicles are powerful in ranged battles, but have weak melee capability. To compensate, they fight alongside the alien Kroot, using these primal warriors as auxiliaries. Also, they are the only race with a 'choice' in their final technology choices; two final tier buildings are presented, which provide different end-game units and technologies. Only one may be chosen. The Tau also do not have any standalone defensive structures or minefields.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Necrons: The Necrons are unique, as they do not require requisition to build their army. Rather, power is the only resource needed to make Necrons units. However, capturing Strategic Points and building Obelisks (the Necrons' listening post) will increase the speed of research and building, and will also expand the population cap. The Necron Monolith, their homebase, is restored as more buildings are built, while also unlocking new units (similar to how the Zerg function in Starcraft), and functions as the only vehicle- and troop-producing building for the faction. When fully restored, the Monolith becomes mobile (albeit very slow, though it can teleport) and is armed with very powerful Gauss weaponry. Many Necron units have the ability to resurrect, and most will leave persistent corpses on the battlefield that may either self-resurrect after they die or be restored by specialized Necron units.The Necrons were previously seen in Dawn of War - Winter Assault at the end of the single-player campaign, but were noticeably stronger.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Notable Characters: Dark Crusade features some reappearances by characters from the past games in the series, such as Farseer Taldeer and Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter, who were featured in Winter Assault.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Plot: The events of Dark Crusade take place on the former Imperial Civilised World of Kronus, a planet on the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium in the Segmentum Ultima, where the local human population has been absorbed into the nearby Tau Empire. It is also an ancient Necron Tomb World, whose inhabitants are starting to awaken. Eldar from Craftworld Ulthwé soon arrive to stop the ancient Necron threat from growing. In addition, Kronus happens to be a world with a variety of hidden Imperial relics, left behind from the Horus Heresy, that are significant to the Blood Ravens Space Marines, the Imperial Guard and the Word Bearers Traitor Legion of Chaos Space Marines. There is also a local Feral Ork population in the southern jungles of Kronus who quickly mobilise against the new threats when the Ork Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter and his WAAAGH! arrive on the world in search of their next battlefield. Faced with such opposition against the thriving Tau Sept, the world's Tau Governor Aun'el Shi'ores, knowing the planet must be kept within the Tau Empire, orders his Tau Fire Warriors into battle against the other factions.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Canonical Endings: The game has various endings for all the different factions, but Relic has stated that the Blood Ravens defeated both the Necrons and the Imperial Guard in the canonical ending. Through the dialogue in Dawn of War II, it is apparent that the Blood Ravens were able to conquer Kronus and return control of it to the Imperium. Davian Thule, the Captain of the Blood Ravens 4th Company who also led the 1st and 2nd Companies to the world, also bears scars in Dawn of War II which he received during the final battle with the Necron Lord of Kronus at the end of Dark Crusade. Also, Sergeant Tarkus received Terminator Honours after his struggle against the Necrons and Tau during the Dark Crusade. The Blood Raven ending reveals that the Blood Ravens went through one of their greatest trials after the Dark Crusade was over; the Inquisition launched a thorough investigation into the Blood Ravens' purity as a Loyalist Chapter after they fought against their own fellow servants of the Emperor, the Imperial Guard. Though not necessarily canonical, if the player beats the Space Marines as the Imperial Guard, it is shown that the Guard discovered documents on Kronus detailing secrets about the Blood Ravens' history that didn't match up with their official past as known by the Imperium, thus leading to the probing investigation of the Chapter by the Inquisition.The Dividing of the Ork ClansThe Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter, who survived the Lorn V Campaign in Dawn of War - Winter Assault, began his new WAAAGH! in the feral Ork-infested Green Coast on Kronus. As is often the case with the Orks, Gorgutz's WAAAGH! was formed by uniting several weaker clans under his banners, which were used as symbols of his authority in his stronghold. The Blood Ravens used this dissent to their advantage by destroying Gorgutz's banners, causing the Ork clans of Kronus to begin fighting against each other and defying Gorgutz's reign. The Blood Ravens ultimately slaughtered their way through the infighting clans and killed Gorgutz's personal guard. However, he took his revenge on the Space Marines that bested him by detonating several warheads, killing his own minions and several Blood Ravens. In the confusion of the explosions, Gorgutz escaped through a cave and was able to flee Kronus on a hidden Ork starship, returning once more in Soulstorm to continue to plague the Imperium.The Necron Catacomb's CollapseThe Necrons, the original rulers of the planet Kronus, emerged from their stasis tombs in the Thur'abis Plateau. The Blood Ravens descended into the caverns beneath the plateau to discover a huge network of catacombs hidden within, holding innumerable amounts of Necron soldiers. Despite the dark and fearsome location, the Blood Ravens fought their way through the catacombs, destroying Necron beacons (Which could cause different effects on the player or his enemies, such as reviving fallen Necrons or causing the player's vehicle units to turn on him/her) as they worked their way into a key structural point inside. Captain Davian Thule placed a powerful explosive device which caused the catacombs to collapse, thus ending the Necron threat on Kronus, though it is hinted that the Necrons were merely slowed in their reemergence by the collapse, and not destroyed altogether.Farseer Taldeer's GambitFarseer Taldeer constructed her attack force in the frigid northwestern reaches of the planet Kronus, and rather than risk her own Eldar warriors in her stronghold's defense, positioned herself between a splinter cult of Chaos Space Marines and a small force of dissatisfied Orks that broke off from Gorgutz's WAAAGH! However, in doing so, she backed herself into a corner controlled by three Webway Gates that allowed her access to the rest of the Eldar army in space. The Blood Ravens fought their way through their old enemies, defeated the Ork and Chaos threat, and were able to hold the Webway Gates to prevent any possible escape for Taldeer. The Eldar Farseer chose to sacrifice her own life in order to allow her troops to flee, seeking refuge on the planet. It is unknown whether or not they eventually escaped or succumbed to the Blood Ravens' bloody swath of destruction across Kronus.Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander's Last StandThe Imperial Guard, having set their stronghold near a Hellstorm Cannon that had once been a part of an Imperial Imperator-class Titan that had fallen during the Horus Heresy, had claimed as their forward operating headquarters a city that they had wrested back from the Tau after their landing and renamed Victory Bay, fully believing that they could regain control of the planet for the Imperium, even if that meant facing Space Marines. The Blood Ravens, however, were able to fight their way through the heavily-defended Imperial stronghold at Victory Bay, and eventually took control of the Hellstorm Cannon itself and sparked a revolution amongst dissident Imperial troops who refused to fight Astartes after their Commissar was killed. The Blood Ravens added these troops to their own forces and fought their way through the heavy defences held by Lukas Alexander, and were able to end the Lord Governor's reign on Kronus. In the after battle report given by Thule, it was mentioned that the Blood Ravens held Alexander in the highest regard, especially since he had stayed absolutely loyal to his orders and had defended Victory Bay with skill and honour. Despite his loss, Alexander and his troops were commended and honoured for their bravery in standing up to the Blood Ravens' assault. The one exception to this was the treacherous 5th Company, who were all executed without mercy for betraying their regiment, even though they had joined forces with the Space Marines after Anton Gebbett, the Commissar attached to their company, was killed.The Fall of Or'es Tash'nThe Tau began their assault on Kronus by taking over the Imperial city of Asharis, and re-constructing it into their new capital of Or'es Tash'n, a Tau stronghold of sizable proportions. Using both their own Tau units as well as the Kroot and their other xenos and human allies, the Tau built up a powerful defence in the new city. Using the city's own communications tower, they were able to keep tabs on the invading Blood Ravens. After a difficult struggle in which the Blood Ravens had to fight their way through Kroot and Tau alike, the Blood Ravens were able to kill the Ethereal Aun'el, effectively crushing the morale of the Tau Army. Shas'O Kais, the Tau Commander, fled Kronus in order to return the defeated leader's body to his homeworld of T'au, and the surviving Tau were either killed in the ensuing rout or evacuated from Kronus, leaving Or'es Tash'n to be reclaimed for the Imperium by the Space Marines.Eliphas the Inheritor's SacrificeThe Chaos Space Marines of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, under the orders of their leader, the Dark Apostle Eliphas the Inheritor, were able to rip open a hole in the Warp and construct a gate around it to keep it stable. This allowed Chaos Daemons to pour through the rift and corrupt the land beneath their feet, as well as construct large pillars designed to use Chaos sorcery and sacrifice any willing or unwilling beings that ventured too close to further power their arcane strength. In the defence of the Warp Gate, Eliphas the Inheritor decided to allow his troops to defend their own sections of a long, twisted path to the gate instead of focus on the defence as a whole. However, because he was unable to command his defences effectively, the Blood Ravens were able to cut their way through the bloody gauntlet of Chaos Space Marines and demolish the Warp Gate. Eliphas, having failed his daemonic masters one too many times, was sacrificed by the will of the Ruinous Powers as a failed subject, his soul drawn wailing back into the Warp.Yet Eliphas returned in Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising to bedevil the Blood Ravens once more after having been resurrected following much punishment by the Chaos Gods and placed in thrall to the Black Legion at the request of Abaddon the Despoiler, largely due to an unexpected level of fan popularity for the former Dark Apostle. Eliphas promised the Despoiler and the Ruinous Powers that his only mission in life after his resurrection was to destroy the Blood Ravens as a Chapter.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Development: Dark Crusade uses the same engine as the original Dawn of War game, which allowed the game's developer, Relic, to focus most efforts on revamping the single-player campaign and balancing out the two new races. By E3 2006, the two new races were demonstrated through an in-engine feature, though no playable version was showcased. New units were unveiled regularly after August 11, 2006. The first available playable build was released on September 18 to GameSpot. Dark Crusade exited the development stage on September 21, and was expected to be shipped worldwide by October 9, 2006.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - Reception: The expansion was praised as an "excellent real-time strategy game", with its non-linear single-player campaign, stabilized multiplayer and additional features, and was selected by IGN and Gamespot as the best expansion pack of 2006. Most were quite surprised by the quality and size of the expansion, stating that the large amount of new content "breathed new life into the game". Critics cited the excellent balancing between races, saying it had a positive effect on both single-player and multiplayer. Aside from new units and races, changes to the gameplay mechanics, such as reworking of the elite unit system, were well-received, as critics felt that the changes "forced players to actually think about using real combined arms tactics in multiplayer and contributed to more games decided by genuine strategy and skill rather than just who can spec out the proper build order."Some critics stated that the game's weak points included its complexity; some reviewers disliked how much micromanagement was required to effectively field one race against another, saying that this complexity was detrimental to the game. As one reviewer mentioned "...when I stop having fun, I stop playing." The learning curve was also stated as being very steep for an RTS, due to each race being different. Another thing critics disliked was the player's inability to 'zoom out' with the in-game camera; this sometimes got in the way of large battles, and was especially noticeable when playing as or against the Tau, as their long range weapons often resulted in them engaging their targets off-screen. While general consensus on the revamped single-player campaign was positive, some critics felt that it was not particularly challenging; they found that the AI was strategically weak, and there were no random elements in most skirmish missions that would enhance replayability. The usage of a random auto-resolve feature to determine which races won which territories was seen as a downside; also, one critic found that the AI never attacked his homebase, and that they would attack insignificant zones regardless of the opportunity to capture more significant ones. In terms of new additions, some critics felt that the races, in particular the Necrons, were overpowered. Despite these accusations (or perhaps because of them), the Tau and Necrons remain some of the least-used races in multi-player games.
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Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - External Links: Official Dawn of War Website
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Dawn of War - Soulstorm: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm is the third and final expansion of the Dawn of War series of PC games, featuring two new factions: the Dark Eldar and the Sisters of Battle. Each older faction received new units and air units were incorporated as well for the first time.The campaign is much like the Dark Crusade, though the experience has been enhanced with new units and factions. In this installation of the franchise, players must conquer 32 territories across four planets and three moons in the Kaurava System to win.The game also features multi-player achievements, including medals, which are earned when certain objectives are accomplished. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on March 4-7, 2008, depending on the geographical region.
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Game Description: Much like its popular predecessor, Dark Crusade, Soulstorm is a stand-alone expansion pack. All nine factions are available for play in the campaign and single player skirmish games, but in order to play as the older factions online, the player must have all of the previous respective games to unlock them. The Platinum Edition of Dawn of War includes the original game and its two previous expansions, Winter Assault and Dark Crusade.
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Plot: The Kaurava Campaign began after the sudden appearance of a Warp storm near the world of Kaurava IV. The nine factions were drawn to investigate the system from across the galaxy with their own fleets and conflicting intentions.However, the Warp storm wreaked havoc on their navigation interfaces, stranding them on the four inhabited planets and three moons of the system. The nine factions are then forced to battle between planets to ultimately conquer the planetary system and discover the reason for the emergence of the Warp storm.The reason for the Warp storm, as explained after the conquest by the forces of Chaos, began with an ignorant Imperial Guardsman with latent psyker genes who was whispered to by the Chaos Gods, who told him to prepare a sacrificial ritual and he complied. His actions unknowingly summoned a warband of the Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines to the Kaurava System, thus initiating the conflict.Three armies were already on the planet when the Warp storm was unleashed, blocking all further transportation to or communications with the world: The 252nd Conservator Regiment of the Imperial Guard, the representatives of the star system's original ruler, the Imperium of Man, who had landed on Kaurava I under the newly appointed Imperial Governor-General Vance Stubbs; the Feral Ork tribes of Kaurava II who had been uplifted to become more technologically advanced by the arrival of their new Warlord Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter and the Necrons, who had been slumbering under the sands of Kaurava III, a Necron Tomb World, for millions of standard years and were now led by the newly awakened Necron Lord of Kaurava.First, the Alpha Legion arrived in the name of Chaos Undivided under the Chaos Champion of Khorne Firaeveus Carron, who established a base for his forces on Kaurava IV. It is a mystery as to how the forces of the Traitor Legion arrived in the system: the Warp storm may have brought them through the Warp or perhaps it was their presence that summoned the Warp storm. The truth of the matter remains elusive.Second, a Blood Raven Space Marine force of 5 companies led by Force Commander and Captain Indrick Boreale established a base on Kaurava II to end the danger posed to the Imperium by the xenos and Heretics alike in the system. The T'au Empire claimed one of the moons of Kaurava II, Nan Yanoi, as its own as the empire sought to add Kaurava to its own expanding territory and bring the concept of the Greater Good to its formerly Imperial citizens.The T'au built on the moon of Kaurava II a mighty plasma cannon, the Ar'Ka Cannon, by the order of the T'au Commander Shas'O Or'es'Ka. From under the sands of Kaurava III, the Necrons arose, perhaps due to the effects of the Warp storm.In quick response to the Necrons' awakening, long unused Webway gates flickered to life and brought the Eldar of the Ulthwe craftworld, led by Farseer Caerys, to fight against their ancient deathless enemies who they knew had reawakened on the world.From the shadows of an ancient Webway gate a raiding Kabal of the Dark Eldar appeared, looking for souls and new bounty, with the Kabal of the Black Heart's Archon Tahril as their leader.The Kabal of the Black Heart was the single largest and most powerful Kabal in the Dark City of Commorragh, and because of this, they were the dominating power in that hidden city of the Dark Eldar.Last, but certainly not least, the battle-sisters of the Order of the Sacred Rose, a sect of the Adepta Sororitas' Orders Militant, better known in the Imperium as the Sisters of Battle, arrived and established a base on Kaurava I under the command of Canoness Selena Agna.They had come to Kaurava to cleanse the star system of every last xeno and heretic, even if such a task led to conflict with the other servants of the Emperor already within the system.As with its predecessor Dark Crusade, Soulstorm features a "meta-campaign" featuring 31 territories spread over four planets and three moons. One difference however, is that unlike Dark Crusade, there are no persistent bases.Once the player conquers a province, the base structures the player has built up will not be present in future conflicts.This can be remedied by reinforcing provinces with buildings and units in between battles, or by establishing a forward base using the Sisters of Battle's unique army ability.
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Outcomes: The fate of the Kaurava System depends on the actions taken by the various factions fighting over it; it can be returned to the control of the Imperium, become a new frontier Sept of the T'au Empire, become the black heart of the Necrons' next genocidal "red harvest", the base of the greatest Ork WAAAGH! ever launched, or a new Daemon World of the Warp.If the Kaurava Campaign is ultimately won by the Imperial Guard's 252nd Conservator Regiment under the command of Governor-General Vance Stubbs, the Kaurava System remains a part of the Imperium of Man. Lord General Stubbs and his men are then declared heroes by the people of the Kaurava System. The system began to thrive again thanks to vast rebuilding, mining and terraforming projects that were initiated by Governor Stubbs.The numerous military academies that were built there following the Imperial Guard's victory turned out superior Imperial Guardsmen who were second in quality only to the Kasrkin Cadian Shock Trooper regiments of Cadia.Only Kaurava III was left largely barren, due to the fact that it had been the Tomb World where the Necrons had risen.General Stubbs' ability to organise and reform the long-neglected Kauravan Imperial Guard regiment did not go unnoticed by Ultima Segmentum Command, and he was promoted in time from the lesser role of governor-general to full control over a small star system as an Imperial planetary governor.
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Canonical Ending: The ultimate fate of the Kaurava System depends on the actions taken by the various factions fighting over it. In Dawn of War II, the follow-on PC game, Scout Sergeant Cyrus reveals that the Blood Ravens under Captain Indrick Boreale had died and suffered a terrible defeat in the Kaurava System, with all 5 of the Blood Raven companies deployed under his command destroyed, essentially costing the Chapter half of its manpower in a single campaign.As a result, the Blood Ravens needed to step up their recruiting process in Sub-sector Aurelia, their only remaining recruiting ground for neophytes who were desperately needed to make good the Chapter's losses during the disastrous Kaurava Campaign.The subsequent invasion of that region by a Tyranid splinter Hive Fleet soon threatened the very existence of the Blood Ravens Chapter.However, the plot of Dawn of War III, released in 2017, confirms that the Orks under Gorgutz proved to be the victor of the battle for the Kaurava System, making it the heart of his WAAAGH!, though no details are provided over how the greenskins defeated all the other factions.
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Faction List: Chaos Space MarinesDark EldarEldarImperial GuardNecronsOrksSisters of BattleSpace MarinesT'au Empire
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - New Units: Each race is given a new aerial unit which does not obey the normal rule of engagement in the Dawn of War series due to its ability to hover over the battlefield.The Chaos Space Marines gain the Hell Talon.The Eldar gain the Nightwing.The Imperial Guard gain the Marauder Bomber.The Necron Tomb Spyder's Attack Scarabs have been granted a flight ability and the Necron Lord receives the ability to summon the C'tan called the Deceiver.The Orks gain the Fighta-Bommer.The Space Marines gain the Land Speeder TempestThe Tau gain the Barracuda.The Dark Eldar gain the Voidraven.The Sisters of Battle gain the Lightning Air Superiority Fighter.
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Dark Eldar: The Dark Eldar are the forsaken and corrupt kindred of the Eldar, an ancient and advanced race of elf-like humanoids. Their armies, like their Eldar counterparts, usually have the advantages of mobility and advanced technology, though they are often lacking in resilience and numbers.The Dark Eldar revel in piracy, enslavement and torture, and are sadistic in the extreme. Dark Eldar armies make use of various anti-gravity skimmers such as Raiders and Ravagers to launch high speed attacks. They strike with little or no warning, using an interdimensional labyrinth known as the Webway to traverse the galaxy safely and far more quickly than most advanced races are able to with their Warp jumps.The Dark Eldar are unique amongst the intelligent races of the Milky Way Galaxy because they do not live on a settled world or worlds, but rather in one foul city-state - the Dark City of Commorragh - that lies within the "ordered" Immaterium of the Eldar Webway. The Dark Eldar are mainly pirates and slavers who prey on targets across the galaxy to feed their unholy appetites for other sentient beings' souls, a terrible desire called the Thirst, though they are sometimes used as mercenaries by other species.The Dark Eldar are the living embodiments of all that is wanton and cruel in the Eldar character. Highly intelligent and devious to the point of obsession, this piratical people revel in the physical and emotional pain of others, for feeding upon the psychic residue of suffering is the only way they can stave off the slow consumption by the Chaos God Slaanesh of their own souls.The Dark Eldar, particularly their warrior castes, are tall, lithe, white-skinned humanoids. Their alabaster skin is death-like in its pallor, for there is no sun within their dark realm to provide colour. Their athletic bodies are defined by whipcord muscle, shaped and enhanced until they are superior to those of their Eldar counterparts, as the Dark Eldar prize physical and martial prowess highly.Yet for all their physical beauty, the Dark Eldar are still repugnant monsters. When viewed with the witch-sight of a psyker, the Dark Eldar's black souls are revealed, for they eternally thirst only for the anguish and torment of other thinking beings in order to fill their own infinite emptiness.
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Dawn of War - Soulstorm - Sisters of Battle: The Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Sisters of Battle are an all-female division of the Imperial Cult's ecclesiastical organization known as the Ecclesiarchy or, more formally, as the Adeptus Ministorum. The Sisterhood's Orders Militant serve as the Ecclesiarchy's fighting arm, mercilessly rooting out corruption and heresy within humanity and every organisation of the Adeptus Terra.There is naturally some overlap between the duties of the Sisterhood and the Imperial Inquisition; for this reason, although the Inquisition and the Sisterhood remain entirely separate organisations, the Orders Militant of the Sisterhood also act as the unofficial Chamber Militant of the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus.The Adepta Sororitas and the Sisters of Battle are commonly regarded as the same organisation, but the latter title technically refers only to the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, the best-known part of the organisation.The Sisterhood serves as the Ministorum's only official military force because the Decree Passive laid down by the reformist Ecclesiarch Sebastian Thor held that in the wake of the Age of Apostasy of the 36th Millennium, the Ecclesiarchy cannot maintain any men under arms.This was supposed to limit the power of the Ecclesiarchy. However, the Ministorum was able to circumvent this decree by using the all-female force of the Sisterhood.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Dawn of War - Winter Assault: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault is the first expansion to Dawn of War for the PC, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War - Winter Assault was released on September 23, 2005.Some time after its initial release, Winter Assault and Dawn of War were coupled together in a double pack which featured some art on a fold-out cover, an Ork with a Flamer, or a group of Imperial Guard tanks lined up for attack. It was the first of three expansion packs released by THQ in 2005.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Imperial Guard: A new faction was included in Winter Assault, the Imperial Guard, previously only available in certain single-player missions of Dawn of War. The Imperial Guard specialises in defence, and therefore has the strongest defensive structures of all the factions in the game. Their infantry tends to be of lower quality than that of their opponents in terms of weapons, armour, and morale, but the Imperial Guard makes up for this with a range of powerful tanks, such as the Baneblade and Leman Russ, as well as the combat walkers called Sentinels, which until the Dark Crusade expansion were the only vehicular unit in the game which could uncapture strategic points.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - New Campaign: There are two new single player campaigns, both of which involve each faction attempting to recover a lost Imperator-class Imperial Titan. All of the races and factions from Dawn of War (the Orks, Eldar, Chaos, and Space Marines) are available in addition to the new Imperial Guard, with each race trying to find and gain control of the Titan for their own reasons. Although the Titan as a whole is not controllable, its weapon systems can be used to assist in the destruction of the Necrons, who make a cameo appearance in the final mission for each faction. In this campaign, at the beginning the player has a choice to either serve Disorder, whose factions are the Orks and Chaos Space Marines, or serve Order which at the beginning of the game is the Eldar and Imperial Guard with a few appearances of the Space Marines.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Other Changes: Many of the units available in Dawn of War were simplified, reduced or limited for the Winter Assault expansion. For example, Space Marine Predator tanks were limited to carrying anti-tank weapons while Chaos Predators were limited to anti-personnel weapons. In the original Dawn of War game both sides could upgrade their tanks from anti-personnel to anti-tank (the Destructor pattern and Annihilator pattern, respectively). Likewise the Land Raider was limited to one per player. Limitations were also applied to the Orks, who lost most of their upgrade choices and became limited in their weapon choices. The Eldar had their "hard counters" removed, meaning that specialized units such as the Dark Reapers were no longer as prominently effective against heavy infantry. Some units, including most of the Ork army, also lost the ability to use grenades. The Chaos Space Marines also lost the ability to upgrade to any heavy weapons other than the Heavy Bolter.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Forces of Order: In the Forces of Order campaign, the player takes on the role of a Cadian Shock Troops regiment of the Imperial Guard (with occasional allied assistance from the Space Marines of the Ultramarines Chapter) and the Eldar. The 412th Cadian Regiment participated in the Imperial campaign on Lorn V under the command of General Sturnn. General Sturnn and the 412th Regiment land on Lorn V, an Ice World ruled by Chaos Space Marines from the World Eaters Traitor Legion's warband known as the Blood Legion of Khorne and indigenous Orks led by the Warboss Gorgutz.They intended to assist the Ultramarines already on Lorn V to get a crew from the Collegia Titanica to recover the Imperator-class Titan Dominatus, a massive and powerful humanoid war engine from the time of the Horus Heresy that is powerful enough to win many conflicts by itself.Built in ancient times over 10,000 standard years before, the construction of an Emperor Titan is an enormous undertaking requiring the efforts of many Forge Worlds, and any Titans found in the wider galaxy left from the days of the Horus Heresy are treasured relics of the Imperium. Though the Imperial Guard's beachhead hits a wall (literally) trying to retake the Planetary Defence Fortress from the Forces of Chaos, the Eldar of Craftworld Ulthwe secretly assist the 412th and disable the gate preventing their progress. Eventually the troops of the 412th rescues the Ultramarines and the Titan crew, and begins the long trek to reach the disabled Titan.The Ulthwe Eldar, led by their Farseer Taldeer, do everything in their power to make sure their presence remains unknown, but when an Ork Mekboy with unique technology capable of sensing their teleportation appears, they are forced to reveal their presence, destroy the Ork, and teleport away. Too badly damaged to accomplish their original goals following their combat with the Orks, Taldeer is forced to reveal herself and openly ask Sturnn for assistance. Sturnn agrees, and the Orks are pushed back.In the aftermath of the combat against the Greenskins, Taldeer reveals that she does not care about recovering the Titan, but instead her goal is the destruction of the Necrons who hibernate underneath the planet's frozen surface, for Lorn V is also a Necron Tomb World. Over 60 million standard years before, the ancient xenos species known as the Necrons had chosen to hibernate deep beneath their Tomb Worlds across the galaxy for millions of years, and now they are awakening. Taldeer explained that she could not allow the Necrons to escape from Lorn V, because if they do, they will cause untold damage to the surrounding star systems and potentially to her own Craftworld before being stopped. The two factions ally, but both know their goals are mutually exclusive. At this point the player may choose to pursue the goals of either the Eldar or the Imperial Guard.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Imperial Guard: If the player chooses the Imperial Guard, General Sturnn assists the Ultramarines in getting the Titan's crew past the uneasy alliance of Orks and the World Eaters warband on Lorn V into the safety of a waiting psychic shield, preventing their enemies from following them directly to the Titan. However, Taldeer and her Eldar are trapped with the Orks and the Traitor Marines of the Blood Legion, and she tells Sturnn behind the shield that he cannot defeat the Necrons without her. However, Sturnn laughs off her prediction with the typical Imperial arrogance shown towards xenos. As he will not risk his men for hers, Sturnn and the 412th Cadian Regiment march on to their goal, while the Eldar are butchered a few feet away from them by the Traitor Marines and the Greenskins.Upon reaching the Titan, the Ork/World Eaters alliance known as the Forces of Disorder descends on the Imperial encampment protecting the Titan. The crew begins to work, but they require a massive amount of energy to power-up the Titan's ancient systems, and Sturnn is forced to protect the Titan, several Plasma Generators, and a nearby Imperial encampment of survivors from the Forces of Disorder. Although the Titan is too badly damaged to move until extensive repairs can be carried out, its now-operational weapons easily dispatch the Orks and Chaos Space Marines.However, the massive release of power causes the Necrons to fully awaken, and they butcher the remaining forces of the Ork/World Eaters alliance. Beginning their slow march to destroy the only living souls left, the Imperials, they nearly succeed before the Titan's new crew is able to destroy the Necron Monoliths using the Titan's weapons. Ultimately, the Cadian 412th and the Ultramarines are successful in repairing the Titan, destroying the Ork/World Eaters alliance, and destroying the Necrons before they escaped from the planet, but at the cost of the lives of Farseer Taldeer and her Eldar. This is no way bothered Sturnn or the Ultramarines, who believed the Eldar to be untrustworthy xenos.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Eldar: Taldeer uses the distraction caused by the Ork/World Eaters' attack on the Imperial Guard and the Ultramarines to teleport her buildings, troops, and Soul Stone past the psychic shield. The Ultramarines are slaughtered, but Sturnn and much of this Imperial Guard Regiment manage to escape the horde of Orks and Chaos Space Marines.Unlike the Imperial Guard campaign, Taldeer does not fight the Forces of Disorder when she reaches the Titan: the Imperial Guard has surrounded her, but the Necrons awaken and begin trying to kill the Eldar. Taldeer uses the Soul Stone and sneaks past the shield to destroy an awakened Necron Monolith, but too many more appear before the Soul Stone can recharge. Desperate for a weapon to use, she decides to power up the "primitive, but still powerful" weapons of the Titan surrounding her (able to jury-rig a solution, since she does not have a Titan crew), convinces Sturnn that he can have the Titan once the Necrons are defeated (thus once again gaining the humans as allies), and uses the Titan's weaponry to utterly defeat the Necrons. Although successful in destroying the Necrons of Lorn V and gaining a momentary victory over the Necron war machine across the galaxy, Taldeer's unfamiliarity with the Titan's weapons systems causes them to explode, destroying the Dominatus. She and her Eldar manage to teleport away in time, but the fate of Sturnn and his men is left unknown.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Campaign of Disorder: The Campaign of Disorder begins with the Ork Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter trying to unite the Ork Boyz on Lorn V under his control. With Gorgutz's starting force, he launches attacks against the Headcrushaz, Rokkitrangaz, Burnaboyz, and Kwikmeks clans, destroying their "Big Banners" and uniting them under his rule. His force is eventually stopped by the shielded gate of the Footstompaz' fortress, whereupon he promptly destroys the generators feeding power to the gate. He soon discovers that Squiggoths are loose in the Footstompaz's base. After freeing the Footstompaz' Mad Dok from the holding pen, he brings Squiggoths and Footstompaz under his control, after which he attacks a remote outpost on the world belonging to the World Eaters warband known as the Blood Legion of Khorne, which is led by the Chaos Lord Crull.Gorgutz, to take his newly unified WAAAGH! across the icy planet, flies to some unknown destination but is shot down by a World Eaters anti-aircraft battery. Gorgutz survives, and the Chaos Lord Crull seeks to slay the Greenskin chieftain. Crull soons meets Gorgutz's remaining Orks while they are launching assaults on his Temples of Khorne. While trying to kill Gorgutz, Crull realizes Gorgutz is surrounded by a shield, making him invulnerable. Crull soon sets out to destroy the Ork base nearby and also the Ork power generator feeding power to Gorgutz' shield. After Crull's Chaos Space Marines successfully destroys the Ork's base and the generator, Gorgutz launches a massive assault on the Chaotic forces, but Crull promptly returns and puts an end to Gorgutz. Gorgutz is dead, but before Crull can savour his victory, an artillery barrage unleashed by the Cadian 412th begins on the location. Gorgutz suddenly springs up, as it turned out he was just playing dead. Crull expects Gorgutz' force to aid him in defeating the Imperials, but Gorgutz flatly refuses and escapes to rouse his Boyz and kill the "humiez" himself.After Gorgutz escapes, he gathers his WAAAGH! and assaults the Imperial Guard Regiment's base, killing the Imperial General Sturnn, taking his head as a trophy and enraging Crull by saying that his head will be the next trophy that Gorgutz takes. Crull, however, finds out about the existence of the Emperor Titan Dominatus and is determined to use it to destroy his enemies and become an even more powerful force among the Forces of Chaos. To do this, he summons Chaos Sorcerers from the Eye of Terror to gather blood from local Imperial forces to appease Khorne, his chosen Chaos God. At this time, the Eldar force from Craftworld Ulthwe led by Farseer Taldeer appears at Crull's base and attacks it, continually launching assaults throughout the mission. When Crull gathers enough blood, the Eldar summon an Avatar of Khaine, a manifestation of their own God of War, to overwhelm the Chaotic forces' base. Crull is forced to use the blood gathered to summon a Bloodthirster, a powerful Greater Daemon of Khorne, and defeats the Eldar. However, Crull uses too much of the sacrificial blood summoning the Bloodthirster and is forced to gather more later. However, he learns Gorgutz is amassing his forces near the Titan: fearful for the safety of his great prize, Crull decides to confront Gorgutz and put an end to the irksome Greenskin.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Chaos: Crull and his World Eaters Chaos Space Marines fall upon the Ultramarine convoy transporting the Titan crew, killing all the Imperials they find. The Chaotic forces then proceed to butcher their way through the remaining Imperials to the psychic gate, which they then open for long enough to get their men and vehicles through, before sealing it shut on the Orks. As the Orks desperately try to breach it, Crull taunts Gorgutz with the knowledge that he only spared the Ork's life so he could fight the Imperials and Eldar, thus saving Crull the trouble of doing so: Crull remarks to Gorgutz, "You've been a good dog...NOW DIE!". Furious that their WAAAGH! is at an end, the Orks turn on Gorgutz, who narrowly fights his way out from his own enraged Greenskin followers. However, with no one to lead them, the Orks no longer pose a threat as they revert to their usual fratricidal ways.Crull and his men establish a base near the downed Titan and re-erect their sacrificial pit dedicated to the Blood God. While fending off attacks from the last few Imperial outposts, corrupted psykers under Crull's control capture Imperial Guardsmen and bring them back to the base to be sacrificed to the Blood God. But as Crull acquires enough blood, the Necrons finally awaken: knowing he can't stop them, but now possessing the full favour of Khorne, Crull orders his Sorcerers to possess the Titan using a daemon spirit, bringing its weapons under his command. With the power of the Titan, the Necrons and surviving Imperials are annihilated. Delighted with his victory, Crull prepares to rebuild the Titan, and then take his war across the galaxy. He vows to his troops that what will come next "is not longer war: it is endless sacrifice in His name! Blood for the Blood God...let the universe drown in it!"
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Orks: Gorgutz and his Boyz smash their way through the Ulthwe Eldar forces in the city, killing the Farseer Taldeer, and reach the psychic gate before the Chaos Lord Crull, cutting the power to it to allow them entry. A desperate battle ensues between the Orks and Chaos Space Marines: Crull sneers Gorgutz won't know how to use the Titan, but Gorgutz retorts he plans to destroy it, since it's of no use to him. Mortified at this potential loss of such a powerful weapon, Crull launches a full attack on the gate, forcing his way through.Gorgutz and the Orks establish a base near the Titan, and a brutal, three-way battle begins between the Orks, the Chaos Space Marines of the Blood Legion of Khorne and the last few Imperial survivors from the Ultramarines and the 412th Cadian Regiment. Several of the Titan's weapons are destroyed and the Imperials are wiped out, but the Orks keep fighting: even the awakening of the Necrons, who are quickly wiped out before they can fully deploy their weapons by the sheer number of the Orks, prove only a momentary distraction. The Orks finally fight their way to the main Chaotic base, and after they destroy Crull's army, Gorgutz and Crull face off in a final duel: Gorgutz kills Crull and cuts off the Chaos Lord's head to serve as his latest trophy, just as he had promised. In the aftermath of his victory, Gorgutz seems satisfied by what his WAAAGH! achieved on Lorn V, but wonders where he can find another world to fight on.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Canonical Ending: Although the game has several playable endings there is a canonical ending to the game, as established by its sequel Dark Crusade.Farseer Taldeer of Craftworld Ulthwe survives the events on Lorn V, as she leads the Eldar in the Dark Crusade Campaign, suggesting that she was successful in reaching the Titan before the Imperial Guard. She dies in all the other factions' storylines.Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter lives to fight another day, literally. He can be seen in Dark Crusade, leading the Orks again. Gorgutz was forced to retreat from Lorn V by the Imperial Guard, but not before killing Lord Crull and taking his skull with him.The Chaos Lord Crull's skull was taken by Gorgutz and can be retrieved in Dark Crusade, given to the Word Bearers Dark Apostle Eliphas the Inheritor should he be successful in the campaign.Should the Eldar defeat the Imperial Guard in Dark Crusade, the narrator states that Farseer Taldeer was branded "an enemy of the Imperium" after her manipulation of the Cadian 412th Regiment on Lorn V. General Lukas Alexander's regiment was ordered to pursue the Eldar across the galaxy and that "this long chase was finally over" when they faced off at Victory Bay on Kronus.Conversely, if Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander defeats the Eldar in Dark Crusade, the narrator states that his "original mission was at an end", suggesting that his original primary mission was to hunt down Farseer Taldeer for her treachery on Lorn V. His new mission of liberating Kronus from the Tau Empire was only given after discovering the Hellstorm Cannon at Victory Bay.It is thus likely that the canonical ending is not just one ending but two: a combination of the Eldar and Ork endings detailed above: Taldeer escapes from Lorn V to continue her mission to stymie the awakening Necrons, much to the surprise of the Imperial Guard, who send General Lucas Alexander to question her involvement in the Lorn V conflict, thus following her to Kronus. Gorgutz possesses the skull of Lord Crull, meaning the two finally faced off as in the final Ork mission before Gorgutz was forced to retreat and leave Lorn V. However Gorgutz was unable to reach the Titan, as Taldeer arrived at the crash site first.However, according to the book Dawn of War: Tempest, Captain Gabriel Angelos of the Blood Ravens Space Marines (the main character from the original game) arrives at Lorn V to find that the Imperial Guard were victorious and had begun to repair the Titan Dominatus. It is also mentioned that Taldeer survives the massacre, however badly wounded and taken prisoner by the Imperials. It is therefore possible that the Imperials won, Gorgutz killed Crull and that Taldeer escaped and was hunted down by Lucas Alexander, eventually catching up with her during the Dark Crusade Campaign.
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Dawn of War - Winter Assault - Canon Conflict: Another ending for the Imperial Guard campaign was explored in the Only War series of role-playing books. General Sturnn of the 412th Cadian Shock Troops Regiment made a special appeal to the Lord Castellan of Cadia to include several groups of Kasrkin in his command. After much consideration, this rare request was granted, based strongly upon Sturnn's battle honours and superlative record as an Imperial Guard officer.A born leader and formidable fighter, Sturnn believed that the true duty of the Imperial Guard was to die standing and fighting against the Imperium's foes. The General was admired by his fellow officers for his incredible bravery -- Sturnn often went into battle directly alongside his troops, an uncommon trait in many men of his exalted rank. It was the General's preference to assign squads of Kasrkin as his bodyguard. This was a role the Kasrkin deemed fitting, for Sturnn was so often to be found at the heart of the most furious battle.Sturnn's orders were to proceed to the Ice World of Lorn V and recover a fallen Imperator-class Battle Titan bearing the name Dominatus. Once a world governed by the Imperium of Man, Lorn V had been invaded and laid waste by two inimical forces. The first of these was a Chaos Space Marine warband, commanded by Lord Crull, a savage Chaos Champion. The second group of invaders consisted of an Ork WAAAGH! led by a massive Warboss named Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter.Together, these two forces dominated much of the planet, each battling against the other in a savage conflict. However, when the 412th Cadian Shock Troopers Regiment arrived on Lorn V, Lord Crull and Gorgutz ended the fighting between their forces and forged a rough and uneasy alliance against their common foes. Soon after his arrival at the former capital city of Talorn, General Sturnn learned that another challenger for control of the planet had appeared -- the Eldar, guided by the devious Farseer Taldeer. Faced with constant attacks from the Orks and Chaos Space Marines, Sturnn and Taldeer reluctantly chose to work together in order to survive. With the timely support of Taldeer's Eldar Aspect Warriors, Sturnn drove the Orks and Chaos Space Marines back in a series of blitzing advances.Imperial records remain not entirely clear about the details of Sturnn's campaign on Lorn V, but all agree that without the Kasrkin, no victory would have been possible. Time and again, the Kasrkin were sent forward into the vanguard of the Imperial Guard assault, and time and again, the foe was sent reeling back—but at a mounting cost.Casualties amongst the Kasrkin were staggering, especially in the decisive conflict to secure the Titan. The Kasrkin's superior firepower and training counted for naught against a tide of inhuman horrors springing forth from beneath the planet’s frozen surface. This final assault pitted merciless aliens against Kasrkin discipline -- and the discipline held the line.The few survivors of Lorn V tell a grim tale. According to these after-action reports, General Sturnn and his men were betrayed by the Eldar in the end and cut down in a hail of shuriken fire. The Farseer's deceit cost the Imperial Guard forces dearly -- the 412th Cadian Shock Troopers Regiment was driven from the planet and the Titan declared lost. To this day, the banner of the 412th bears a black ribbon to mark this defeat.
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Dawn of War Characters - Dawn of War Characters: The following is a list of characters found in the Dawn of War series of PC games. The list is broken up by each game in the series.Additionally, each of the games in the Dawn of War II series and its sequels is further broken down by faction since those games are more character-intensive than the first entries in the series.
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Dawn of War Characters - Blood Ravens: Captain Gabriel AngelosLibrarian Isador AkiosSergeant Mattias
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Dawn of War Characters - Inquisition: Inquisitor Mordecai Toth
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Dawn of War Characters - Imperial Guard: Colonel Carus Brom
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Dawn of War Characters - Eldar: Farseer Macha
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Dawn of War Characters - Chaos: Lord BaleSindri Myr
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Dawn of War Characters - Orks: Orkamungus
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Dawn of War Characters - Imperial Guard: General Sturnn
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Dawn of War Characters - Ultramarines: Chaplain Varnus
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Dawn of War Characters - Eldar: Farseer Taldeer
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Dawn of War Characters - Chaos: Lord Crull
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Dawn of War Characters - Orks: Gorgutz
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Dawn of War Characters - Blood Ravens: Davian ThuleEpistolary AnteasReclusiarch MikelusApothecary Gordian
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Dawn of War Characters - Imperial Guard: Lukas AlexanderCommissar Anton Gebbett
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Dawn of War Characters - Eldar: Farseer Taldeer
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Dawn of War Characters - Orks: Gorgutz
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Dawn of War Characters - Chaos: Eliphas the Inheritor
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Dawn of War Characters - T'au: Shas'O KaisAun'El Shi'Ores
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Dawn of War Characters - Necrons: Necron Lord of KronusThomas Macabee
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Dawn of War Characters - Blood Ravens: Indrick BorealeEpistolary Sarbander
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Dawn of War Characters - Eldar: Farseer Caerys
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Dawn of War Characters - Orks: Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter
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Dawn of War Characters - Chaos: Firaeveus Carron
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Dawn of War Characters - Imperial Guard: Vance StubbsCommissar Doran Farrier
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Dawn of War Characters - T'au: Shas'O Or'es'KaAun'ro'Yr
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Dawn of War Characters - Necrons: Necron Lord of All Kaurava
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Dawn of War Characters - Sisters of Battle: Selena Agna
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Dawn of War Characters - Dark Eldar: TahrilAsdrubael Vect
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Dawn of War Characters - Blood Ravens: Davian ThuleAramusGabriel AngelosTarkusAvitusCyrusThaddeusGordian
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Dawn of War Characters - Orks: BadzappaSkykillaGutrencha
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Dawn of War Characters - Eldar: NemerianIdranel
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Dawn of War Characters - Blood Ravens: AramusGabriel AngelosDavian ThuleCyrusTarkusThaddeusJonah OrionApollo DiomedesMoriahMartellus
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Dawn of War Characters - Imperial: Elena Derosa
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Dawn of War Characters - Chaos: Azariah KyrasApothecary GalanEliphas the InheritorAraghast the PillagerUlkair the UncleanAbaddon the DespoilerGregor VandisAvitus
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Dawn of War Characters - Blood Ravens: Apollo DiomedesCyrusMartellusThe AncientGabriel AngelosDavian ThuleJonah Orion
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Dawn of War Characters - Imperial Guard: CastorBernnMerrick
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Dawn of War Characters - Inquisition: Inquisitor Adrastia
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Dawn of War Characters - Eldar: VeldoranKaylethElenweRonahnTyrea
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Dawn of War Characters - Chaos: Azariah KyrasEliphas the InheritorVariusKainNerothUlkairAbaddon the Despoiler
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Dawn of War Characters - Tyranids: Hive Mind
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Dawn of War Characters - Orks: Keptin BluddflaggSpookumsNailbrainBrikkfistSmashface
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Dawn of War Characters - Blood Ravens: Apollo DiomedesGabriel AngelosJonah Orion
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Dawn of War Characters - House Varlock: Solaria
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Dawn of War Characters - Inquisition: Inquisitor Holt
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Dawn of War Characters - Orks: GitstompaGorgutzZapnogginWazmakka
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Dawn of War Characters - Eldar: KyreMachaRonahnTaldeerValadorJain Zar
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Dawn of War Characters - Chaos: Storm Prince
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Dawn of War II - Dawn of War II: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is a real-time strategy/tactical role-playing computer game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ for Microsoft Windows based on the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. It is the sequel to the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War video game series. Dawn of War II was released in North America on February 19, 2009 and in Europe on February 20, 2009. The events of the game chronicle what will become known as the First Aurelian Crusade to the Space Marines of the Blood Ravens Chapter in the Sub-sector Aurelia of the Imperium of Man's Korianis Sector. The box art summarises the setting of the game as follows:"It is the distant future and the Imperium of Man has spread across the entire galaxy. But our days of expansion are long past. Where once we fought to conquer, now we fight simply to survive. Savage and bloodthirsty aliens ravage our worlds. Our defenders die by the billions in endless wars of attrition. Devious enemies lure us into traps and snares. Advanced alien technology claims millions of lives in mere moments. Now, from beyond the galaxy's edge comes the greatest threat yet to our survival. Once, the Emperor of Man led us in battle. We were unstoppable. But no longer. The Emperor of Mankind has withdrawn to Terra to rule from his Golden Throne, leaving us to fight on in his name. Across the stars, our fading armies fight a thousand wars. We face constant attack from ruthless aliens. We have little hope for support from Earth and we are losing the battle for human survival. Our only hope lies with the Space Marines, genetically modified warriors of superhuman ability. The pinnacle of human potential. But the Space Marines are few. The galaxy is large. And our enemies are countless. It is humanity's darkest hour."
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Dawn of War II - Gameplay: Playable armies at the initial release of the game include elements of the Blood Ravens Chapter of Space Marines, the Orks, the Eldar, and a splinter fleet of the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Leviathan.The gameplay of Dawn of War II is markedly different from that of the original Dawn of War and its three expansions. Jonny Ebbert, the game's lead designer, describes the feel of the game by saying that it "takes everything that was great about the original and combines it with the best that Company of Heroes had to offer. There is a heavier focus on cover, which gives more substantial defensive bonuses. Accordingly, there is also a new emphasis on methods of dealing with units in cover. Some weapons, such as grenades and other explosives, can destroy cover, while others, such as flamers, ignore cover bonuses completely. Other differences between Dawn of War II and its predecessors include improved unit AI (squads under fire seek cover, for example), more realistically-sized vehicles, and an improved physics engine.As a Games for Windows - Live game, the game uses the Xbox Live Achievements system from Xbox LIVE, and is the first widely released, PC-exclusive game to use it. Because of this, a player must be able to connect to the Windows Live servers in order to access the game's multiplayer features. The game also requires authentication via Steam.
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Dawn of War II - Campaign: Dawn of War II features a non-linear interplanetary campaign, playable as the Space Marines faction.The campaign can be played either as single-player or cooperatively with another player through an online connection.The game's campaign departs from those of its predecessors in several key features. One of the most notable departures is that there are no base-building elements, unlike in the previous Dawn of War titles. Instead, the player chooses the units to be used prior to beginning a mission, cannot build new units once the mission begins, and has only limited reinforcement options.A major part of the campaign lies in choosing which battles and even planets to fight in, and there are consequences regarding which missions are chosen. There may be multiple distress calls to answer, for example, each available for only a limited duration. Once a mission is chosen, the player may still have to choose between various objectives, having to decide between saving civilians or obtaining a powerful piece of wargear, for example.Once a war zone and mission is selected, the player chooses only four squads to take part in the coming battle. Each squad is unique in its combat specialty, personality, and even the voice acting of its squad leader or sergeant. There is a strong narrative focus on the sergeants of these squads who can increase in experience and skills as the campaign progresses, and cannot ultimately be killed. Rather than dying in a mission, squad leaders are "knocked out" and can be revived either by a friendly unit in close proximity or upon completing the mission.The campaign includes many elements traditionally associated with RPG-style games. Squad leaders and commander units can be equipped with the wargear which is gathered from battlefields and slain enemies and by accomplishing objectives during missions. Throughout the campaign, as a Space Marine kills enemies and achieves objectives, he gains experience, "levels up", learns new abilities, and gains bonuses.
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Dawn of War II - Plot: The Sub-sector Aurelia of the Korianis Sector had long been deeply important to the enigmatic Blood Ravens Chapter, as both a source of new recruits for the fleet-based Chapter and a major source of technology, weapons and other manufactured items drawn from its capital, the Hive World of Meridian. At an unknown time late in the 41st Millennium, an unnamed Blood Ravens Force Commander and Sergeant Tarkus launched a deep strike onto the desert Feudal World of Calderis to aid Captain Davian Thule and his company of Blood Ravens Astartes in engaging a force of Orks who are threatening the people of Calderis. The Blood Ravens Neophytes drawn from the Aurelia Sub-sector were needed more than ever after the Blood Ravens suffered terrible losses during the campaign conducted by the Chapter in the Kaurava System. As the Blood Ravens strike force on Calderis drove away the Orks they were confronted by the Mekboy Badzappa and his Wartrukk. Although the Mek escaped, the Astartes collapsed the mine through which the Orks had been assaulting the human settlement on Calderis and claimed victory. The Blood Ravens next attacked from the Strike Cruiser Armageddon into a hamlet on Calderis where Scout Sergeant Cyrus was waiting for them to help defend against another Ork assault. The strike force managed to fight their way to the Blood Raven commanding the defence of the hamlet, Sergeant Avitus, rescue him and save the hamlet from the Orks.The Blood Ravens then received word that the Orks had attacked two more key locations on Calderis and they understood that someone with more tactical skill than a normal Greenskin was leading them. The first attack was led by a Stormboy Nob named Skykilla and the second by the Warboss Gutrencha. After their defeat of the Orks, the Space Marines extracted information from Skykilla and Gutrencha and discovered that both had visited the Felhammer Mine recently. They also learned that Mek Badzappa was there as well. Sergeant Cyrus remained onboard the Armageddon to provide technical support as the strike force moved to drive the remainign Orks from Calderis. When the strike force of Astartes entered the mine they discovered an Eldar Warp Spider Exarch and his retinue were already there but they vanished before they could be engaged just as the Orks attacked. The Astartes were rescued from Ork gunners by Sergeant Thaddeus. They also found Badzappa and his mob under attack by an Eldar Warlock and a company of Guardians. Although the Astartes slew the Warlock, the wily Ork Mek escaped once again. As the Warlock died, he spoke of the existence of a greater foe that threatened all of the Sub-sector, but the Blood Ravens remained unconcerned by what they took to be the random babbling of the member of a xenos race known for their duplicity.The Blood Ravens next travelled to the jungled Feral World of Typhon Primaris to eliminate the Eldar activity that had been detected on that world. A Warp Spider Exarch was stirring up the Feral Orks of the Evil Sunz Clan located in Typhon's jungles into revolt and he and his force had to be put down. This Exarch mentioned nothing of the so-called "greater foe" once confronted by the Blood Ravens but Thule asked the Eldar to return to Calderis as Mek Badzappa was launching an attack against the capital of the desert planet, and its citizens were reporting plants mutating and small purple creatures killing livestock. The Space Marines returned to Calderis and finally killed the Ork Mek, but they were soon attacked by Tyranids drawn from a probable splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan who had entered Sub-sector Aurelia intent on devouring all of its worlds. Thule was mortally wounded by a Tyranid Warrior and Techmarine Martellus lead the Blood Ravens on Calderis back to safety after they destroyed the Tyranid attack force.The Space Marines returned to Typhon, leaving Apothecary Gordian in charge of caring for the badly wounded Davian Thule. The Blood Ravens killed the Eldar Ranger Nemerian, who has been stirring up trouble for the Imperium amongst the Feral Orks, and return to Calderis to kill the Tyranid Warrior who had mortally wounded Captain Thule.After this the Blood Ravens were faced with three primary objectives to complete: gathering a sample of bio-toxin from the Tyranids that could be used to create a genetic poison against the splinter Hive Fleet assaulting Sub-sector Aurelia, securing data from an ancient Astronomical Array from the Dark Age of technology located on Typhon Primaris that could pinpoint a critical weakness in the approaching Tyranid Hive Fleet, and defending the great hive city of Angel Forge on the Hive World of Meridian. Securing the Astronomic Array will granted the Blood Ravens the abilities to unleash orbital bombardments and deep-strikes, defending Angel Forge allowed Sergeant Tarkus to gain a suit of Terminator Armour, and gathering the Tyranid bio-toxin added a Dreadnought to the Blood Ravens strike force, which was actually the revived Captain Davian Thule, his body having been interred within the cybernetic coffin of the Dreadnought. Meridian was the target of constant Eldar attacks and it was ultimately revealed that the Farseer Idranel of Craftworld Ulthwe had been planning to lure the entire splinter Tyranid Hive Fleet to Meridian using the world's human population as bait. Then the Farseer planned to destroy it to eliminate the Tyranid threat to his Craftworld but at the expense of destroying a vital source of manufacturing for the Blood Ravens.Upon completion of all three objectives, the Tyranid bio-toxin was ready for delivery. However, the Navigators of the Blood Ravens Battle Barge Litany of Fury, which had been making its way to the aid of the Aurelian Sub-sector for some time, were psionically assaulted by the Tyranid Hive Mind which placed the vessel in grave danger of becoming lost in the Warp. This effectively eliminated any potential reinforcements for the Aurelian Force Commander -- but the Hive Mind had been weakened by this exertion and sent its Hive Fleet to sonsume Typhon's bio-mass so that it might replenish itself. The Blood Ravens' strike team deployed to Typhon and administered the engineered bio-toxin to the Hive Mind through its feeder tendrils. In the space battle high above the jungle world, the Armageddon was destroyed and Apothecary Gordian was killed.As the genetic poison took effect within the Hive Fleet's bioships, all appeared lost as the strike team possessed no means of retreat and massive waves of Tyranid creatures were preparing to attack. Suddenly, Captain Gabriel Angelos and an entire company of Blood Ravens landed on the battlefield from the recently arrived Litany of Fury and protected the beleaguered Aurelian Blood Ravens strike force from the oncoming swarms of Tyranids. Angelos himself joined the Aurelian Force Commander's strike force his aid proved decisive in killing the Hive Tyrant Alpha who was controlling the swarm. With the Hive Tyrant Alpha dead, the Tyranid swarms became undirected by the Hive Mind and turned on each other even as the bioships in orbit sicked and died. The Blood Ravens had won the day and the Sub-sector Aurelia and its billions of people had been saved from complete annhilation by the Great Devourer.
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Dawn of War II - Skirmish: Dawn of War II includes a skirmish game as well, playable either as single-player or multiplayer, and uses the Games for Windows Live online gaming service for multiplayer games and matchmaking.Prior to a match, a player chooses a faction and one of the chosen faction's three commanders. The various commanders are used to complement different strategies. For example, a player who chooses the Space Marine army can choose among the offense-oriented Force Commander, the support-oriented Apothecary, and the defense-oriented Techmarine.Unlike most contemporary real-time strategy games, including Dawn of War, most of the unit and research production in Dawn of War II is done from an army's headquarters building, and unit upgrades are performed on the field of battle itself. The focus in the game is on frontline combat and unit-based tactics rather than the more traditional base-building style popularized in titles like Command & Conquer and the Age of Empires series.There are only two game modes in the skirmish game thus far. There is the standard Victory Point Control mode where the key to winning is controlling the critical victory points on the map until your opponent's victory points run down to zero, and in unranked custom matches there is also the annihilation mode where players attempt to completely destroy their opponents' units and structures. In both modes, players fight to control requisition and power nodes which supply factions with required resources. In online ranked play, players compete in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 matches. Annihilation games are not supported for ranked play.
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