-------------------------------------------- Warhammer 40,000 - Dawn of War: Dark Crusade -------------------------------------------- FAQ/Walkthrough --------------- Version 1.05 ------------ By NightmareHunter ------------------ devilmaycryfreak@hotmail.com ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 1 - INTRODUCTION - DOW-INTR ------------------------------------------------ It's been a few years since I played 40K on the tabletop, but thanks to Relic, in recent times I've been able to get my fix of the Warhammer 40,000 universe playing Dawn of War and it's two expansions. The second expansion, Dark Crusade, takes the game to a whole new level, adding two new playable factions, an open-ended campaign and new units to all the existing armies. And what's more, the expansion doesn't require the original game. This, however, limits you to only the two new factions, the Necrons and Tau, in skirmish and multiplayer games. To get the most out of it, you really do need the original game and the Winter Assault expansion. Still, trust me when I say that if you're looking for a fast paced, action based real time strategy game, you've come to the right place. At the moment, the whole FAQ is fairly basic, due to the facts that, firstly, I haven't written an FAQ like this before, so I'm still trying to organise and properly articulate some ideas, and secondly, because, like the theory behind my GT4 Tuning FAQ, I would like to see this FAQ more as a set of guidelines which encourage people to think for themselves and develop their own style. Thus, I'm hoping that, over time, the FAQ will grow with both my contributions and those of the readers. ------------------------------------------------ 2 - VERSION HISTORY - DOW-VERS ------------------------------------------------ Version 1.05 5/02/07, 20/02/07 Added Reader Contributions: Necron Strategy, Imperial Guard Strategy, Flashgitz, Hyperion Peaks Strategy, Turtling, Wargear, Eldar Stronghold, Eldar Strategy, Skirmish Basic Info. Version 1.01 27/01/07 Added Reader Contributions: Race Specific Strategies and Stronghold Tips, updated website permission list. Version 1.00 5/01/07, 8/01/07, 12/01/07-18/01/07, 22/01/07-25/01/07 Completed Introduction, Contents, System Requirements, Armies, Single Player Campaign, Single Player Strategies, FAQs, E-mail Policy, Thanks and Copyright Information. ------------------------------------------------ 1 - INTRODUCTION - DOW-INTR ------------------------------------------------ 2 - VERSION HISTORY - DOW-VERS ------------------------------------------------ 3 - CONTENTS - DOW-CONT ------------------------------------------------ 4 - SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS - DOW-SYSR ------------------------------------------------ 5 - ARMIES - DOW-ARMY 5.1 - NECRONS - DOW-NECR 5.2 - TAU - DOW-TAU 5.3 - SPACE MARINES - DOW-SPMR 5.4 - CHAOS SPACE MARINES - DOW-CSMR 5.5 - ELDAR - DOW-ELDR 5.6 - ORKS - DOW-ORKS 5.7 - IMPERIAL GUARD - DOW-IMGD ------------------------------------------------ 6 - SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN - DOW-SPCO 6.0.1 - GENERAL TIPS - DOW-GTIP 6.1 - CAMPAIGN MAP - DOW-CMAP 6.2 - MOVING AND ATTACKING - DOW-MVAA 6.3 - CONTINUITY AND DEFENCE - DOW-CNTD 6.4 - HONOUR GUARD - DOW-HONR 6.5 - WARGEAR - DOW-WARG ------------------------------------------------ 7 - SINGLE PLAYER STRATEGIES - DOW-SPLS 7.0.1 - GENERAL STRATEGIES - DOW-GNST 7.1 - BY ARMY - DOW-STBA 7.1.1 - NECRONS - DOW-NECS 7.1.2 - TAU - DOW-TAUS 7.1.3 - SPACE MARINES - DOW-SPMS 7.1.4 - CHAOS SPACE MARINES - DOW-CSMS 7.1.5 - ELDAR - DOW-ELDS 7.1.6 - ORKS - DOW-ORKT 7.1.7 - IMPERIAL GUARD - DOW-IMGS 7.2 - BONUS DEPENDENT SCENARIOS - DOW-BDSC 7.2.1 - PAVONIS - DOW-PAVO 7.2.2 - ERES BADLANDS - DOW-ERES 7.2.3 - HYPERION PEAKS - DOW-HYPR 7.2.4 - VANDEAN COAST - DOW-VAND 7.3 - STRONGHOLDS - DOW-STHD 7.3.1 - NECRONS - DOW-NEST 7.3.2 - TAU - DOW-TAST 7.3.3 - SPACE MARINES - DOW-SPST 7.3.4 - CHAOS SPACE MARINES - DOW-CSST 7.3.5 - ELDAR - DOW-ELST 7.3.6 - ORKS - DOW-ORST 7.3.7 - IMPERIAL GUARD - DOW-IMST ------------------------------------------------ 8 - SKIRMISH - DOW-SKIR ------------------------------------------------ 9 - MULTIPLAYER - DOW-MULT ------------------------------------------------ 10 - FAQs - DOW-FAQS ------------------------------------------------ 11 - E-MAIL POLICY - DOW-EPOL ------------------------------------------------ 12 - THANKS AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - DOW-TCPR ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ 4 - SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS - DOW-SYSR ------------------------------------------------ -------------------- Minimum Requirements -------------------- DirectX 9.0c (included on Disc) 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon XP or equivalent processor 512 MB RAM 3.5 GB free hard drive space 4x DVD-ROM drive 64 MB DirectX 9.0b compatible AGP video card with Hardware Transformation and Lighting DirectX 9.0b compatible sound card, 16 bit Keyboard Mouse ----- ------------------------ Recommended Requirements ------------------------ DirectX 9.0c (included on Disc) 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor 512 MB system RAM (required for 8-player multiplayer games) nVidia GeForce 3 or equivalent with 64 MB of Video RAM Sound Blaster X-Fi series ------------------------- ---------------------------- Requirements for Multiplayer ---------------------------- 1 disc per computer Internet: Cable modem, DSL modem, or better Network: LAN or broadband WAN ----------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 5 - ARMIES - DOW-ARMY ------------------------------------------------ Provided you have the original game and the Winter Assault expansion, there are seven playable factions in Dark Crusade, including the two new races, the Necrons and the Tau, both of which are very different from the five existing races, not to mention each other. As for the other five, they're pretty much the same, except they each get a new unit type. This information is really just a summary of the different races, for strategies and anything else gameplay related, see the Single Player Campaign Section, below. ------------------------------------------------ 5.1 - NECRONS - DOW-NECR ------------------------------------------------ The Necrons are an ancient race, and in many ways they're the futuristic undead They're a race of robots which house the souls of the Necrontyr, who lived some 60 million years ago. Since that time those on Kronus have slumbered in underground catacombs, at peace in their un-death. They are offended by all life; they see all those who cling to their lives as misguided and deluded, and whenever there is life the Necrons rise to destroy it and bring the peace of death. Thus, the presence of all the other races on Kronus has awakened the Necrons. Strengths - Melee Combat - The Necrons are powerful in combat, they have several units which excel in melee, and even the basic warriors are quite proficient. - Ranged Combat - Necron ranged attacks are also powerful, and they have a good range as well. Defensive structures have extremely powerful attacks. - Toughness - The Necrons give Space Marines a run for their money as the toughest race in the game. They have a lot of health and good defences, and they also have a chance at resurrecting after they've been killed. - Structures - It's debateable as to whether this is a good thing, but the Necrons train all their units at one structure: the Monolith. Being their HQ building you don't have to build a separate barracks or vehicle depot, but if you're not careful you could be caught with all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. Needless to say building more than one is often a good idea. - Economy - Again, this is debateable, but the Necron economy relies on power, and you don't get any requisition at all. You capture strategic points to increase the population and vehicle caps, and provide a bonus which reduces the time it takes to train units and research technology. However, getting the 'You don't have enough power, build more plasma generators' message when you're trying to build generators can be annoying. Weaknesses - Cost - Necrons ain't cheap. In fact, they're quite expensive. There's no doubt that you're getting good units, but you'll need a good flow of power to get your army off the ground and maintain it. You will find, in the end, that if you can keep a high power rate you won't have a problem, but in the early days, or if you lose the momentum, it can be a challenge. - Speed - Necrons are really slow. So slow, in fact, that I need to say it again. NECRONS ARE REALLY SLOW!! There are very few Necron units that move at a reasonable speed. These are the Lord and elite units like the Pariahs, as well as Destroyers. This can be really annoying, because if you're not careful your fast units will end up leaving the slow ones behind. And it's not just movement. The more units you have, the longer it takes to train new ones, and it's the same with building structures (regardless of the bonus you have for captures strategic points). So when it comes to the Necrons, patience really is a virtue. ------------------------------------------------ 5.2 - TAU - DOW-TAU ------------------------------------------------ The Tau are almost the opposite of the Necrons; young, idealistic and tolerant of other races (provided they join the Greater Good). The Greater Good is what the Tau's ruling class, the Ethereals, believe to be the ultimate goal for society at large, centred around peace and tolerance, although not that much is known about the Ethereals, so there's probably a dark side nobody's seen. They lack abilities in melee combat, so they have enlisted the help of alien mercenaries; the Kroot and Vespid. Strengths - Ranged Combat - The Tau excel at destroying their enemies from afar. They have some of the most powerful guns in the game, and some of them have phenomenal range. A Tau army, if composed and used properly, is almost impossible to outshoot. - Manoeuvrability - A Tau army can be surprisingly mobile if well composed, although this type of army tends to lose some of its shooting prowess, as some of the heavier guns are obviously less mobile. Weaknesses - Melee Combat - The Tau are bad up close, and, while the Kroot and Vespid can provide melee skill, this is more as a support role, as an army composed entirely of Kroot isn't going to be the strongest in melee combat. - Cost - The Tau aren't exactly cheap either, especially considering some of the technologies you need to research to access tier three units. You will find, in the end, that if you can keep a high requisition rate you won't have a problem, but in the early days, or if you lose the momentum, it can be a challenge. ------------------------------------------------ 5.3 - SPACE MARINES - DOW-SPMR ------------------------------------------------ There's not really much that needs to be said here, is there? Genetically engineered, superhuman warriors fighting the enemies of the Imperium of man. Tough as old boots and really killy, if you're new to Dawn of War this is the place to start. Strengths - Melee Combat - Space marines can dish out the damage in melee; they have units geared specifically to close combat, and the standard marines can hold the own. This is incredibly useful; knowing that your range based army won't capitulate when the enemy starts hitting it with big sticks. - Ranged Combat - Space marines can shoot just as well as they can fight; a space marine army consisting of tactical marines with heavy weapons, supported by predators and dreadnoughts, can devastate most opponents, the key however, is to equip your tactical marines with the right weapons. - Toughness - It's been said a million times before, but space marines just don't die. One of the reasons space marine armies are so successful at dealing the damage is because it takes the enemy so long to kill them. Admittedly they may have lost the title of toughest race to the Necrons, but they are, at the very least, the second toughest race in the game. - Versatility - This is probably the space marines' biggest strength. Their ability to engage both at range and up close and the equipment options for tactical marines make them quite versatile; a well composed space marine army will be able to meet almost any challenge head on. This ability to adapt to the situation can, however, be a double-edged sword. The space marines are a 'jack of all trades, master of none' race, so an army dedicated to ranged attacks will be able to outshoot them, and an army dedicated to melee will be able to outfight them. If you can't read the situation and adapt your tactics accordingly, then your space marines will get chewed up and spat out. This isn't always as easy as it sounds, because it often involves more considerations than; are they sooting me or hitting me? Weaknesses - Cost - Space marines aren't cheap. Building up an army of any reasonable size can cost quite a bit, and maintaining it in the field can prove to be just as expensive. You will find, in the end, that if you can keep a high requisition rate you won't have a problem, but in the early days, or if you lose the momentum, it can be a challenge. ------------------------------------------------ 5.4 - CHAOS SPACE MARINES - DOW-CSMR ------------------------------------------------ Chaos Space Marines: for those who like their space marines to be a little bit evil. They're still genetically engineered and superhuman, but other than that they're actually quite different from their former battle brothers; now they worship the Chaos Gods and are capable of all sorts of nasty things. Strengths - Melee Combat - Chaos space marines are scary in close combat. They have numerous units dedicated to melee; they can swamp the enemy and break them surprisingly easily, and then finish them off. Some of these units are also very effective for destroying vehicles and buildings. - Toughness - While not as tough as space marines (they certainly break more easily), they are still difficult to kill, and are more numerous. Weaknesses - Ranged Combat - Chaos space marines can't shoot in any real way. Some of their vehicles function well in a support role, but trying to create a Chaos army which relies on shooting isn't a good idea. They have few infantry units that can shoot well, so they have problems simply bringing enough guns to bear. That's why you need to be wary of enemies who attack you from afar, as you'll need to close quickly and get into melee, rather than try to shoot back. ------------------------------------------------ 5.5 - ELDAR - DOW-ELDR ------------------------------------------------ Eldar, aka Pansies. The Eldar are the futuristic equivalent to elves. They're an ancient race (they fought the Necrons aeons ago, and have fought Chaos for longer than any other race) whose time has passed, and they are now trying to destroy the evils of the galaxy before it's too late. Despite this, the Eldar are quite conceited; and it's apparent in most of the words of the Farseer. Note: I don't play with the Eldar very much, so this summary and the strategies in section 7 will be quite basic, I hope to improve them over time. Strengths - Speed - The Eldar are a fast moving army, they specialise in fast strikes, where they can get in, do some damage, then get out again before they get killed. Almost all of the Eldar vehicles are skimmers, making them very fast and manoeuvrable, and most Eldar infantry have the Fleet of Foot ability, allowing them to move faster at the cost of weapon accuracy. This isn't really a problem though, since you can simply turn Fleet of Foot off when you need to shoot. - Stealth - Stealth is another component of the Eldar's ability to deliver fast strikes where the enemy is unprepared, and it also serves as an effective defensive mechanism. Using Rangers to pinpoint the location of an attack can be useful, although it is undoubtedly the ability to have you entire base concealed from enemies which is the most helpful. All you need be wary of is enemies that can detect infiltrated units. - Special Abilities - The Eldar have a lot of special abilities; just look at the Farseer. These abilities range from defensive to offensive, to augmentative, and using them well can make all the difference. They can help you rally your troops, or kill or break the enemy, as well as a few things which are useful in less obvious ways. Weaknesses - Toughness - The Eldar aren't exactly tough. In fact, they're disturbingly fragile. If you don't use their speed and stealth, you could very well find yourself in a lot of trouble. ------------------------------------------------ 5.6 - ORKS - DOW-ORKS ------------------------------------------------ We'z da Orkz an' we'z da best!! Orks aren't exactly the brightest race out there. Put simply, they like to hit things. And shoot things. But mostly hit things. And just generally kill things. They're the futuristic version of the fantasy race, and they live for fighting and war. They believe they're superior to all races and that they can't be beaten in battle because, well, day'z da best. Note: I don't play with the Orks very much, so this summary and the strategies in section 7 will be quite basic, I hope to improve them over time. Strengths - Melee Combat - The Orks are great in melee, it is what they live for after all. They have a number of units which excel in close combat, most of which have different secondary characteristics, like jetpacks or heavier armour. This can create a flexible and powerful melee based army. - Numbers - There are a lot of Orks. Their population caps increase as you build more Wagggh!!! Banners, and you can amass quite a large number of Orks before it hits the maximum. Weaknesses - Ranged Combat - Ranged combat for the Orks is similar to ranged combat for Chaos, its best used in a supporting role. Most Ork vehicles have good firepower, if you use them to take out targets your masses of infantry will have problems with, ranged combat isn't that much of a weakness. It's really just a matter of knowing how to use it. ------------------------------------------------ 5.7 - IMPERIAL GUARD - DOW-IMGD ------------------------------------------------ The Imperial Guard is the army of humanity It's the men and women of the Imperium fighting the enemies of The Emperor. They often work alongside the space marines, however not on Kronus; the Blood Ravens on the planet are there for reasons of their own, while the Imperial Guard of the 1st Kronus Regiment are there to reclaim the planet. Strengths - Ranged Combat - The Imperial Guard can shoot. The combined firepower of an entire army is something to see; while a single squad of guardsmen shooting with their lasguns may look pathetic, eight squads with special weapons and the support of Leman Russ battle tanks, Hellhounds and Basilisks and, if you had the time to research it, a Baneblade, is anything but pathetic. - Numbers - You can end up with a lot of Imperial Guardsmen, which results in the ability to swamp an opponent. This can be very handy; send your guardsmen in to attack the enemy while your tanks lay waste at a distance. Your enemy will get tangle up in your guardsmen and (because they're so quick and cheap to reinforce) have a lot of trouble getting through them. Your guardsmen will probably end up splattered across the battlefield, but you can't be a true Imperial Guard Commander unless you have a total disregard for the men at your disposal (besides, there's always more where they came from). - Bases - Imperial Guard bases are useful for several reasons. Firstly, you increase your population and vehicle caps by building barracks and vehicle depots. This means that you don't have to spend much more requisition than most other races to increase your caps, but you get multiple infantry and vehicle producing structures, thus minimising any 'unhatched infant hens in a lone woven wood receptacle' incidents. Secondly, Imperial Guard bases contain vast tunnel networks, allow any infantry unit to travel from one structure to another (excluding Listening Posts) with only a slight delay, which is extremely useful if your base is built over a large area, which can be common due to the number of buildings you can end up with, or if you have more than one base. Weaknesses - Melee Combat - The Imperial Guard don't fare to well in melee. They only really have one unit that can do well in combat, they can be handy support if you find the enemy manages to get to grips, but otherwise, keep your distance and get as many guns as possible. - Toughness - Imperial Guard infantry are weak. Vehicles are a different story; the Guard have some of the hardest vehicles in the game, but since you'll have so much infantry in your army, it's something you need to be aware of. Guardsmen can be reinforced quickly and cheaply, but it can be difficult to keep track of all the squads while directing the battle, unless you're clever with your grouping. ------------------------------------------------ 6 - SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN - DOW-SPCO ------------------------------------------------ The single player campaign in Dark Crusade is different from those of the original game and Winter Assault in that it is completely free-form. You are presented with a battle map of Kronus, which is divided into 25 provinces, and tasked with conquering the planet any way you like. This will not be an easy task though, as all of the other six races are attempting to do the same thing. ------------------------------------------------ 6.0.1 - GENERAL TIPS - DOW-GTIP ------------------------------------------------ ----------------- Thanks to ZanderX - Built up bases at all other spawn points before you destroy the enemies last HQ. As the campaign remembers all major completed structures on the map you fought on before. Having many bases built on every map will enable you to defend that much eaiser. Especially if possible, cap as many strategic points and built listening posts, have about 4-6 power generators at every base. have troop-producing buildings at all major junctions of the map. At late game, you will ahve to fight defensive battles almost every round. It will save you much time. - Know which troops are infiltrating detecting units. You will have need for them, especially fighting the Tau. - Attach the commanders to the strongest squads, when possible. Wil cut down on the micro and keep him alive more easily. Can still use their special powers in the squad. - Know which commanders can be attached to squads and which can't. Especially in early games, attaching the commander to a squad instead of leaving him at base will give a firepower boost. - Get the bonus provinces early. Parvonis is most critical. For my campaign, I actually saw the Eldar HQ province get attacked by Necrons and the Eldar race get wiped out by AI. Its possible. I reloaded the game and thankfully, it did not happen again. Got Parvonis and I managed to attack and isolate every single race back to their HQ province, fencing them off from all other races. Of course, this meant that after your turn, you spent time defending every round they attack you. Since they can ONLY attack you. That's where the first tip comes in handy ;) ----------------- ------------------------------------------------ 6.1 - CAMPAIGN MAP - DOW-CMAP ------------------------------------------------ The campaign map is where you will control your army's movements between the different provinces, as well as allow you to do many other things, such as create honour guard units, station troops in friendly provinces and track your kills and conquests. --------- Provinces --------- There are 25 provinces in the game, seven strongholds, six provinces providing special bonuses and twelve normal provinces. However, regardless of the type of province, they all have some basic information in common, which indicates how valuable that province is and how hard it will be to conquer: Strength This is a number from 1 to 15 representing how heavily fortified a province is. In the case of a enemy province, it will let you know the kind of resistance you will face should you attack it. In the case of your own provinces, it will let you know what kind of attack you will be able to fend off (This only really applies to auto-resolve, see below). You can increase your defensive rating by garrisoning troops in a particular province, your rating is also affected by the number of structures you built when you conquered the province in the first place. Typically the most heavily defended provinces are strongholds. Requisition This is a number between 50 and 100 showing the amount of planetary requisition that the province will generate for you each turn (see below). Bonus There are three possibilities here. Firstly, the bonus for a normal province will be an honour guard unit that you can train using planetary requisition. Secondly, a special bonus can be earned from six provinces (see below). Finally, strongholds do not provide any bonus, but they always provide 100 planetary requisition. Army If an enemy army is in the province you are looking at, you will see the units currently in that army's honour guard, and will have to click the Recon button to see the basic information. -------------- Province Types -------------- Strongholds Strongholds are the HQ provinces for each of the seven races, and are vital to the success of an army on Kronus. Successfully attacking an enemy stronghold will drive that race from Kronus, regardless of what other provinces the may still hold. Conquering all six enemy strongholds will result in victory and the completion of the campaign. This is, however, a double edged sword: you have a stronghold as well, and if you are defeated at your stronghold you will fail the campaign and reload a previous save or restart. Special Bonus Provinces There are six provinces on Kronus which provide unique special bonuses for the faction which controls them. They are as follows: - Pavonis - Spaceport - This allows you to launch an attack on any enemy province, excluding strongholds, regardless of where your army is. - The Eres Badlands - Fury - This allows you to move or attack twice in a single turn, which is a potent ability, as you will amass planetary requisition and honour guard units more quickly than everyone else. Note that with Fury and Spaceport you can attack an enemy stronghold from anywhere, by first moving to an adjacent province to the stronghold, and then attacking it with your second move. - The Aceria Forests - Increased Manpower - This increases the population caps for all of your battles, allowing you to field more troops. - The Hyperion Peaks - Forward Base - This allows you to use planetary requisition to have certain structures dropped with you HQ building when the battle begins. - The Ariel Highlands - Bulwark - Reduces the amount of planetary requisition needed to garrison troops at a province, as well as the amount of requisition returned when troops are withdrawn. - The Vandean Coast - Industrial Production - This allows you to start every battle with additional resources. Normal Provinces Normal provinces are just that, normal. They have no special bonus and an average amount of requisition, although they do add a unit to your honour guard, just remember you still have to spend the planetary requisition to train them. --------------------- Planetary Requisition --------------------- Planetary requisition is essentially requisition spent on the Campaign Map. You get it at the beginning of every turn, and the amount depends on the number of provinces you control, and the amount of requisition each one provides. Thus, the more provinces you conquer, the more planetary requisition you get. Each type of province gets it's own amount of planetary requisition: - Strongholds - +100 - Normal Provinces - +75 - Special Bonus Provinces - +50 There are two things you can spend it on: - Reinforcing Provinces (see below) - Training Honour Guard units (see 6.2) --------------------- Reinforcing Provinces --------------------- Reinforcing involves spending planetary requisition to station troops at provinces currently in your control, and thus increasing your defensive capability should any of those provinces come under attack. The number of squads you can reinforce a province with is limited, and so garrisoning the maximum of squads in a province will not limit the number you can garrison in others, or the caps on the battlefield. If you decide that a province is no longer under threat, you can recall the troops there, but you will only get back half the planetary requisition you spent in the first place. Also, should a province come under attack and the garrisoned troops be destroyed, you must re-train them if you want to keep them there (provided you won the battle). To reinforce a province, simply click the province, then click the Reinforce button to bring up the list of troops you can garrison, and their respective costs of planetary requisition. You can play around with the number of squads you want to garrison, provided you have the requisition; the reinforcements aren't actually sent until you hit the Accept button. -------------------- The Commander Screen -------------------- Clicking the Commander button in the lower right hand corner of the screen will bring up a screen which shows details about your campaign. It lists the enemies you've defeated, the units currently in your Honour Guard as well as those available for training, the Special Province Bonuses you currently have, as well as your kills, Conquests and Defences. Also listed are the health and damage stats of your Commander. If you click on the Wargear button you are taken to the Wargear screen, which shows all of the wargear your Commander can obtain, the pieces they already have, and their current stats. If you have any available selections you may double click on a piece of wargear to obtain it. If you change your mind simply double click again to de-select it, the wargear isn't added until you hit Continue, and once a piece of wargear is added it can't be removed or changed, so choose wisely, even though you'll end up with all of them. ------------------------------------------------ 6.2 - MOVING AND ATTACKING - DOW-MVAA ------------------------------------------------ Moving and attacking on the Campaign Map is really easy. Your army's position is represented by a small model of you Commander, and from this province will be arrows leading to all adjacent provinces. If a province is controlled by you, then the arrow will be green, and if it is controlled by an enemy it will be red. If you click on one of these friendly provinces and click the Move button, your army will move there. If you click on an enemy province and click the same button, which now says Attack, you will bring up a screen displaying the province's information as well as the enemy presence there. From here you may add Honour Guard units if you have the requisition, then either Attack the province or Cancel, by clicking the relevant button. ------------------------------------------------ 6.3 - CONTINUITY AND DEFENCE - DOW-CNTD ------------------------------------------------ While you're moving around the Campaign Map attacking and conquering provinces, the enemy is doing the same, and sometimes they'll have the nerve to attack one of your provinces. Now, you can Auto-resolve them, but you stand more chance of retaining the province if you fight the battle yourself, plus if you want all ten pieces of wargear you'll have to fight five successful defences. It's now that you'll realise why it pays to build a big base whenever possible. The game remembers what you've built in a province and when you start the a defence, you start with all those structures. This means that you'll start with capped Strategic Points and Plasma Generators for a good economy, and the structures necessary to train and upgrade infantry, as well as build vehicles. This is why, when conquering a province, if you ever find your builder units standing around with nothing to do while your army goes off to attack the enemy, have them build as many unit producing structures as possible, along with Plasma Generators if you don't already have the maximum. You should also upgrade Listening Posts at this point. Now if you have to defend the province, you'll be much better equipped to do so. You'll be able to build several infantry squads straight away (you may have to wait a bit for extra power to build vehicles), you should use these to rush the enemy; remember how fragile you are in the first few minutes of attacking a province. Well, now it's the other way round, get in there fast (within two minutes if possible), even if it's only with a couple of squads, and start wreaking havoc while newly trained units come to join the fight. Against enemies attacking from an well entrenched province, they'll start with two bases, but each one will be just as vulnerable. Speed is paramount here, you need to knock out one base very quickly, then get all your troops together and charge into the second base. The only problem you could run into is a large enemy Honour Guard. You don't get to see their Honour Guard on the screen where you choose to fight or auto- resolve, so make ure you keep track of Honour Guards at all times. If you do run into a big one you'll either find yourself in a big fight right at the outset where you'll need to keep pumping troops into the enemy, or, if your base is big enough and you train your troops as quickly as possible, the enemy Honour Guard may very well end up being nothing more than a speed bump on the road to victory. ------------------------------------------------ 6.4 - HONOUR GUARD - DOW-HONR ------------------------------------------------ Your Honour Guard is like a standing army. They are troops you can train using planetary requisition that will begin the battle alongside your commander. You'll start off with no Honour Guard units, and for every normal province you conquer, you'll add a unit to your honour guard list, so by the later stages of the game you can have quite a large army at the beginning of every battle. Just remember that your enemies will have Honour Guards too. There are a couple of things about Honour Guard units which make them different than their standard counter-parts. For squads, the Honour Guard units usually have less members, but are also usually some sort of veterans, making them more powerful. Vehicles are usually the same, although in most cases they're only light vehicles. It's also worth noting that Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines don't actually get squads, they get individual marines. This may seem quite bad, but the marines are capable of taking down quite a lot, especially the Chaos Marines. In fact, a full Chaos Honour Guard, despite being very small in numbers, is surprisingly powerful. The other good thing about Honour Guard is that they only need to be re-trained if they're killed. If they don't die in one battle, they'll be right there for the next, in fact, if you lose control of a province, you keep the Honour Guard bonus it gave (if you currently have it trained), until it dies. This can be incredibly helpful, and allow you to save quite a bit of planetary requisition in the long run. There are twelve Honour Guard units for each race, and they are as follows: ------- Necrons ------- The Demes Northlands - Tomb Spyder The Panrea Lowlands - Wraith The Orestan Plains - Crypt Warrior Squad The Pavonian Heartland - Crypt Immortal Squad The Agamar Desert - Catacomb Flayed Ones The Western Barrens - Builder Scarabs The Van de Mar Mountains - Crypt Warrior Squad The Janus Savannah - Crypt Warrior Squad The Rhean Jungle - Catacomb Flayed Ones The Rhean Floodlands - Destroyer The Morriah Coast - Crypt Warrior Squad The Murad Swamplands - Crypt Pariah Squad --- Tau --- The Demes Northlands - Fire Warrior Bodyguard The Panrea Lowlands - Veteran Stealth Team The Orestan Plains - Crisis Suit Guard The Pavonian Heartland - Kroot Alpha Pack The Agamar Desert - Fire Warrior Bodyguard The Western Barrens - Vespid Elder Strain The Van de Mar Mountains - Veteran Stealth Team The Janus Savannah - Kroot Alpha Pack The Rhean Jungle - Crisis Suit Guard The Rhean Floodlands - Kroot Hunting Pack The Morriah Coast - Skyray Missile Gunship The Murad Swamplands - Kroot Elder Shaper ------------- Space Marines ------------- The Demes Northlands - Veteran Assault Marine The Panrea Lowlands - First Company Veteran The Orestan Plains - First company Veteran The Pavonian Heartland - Veteran Assault Marine The Agamar Desert - Dreadnought The Western Barrens - Land Speeder The Van de Mar Mountains - First Company Veteran The Janus Savannah - Hellfire Dreadnought The Rhean Jungle - Reclusiarch The Rhean Floodlands - First Company Terminator The Morriah Coast - Senior Librarian The Murad Swamplands - First Company Terminator ------------------- Chaos Space Marines ------------------- The Demes Northlands - Daemonkin Obliterator The Panrea Lowlands - Berserker Champion The Orestan Plains - Berserker Champion The Pavonian Heartland - Raptor Champion The Agamar Desert - Chaos Sorcerer The Western Barrens - Defiler The Van de Mar Mountains - Possessed Champion The Janus Savannah - Chosen Champion The Rhean Jungle - Raptor Champion The Rhean Floodlands - Raptor Champion The Morriah Coast - Chosen Champion The Murad Swamplands - Chosen Champion ----- Eldar ----- The Demes Northlands - Veteran Ranger Squad The Panrea Lowlands - Veteran Ranger Squad The Orestan Plains - Fire Dragon Exarch Council The Pavonian Heartland - Warp Spider Exarchs The Agamar Desert - Reaper Exarch Council The Western Barrens - Banshee Exarch Council The Van de Mar Mountains - Vyper The Janus Savannah - Vyper The Rhean Jungle - Seer Council The Rhean Floodlands - Wraithlord The Morriah Coast - Banshee Exarch Council The Murad Swamplands - Warp Spider Exarchs ---- Orks ---- The Demes Northlands - Killa Kan The Panrea Lowlands - Wartrak The Orestan Plains - Big 'Eavy Nob Squad The Pavonian Heartland - Mega Armoured Nobz The Agamar Desert - 'Eavy Shoota Boyz Squad The Western Barrens - 'Eavy Shoota Boyz Squad The Van de Mar Mountains - 'Eavy Tankbustaz Squad The Janus Savannah - Mad Dok The Rhean Jungle - 'Eavy Shoota Boyz Squad The Rhean Floodlands - 'Eavy Stormboyz Squad The Morriah Coast - 'Eavy Stormboyz Squad The Murad Swamplands - Killa Kan -------------- Imperial Guard -------------- The Demes Northlands - Sentinel The Panrea Lowlands - Vindicare Assassin The Orestan Plains - Regimental Commissar The Pavonian Heartland - Regimental Bodyguard The Agamar Desert - Bone'ead Squad The Western Barrens - Hellhound The Van de Mar Mountains - Vindicare Assassin The Janus Savannah - Sanctioned Psyker The Rhean Jungle - Sentinel The Rhean Floodlands - Veteran Kasrkin Squad The Morriah Coast - Regimental Bodyguard The Murad Swamplands - Veteran Kasrkin Squad ------------------------------------------------ 6.5 - WARGEAR - DOW-WARG ------------------------------------------------ Wargear turns your Commander from a basic character in an army killing machine. Well, almost. Each Race has ten pieces of wargear which increases the Commander's power, and is also reflected aesthetically on the character model. The wargear will increase health, morale, melee damage and ranged damage, as well as a few other things which are more specific to each race. Generally speaking the upgrade that allows the Commander to detect infiltrated units is the most useful, given the new infiltration system, which allows units to attack while still hidden. Wargear is earned by completing ten different requirements over the course of the campaign, all bar one of the requirements are based on progression, so you don't really need to do anything special to get them. They are as follows: - 3 to 1 Kill Ratio (minimum of 200 kills - thanks to noob_of_destiny for this info) - 1 Conquest - 5 Conquests - 15 Conquests - 1 Defence (Auto-resolve doesn't count) - 3 Defences (Auto-resolve doesn't count) - 5 Defences (Auto-resolve doesn't count) - 2000 Kills - 5000 Kills - 3 Defeated Enemies The pieces of wargear are as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Zander X for the extra wargear info, stats and character abilities ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- Necron Lord of Kronus (not attachable) -------------------------------------- Abilities: Teleport Researched Abilities: Phase Shifter (phase out) Lightning Field (reflects damage, charged lightning attack) (choose up to 3 Chronometron (slows enemies around) researched abilities) Solar Pulse (reveals infiltrated, prevents ranged attacks) Mass Ressurection (ressurrects surrounding units 25% hp) Summon Nightbringer (transform into uber unit) Wargear: Skinning Blades - Increases melee damage (+30) and morale lost. Reaping Blades - Requires Skinning Blades, increases melee damage (+55). Necrontyr Sigils - Increases ranged damage (+107). Gauss Flayer - Requires Necrontyr Sigils, increases ranged damage (+45). Death Mask - Reveals infiltrated units, increases health (+200hp). Reinforced body - reduces damage from melee, greatly increases health (+1000hp). Mantle of Doom - Requires Reinforced Body, increases health and morale (+200hp). Heart of Darkness - Increases health regeneration. Death Grip - Increases damage (+25% damage) and health (+200hp). Death Shroud - increases speed, reduces damage from ranged attacks. ----------------------------------------------------- Tau Millitary Commander: Shas'0 Kais (not attachable) ----------------------------------------------------- Abilities: Snare Trap (infiltrated, slows enemies) Target Acquired (powerful ranged attack) Wargear: Flamer - Additional weapon (+22 ranged), effective against infantry. Fusion Blaster - Replaces standard burst cannon (+95), effective against vehicles. Plasma Rifle - Requires Fusion Blaster, effective against all units (+70). Missile Pods - Additional weapon, effective against vehicles (+130). Advanced Sensor Array - Reveals infiltrated units, increases health (+200hp). Iridium Armour - Reduces damage from all attacks, greatly increases health (+1000hp). Jetpack - Enables jump capability. Stealth Field - Enables infiltration. Shield Drone - Commander can train one shield drone, drone can draw fire and generate powerful ion shield. Gun Drone - Requires Shield Drone, Commander can train gun drones, drones can protect against infantry. ----------------------------------------------------------- SPace Marines Force Commander: Brother-Captain Davian Thule Starting Stats: (attachable) HP: 3750 Melee: 125 Ranged: 55 ---------------------------------- Abilities: After Orbital Relay: Orbital Bombardment Alexian's Blade - Replaces standard chainsword, increases melee damage (+153). Daemonhammer - Requires Alexian's Blade, increases melee damage (+232). Plasma Pistol - Replaces standard bolt pistol, increases ranged damage (+120). Melta Gun - Requires Plasma Pistol, increases ranged damage (+60). Iron Halo - Protects against ranged attacks, increases health (+400hp). Veteran's Pauldrons - Greatly increases health (+1200hp). Azariah's Cincture - Protects against melee attacks, increases health (+400hp). Champion's Gauntlets - Increases health (+200hp) and damage (+25% damage). Custom Greaves - Increases speed and health (+200hp). Teleporter - Enables teleportation. --------------------------------- Chaos Lord: Eliphas The Inheritor Starting Stats: (attachable) HP: 3260 Melee: 156 Ranged: 112 ----------------------------------- Abilities: Tainted Auspex (reveals infiltrated) After Ascension Daemon Roar (breaks morale) Researched Abilites: Daemon Strength (higher damage output and received) Wargear: Manreaper - Replaces standard power sword, increases melee damage (+31). Accursed Crosius - Requires Manreaper, increases melee damage (+281). Plasma Pistol - Replaces standard bolt pistol, increases ranged damage (+136). Melta Gun - Requires Plasma Pistol, increases ranged damage (+71). Helm of Lorgar - Reveals infiltrated units, increases melee damage (+50) and health (+200). Daemonic Armour - Protects against melee attacks, greatly increases health (+800hp). Daemonic Gauntlets - Increases damage (+25% damage) and health (+300hp). Runic Boots - Grants immunity to knockdown, increases health (+300hp). Banner of Chaos - Damage enemy morale, increases health (+300). Daemonic Ascension - Requires all other wargear, Commander permanently ascends to become a Daemon Prince (Stats Page~ HP: 8000 Melee:1011 Ranged: 316). ------------------------------ Eldar Farseer: Farseer Taldeer Starting Stats: (attachable) HP: 2620 Melee: 71 Ranged: 47 ---------------------------------- Witchblade - Replaces standard power sword, increases melee damage (+37). Singing Spear - Requires Witchblade, increases melee damage (+45). Shuriken Pistol - Replaces basic pistol, increases ranged damage (+46). Twin Shuriken Pistol - Requires Shuriken Pistol, increases ranged damage (+40). Ghosthelm - Increases ability recharge rate and health (+200hp). Wraithbone Armour - Greatly increases health (+1200hp). Gauntlets of Isha - Increases ability recharge rate and health (+500hp). Runes of Warding - Protects against ranged attacks, increases health (+600hp). Runes of Witnessing - Reveals infiltrated enemies, increases ability recharge rate. Rune Aura - Greatly increases regeneration of Farseer and nearby allies. ---- Ork Warchief: Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter Starting Stats: (not attachable) HP: 4000 Melee: 200 Ranged: 166 ---- Bigga Claw - Replaces standard claw, increases melee damage (+100). Mega Claw - Requires Bigga Claw, increases melee damage (+60). Kustom Shoota - Replaces standard shoota, increases ranged damage (+34). Mega Blaster - Requires Kustom Shoota, increases ranged damage (+30). Big Horns - Increases melee damage (+135) and health (+600hp). Red Iron Gob - Increases melee damage (+135) and health (+600hp). Mega 'Eavy Armour - Greatly increases health (+2000hp). Fasta Legs - Increases speed and health (+600hp). Skullz - Damages enemy morale, increases health (+600hp). Boss Pole - Increases Ork population and vehicle cap, increases health (+600hp). ------------------------------------------------------------ Imperial Guard Commander: Governor-Millitant Lukas Alexander Starting Stats: (has own Command Squad) Hp: 870 Melee: 81 Ranged: 89 ---------------------------------------- Master-Crafted Power Claws - Replaces standard power claws, increases melee damage (+27). Power Fists - Requires Master-Crafted Power Claws, increases melee damage (+117). Storm Bolter - Replaces standard Bolter, increases ranged damage (+74). Plasma Pistol - Requires Storm Bolter, increases ranged damage (+55). Targeting Optics - Reveals infiltrated units, increases ranged damage (+25% damage). Carapace Pauldrons - Protects against ranged attacks, increases health (+500hp). Carapace Chest Plate - Protects against ranged attacks, increases health (+700hp). Carapace Greaves - Increases movement speed and health (+300hp). Victory Sash - Increases Morale of all Guardsmen squads, increases overall requisition rate. Governor's Raiment - Adds Squad and Vehicle Cap, allows Kasrkin bodyguard in Command Squad. ------------------------------------------------ 7 - SINGLE PLAYER STRATEGIES - DOW-SPLS ------------------------------------------------ This section contains, as the name suggests, strategies to use against the AI, including the specific scenarios which have special victory conditions. It is grouped by army, enemy, bonus dependent scenarios (the battles played on provinces providing special bonuses), and stronghold battles, which also have their own special victory conditions. As noted in the introduction, the strategies outlined are fairly basic, my aim is to provide simple and effective tips and tactics now, and add more complex and advanced strategies over time, along with reader contributions. ----------------------------------------- Thanks to Zander X for the following info ----------------------------------------- I've personally seen AI races taking out the other AI completely! Which means that the player will not be able to see or fight the stronghold of that certain race! amazing! its random though, cos i reloaded the game and it didn't happen again. Which made me use a strategy: using parvonis, I attacked ALL the other border provinces surrounding each race and effectively cutting them off from all other races' province except my own. Phew, you can imagine every turn I had to defend 6 times usually ;). I could send you my save file if you wana see it. And such I have pretty good strats to effectively deal with each attack as well. ------------------------------------------------ 7.0.1 - GENERAL STRATEGIES - DOW-GNST ------------------------------------------------ This is a brief outline of tried and tested RTS strategies, which can prove effective (or ineffective) in Dawn of War for most, if not all of, the races. ------- Rushing ------- Ah, the rush; the quintessential RTS strategy. If done correctly, it can provide almost universal victory in any number of real time strategy games, and it works well in Dawn of War. Rushing in Dark Crusade can be very powerful, and will defeat the AI on normal in almost any situation. The nature of Dawn of War is actually very conducive to the rush. It emphasises action over resource gathering and base building, so it is quicker and easier to build an army and also means that an opponent's base will be small and closely grouped, making a successful rush much easier to perform. Rushing, for those of you who don't know, involves, as the name suggests, quickly training units and attacking the enemy as soon as possible. In Dawn of War you don't need to be that fast, at least not against the normal level AI, and if you attack within the first five minutes or so, you'll only need a few infantry squads to reach the enemy's HQ building and destroy it. There are only two things which can hinder this strategy in the campaign. Firstly, enemy Honour Guards, which, if they are large enough, can blunt a rush and leave you vulnerable to a counter-attack, although, if you add the strength of your own Honour Guard you can often overcome this problem, and be sure to check the size of an enemy's Honour Guard before you start the battle to know whether a rush is feasible. The second thing is an enemy who is well entrenched in a given province, and thus has two bases. This can provide problems if you are unable to knock out the first enemy base, or if you are unable to find one of the bases, as the second will develop to the point where it can repel your rush. -------- Turtling -------- Turtling is not a strategy that will work in Dark Crusade. While it may be tempting to implement an almost exclusively defensive style because of the continuous nature of the campaign, a lack of limited resources means that an enemy cannot weaken themselves; if you don't have the Strategic Points, they do, and the longer they have them the stronger they become, until it reaches the point that the defensive player simply cannot compete. Combine this with the fact that there is now a cap on the number of defensive structures that can be built, and there is almost no way that turtling will succeed. A defensive strategy can be successful, but it still needs to be quick; a defensive stance should only be taken until the player is ready to attack, and this should be as soon as there is a force capable of attacking. The old axiom really holds true in Dark Crusade: time is of the essence. Turtling, for those of you who don't know, is a strategy which focuses on defensive measures to the exclusion of almost all else. While Dark Crusade lacks all the defensive structures necessary for a good Turtle, defensive forces can make a good substitute in this role, but ultimately will compromise your offensive capability, and it is impossible to win in the campaign without attacking. Psychotic Penguin's strategy, below, works very well, and exhibits how successful a defensive strategy can, so don't let my above rambling turn you off a defensive play style, it's just that I don't see such defensive strategies as pure turtling. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- --------------------------- Thanks to Psychotic Penguin --------------------------- You said that turtling was virtually impossible. From my experiences on the Single Player, that statement is not true. With most scenarios(Aside from the special scenarios) I've turtled my way through many, many battles. I always built a small defensive group to guard, and sent my army to the slaughter. One thing I did notice, if you build more than one HQ, your abilities to get turrets and power generators grow. I have not tested yet if you can, in theory, get a wall of turrets if you build many HQ's in a corner somewhere. I play Necrons religously, and I've been able to get a large turret network by building 4 monoliths in the corner of my main base. --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 7.1 - BY ARMY - DOW-STBA ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ 7.1.1 - NECRONS - DOW-NECS ------------------------------------------------ ---------- Basic Tips ---------- - The Necron economy relies on power; you don't even get requisition, so more Plasma Generators are needed than for other armies. - Don't neglect strategic points, you need them to increase the population and vehicle caps. Remember that these points mush have Listening Posts on them, and that only Builder Scarabs can capture points. - Necron infantry is slow, grouping your unit types by speed can provide a simple way to regulate the formation of your army as it moves across the battlefield and attacks opponents. - Necrons are proficient at both range and in melee, so it can be useful to create your army based on whichever your opponent is weakest at. - Upgrade your Listening Posts. They have more powerful weapons than other Races' Posts, and they can provide a valuable defence. - If you're going to use the Awakened Monolith, make sure you build a second one; sending your only HQ building out towards the enemy is not a smart thing to do. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Necron tips/strategy: Use the Lord Destroyer's Stasis Field to stun a powerful enemy vehicle and then possess it. Solar pulse combined with teleport can easily disable enemy ranged units. ---------------------------------- Thanks to Theo I found that an easy way to kill computer opponents. This works especially well for the campaign, including the stronghold missions. As Necrons, only build a warrior squad or so in the beginning. After you have access to Flayed ones, max out the monolith with flayed ones, plus 1 wraith. Send the wraith toward an objective or the enemy base. once the base is in sight, summon flayed ones on that sight. The only mission where this strategy did not quite work was against the imperial guard, because they are immune to damage and have quite strong melee and ranged, so they would all die, but I would lose 1 or 2 squads of flayed ones per squad of space marines, especially against terminators. Even so, adding destroyer line vehicles helps immensely. Usually, on regular maps, this will kill in one summoning of a monolith, but on the strong hold maps it helps to have multiple monoliths, and one should be prepared to summon the army again, against the stronger ranged opponents. -------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Strategies and Tactics ---------------------- Your objective in the single player campaign is (obviously) to win, and to do this you need to maximise your strengths and exploit the enemies weaknesses while protecting your own. This means you need to create an army which will be effective and efficient at what it does, and also be the deadliest one you can create against the particular race you are fighting. The Necrons are an easy race to achieve this, as their strengths are quite versatile, and their weaknesses are not very encumbering. Their speed is simply something you have to live with; an army is only as fast as it's slowest unit, and their cost can be overcome with an effective use of Necron Warriors (which are free to create), so that you can use early power resources to create Plasma Generators. Their offensive capabilities are extremely useful and just about take care of themselves; building an army based on Warriors supported by Immortals, Pariahs and Destroyer variants will be capable of fighting both at range and in melee. This really comes into play when you consider the Necrons' toughness. Their health and armour, combined with the chance to get back up after being killed (not to mention the Resurrection Orb, an upgrade for the Lord which allows the resurrection of all dead Necrons in the area around the Lord), make them able to withstand attacks that would destroy other armies. This allows you more time to change your tactics should you come across a specialised enemy; if you're suddenly attacked by a Tau army with a million guns, you'll have more than three seconds to get your troops moving in to melee before it's too late and you're reduced to a heap of molten slag. If you're planning on rushing with your Necrons, you'll need to be quicker getting your army on its way than you would for other races, as it'll take them longer to reach the enemy base. You'll only really need three squads of Warriors, plus an Honour Guard that you may have, and you should be able to take out the enemy base with ease. If you're fighting an enemy with two bases, keep training troops after your first rushing force has left, just in case you have trouble finding one of the bases or you encounter more resistance than expected. ------------------------------------------------ 7.1.2 - TAU - DOW-TAUS ------------------------------------------------ ---------- Basic Tips ---------- - The Tau themselves don't do well in melee. If the enemy gets close you need to make sure you troops can retreat to keep shooting. - The Kroot and Vespid are useful auxiliaries, even of all you use them for is to provide a screen for your Fire Warriors. - Unlike other races, Tau can't build defensive turrets, so leaving more troops to defend at your base can be a good idea. Deployed Broadsides are great for this purpose. - At the upper technology tiers, you should decide between using the Mont'ka Command or the Kauyon Command, depending which one suits your style. You don't have to use either, but they provide bonuses you wouldn't otherwise get, so you should use one of them. - Tau aren't cheap, so make sure you always keep a good economy, and always upgrade Listening Posts near your base for that extra defensive boost. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Tau tips/strategy: Put the Ethereal in a Devilfish Troop Carrier. This makes it near impossible for the enemy to find and kill him. --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Strategies and Tactics ---------------------- The biggest strength the Tau have is their ranged attacks. The Tau can shoot really well, thus the backbone of your army should be Fire Warriors supported by Battlesuits and vehicles sporting bigger guns. You also shouldn't overlook the Kroot and Vespid; they have melee skills which can hold an enemy in place while you shoot them or other parts of the enemy army. These troops also have a less obvious benefit. If you send them at the enemy while your Tau units stay back, you'll increase the line of sight distance and allow you to shoot from farther away (some Tau troops can actually shoot further than they can see!!) One of the tricks to using the Kroot and Vespid effectively is knowing how many you need. Having a few squads means they can survive longer and do more damage in combat, but for every squad you have, that's one less squad of guns, which is where the Tau really excel. You should also steer clear of using an army composed almost entirely of Kroot and Vespid, while it isn't automatically doomed to failure, I've found that they don't always do so well; unsurprisingly, the auxiliaries work best when used in an auxiliary role. As for the minimising the Tau weaknesses, your first and foremost consideration should be keeping them away from all enemies, especially those proficient in melee combat. Fire Warriors are some of the worst melee fighters in the game, so you want to keep them in a position where they won't have to fight against anything, to both minimise the weakness and maximise the strength (they can't shoot if they're in melee). If an enemy army happens to come charging at you, you're confronted with an interesting problem. You may be tempted to leave your troops where they are if you think you can destroy the enemy before they reach you, be warned that if they fail you'll be in big trouble. In the long run you're better off forsaking the extra fire in favour of moving your forces out of harms way, or better yet, use Kroot and Vespid to keep them safe without having to move them. Rushing with Tau can be easy if you can establish a solid economy. Only a few squads of Fire Warriors are necessary for a rush, but since they cost 210 requisition to train, and you need to spend that much again to get them from three warriors to six, if you don't have the economy or the Honour Guard, then it may not be the best idea. One more thing, if you get far enough along the technology tree, you'll be able to train an Ethereal. The Ethereal is quite powerful, not because of his abilities but rather the bonuses he provides to all Tau on the battlefield (increases in health, morale and damage). The downside is that all Tau will suffer temporary, but large losses in each of those stats should the Ethereal die, so it can be a good idea just to leave him in the protection of your base. ------------------------------------------------ 7.1.3 - SPACE MARINES - DOW-SPMS ------------------------------------------------ ---------- Basic Tips ---------- - A couple of units of Scouts in the early days can be useful for capturing Strategic Points and, once the Infiltration research is complete, scouting the enemy position. - Tactical Marines are the backbone of the Space Marine army, start making squads as soon as you have a barracks and keep making them. - Grey Knights, the new unit for the Space Marines, are a potent unit, capable of taking on infantry at range or in melee, and vehicles and buildings in melee. They're not invincible though, and need support or they'll end up dead really quickly. - With the heavy weapon capacity upgrade, tactical squads can wield five heavy or special weapons, so use them all. The most effective way to do this is with five of the same weapon, to create a squad that is extremely effective at it's given role. - Terminators and Assault Terminators no longer require a Relic to train, but are limited to one unit of each type. Use both if you get that far along the technology tree, they are very powerful, provided they receive good support. - Space Marine Honour Guard infantry units are single marines rather than whole squads, grouping them together with your Commander and the Librarian, and a squad of Assault Marines for extra support can create a very strong melee unit to spearhead any attacks. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------- Thanks to 0ut0fAmmo It is worth noting that Grey Knights excel at killing anything with "Daemon"- class armor, including Ogryns, Krootoxs, and Squiggoths. -------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Strategies and Tactics ---------------------- Space Marines, being the most versatile race in the game, have plenty of strengths, allowing you to easily create an army which is designed to exploit the weaknesses of the enemy. This means that, on the most basic level, you should compose you army with units your enemy will have problems dealing with; a melee based army against Tau, a range based army against Chaos and so on. You need to be wary of enemies who are also quite versatile, particularly Necrons, and against them you need to decide at the outset what you want your army to do and stick to it, rather than trying to cover all your bases, which can leave you vulnerable to a more concentrated foe. If you're unsure as to your final army composition, a few tactical squads are a good place to start. Reinforce them and equip them with heavy weapons, support them with vehicles that can take on opponents the marines can't, and make sure to research at least some of the upgrades, they can be very helpful. If you're looking for a fast strike army, Assault Marines and Landspeeders can be effective at fast attacks; groups of Landspeeders can be surprisingly effective against buildings, are cheap and only take one slot in the vehicle cap, while the Assault Marines can take down vehicles if equipped with Melta Bombs. To take out an enemy quickly, this force can be easily used, as to win a campaign battle all you have to do is destroy your opponents HQ building. This army is somewhat fragile for Space Marines though, so if you aren't successful quickly, you'll need to get out of there or you'll be in trouble. One of the biggest weaknesses of the Space Marines can be the economy, in order to build and maintain a force, you need to make sure you have a good requisition and, particularly, power rate, if you're unable to do this you'll be overrun very quickly. The key here is to take as many Strategic Points as you can, but stop before you overextend yourself. If this happens and your points are attacked, you may have to just let some of them go; if you try to take too much rope, you may very well end up hanging yourself. ------------------------------------------------ 7.1.4 - CHAOS SPACE MARINES - DOW-CSMS ------------------------------------------------ ---------- Basic Tips ---------- - Cultists are useful in the early days for capturing Strategic Points, but after that, really can't do much. - Chaos Space Marines don't have nearly as many weapon upgrade options as their good-guy counterparts, your best bet is Heavy Bolters, in large numbers they are devastating anti-infantry weapons, and can take on some vehicles and buildings. - Chaos Space Marines can now infiltrate, which, combined with the new infiltration rules allowing units to attack while still concealed, makes them quite scary; a few squads with Heavy Bolters that the enemy can't attack without a unit that can detect them can provide a disturbingly powerful stealth attack. - Raptors and Khorne Berserkers make a good backbone for a melee based army, and are quite fast, making rapid assaults a real possibility. - Possessed Marines are now limited to only one squad, but with other melee squads they are still very powerful, provided you upgrade them. - The new Chaos Space Marine unit, the Daemon Prince, is a powerful unit and adds a lot of punch to an army, but like other, similar units, will be easily outclassed if not supported. Also, given you need all other wargear to have your Lord become a Daemon Prince, it will be late in the campaign before you'll be able to use him. - Defilers make good melee support units, but if you need ranged support, use Predators upgraded to take on vehicles and buildings, they'll still be somewhat effective against infantry. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Chaos tips/strategy: Cultists are more useful then you make them sound; they are infiltrated detectors and have an aspiring champion you can use to summon a bloodthirster behind enemy lines. I'm not certain that raptors get melta bombs. (Raptors don't get Melta-bombs, the below passage has been amended). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Zander X Also some comments to add regarding the CSM is that they have the fury ability with squad commander and when activated, dishes more damage and receives less. Also, their frag grenade upgrades are very very good for taking out enemy shooter squads. (sends 'em flying) ---------------------------------- ---------------------- Strategies and Tactics ---------------------- Chaos Space Marines thrive on melee combat; they're fast, powerful, tough, and more numerous than Space Marines. Admittedly they do break more easily, but if you compose your army well, most of your squads will be immune to breaking. When you first start out you'll won't have access to some of your best melee units, use Cultists and Chaos Marines to capture Strategic Points and build an economy, and don't be afraid to use the Forced Labour ability of the Heretic builders. Yes, it will kill them, but they'll build that much faster, and they're cheap and quick to replace, so you can build up a base quite quickly. Once your cultists are finished capturing points, feel free to get rid of them, but keep the Chaos Marines. In fact, two or three squads in addition to your main force of melee fighters will provide great fire support, especially if you research the Infiltration ability, because the enemy will be distracted by the melee squads and thus less likely and less able to send a unit to detect the infiltrated marines, leaving them quite safe while they whittle away at the enemy with their heavy bolters. If you gain access to Possessed Marines, don't hesitate to use them, they make the perfect spearhead for a fast attack. One of the keys for a successful melee based assault is to swamp the enemy, and with a good composition you can do this. Sending your possessed and Khorne Berserkers straight into the enemy base will draw all the defensive forces out, which provides a great opportunity to drop your Raptors in at the side or rear of the base. The other nasty surprise you can use, if you take the time to research far enough along the technology tree, is the Bloodthirster. Having your army reinforced by a Bloodthirster springing out of nowhere (well, actually out of an Aspiring Champion) while in the middle of the enemy army or base is a great thing. In terms of vehicle support, Defilers are useful if you want something to get stuck in next to your melee troops, but don't count too much on their ranged abilities. If you want so anti-tank punch from your ranged support, take upgraded Predators, Chaos Marines don't have access to dedicated anti-tank weapons and Defilers tend to be inaccurate with their main gun (which is only to be expected, they are the Chaos artillery). If you plan on rushing with your Chaos, make it a melee rush using Raptors and, if you're quick enough, Khorne Berserkers. It can be done with chaos Marines, but a melee oriented rush will be easier and more efficient. Chaos' two biggest weaknesses are firstly, their ranged power, although this isn't a huge problem unless you try to take on an enemy with a dedicated ranged army (which may still not be a problem, unless the enemy is able to shoot you back, in which case you could very well end up being outshot). Secondly is cost. It takes a lot of resources to research some of the technologies which make Chaos as deadly as they can be, and to be most effective with Chaos, you need to be fast, so take a similar approach to the Chaos economy as you would to the Space Marines; build plenty of Plasma Generators early on, and take as many points as you can, placing Listening Posts on all of them, but don't over- extend yourself. ------------------------------------------------ 7.1.5 - ELDAR - DOW-ELDS ------------------------------------------------ Note: I don't play with the Eldar very much, so the strategies here will be quite basic, I hope to improve them over time. ---------- Basic Tips ---------- - Eldar are fast, probably the fastest race in the game, use this to your advantage; it's helpful in a rush or a stealth attack, as well as many other situations. - Eldar are fragile, throwing them headlong at the enemy will almost always result in disaster. But if you do have to run away, at least you've got the speed to do it. - Eldar builders, Bonesingers, can teleport, so use this ability if you need to repair a building that's far away. It can also be helpful in expanding your base; teleport your Bonesingers, make a Webway Gate to make a control zone, and then start building. - Webway Gates have the ability to infiltrate all units and buildings around them, once you research the technology. This is infinitely useful, so make sure you've got plenty around to conceal your base. - Guardians are useful in the early game, but once you get going you should devote more of the squad cap to Aspect troops, who are more specialised and thus more efficient at what they do. - While the Eldar have a few good melee units, their lack of toughness means they don't fare well in melee against enemies who can fight back. Consider range based armies against Chaos and Orks, particularly. - Eldar have a lot of technology and special abilities, many of these are extremely beneficial, so don't be afraid to spend resources on them. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Eldar tips/strategy: Attach grav platforms to dark reapers, guardians, and howling banshee squads to add an extra punch. --------------------------------------------- Thanks to Icezera A good strategy in rushing(when you attack a territory) is to always churn out two guardian squads, reinforced fully, and to group them with your farseer and any honor squads. with them, charge toward the enemy base-or where you think it is. Also, build another bonesinger and research fleet of foot. your bone singer should build an aspect portal. if you have any ranger squads(honor squads preferebaly) use them to capture strategic points. w/ ur fleet of foot and the Eldar's natural speed, you should scout out potential enemy bases. Also, if they rush you back(they do on hard mode) you can use the Eldar's natural speed to get back. With your raiding group out, kill any enemy units you find(make sure you use all your farseer's powers, they absolutely pwn early game, especially when your guardians are weak). When you find their main base, rush it, killing any units, then defensive structures(bolter turrets, upgraded listening posts, etc) then to the unit producing structure. Then make sure you kill most of the builders near their base and attack the stronghold, once its dead, the enemy should be destroyed unless they build another one. If there are more than one computer enemies, go run back to your base since they WILL charge your base. But unless its a stronghold mission, there should be only one guy left. Note: If possible, do this all in 10 minutes or less. I usually finish 1v1 missions in 5 minutes. Then with your aspect portal complete, get a howling banshee or dark reaper squad. Space Marines: Dark Reaper Chaos: Dark Reaper, if you took too long, then get howling Orks: Howling Tau: Dark Necrons: Howling Imperial Guard: Dark or Howling, Dont matter. With these, units, scout out places where the enemy might be if the map is big, use your brain and start with the ones farthest away from you. Then kill them. If you can't, run back and keep killing their units with hit and run tactics and destroy their generators/unit producers if you can. Also, if you come up across any point that's not yours (relic, critical, strategic, slag deposit) take it. That way, you'll get a great economy to finance the heavy costing upgrades. And you should also have two support portals and soul shrines when you can. Soul shrine upgrades are too numerous and time consuming to only have 1. also, vehicles are the thing that makes you crazy. Fire prisms w/ 3 wraithlords and an avatar should be your goal, and never forget to attach your farseer to the seer council. That's a squad to be feared. Then crush the enemy with your army. If you also have one of each infantry type, and the other units i just mentioned, hardly anyone will be able to stand up to you (apart from necrons with their cheapass monoliths) for the Eldar strengths and weaknesses, here's another Eldar rules at rushing. Fleet of Foot allows you to basically own the map, and since your farseer has so many kickass powers that devastate early units (like unupgraded chaos space marines. etc) and even commanders, you will be the main force in the game. Only early game though. Get your aspect portal out fast since you also have the best anti-infantry combo. Howling Banshees+Dark Reapers. Howling cut them up close quarters and provide a wall for the Darks as they tear apart the enemy with their guns. Try to team up against an opponent, preferably Necrons, Tau, or IG early game since they suck, but will own late game. In Mid game, you are a n00b. Eldar infantry die to enemy vehicles so quickly. Space Marines are your #1 fear. Dreadnoughts. They get em right when they build their Machine Cult. So, during that time, you want to play defensive, call allies to help you when your in trouble and try to provide some help to them. Get your support portal asap, its gonna take long since you need the soul shrine to get it, and building that will take lots of time and money. Webway gates are key to the Eldar. Put them in your allies' bases and you have an escape route to them or a highway to help them. Also, they build Grav Platforms, the brightlance version being your only hope against vehicles. Get lots, but trash them as soon as you get a few wraithlords. Late Game. Basically, Late game is when you get your support portal out and you got two soul shrines. Its time to rock. Upgrade your troops and never forget that cheap Holo-field upgrade in the support portal, it boosts your vehicles HP by a whole lot. Get Wraithlords, 3 is fine. They are your l33t troops, they tear apart everything, but they will need help. Warp Spiders with their haywire gernades will do a great job and also their teleport allows you to kill other enemy troops who have things that can kill your wraithlord (Space marines w/ missle launcher, Melta bomby guys, tankhunters, etc.) Now after you hold the enemy back, kill any Necrons. If there is a necron player around, focus your team's attack on him, awakened monolith once took down my entire Tau army with support from its Lord and TWO necron warrior squads. They are one scary race. When you get your Avatar, scream in joy since it boosts your vehicle and squad cap. Now, get two fire prisms and 3 wraithlords. Fire Prisms are the best tanks in the game, their laser thing kills any vehicle in seconds and throws around infantry forever. Never forget to protect them though. Orks are also scary late game if they can get their Squiggoth out. If its supported by MASSES of Orks, built to the squad cap, your going to have a tough time, but don't worry. Take out key units like the Flash Gitz and you'll do fine. Your job in a gigantic team battle is to attack the flanks and back, destroying their support. And also, if any of your troops break morale, the Avatar's presence will isntantly restore it. Great! Overview: So your strengths are vehicles and early game killing ability+rushing and mobility. Eldar go where they want, and you are a team player. If you're not, don't play as the Eldar. Weaknesses: More of a physcological one. Never think one squad of each type is good. Specialize in what your opponents weaknesses are. More often nowadays, i see Eldar players get one of each squad. Its horrible. Aspect squads are too specialize. If you don't know what they do well in, leave them home. And keep micromanaging them. If you don't due to their low health, they will die. Micro with Eldar is key, you put units where you need them and at the right time, and you win. You don't, you lose. No generalist troops are one big weakness the Eldar got --------- ---------------------- Strategies and Tactics ---------------------- The Eldar's greatest strengths are speed and stealth, so use them to your advantage. Firstly, stealth have both offensive and defensive capabilities; you can stealth your whole base using Webway Gates, this means that an enemy attack must include units which can detect infiltrated units, or it will come to literally nothing; they won't be able to attack you, while all your defensive forces can destroy them at their leisure. It's also a good idea to build a Webway Gate at each of your Listening Posts to further defend them against attack. In an offensive role stealth is much more limited, due to the fact that only Rangers can infiltrate; a few squads of them can make a great scouting party which is potent against infantry, but this is really the only directly offensive tactic using stealth. Rangers can be used to scout the enemy position though, and can be used in a defensive role, positioned outside the main base as spotters in order to see the enemy coming from farther away. Speed is much more offensive, and can be used in several ways. It's a great strength to have for those planning to rush, as it will allow you to cross the map much more quickly, and also allow you to spend some time looking for the enemy base if you have trouble finding it. Lightning attacks are a great strategy of attack for the Eldar, several Aspect Warrior squads; Dark Reapers, Fire Dragons etc., and a Seer Council if you can afford it, supported by Vypers, Falcon Grav Tanks and Fire Prisms can strike very hard and fast, just remember to use Fleet of Foot when you're moving your army into position. An effective variation of this strategy is to have a second, smaller group of only a couple of squads of Guardians and a couple of Vypers or Falcons. Attack first and from a different position with your small force, to draw the enemy out. When they take the bait, start moving the small force away while your main army moves in to strike against the now open base. You need to be sure to keep your diversionary force in there as long as possible though, as the enemy AI is smart enough not to follow too far. The Eldar have a big weakness; toughness, or specifically their total lack of it. Avoid direct confrontations with an enemy army wherever possible, the speed of the Eldar allows for quick withdraws, and the enemy usually breaks off pursuit quite quickly if they are being outpaced, so keeping out of trouble isn't that hard. You have to make sure you dictate the situation, because if you're your attacks could end very quickly and messily. ------------------------------------------------ 7.1.6 - ORKS - DOW-ORKT ------------------------------------------------ Note: I don't play with the Orks very much, so the strategies here will be quite basic, I hope to improve them over time. ---------- Basic Tips ---------- - Gretchin are free but also die pathetically easily, so make sure you keep training them. - The Orks are great in melee, so build your army around close combat with fire support. - The Orks achieve real superiority when they are able to bog the enemy down with large numbers, so whatever you do, keep training infantry. - Ranged support in an Ork army should come primarily from vehicles, Looted Leman Russ', Wartraks and Wartrukks can all provide good fire support. - Killa Kans are great combat support units, they are incredibly tough, and can inflict large amounts of damage against most enemies. - Ork bases become very large and sprawling, you should keep building structures so that you can keep training Orks as often as possible. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Orks tips/strategy: Don't overlook ranged infantry. flash gitz and tankbustas are surprisingly powerful and useful in a support role. ------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to TheAgentD I just want to say that Orcs got a new unit in the expansion. The Flash Gitz! Let me explain: Shoota boyz have big shootas heavy weapon upgrade. Flash Gitz have all custom shootas, which are more powerful than big shootas. The squad is 7 if i remember correctly and you can have 2 squads at the same time. In easy, 2 Flash Gitz without support can take out a fully restored monolith with a little luck! (I've done it twice! =D) They are also pretty tough. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Strategies and Tactics ---------------------- ------------------------ Note on the Ork Resource ------------------------ The Ork resource allows you to train Orks. You increase it by building Waaagh! Banners, and, as you train more Orks, your Waaagh! meter increases, allowing you access to better units and technologies. So keep building Waaagh! Banners and training Orks! -------------- The Orks excel at two things; swamping their opponent with superior numbers and melee combat. These two things combine well to create a race that can be very powerful if used well. The first thing to note about the Orks is that their bases aren't exactly well organised. In fact, they're usually a total shambles; you need Waaagh!!! Banners to increase the number of Orks you can field, and there are numerous unit producing structures to build, so quite quickly you'll just end up throwing them wherever there's room. You should be making Gretchin constantly; they die really easily, so if you train them whenever you can you'll be able to keep building up your base. The other thing to do is to keep making structures whenever you have the requisition to do so, as the more Boyz Huts you have, the more Orks you can train quickly. This is important, as the Orks are best used in numbers to bludgeon the enemy, if your first attack is repulsed, then you can quickly follow up with a second. When it comes to attacking with Orks, there really isn't that much subtlety. You've got a lot of Orks to get across the battlefield and into combat, the easiest way is simply to charge with your giant horde. While you still don't want to run headlong into the enemy army, it is sometimes unavoidable due to the sheer size of your army. If you do get to the enemy base, let your army run rampant, attacking the enemy's HQ building primarily, because this is all you need to destroy to win in the campaign. If you do run into the enemy army, then it becomes a war of attrition, which is where that huge base comes in handy. If the two armies end up destroying each other, it simply becomes a race to rebuild your army more quickly than your opponent. If you can do this you should be able to get to the enemy base the second time round, or just keep training troops until you can overwhelm the enemy. If your army gets overrun, you'll be able to train squads to defend against the remains of the enemy army should it attack your base, and if you overrun the enemy, you should be able to get to their base and begin your attack while you train reinforcements. The fact that you won't be at full strength when you attack shouldn't be too much of a problem, as the enemy will have even less troops than you. The Orks primary weakness is a lack of concentrated firepower; the ranged capacity they do have is limited in terms of both numbers and effectiveness. This means that against enemies with dedicated shooting armies you need to close quickly or you'll suffer great losses without inflicting many in return. If you know you're up against an enemy with ranged power, move your army quickly and keep fast units like Rokkit Rangers at the front to engage the enemy and prevent them shooting at you while the rest of your army moves up to engage. ------------------------------------------------ 7.1.7 - IMPERIAL GUARD - DOW-IMGS ------------------------------------------------ ---------- Basic Tips ---------- - The Imperial Guard rely on numbers like the Orks, so start training guardsmen straight away and keep training them. - Imperial Guard require multiple Infantry Commands and Vehicle Commands to increase the population caps, but you're best off building one of everything first; you'll be onto your second barracks before you need the extra population anyway. - The Imperial Guard are most effective if you take the time to build a huge army; some of the best vehicles take a lot of research to build, so if you don't rush you're best off waiting until you're unstoppable. - The new Imperial Guard unit, the Heavy Weapons team, can be useful, while it's only one gun, the autocannon/lascannon can pack a punch, and, because it's only two guardsmen, it won't a attract a huge amount of attention. That, and it's also tougher than you'd think. - Guardsmen provide the best fire support if equipped with special weapons and upgraded, so build a Tactica Control early on and make sure to research as much as you can. - Use the Commissars, Sanctioned Psykers and Priests; they provide useful bonuses and special abilities. - Imperial Guard base have tunnels which allow infantry units to travel between structures. Admittedly this is most useful if you build two separate bases, but given the number of structures you need to build, this isn't always a bad idea. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Imperial Guard tips/strategy: Use Vindicare Assassins as spotters for basilisks, especially with the assassination scope ability. Use curse of the machine spirit to allow the assassin to easily take down powerful vehicles. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to 0ut0fAmmo Imperial Guard Listening posts can indeed hold one squad and access the tunnel systems. Also, you may want to consider specifying which buildings can actually hold infantry(HQ, IC, VC). Finally, only Techpriest Engiseers should be garrisoned, as there is no difference in garrisoned firepower between a 13-man IG squad and an Engiseer. Heavy Weapon Teams(HWTs) shouldn't take lascannons unless it's absolutely necessary. It's been proven that autocannons, overall, are much more effective. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Strategies and Tactics ---------------------- The Imperial Guard's two biggest offensive strengths are numbers and ranged ability, so make sure you have both. You can train guardsmen from your HQ, so the first thing you should do, before you train any Techpriests, is to create a couple of squads to capture points. Then, once you have your Techpriests, you should keep training guardsmen. This is useful regardless of what you do, if you want to rush you'll need quite a few guardsmen to do so, and if you want to wait to create an all-powerful army, you'll need all the guardsmen you can get. You want to keep the requisition flowing in, because you need to make a lot of structures to get the most out of the Guard. This is made easier if you have more points to build around, but it's also worth noting that unit producing structures actually increase the control zone in which you can build. If you ever run out of room to build, and it does happen on some maps, send a Techpriest out to a different area (not too close to your initial base, this will make it harder for the enemy to destroy you, and build a second HQ to start a second base. Attacking the enemy can require some coordination, more so than other races, because with so many guardsmen and vehicles, you'll need to be careful how you approach the enemy base, or you could end up trying to force your army through a chokepoint and feeding them to the enemy piecemeal. Attacking from multiple angles is a good way to avoid this problem, send your infantry in on one side, then when the enemy troops rush at them, send your tanks in on the other side to start blowing up buildings. An important thing to remember with the Guard is that, generally speaking, they are designed to destroy their equivalent; tanks are designed to take on vehicles and infantry to take on infantry. The upside to this though, is that Imperial Guard tanks have so many guns on them they're good at taking out infantry as well, so leading an assault with your tanks can be devastatingly effective. Normally I don't really use artillery, but the Basilisk is too useful to pass up. It has tremendous range and hitting power, so camp a couple out behind a ridge opposite the enemy base while the rest of your army goes in, just make sure you tell the Basilisks to shoot an area away from your troops, because that fire is anything but friendly. What really makes the Basilisk great though, is its ability to fire special shells. These do outrageous amounts of damage, and, because you get to manually select the target location, are incredibly accurate. The Imperial Guard have a couple of weaknesses. Firstly, they don't do melee combat well. If it's nothing really serious, they can survive, but you can't win battles up close with them. The best way to combat this is to kill the enemy before it reaches you, and, while this is easier said than done, if you concentrate your fire you can usually get the AI to pull his troops back once they start taking heavy losses, giving you time to shoot as they run away, and keeping you out of combat. The other thing to be wary of, with regard to infantry, is toughness. Guardsmen die pretty quickly when faced with serious opposition, so you need to be ready to reinforce them. This can be done quickly and cheaply, but you have to be on the ball to keep the production queues up. Finally, the Imperial Guard can be vulnerable to a mid-game attack. They don't reach full strength until late game, so you could find the enemy on your doorstep mid-game with a force that you may struggle to defeat. If you have a lot of guardsmen (you are still training them, right?), and a good Honour Guard, you should be able to take care of it, but you won't have much in the way of vehicle support, so you need to be careful and bring heavy tanks into play as soon as possible. ------------------------------------------------ 7.2 - BONUS DEPENDENT SCENARIOS - DOW-BDSC ------------------------------------------------ The bonus dependent scenarios are the battles in four provinces which yield bonuses other than the usual Honour Guard unit. There are six bonus provinces in total, but neither The Aceria Forests (Increased Manpower) or The Ariel Highlands (Bulwark) have special scenarios. They're both just normal battles. ------------------------------------------------ 7.2.1 - PAVONIS - DOW-PAVO ------------------------------------------------ Objective: Find six Servitors and return them to your base before the enemy does. The bonus for Pavonis is the Spaceport; a Techpriest found the Spaceport's ancient systems and left his Servitors to investigate, so the first faction to bring six Servitors back to their base will gain control of the Spaceport. This battle can be played without a direct confrontation with the enemy, but it may be necessary to go into their base to steal the Servitors they've captured (there are 10 Servitors in total). When you begin the mission there will be three Strategic Points around your base, and a Servitor near the northern-most one. Capture the points and post them; the more troops you can train in this mission, the easier it'll be. Once you have a couple of squads of basic infantry trained, send them out to look for Servitors, when they find one it'll automatically head back to your HQ, but if you don't shepherd it back it may very well be intercepted by the enemy. Keep sending out troops as you train them, and you should find three or four quite quickly. At this point it's actually easier, and safer, to steal the two or three at the enemy base. Now the enemy actually has two bases, one in the north corner and one in the south corner, but the Servitors are almost always at the north base, so head there will a few squads and destroy the base (the resistance should be quite low, as most of their troops are out looking for Servitors). Once it's destroyed shepherd the Servitors back to your base. Once you have five you're pretty much safe; the enemy has to steal one of yours to win. If you have trouble finding the last ones, try heading over to the far east side of the battlefield, where they're usually not picked up by the enemy. If you're having trouble finding any at all, you can go the cheap route of building up a force, waiting until the enemy has four, then going in and stealing them, then repeating the process to win, that way the enemy does all the hard work. Just be sure to move in before he could get the necessary six (you receive a notification every time they find one, and you should never let him get five at once). Alternately you can destroy the enemy, that works just as well. ------------------------------------------------ 7.2.2 - ERES BADLANDS - DOW-ERES ------------------------------------------------ Objective: Slaughter the [enemy race occupying the province]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny for pointing out that the number of enemy kills required varies depending on difficulty level. ---------------------------------------------- This scenario is easy. It's essentially a normal battle, but it'll end as soon as you kill 140 enemies. You won't need a huge army either, once you have several squads you can head out to look for the enemy, just don't stray too far from your base unless you decide to build defensive structures, as the enemy will often attack your base while you're not there. The only real constraint for this mission is the 30 minute time limit, but this is more than enough time, so unless something goes seriously wrong, you should still be able to get there. You also want to avoid losing too many troops to your enemy, as the number of losses you sustain is tracked as well. If you build an economy by capping Strategic Points and building Plasma Generators, and train several squads before going out, with upgrades if possible, you can easily compete this scenario without losing a single unit. ------------------------------------------------ 7.2.3 - HYPERION PEAKS - DOW-HYPR ------------------------------------------------ Objective: Destroy all enemy structures to gain control of the factories. This scenario can be easy or hard, depending on how you do it. You get no base, only the forces the game gives you, which are considerable, and your Honour Guard. You have some requisition to reinforce squads, and two builder units to cap any Strategic Points you decide to capture, although I've never found this necessary. The key to completing this scenario is not to split your forces. Group your units and pick a route around the battlefield, then systematically move through, destroying everything you come across. I usually start by heading north, then all the way to the east corner, and then clear out the little plateau that leads south. Then it's down into the central area, followed by the south then north areas on the eastern side on the lower level. Finally it's back up to the south western are that leads back to where you start. At this point you'll usually find you have anywhere between two and ten buildings left; the enemy builder units are still building. Tracking down these last structures can take a while, but when you do get them that should be it; the enemy will have stopped building by now. When the last enemy structure is destroyed, the scenario is complete. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- --------------------- Thanks to HawkEyeWolf First, of all, I can't get this tactic to work, for any other race then Empire [Imperial Guard] and the Space Marines. This one relies deeply on the great strength of their special tanks. In case you'll get two of 'em(2 Baneblades!!!!!*woot, whadda a f***in punch of awesome firepower ^^* and several Sentinels for IG; 2 Landraiders, 2 Dreadnoughts and two Hellfire- Dreadnoughts for the BR [Blood Ravens]), its hella lot of fun, seein orc boyz smashed all the way. To the tactic itself: Move your artillery(Basilisks/Whirlwinds) to the peak near the starting area. Gather all your (ALL that's important, even commanders and honour guards) next to them, to prevent the Meks and RokkitBoyz attack the artillery. This makes a fine distraction for your tanks and walkers. These take their way along the map corner to the west, straight to the northern relic-point. From there, you'll turn south, at the map borders too, to the south, taking out some orc buildings straight down from the edge of the mountains cliff(its easier as IG, but work for BR well enough). This are mostly some requisition-points and generators, but some huts and one or two mekshops too might be there too. After you reach the dead end of the eastern map corner(and took out some of the buildings along the cliff) take your way down in the squiggoth base(its the south one, right west of the cliff). If you're lucky, there will be no(yepp, NO, its proved several times ^^) Sqiggoth there. This might be, 'cause you left your commander or another trigger-worth unit at the starting area. If not lucky, it will be quite easy to smash 'em from the edge of the cliff, and, then rush straight into the base, to destroy the mekshops. After you've done this, its completely on your own mind, which base you take next, there will be no more squigg-spawn anymore. At this point you can bring your other troops right in battle too, you only need to be aware of the Killa kans(let the Tanks/walker handle them at best), but you shouldn't have any problem with the Greenskinz anymore. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 7.2.4 - VANDEAN COAST - DOW-VAND ------------------------------------------------ Objective: Collect 2600 power to wake the Manufactoria. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny for pointing out that the amount of power required varies depending on difficulty level. ------------------------------------- The easiest way to win this scenario is to build Plasma Generators. Train a couple of squads to capture the Strategic Points next to your base, then train a couple more in case the enemy decides to attack (which isn't often, and if they do, it's usually only a squad or two and very easy to see off, although occasionally they do make a large push right at the end, so it does pay to be ready). Then sit back and wait until you collect the necessary amount of power. There's a time limit of 20 minutes here, but you'd have to spend a huge amount of power to stuff it up, and the enemy doesn't attack you enough to make that necessary. ------------------------------------------------ 7.3 - STRONGHOLDS - DOW-STHD ------------------------------------------------ There are seven stronghold provinces on the Campaign Map; six enemy strongholds and yours. Your goal in the campaign is to conquer an enemy's stronghold, which will eliminate that race from the game, thus they're a bit different from normal battles. They each have individual objectives, so each stronghold will receive it's own walkthrough (from a generic point of view; I hope to add individual tips and strategies for each race later). It's also worth pointing out here that Strongholds are not scenarios to be taken lightly. You'll be attacked by numerous foes almost immediately in almost all of the battles, so make sure you have a good Honour Guard to repel these attacks and as many special bonuses as you can get, to help you get off the ground more quickly. Depending on the race you're playing as and the specific enemy, you may need five or more units to comfortably defend your base at the outset. ---------------- A Note on Armies ---------------- Because each walkthrough needs to be relevant for each of the six races that could be used, specific army compositions will not be mentioned, you should consult section 5 for information about your army's strengths and your enemy's weaknesses, and create an army that will be effective in the scenario. ----------------- A Note on Enemies ----------------- Each time you fight a stronghold scenario it will be slightly different; the enemy will move different troops to different places and build structures in different places, so your experience may be slightly different from the walkthrough, although it will give you a good idea of what to expect; the fight listed may not contain the troops listed, but you can still expect enemies to be there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A note on objectives: To conquer an enemy stronghold you only have to complete the primary objective, and you can ignore the secondary objectives if you want to, although they do provide you with some sort of bonus during the battle, so they are useful. The walkthroughs cover all the bonus objectives. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 7.3.1 - NECRONS - DOW-NEST ------------------------------------------------ The Thur'Abis Plateau Primary Objectives: Place the Bomb in the Necron Sanctum. Your Commander Must Survive. Secondary Objectives: Investigate the Necron Energy Sources. Destroy the Beacon of Unlife. Destroy the Beacon of the Deceiver. Raze the Monolith Graveyard. Destroy the Beacon of Void Dragon. Destroy the Chronometry Beacon. First of all, a clarification on the second primary objective. You Commander must survive from the point when the bomb is planted, to their escape through the exit out of the caverns behind your base. If they die at any other point during the scenario, you can retrain them as usual. At the beginning of this scenario, you'll notice that there are three 'dead' Tomb Spyders lying around your base area. Well, they aren't dead, and they may very well come to life at some point and attack your base. They only ever do it one by one though, and by themselves they're not that hard to destroy. This won't happen at the beginning of the scenario though, although you will be attacked in the first minute or so by Flayed Ones and Warriors. The Flayed Ones are easy to destroy, as they have no ranged attack, so keep your distance and shoot them, although be aware of squads coming out of the ground inside your base. The Warriors aren't a problem either, since there aren't really enough of them to do any serious damage. You may also get attacked by a couple of Wraiths, they have powerful melee attacks but almost no health, so if you concentrate your Honour Guard's fire, defending your base should be easy. Your base will never really be under threat, they'll keep attacking, but not in any more force than at the beginning, this allows you to concentrate on your offensive forces, which will be making a long journey across the caverns. You're going to need a full size army for this one, there are a lot of Necrons along the way and they take a lot to kill, but if you're fully prepared you'll be able to make it through without having to retrain any squads. So build your army and get ready to head out. One thing you'll notice about this map is that there are a lot of long, narrow paths, so you'll need to control the movement of your army so it doesn't end up bogged down and unable to manoeuvre when there's enemies all around. To do this, organise your army into smaller groups and move them through tight areas in a column formation, but be careful to keep the groups as close to each other as the terrain will allow, for support. If you let your forces get separated in this mission you're asking for trouble. When you move out of your base, the first open area you reach will give you a secondary objective; destroying the beacon of unlife. This is one of five Necron energy sources which need to be destroyed to complete the first secondary objective, and each source is a separate objective in itself. Four squads of destroyed Warriors surround the beacon, once you get the objective to destroy it they come back to life and attack you. There are also some Flayed Ones in the area, but not in enough numbers to really cause any problems, although the beacon will bring any Necrons around it back to life after they're killed, so concentrate on destroying the beacon first. Once the beacon is destroyed, keep heading north, where you'll be greeted by Pariahs and Warriors next to an empty catacomb entrance. Once you find others, you can use these tunnels to move quickly across the battlefield, but since this is the only one you've found, continue north to find a small Necron base with a few turrets and some Warriors. When you've dealt with the base, head west and follow the path uphill to the second beacon; the beacon of the deceiver. There are a lot of turrets lining the path, and a couple of squads of Warriors at the top. This beacon has the annoying ability of infiltrating any nearby units, so if you don't have anything to detect them, you'll have to destroy the beacon first. You may also be attacked from behind by Pariahs or Flayed Ones coming from a Catacomb Entrance at the bottom of the hill, but they're unsupported and consequently not much of a threat. There's an abandoned Catacomb Entrance at the top of the hill you can use, but it's not really in a useful location, so head back down the hill and take the southwest path that leads towards the relic, there may be more Pariahs along the way. When you get to the relic you'll find a Necron base with plenty of Warriors, Pariahs and turrets, destroy the base then head southeast. You'll come across another Catacomb Entrance with Warriors coming out, keep following the path southeast until you receive the next secondary objective; razing the Monolith graveyard. This is pretty easy, there are a couple of squads of Warriors and a couple of turrets, but for the most part it's just dormant Monoliths and Energy Cores. Once everything is destroyed, head back out onto the path and go south, don't follow that path up the ramp though, head towards the southeast edge of the map, you'll pass two Catacomb Entrances which spawn Pariahs and Warriors, take them out and keep going, taking the path along the edge of the map, you'll run into Warriors, Immortals and Wraiths on the way, but not in overwhelming numbers. You may get shot at by the odd turret on the raised area to the west, but this won't do that much damage if you just keep moving. As you get to the southern corner of the map, you'll find another beacon; the beacon of the Void Dragon, surrounded by a few turrets. Be careful destroying this beacon; don't let your vehicles get too close to it or you'll temporarily lose control of them, and you'll also be attacked by Warriors coming from a Monolith to the west. You'll also find another abandoned Catacomb Entrance, this'll come in handy later. From here follow the map edge northwest until you come to a ramp heading northeast, head up there to the last beacon; the chronometry beacon. To get to this beacon follow the left edge of the ramp through a really narrow area. This beacon is best off destroyed from afar, as it any units in a large radius will periodically become frozen in time, and unable to move or attack. In fact, if you just try to ignore it and run past on the lower level it can still affect your troops, so it's best to destroy it. In this area you'll also find Warriors, Destroyers and turrets, but they're scattered and easy to take out one at a time. When the beacon is destroyed head back to the lower level and head towards the west corner and the Necron main base. You'll get about two steps along this path before you'll be attacked by an Awakened Monolith. It's by itself though, so throw everything you've got at it and it shouldn't do too much damage, just be wary in case it trains a squad, then you'll have another target to worry about. After the Monolith goes down, take a minute to reinforce your army, then, when you're ready, continue forwards. Inside the base there are plenty of Destroyers and Warriors, but they shouldn't be too hard to defeat. Move through the base until you reach the bottom of the hill where you have to place the bomb, and send a lone unit of troops up there. The Necrons Lord will attack them, but he will be temporarily transformed in a C'tan. This makes him extremely powerful, and totally invincible. In fact, any damage inflicted on him while he's a C'tan will be transferred to the Lord as health after he changes back, so keep your distance until he reverts to his normal form, at which point attack him with your whole army to kill him quickly. From here get your Commander to the top of the hill, plant the bomb by clicking the Place Bomb button on the taskbar, and then leg it. You have eight minutes once the bomb is planted, only your Commander needs to get out alive, but all sorts of Necrons will start coming out of the Woodwork. Your best bet is to use your army as an escort for your Commander, and head back down to the abandoned Catacomb entrance in the southern corner as quickly as you can, ignoring anything that isn't blocking your path. Get your Commander to go in first, and then bring them out at the first entrance you found. From here run them back to the exit behind your base, and the mission is complete, and the Necrons are defeated. ------------------------------------------------ 7.3.2 - TAU - DOW-TAST ------------------------------------------------ Or'es Tash'n Primary Objective: Eliminate the Ethereal. Secondary Objectives: Destroy the Kauyon Command Post. Destroy the Mont'ka Command Post. Use the Communications Tower to Reveal Infiltrated Units. First of all, I've had nothing but trouble with this scenario. In order to have any chance of success you need to weaken the Tau forces considerably; take all the provinces they hold and destroy their Honour Guard. If you don't do this you'll probably get chewed up and spat out no matter how well prepared you are, the last time I tried it without weakening them first, I was attacked by groups of Fire Warriors, Skyrays and Hammerheads, or Kroot, Krootox, and Greater Knarlocs, every thirty seconds or so. I was able to see these assaults off, until I tried to move my army forwards. When that happened my defensive force and turret line capitulated in less than a minute to the overwhelming attack. I don't know why it is, but this scenario is a lot more painful than all the others. The walkthrough here is also incredibly basic (I hope to update it with better info for each race), it really does become a war of attrition, so keep building up your base and getting troops into combat, and eventually you should be able to overwhelm them. It's also best have a melee based army if possible, as the Tau are absolutely useless up close. Prepare for serious resistance at the beginning of this scenario. The Tau really don't want you here, they'll attack in the first 20 seconds; Fire Warriors in Devilfishes, supported by Kroot and a couple of Skyrays, and from different angles. You'll need a really strong Honour Guard to see this attack off, especially considering they'll keep sending in troops for the first minute or so. Try to train some troops at your HQ structure if possible, this will make the job easier. Once you've seen of the attackers, you'll have two secondary objectives, destroying the Kauyon Command Post to the east, and the Mont'ka Command Post to the west. Don't worry about these yet, instead concentrate on building up your base and your defences. During this time, and for most of the battle, you'll be assaulted by anything ranging from a squad of Fire Warriors to groups of Fire Warriors, Kroot, Battlesuits and Skyrays; you're going to need a defensive group of units to guard your base that's quite large, limiting your offensive power. It's entirely possible, even probable, that during this mission you'll lose your first army and have to create a second one. The longer you wait, though, the worse the assaults will get, so as soon as you have an army capable of moving forwards, do so. One thing that needs to be noted about this map is that there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of Stealthsuits camped out around the place, if you don't have a couple of units that can detect them you might as well stay at home. The map is also pretty easy to navigate, being a city means that most of your movement will occur in straight lines. So, provided I haven't scared you out of it with the above whinging about how I got my arse kicked, take your army and head out to the Mont'ka Command Post, located near the west corner of the map. If you follow the edge of the map you'll run into a small enemy base which is one of several supplying troops for the attacks on your base, and some Stealthsuits, if you have your detection units flank your army you should have few problems, the Stealthsuits can't take much punishment and are really only dangerous if you let them go undetected. Once you reach this base, you'll probably be drawn into a long combat all the way to the Command Post, take it slowly and destroy everything as you go, and keep reinforcing your troops, it's really important in this scenario. Once you start to get close make a run for the Command Post and destroy it, this will stop the Tau from bringing Battlesuits and Hammerheads into the fight. With the Command Post gone, concentrate on the enemies around you; there are more Steathsuits on a raised area to the east and west, these guys are supported by a Skyray and Fire Warriors so get up there as soon as you can. There'll be plenty of Kroot and Tau in the base as well, you'll have to finish off the Battlesuits and Hammerheads already there, as well as a few Broadsides. Once you've destroyed the base, take a moment to reinforce your army, but hopefully you don't need new troops from your base, as it's a real pain to get them over to your army. At this point I strongly recommend you head straight to the base to the north where the Ethereal is located, taking out the other Command Post is more trouble than it's worth, and the Communications Tower is only useful if you don't have any units to detect the Stealthsuits. If you insist on completing the secondary objectives, head for the relic in the middle of the map and the Communications Tower. Take the road heading southeast at the northern end of the base, there's only one group of Stealthsuits overlooking this path, on the southern side at the eastern end, the Communications Tower is just to the east, but there's a lot of resistance. If your army wasn't weak before this fight, it will be after. In fact, you may have to create a second one, if you haven't already done so. There are Fire Warriors and Kroot all over the place, a couple of squads of Broadsides, a couple of leftover Battlesuits, and a few Skyrays. If you can move quickly and get into melee, you can win this fight without too many problems, take out the Broadsides first, they die disturbingly quickly in melee, then take out the Fire Warriors and Battlesuits, the Skyrays are only a big threat if your army is vehicle heavy, and they're lightly armoured, so if you do need to get rid of them quickly, it shouldn't take much. To capture the Tower and use its ability, capture the relic. As soon a squad starts to take it you'll get a cut-scene, then the relic will be almost completely captured. Note that the objective isn't actually complete until you use the Tower, so hotkey it and use it whenever you come across a Stealthsuit squad that is out of range of your detecting unit. Reinforce your army and get ready to deal with the last secondary objective. Now it's off to the east corner to deal with that Kauyon Command Post; take the east exit out of the plaza and it's pretty much a straight line all the way to the base. This area is a gauntlet though; there are Fire Warriors, Stealthsuits, Battlesuits and Skyrays lining the road, if you can use jump-pack abilities to get to them, do so, if not, make a run for the Command Post, chances are you won't be able to outshoot them. The base it self isn't much easier. Expect mostly Kroot here, supported by Krootox and a Greater Knarloc, as well as some Fire Warriors, Skyrays and Hammerheads. This fight can be a real struggle if your army has already been worn down, you're going to need a new one to take out the Ethereal so don't worry about the troops you've got now; if things start to get bad just send them in to destroy the Command Post and then leave them to their fate. Either way, when you're done here, there's only one place left to go. The Ethereal is located in the north part of the north base, this fight can be either extremely painful or extremely easy, depending on how quickly you can get to him. The simplest strategy is to make a mad dash for him; he doesn't have that much health, and if you get him in melee he's extremely easy to kill. You'll have large numbers of just about every Tau troop type shooting at you though, so if you can't find him quickly you're army's as good as dead. Head back along the road towards the plaza and hang a right to enter the main base from the east, and prepare to run. There's Hammerheads and Broadsides all over the place in here, as well as Fire Warriors, Skyrays and Battlesuits. You won't have long before your army will be liquefied by Tau fire, so head straight to the north corner. The one thing you need to be careful of is getting bogged down; there are a lot of Tau units that can block the way forwards, you'll need to kill these as soon as possible and keep moving. If you can't get to him, it's pretty much a case of rebuild your army and try again, and eventually you should get there. When the Ethereal finally does die, the most painful scenario in the game is over. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ----------------- Thanks to Icezera A tip for Tau stronghold. Use the best vehicles you have and walkers to charge through and blow the ethereal to bits. The tanks you can only have two of and stuff and walkers with a super unit are unstoppable. For necrons, just the necron lord w/ solar pulse, resurrection orb, chronosphere, a few units and an awakened monoliths never failed me before. They have the easiest time, solar pulse tau, and they die. ------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ 7.3.3 - SPACE MARINES - DOW-SPST ------------------------------------------------ North Vandea Primary Objective: Destroy the Blood Raven's Fortress Monastery. Secondary Objectives: Capture the Temple Ruins. Capture the Orbital Relay. Cut off Space Marine Reinforcements. Direct Orbital Bombardment. I know what you're thinking; Space Marines, this isn't going to be good. Well, as far as strongholds go, this one isn't actually that bad. You'll be assaulted by marines in the first minute or so, but they're easily repelled if you have a good Honour Guard. These attacks will continue, but they aren't as frequent as other races strongholds and are generally quite easy to see off, so start building up your base, and if you see a single red blip on the map, don't worry, it's not a tank, it's a Skull Probe. As you're doing this, you'll receive your first secondary objective, capturing the temple ruins (the only relic on the map). This is something you don't have to worry about yet, as there are other objectives you'll get which are more pressing. For your bases defences a few squads will do, your Honour Guard should be more than enough until you can train them. While you're base building you should receive the next secondary objective, capturing the Orbital Relay. It's located in a small outpost at the Strategic Point halfway along the southeast edge of the map. This is one of those 'more pressing' objectives I mentioned; until you capture the Relay, it is capable of targeting your forces with Orbital Bombardments, and will do so when they leave your base area. The strikes are only periodic, but it's still a pain if you let it go on, so make sure you've got the forces to capture it when you leave your base. At some point you'll probably get a cut-scene showing Space Marine reinforcements; this attaches to an objective, but if you haven't left your base it may come up yet (the objective is to cut off the Space Marine reinforcements at a base in the eastern corner of the map). Once you've got an army together, move out to the east, towards the Orbital Relay. There's a couple of marine squads on the way, but the real pain is if you get an orbital strike brought down on top of your forces. If this happens just keep going, there's nothing you can do about it. As you're moving forwards, you'll notice that there are some Whirlwinds on the ridge to your left shooting at you. They don't do a huge amount, but it's best to get rid of them now. Be careful going in though, they're guarded by a few marine squads, a squad of assault terminators and some heavy bolter turrets (the terminators aren't as tough as they seem, get your entire army shooting at them and you won't have a problem). When you're done here, proceed to the Orbital Relay outpost. Prepare for a good fight here; there's a lot of marines, another squad of terminators, a few of land speeders and even a dreadnought or two. If you're unlucky you'll get hit by an orbital strike just as you get attacked, so most of your squads will be broken during the fight; don't bunch your army too close together to avoid this. Once you've dealt with the enemies, capture the strategic point to take control of the relay, complete the objective, and, best of all, stop those annoying orbital strikes. This also brings up a new secondary objective; direct the orbital bombardment. Leave your army here for a minute, and bring up a builder unit to cap the point and build a secondary base (you don't usually need it, but it's a good location in case you need reinforcements). When you're ready, send your army out across the battlefield to capture the relic, if you send your army back down through the area where the Whirlwinds were you'll encounter less resistance. The relic isn't that difficult to take, head up the stairs to the east and take out everything in sight, which is marines, turrets and terminators, although be warned, there are a lot more terminators here. Once you've captured it the objective is complete, but send over a builder unit to cap it if you can. The next objective to deal with is the space marine reinforcements in the east corner, so head back to your secondary base, via the Whirlwind area. You might run into some enemies between here and your base, but it won't be anything you can't take care of. From here head to the eastern corner, as you get close you'll be attacked by more and more enemies coming from the base, so get in there and start blowing stuff up. The fight in here will be like all the others so far, except there'll be more enemies and it'll be more chaotic, as several squads will arrive mid-fight via drop-pods in annoying locations, but persevere, and you should be able to kill all the marines and destroy the base. Right, there's only one thing left to do now, take out the Fortress Monastery at the main base. Reinforce your army if you need to, then head northwest to the space marine base. The resistance here is much more considerable, move through systematically eliminating threats as they appear and you should get through. The HQ (which is all you have to destroy) is right in the north corner, and if you start to get into trouble, make a run for it and try to destroy it. Either way, I like to end the scenario by using an orbital bombardment to destroy the HQ, it's quick and easy, and delightfully ironic. ------------------------------------------------ 7.3.4 - CHAOS SPACE MARINES - DOW-CSST ------------------------------------------------ The Deimos Peninsula Primary Objective: Destroy the Warp Portal. Secondary Objectives: Stop the Blood Pulse. Free the Prisoners. The Chaos Space Marines don't waste any time here; you'll be attacked by marines, Horrors and Cultists within the first five seconds or so. They come from both sides, but there's only a few squads so you can deal with them easily. Towards the end of the fight you'll receive your first secondary objective; stopping the blood pulse, but this is something you can ignore for the time being. Shortly after this you'll receive your second secondary objective; rescuing the prisoners, but this should also be left for later; concentrate on building up a base and an army first. The best way to defend your base is to set up a couple of squads at the two Strategic Points a short way outside your base, which are in the middle of the two paths approaching the starting area. This is an effective defence; the only thing that gets thrown at you now is Cultists, so if you can gun them down easily you'll be fine (although occasionally they send a some marines or a Defiler down the eastern path, so have some anti-tank guns there too). In fact, if you want to get the 5000 kills wargear requirement really easily, just set up your defences and sit back for a while before going forwards. But be careful then setting up the eastern defences. See that glowing red pillar with blood- soaked ground around it. That's the blood pulse area; when the countdown reaches zero, any of you infantry in that area will be instantly killed, so stay away. The safest way to move forward at this point is with vehicles, which are immune to the blood pulse, so once you've killed enough Cultists and built up an army, take your vehicles and send them out the western path. Ahead is a blood pulse area, with turrets, Horrors and Cultists; try to deal with the turrets first, your biggest problem here is that you may get bogged down by the number of Cultists. There's also a small base just to the north, so take that out before moving on. At around this point you'll get a cut-scene with a bit of bad news. Now you have to face a Bloodthirster. Now you can do this in two ways. The easy way is to sit back and wait for the Bloodthirster to die (it loses health when not in combat and won't actually come after you unless you attack it first), however this can take a while and if you let this battle drag on too long chances are you'll have to face a second one (with no cut-scene to warn you this time). The hard way is to fight it, although if you concentrate your attack (preferably ranged), it should go down without too many problems, because it's only supported by Cultists and Horrors. Either way, when you're ready to continue, take your vehicles to the south of the blood pulse, where you'll find more turrets around the Strategic Point. Take them out and then prepare to move your infantry. What you want to do is move as many of your squads as possible right to the edge of the pulse area, and wait. When the timer resets, send your infantry across to where your vehicles are. Now you don't need to send everything across in one go, so play it safe and make several trips if you have to. It's also helpful to send at least one builder unit over with the infantry; the Strategic Point on the other side makes a good location for a secondary base, which will allow you to reinforce your army without having to worry about that Blood-Pulse area. Your next target is the relic in the western corner, this is where the prisoners are being held. There's another blood pulse along the way, but you can just walk you infantry around to the right of it. There's another base at the relic, but if you take your whole army it shouldn't be too hard. Resistance is significant but scattered, allowing you to take on one thing at a time. Don't be afraid to pull back if necessary and keep training new troops in case some of your existing squads die. Kill the Sorcerer to free the prisoners and complete the secondary objective. Reinforce your army and head north. There's another blood pulse along the way, separated from the previous one by a long hill. To avoid both of these the easiest thing to do is manoeuvrer your infantry along the hill to the east, although this can involve moving several smaller groups which are easier to control. Once you're past these pulse areas, head north to the Strategic Point. Capturing this will stop the blood pulse and complete the second Secondary Objective. Resistance here is quite heavy though, as you're getting close to the main base. There are numerous turrets, both Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers, as well as Cultists, Horrors and Defilers. You'll definitely want to deal with the enemy before trying to capture the point, so go slowly and attack one thing at a time. There's a base off to the east supplying this area, so when the resistance lightens, try to take out some of the unit producing structures. From this point onwards though, don't be surprised if your attack is thrown back and you're forced to rebuild part or all of your army; the last part of this scenario gets very intense. When you manage to take this area, bring up a builder unit and create a third base; it doesn't need to be big, it just needs unit producing structures to reinforce your army. At this point you'll need the biggest army you can muster, and you'll want to head straight to the north corner of the map, to that big Warp Portal. Get ready for a hell of a fight though. There's all manner of turrets, vehicles, and infantry; you'll be assaulted by Possessed, Khorne Berserkers, Horrors, Predators, Defilers, and, if you're unlucky, another Bloodthirster. The best tactic here is quite cheap, destroy anything in your army's path that may bog it down, and head straight for the Warp Portal, because the scenario ends when you destroy it. If your army is taking a serious beating before it gets near the portal, you may have to settle for a much slower strategy of systematically attacking and destroying the base to weaken the enemy forces and reduce their ability to reinforce their troops, then head in to attack the portal. Be smart about it though; don't send in units piecemeal as soon as they're trained, wait until you've got a reasonably large force, and if your army is going to be destroyed, take everything that you possibly can with it, then make a new one and attack again. In the end you should reach the portal. Now, the Warp Portal is actually six separate structures, four pillars and the two half-arches. None of them are that tough, so concentrate your attack and they'll go down quickly, even with the enemy still attacking you. When the last one falls, the portal is destroyed and the Chaos Space Marines are defeated. ------------------------------------------------ 7.3.5 - ELDAR - DOW-ELST ------------------------------------------------ Tyrea Primary Objectives: Eliminate the Eldar Forward Base. Capture and Hold the Eldar Webway Gates. Secondary Objectives: Annihilate the Ork Camp. Free the Untrained Squiggoths. Slay the Schismatic Chaos Sorcerer. Note that this is the only battle in the campaign where you'll face more than one race. When you begin this scenario you'll receive a primary objective notifying you about a forward base, this is where the early Eldar attacks come from so it should be your first concern. The first attack will come in the first minute, from guardians and a Falcon or two carrying various aspect warriors. This attack is easy to see off, and most of the future attacks will be of similar strength, so it shouldn't be too hard to get your base up and running. That is, until the Orks attack. They'll come from the east, and their attacks will consist of only infantry, just be ready to move your forces around to defend your base, and hope that the Eldar and Orks don't attack at the same time. After the Orks first attack you'll get the secondary objective of eliminating them, and shortly after that, the objective of freeing the untrained Squiggoths. Since the Eldar attacks are more dangerous, though, dealing with their forward base is the first priority. However, it's possible that a number of the Ork attacks will be composed of infiltrated units, so have something that can detect them on standby. Once you have a force, it doesn't have to be a whole army (continue to build your army, though), follow the path from the western side of your base, until you reach a couple of Webway Gates on a ridge. You'll see outlines of Support Platforms, but they can't shoot you. As soon as you start attacking the Gates, there's a cut-scene and the objective is complete. This will give you your second primary objective, and introduce a new foe to the level, Chaos Space Marines. As you continue destroying the Eldar base and fighting the Chaos forces there, you'll receive another secondary objective, killing the sorcerer leading the Chaos marines. This is something you can do now; keep heading north, taking out the Chaos base bit by bit, until you reach the sorcerer. The resistance here isn't much, there are quite a few heavy bolter turrets and mines in the entrance, but there isn't much else, a few Horrors and maybe a Defiler. When you get to the sorcerer put everything you've got into him, when he dies the Chaos base is destroyed, a mission group is added to your forces (there's also a mission group rescued when you destroy the Orks, from here on troops will periodically appear at this location and one on the other side of the map, and the don't count towards any of the caps). Once the sorcerer is dead head back to base and prepare to deal with the Orks. About this time you might see the Eldar step up the attacks, and add Wraithlords to the attacks, so have some anti-tank units ready. You're going to need more forces to take out the Orks than you did for the Chaos, so get your army together and follow the eastern path out of your base, and don't take the first turn, follow it all the way to the eastern corner, then head towards the north corner, and you'll quickly come across the Ork base. This base needs to be taken slowly; it's spread out over a large area and there's plenty of Waaagh! Banners to shoot you along the way, as well as a lot of Orks with vehicle support in the form of Killa Kans and Wartrukz. Keep following the path until it turns around to head back towards your base, at this point look north and you'll find the Squiggoth enclosure, be careful, there are mines in the entrance to the area. You only need to get next to the gates to free them, and when you do they're rampage into the Ork base. They won't hurt your troops, and provide a nice distraction for you, but they won't do your job for you, the Orks will take care of them without suffering too much damage, so follow the Squiggoths up quickly to take full advantage of them. Move systematically through the base, destroying everything in one area before you move onto the next, to complete the objective you need to destroy the HQ in the northernmost area of the base. Once the Orks have been taken out of the equation, take the mission groups and head northwest towards the Eldar base. Once again there are mines across the entrance, but no real resistance before the first Webway Gate (there are three in total, to capture them you need to capture the Critical Locations around them. Don't capture this one yet though, just move around the outer area where the Gates are, and don't whatever you do, go into the raised central area. You're looking to destroy everything in this outer area, it's mostly structures and Support Platforms, so this shouldn't be a problem. Now, this is the bit where it gets hard. You have to take all three Gates, and hold them for ten minutes. There are two ways of doing this, neither of them is easy. Firstly, you can take all three points in unison and try to hold them against the Eldar attack, in which case I'd say keep the majority of your forces at the central Gate because this is where most of the Eldar attack, and bring up a builder unit (via the Ork base area, the most direct route has Eldar along it) to make a new HQ and unit producing structures for quick reinforcing. The Eldar attack is very powerful but it can be repelled. Concentrate your fire and attack whatever's closest; you don't have to defeat the attackers, all you have to do is hold out. The second attack is to go into the central area (where the attacks come from), and destroy the Eldar base so there's nothing left to attack you. If you want to do this I'd suggest having some long ranged firepower which can sit down on the outer area and shoot some of the enemies and structures on the inside before you go in. The reason for this is because there are four Aspect Shrines and three Vehicle Portals, numerous aspect squads, Fire Prisms and Wraithlords, as well as the Farseer and the Avatar, so a direct assault stands a good chance of failing. If you can weaken the enemy first, artillery can be handy for this purpose, your assault could be quite successful, as long as you're able to take out all the structures, this means the Eldar won't be able to throw troops at you, in fact, if you destroy everything, they won't be able to attack you at all. If you do this, the mission is over and the elder are defeated. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Eldar Stronghold - don't know if you want to mention it specifically, but IG can easily win this scenario. They can use assassins to kill the avatar, basilisks to shell the main base, and create an impenetrable line of heavy weapon teams to protect these units. ------------------------------------ Thanks to Darian actually, if we were to choose the hard way which is to assault the central area, all we have to do is destroy all the structures in the area. We don't have to wait for the 10 minutes to be up at all [this has been amended in the above walkthrough]. Coz I have played as all the seven other races, and the outcome is always the same whenever i assault the eldar stronghold. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 7.3.6 - ORKS - DOW-ORST ------------------------------------------------ The Green Coast Primary Objective: Kill Warlord Gorgutz 'Ead'Unter. Secondary Objectives: Destroy the Headcrushaz Banner Destroy the Rokkitrangaz Banner. Destroy the Kwikmekz Banner. Destroy the Footstompaz Banner. Destroy the Burnaboyz Banner. You start this scenario in a small area in the western corner of the map, with three Strategic Points and one entrance. This is a very good thing, because when the Orks attack, and they will within the first 45 seconds or so, you know exactly where they're coming from. Although three Strategic Points does make for a limited economy, I'd recommend staying in this area to build up your army; if you use it well you won't need a second one. There are also a lot of Ork camps around the map, and if you expand your base you could very easily be assaulted from many different sides. So sit back and take the time to build a full army, besides, this'll add a lot of kills to your tally, which will help you get those two pieces of wargear a lot quicker. Now, for those of you who are interested in simply completing the main objective as quickly as possible and ignoring the rest, there is an easy strategy. Take your army and head to the south corner, following the edge of the map. There's a small base there but nothing to really worry about. From here head to the east corner. You'll only run into fierce resistance when you get close to the main base. Once you get inside, Gorgutz will usually come and attack you, so concentrate your army on him and you'll be done quite quickly. The road for those who wish to complete all the objectives is a little more arduous, though. When you've got your army and you're ready head out to the north, where you'll quickly receive your first secondary objective; destroying the Headcrushaz Banner. All of the secondary objectives involve destroying the banners of the various clans, and doing so will cause the Orks of that clan to rebel against Gorgutz. Note that they're still your enemy, and they will fight you if none of Gorgutz' loyal Orks are around, but for the most part, they'll fight each other. As you approach the base, expect hordes of Orks to pour out; there are a lot of them, but they're unsupported infantry, so you should be able to plough through them. When you get inside the base, go straight to the banner, it's in the middle, and blow it up. This will trigger a cut-scene and then the Orks around you will be fighting each other. You can destroy the base itself, or just move on. When you're ready, leave the base the same way you came in and head south, past the southern entrance to your base, then head east for the next Secondary Objective; destroying the Rokkitrangaz Banner. The banner is really close to the entrance of the base, but there's likely to be a lot of Orks with Rokkit Launchas between you and it, and some of them may be infiltrated, so make sure you have a unit that can detect them on hand. Destroy the banner as quickly as you can to have the Orks fight each other, then head out by the north exit (the resistance is fairly light; there are quite a lot of Orks but they're very scattered), and go towards the path north of the relic in the middle of the map and you'll receive your next secondary objective; destroying the Kwikmekz Banner. This banner is directly north of the entrance to the base, next to the Strategic Point, and, once again, you should head straight for it, and ignore everything that isn't directly in your path. The resistance here will be stronger, as the Kwikmekz use tanks and all the other heavy vehicles. These vehicles will be supported by infantry, and this can create a real problem. The entrance to the base is a natural choke point, and the mass of Orks can contribute to this, really bogging you down, so make sure you can bring your strength to bear, and push your way through. Once the banner goes down, clean up the remaining Orks and structures, then leave the base by the southeast exit. This will trigger the next secondary objective, destroying the Footstompaz Banner. There'll be some infantry between your army and the banner, carve a path through it and take out the banner. Don't be worried about Squiggoths here, in my experience you won't actually have to fight one, when you destroy the banner it'll go off after he other Orks, if you're smart and stay away from it, the other Orks will end up killing it for you. From here it really is easy to head east to find and kill Gorgutz, but if you want the last of the secondary objectives, head south, to receive the final secondary objective; destroying the Burnaboyz Banner. Standard response here, there's infantry resistance, cut a path through it and destroy the banner, follow the western cliff once you get inside the base to find it. Now head to the main base in the east corner of the map, it should be easy to get to, as the Orks around there will be fighting each other. Once you get inside the base, Gorgutz will come at you, attack him with everything you've got; when he goes down the scenario ends, so you don't need to worry about the fact that your army, which has been ground down over the course of the battle, is now nearly at breaking point. He's got a lot of health, but against a whole army, he's no match. When he falls, the Orks are defeated, although the last cut-scene does leave a bad taste in your mouth. ------------------------------------------------ 7.3.7 - IMPERIAL GUARD - DOW-IMST ------------------------------------------------ Victory Bay Primary Objective: Destroy the Governor-Militant's Main Base. Secondary Objectives: Destroy First Company's Forward base. Destroy the Artillery Batteries. Destroy the Second Mechanised Company's Base. Shut Down the Titan Cannon. Take Control of the Titan Cannon. Kill the Commissar Guarding the Fifth Company. About thirty seconds in you'll be attacked by units of Imperial Guard riding in Chimeras, so group your Honour Guard together rather than splitting them to capture points, and wait for the attack, which usually comes from the road to the north-west, then from the southern entrance. While this is going on you should have builder units building all the basic structures you can afford, most notably an infantry-producing structure and Plasma Generators. Once you've seen off the guardsmen, start capturing the points directly around your base, and training infantry squads. At this point you won't be attacked very heavily, it'll only be squads of guardsmen which your Honour Guard should be able to take care of, so you can afford to hang back and build a small force, as well as base structures. Be careful when capturing the point in the shallows to the north though, you'll sometimes run into quite a few guardsmen. These guardsmen are coming from a forward base to the south of this Strategic Point, which is the first secondary objective. This is a base you'll definitely want to get rid of, and soon, so build up a few squads (at least four) and send them round to approach the base from the south-east, where there are less turrets to fire on you as you enter, although there are guardsmen hiding in the ruins. The base may seem fairly light, there's only infantry and turrets, as well as a few basic structures, but the proximity means everything will be firing on you at once, so be well prepared and don't stand in the middle of the base for any reason. Concentrate on the turrets first, then wipe out the guardsmen and the buildings. You may be tempted to send your Honour Guard in as well, but don't, you should leave them to guard your base against other attacks. At some point through all of this, the Imperial Guard Commander will send a Vindicare Assassin to kill your Commander. Now it will take some time from when he says it to when the assassin shows up, but be careful, and make sure you have a unit that can detect infiltrated units with your Commander, and be wary of their health, if it starts to go down unexpectedly, the assassin has gotten close enough to start shooting without being seen, so start hunting the area around your Commander until you find him. You can spot him by the to glowing orange dots which show up even when he's infiltrated, which help a lot. This will happen periodically throughout the entire battle, so don't let your guard down. After you've taken out the forward base, return your forces to base, and use them as guards. The enemy attacks aren't very strong, so now is a perfect time to sit back and build up your base, army, do some research, and build your defences. You're going to need it for what you have to do next. When you've got a full army, send them towards the southern corner to begin the next phase of the scenario. Once your troops get about halfway down the map, the artillery will start. This is another secondary objective, a group of Basilisks in the south-western area of the map will bombard you periodically until you destroy them. You have other things to worry about now though, so keep heading south. You'll also have periodic strafing runs from fighters initiated by the enemy Commander, an ability he will lose when you destroy the mechanised company HQ (see below). There's all kinds of defences around the bridge, which you'll need to cross, but ignore that for now (try to pass by as far to the east as possible to avoid attention), and head to the southern corner where a mechanised base awaits secondary objective), complete with Baneblade. This may seem daunting, but it's not that well supported, and if you concentrate your fire it shouldn't do too much damage. When it goes down, take out the other vehicles, then the base itself. If you have trouble avoiding the bridge defences, attack them first, just don't stray onto the bridge, there are enemies on the bridge which are best left until you're ready to cross. Be ready for this next part, when you cross the bridge you'll be fighting large numbers of enemies for a while. There are quite a few vehicles on the bridge itself, and when you get to the other side you'll find another base with turrets and a lot of guardsmen running at you. Once you see this attack off, set to work destroying the base, then send some of your troops south to take care of the Basilisks, which are defended with a few turrets. Whatever you do though, don't venture into that valley with the main base to the west of the bridge with the main Imperial Guard base on the other side. Once you've taken care of the Basilisks, one of the best things to do is bring up a builder unit or two and establish a second base on the far side of the bridge, where the enemy base was, and rebuild any parts of your army that were destroyed. When you're finished building your second base, send that nice, cheap, expendable builder unit into the valley I told you to avoid at all costs before. Now you didn't want that to happen to any of your army, did you? Now position your army as close to the entrance as possible so they can cross it in the shortest amount of time, and, the next time the Titan Cannon starts recharging, send your army across. If you get bogged down, pull some units back, but try to get as much over as possible, because you'll be fighting as soon as you get out the other side. Your aim in this fight is to kill the Commissar (secondary objective), as this will cause the Imperial Guard in the base to rebel and fight against their old allies, and not against you. This is easy as the Commissar runs straight at you, and if you concentrate your attack, you can take out his Ogryn bodyguard quite quickly. Once this is done, head south to destroy all the Thermo-plasma Generators and thus make the Titan Cannon useless. They're only guarded by some turrets and a couple of Leman Russ', so against a full army they should be no problem. When the generators are all destroyed, you can, if you want, build a generator on one of the slag deposits, and take control of the cannon yourself. It's been a long fight, but you're almost done. Now all that remains is the final base. The resistance is considerable though, including another Baneblade, this time supported much more effectively, as well as numerous Leman Russ', turrets, and a lot of guardsmen. The best approach here is to advance slowly, concentrate your fire, and don't be afraid to pull back if you need to reinforce squads. If your units are getting destroyed use your forward base to replace them and get them into the action quickly, and keep the assault going until you reach the HQ. Destroy that, and it's all over bar the shouting. -------------------- Reader Contributions -------------------- ------------------------- Thanks to noob_of_destiny Imperial Guard Stronghold - Against the basilisks jump units and deep striked units are incredibly useful. Necrons can just teleport in the Necron Lord and use Essence of the Nightbringer. -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ 8 - SKIRMISH - DOW-SKIR ------------------------------------------------ What follows is basic info for setting up a skirmish game. Skirmishes play exactly like normal battles in the campaign, so for skirmish strategies, see: 7 - SINGLE PLAYER STRATEGIES - DOW-SPLS. ------------ Game Options ------------ AI Difficulty - Easy Standard Hard Harder Insane (Both harder and insane provide an enemy that requires the utmost speed and ability to defeat. I'd only fight on these levels if you're very confident in your abilities or feeling extremely lucky.) Starting Resources - Standard (1000 requisition; 100 power) Quick-start (5000 requisition; 10000 power) Lock Teams - Yes/No Enable Cheats - Yes/No Starting Location - Random - Fixed Game Speed - Very Slow - Slow - Normal - Fast Resource Sharing - Yes/No (This will allow you to share requisition and power with allies, and can be quite useful.) Resource Rate - Low - Standard (This is the rate at which resources are gathered in the campaign.) - High Game Rules (Victory Conditions) Annihilate - Destroy all of your enemies' unit producing buildings. Assassinate - Each player starts with a commander. Kill the enemy commanders to win. If your commander dies, you lose. Control Area - Control over two thirds of the Strategic Points and hold them for eight minutes to win. Destroy HQ - Destroy your enemies' HQ building/s to win. Economic Victory - Amass requisition and power to win. Game Timer - Displays a game timer (not a victory condition). Take and Hold - Control over half of the Critical Locations and hold them for seven minutes to win. Sudden Death - Take an enemy's strategic point to eliminate them. If the enemy takes one of yours, you lose. Teams - Auto Teams (Select between two and four teams). Free For All Player Set Teams Random Teams Players - AI (Select race and team colour; N/A if random) - Closed ------------------------------------------------ 9 - MULTIPLAYER - DOW-MULT ------------------------------------------------ To be completed soon. ------------------------------------------------ 10 - FAQs - DOW-FAQS ------------------------------------------------ None yet. ------------------------------------------------ 11 - E-MAIL POLICY - DOW-EPOL ------------------------------------------------ Questions, comments, critiques? Email me at devilmaycryfreak@hotmail.com, and let me know what you think. And make sure you put the words Dawn of War in the topic or it just might get deleted as spam. What and what not to email me with are as follows: What to email me with: 1. - Constructive criticism about my FAQ. Let me know if you found it useful, what you liked and didn't like, and anything you had trouble understanding. Anything that can help me improve the quality of the FAQ is greatly appreciated, so please tell me what you thought of it. 2. - Helpful tips or other info about Dark Crusade not already included in the FAQ. 3. - Mistakes I've made in the FAQ. 4. - If you need help with the downloaded content and the answer is not already covered in the FAQ. Also, I'm an Aussie, so if you're emailing me about a typo, make sure its actually a typo, not just a word spelled differently between Australian/ American English. I know its a pretty insignificant detail in this FAQ, but you'd be surprised how many people emailed me about my GT4 Tuning FAQ saying that the word tyre is spelt with an i. What not to email me about: 1. - Anything that has nothing to do with Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. 2. - Anything that has already been covered in the FAQ. 3. - SPAM, I hate it as much as everyone else. ------------------------------------------------ 12 - THANKS AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - DOW-TCPR ------------------------------------------------ Thanks go to the following people: You - for reading my FAQ. Relic - for making such a great game. CJayC - for running the best video game site for all these years. Zander X - for his wargear, character abilities and campaign info and tips. noob_of_destiny - for his numerous contributions and race specific strategies. TheAgentD - for the info on Flashgitz. HawkEyeWolf - for the Hyperion Peaks strategy. Psychotic Penguin - for the Turtling info. Theo - for his Necron strategy. 0ut0fAmmo - for his Imperial Guard and Grey Knight info. Icezera - for his Eldar strategies and Tau Stronghold strategy. Darian - for the Eldar Stronghold info. ?? - for the Eldar Stronghold strategy. Everyone who e-mailed me about the Imperial Guard Listening Posts. And anyone else I forgot to thank. ---------------------------------- Websites with permission to post this FAQ: cheatcc.com gameborder.com gamerstemple.com honestgamers.com ---------------- This FAQ may be not be reproduced, in part, or full, under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and is a violation of copyright. This FAQ Copyright(c)2007 Michael Green aka NightmareHunter.