New Exp Pack for Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War!!!

[Senshi]

The official press release here (http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=96376&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=809933&highlight=)

This may be kinda old news but I know alot of people on these forums are fans of DoW much like myself so I decided to set up a discussion thread... I'm very excited since DoW is like one of my favorite games of all time and Winter Assault was definitely the best expansion pack of last year...

But apparently there are gonna be two new races: The Tau (http://uk.games-workshop.com/tau/) and one yet to be announced...

Im really excited about the Tau... they are probably my favorite race since their units seem to be kinda Japanese mecha inspired...

As for the other race there is alot of speculation as to what its gonna be...

Probably the best bet is the Necrons (http://uk.games-workshop.com/necrons/) since they had a cameo appearance in Winter Assault (and of course IG had a cameo in the original DW and then they showed up in WA)... which I would also be very excited about since they come in a close second to the Tau in my book...

There is also some speculation that the Kroot are the second race... but if this is true thats a total cop out from Relic since the Kroot are part of the Tau Empire... but I doubt they would do that...

But its really open to any of the races except the Tyranids which Relic has expressed that they would NEVER do since it may be impossible to do them properly on the DoW engine... but a cameo isnt out of the question... Besides the Necrons it may be the Dark Eldar (http://uk.games-workshop.com/darkeldar/) or the Witchhunters or Daemonhunters (but another human race? cmon -_-)...

[Major Tom]

Calm down, Senshi, you're gushing there. Then again, I would be if I had created the thread.

But this is good news, indeed! More aliens for my mighty Marines to cleanse and burn!

I play Marines mostly (as you probably guessed from the last sentance), so the expansion pack probably won't add too much in content that I would play often (maybe some upgrades for the Marines and the Guard, I do divert into the Guard every now and then), but a friend of mine collects the Tau.....it would be interesting to see how the handle the Tau. They are not a race you'd wan't to get into a firefight with, but they are terrible in close combat; to borrow a phrase from Futurama 'Quit moving, my depth perception isn't too good!'

I would also hedge my bets on the Necrons as the second race, if they follow the pattern. The Guard made a generally NPC appearance in DoW, then appeared as fully fledged race in Winter Assault. The Necrons also follow the troop types: The basic troops and the mainstream tank, just like the Guard did in DoW.

What I would really like to see is some progenitor Chapters for the Space Marines. My Chapter of choice is the Blood Angels (look here (http://uk.games-workshop.com/spacemarines/bloodangels/) and here (http://oz.games-workshop.com/games/40k/spacemarines/background/bloodangels.htm)), which has some personality quirks of their own which aren't represented in the game.

[Syner]

finally the Tau comes to Dawn of War...hopefully they will fix the Imperial Gaurd too...My friend couldn't wait to play as them and he was quite disappointed lol

[Roark]

So, will they still sell each unit in the new expansion piecemeal through local game stores, build up a fanbase, create shortages of popular units, then open up a store of their own to siphon away the player base?

Sorry, I just have a low opinion of Games Workshops' "business strategy".

[Senshi]

it would be interesting to see how the handle the Tau. They are not a race you'd wan't to get into a firefight with, but they are terrible in close combat; to borrow a phrase from Futurama 'Quit moving, my depth perception isn't too good!'

Yeah but if they include the Kroot it shouldnt be too bad I dont think as long as you coordinate it well and make a well balanced force... Im just excited about Crisis Battlesuits :)

Still would be nervous about a Khorne Beserker rush with them tho >.< damn those things are too tough... I cry Nerf!

also Do you think they will include units from the new Codex? like the Vespids and like Stealth Battlesuits etc?

I would also hedge my bets on the Necrons as the second race, if they follow the pattern. The Guard made a generally NPC appearance in DoW, then appeared as fully fledged race in Winter Assault. The Necrons also follow the troop types: The basic troops and the mainstream tank, just like the Guard did in DoW.

I think the Necrons would definitely be different to play... like they are all slow moving but hard hitting... wonder what sort of strategy you could use with them...

Plus Necron pyramids would make a good source for cool structure models...

What I would really like to see is some progenitor Chapters for the Space Marines. My Chapter of choice is the Blood Angels (look here (http://uk.games-workshop.com/spacemarines/bloodangels/) and here (http://oz.games-workshop.com/games/40k/spacemarines/background/bloodangels.htm)), which has some personality quirks of their own which aren't represented in the game.

I donno... I guess a new campaign based on another Space Marine Chapter would be fun, but I think that after DoW the Space Marines got more than their fair share of playtime... What im hoping for is like maybe 2 really tight and well done campaigns with the two new races...

But there is always the mod community if you want more SM chapter campaigns... I heard there is some Steel Legion(?) chapter mod out there...

finally the Tau comes to Dawn of War...hopefully they will fix the Imperial Gaurd too...My friend couldn't wait to play as them and he was quite disappointed lol

I donno about the Imperial Guard being broke... I do pretty good with them (not as good as Chaos but good enough)... Guardsmen are trash (need higher reinforcement cap or somethin) but the armor is pretty effing kickass... Hellhounds ftw. rapes the hell outta infantry and heavy infantry (not to mention buildings)... sucks that you have to rely on sentinels for anti-vehicle tho (least til you get leman russ)... you really have to coordinate and concentrate fire for them to be effective... they really need some sorta infantry anti-vehicle imo.

[Major Tom]

So, will they still sell each unit in the new expansion piecemeal through local game stores, build up a fanbase, create shortages of popular units, then open up a store of their own to siphon away the player base?

Sorry, I just have a low opinion of Games Workshops' "business strategy".

Are you referring to the miniatures stores? As much as I like WH40K, I do agree with you there. I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Australia the prices of GW stuff have been shooting up over the years, and I don't see any real reason to. As far as I know, they are pretty much the biggest player in the business.....I don't think they have much in the way of serious competition. In fact, I think I just answered my own question there.

I donno... I guess a new campaign based on another Space Marine Chapter would be fun, but I think that after DoW the Space Marines got more than their fair share of playtime... What im hoping for is like maybe 2 really tight and well done campaigns with the two new races...

Not necessarily a new campaign. Just changes to reflect the various traits of the chapters, like how Dark Angels are incredibly stubborn, Space Wolves are Vikings in power armour, and the Blood Angels are borderline psychos. At the moment, all we have is the Codex Ultramarines. I'll have a look for mods anyway.

I also agree that the Imperial Guard were quite well done, but there was room for improvement. I missed the heavy weapons squads, and the Earthshaker (as far as I remember) didn't have enough range.......They were good, but they were missing the element of the phrase that was bandied about when I used to go to Games nights.....'Excessive use of firepower!'

[Syner]

will we still beable to upload custom images to our armys insignia?

I remember having a Space Marine squad with the batman symbol on them and calling them the Dark Knights lol

[Senshi]

Not necessarily a new campaign. Just changes to reflect the various traits of the chapters, like how Dark Angels are incredibly stubborn, Space Wolves are Vikings in power armour, and the Blood Angels are borderline psychos. At the moment, all we have is the Codex Ultramarines. I'll have a look for mods anyway.

I see what your saying.... yeah I would really like to see like the differences in the factions of each race too... Like for Chaos Marines I would like fight with some units for a god other than Khorne...

Then again probably a lot of work to implement that, but its ok to hope right...

will we still beable to upload custom images to our armys insignia?

Yup Im sure you can... makes me wonder what sorta insignia ill make for my Tau troops!

But on the subject of the miniatures... I havent played the tabletop game, but yeah I see what you guys talkin about... I wanted to try and get into it but I mean that stuff is crazy expensive... I love the Warhammer 40k universe but I cant afford no $150 dollars for a decent army + all the supplies for painting and assembly...

Ill just stick to the video game adaptations

[Roark]

Are you referring to the miniatures stores? As much as I like WH40K, I do agree with you there. I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Australia the prices of GW stuff have been shooting up over the years, and I don't see any real reason to. As far as I know, they are pretty much the biggest player in the business.....I don't think they have much in the way of serious competition. In fact, I think I just answered my own question there.


Their mini's division is just... evil. Pure, unadultered evil. It's not uncommon for them to open a GW-brand store literally right next to a Friendly Local Gaming Store in a mall and drive them out of business. They leech off the work the FLGS did in building a player community by providing a level of niceties (play space, mini-selection) that the FLGS has no way to match. Think about it: they manufacture the products and have direct access to the warehouse, accessories, etc. Cost of business is lower and margins are higher. The FLGS normally has to work through a distrubitor, so there's at least 2 middlemen in the process, driving up prices and making margins paper thin. That and they REQUIRE the FLGS to maintain certain stock levels, or the liscense to sell GW material is revoked. This especially sucks when they're required to maintain a selection of unpopular units that suck up shelf space (retail lives and dies on shelf space).

This is why I don't buy GW products, and never will. They're leeches who rely on other people to do the hard work of building a brand and community only to come along and reap the rewards that hard work entailed.

[Senshi]

New info on the expansion pack!

Firstly its called "Dark Crusade" and the race that was in question is now officially the Necrons...

the website:
http://www.dow-darkcrusade.com/main.php?region=UK

but yeah im officially super-excited.

Also something of note is that instead of the story based campaign they are gonna make it more open ended - you can pick any of the available races and "fight for world dominance"...

[Major Tom]

Very impressive. I did notice that there were a good few screenshots of Tau getting skewered....maybe the devs have a particular stance in regards to the Tau.

It seems that they are intending to introduce another style of play again. The first was very assault based, and with the Guard in Winter Assault a very strong defensive style of play was introduced, and now we can make customised armies?

Maybe they re planning to introduce a.....well in tabletop terms it would be a points cap, taking armies of a limited size and having to fight battles with what you've got.....in all honesty I've always enjoyed those kinds of RTS's much more than resource management ones, you really have to think more.

But what I am most excited about is this promise of a more free-form story campaign. Set pieces are fun, but they don't allow for anything else, there are no lose conditions, only win ones....so in effect you are not allowed to lose, or pull back, regroup. Then again, a Commissar may not allow one step back, but Commissars can always have 'accidents'......

[Zirilan]

Damn, this game looks awesome! I never got very deep into the WH:40K lore but I have enjoyed the RPGs immensely. I also think it would've been awesome if they had actually incorporated those "quarks" that MT was talking about earlier.

[Senshi]

I think the Warhammers (the fantasy and 40K) are some of the most interesting "universes"... it's so hardcore and brutal... they focus on the part that is interesting: the WAR!!!

eff all the drama and politics and diplomacy... THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!

BTW Warhammer: Mark of Chaos looks like its coming along nicely as well...

*Edit*

Was looking over the minatures range for the Tau and was wondering: what do you guys think is gonna be the Tau "Superweapon" (i.e. Bloodthirster for Chaos, Avatar for Eldar, Land Raider for Space Marines, etc.)... cause I think its obvious that the Necros Superweapon is gonna be the Nightbringer (judging from the trailer)

looking at the selection for the Tau I dont know if any of their selection can be at the "superweapon" level... maybe the "Sky Ray" but that looks like it would fill a more "artillery" based role like the Whirlwind, Defiler, or Basilisk...