[PC] Warhammer 40K - Dawn of War: Dark Crusade

So the new Dawn of War expansion that technically isn't an expansion because you can play it without owning or installing the original game and Winter Assault is out now.

I'm really loving this RTS series for its extreme simplicity and love for detail. Dawn of War essentially reduced the RTS experience to the most fun part and the awesome Winter Assault expansion featured one of the most exciting single player campaigns in a game ever.

Now Dark Crusade comes along, offering everything (7 races total: Space Marines, Chaos, Orks, Eldar, Imperial Guard, Tau, Necron) featured in DoW and WA as well as new units for most of the races and a brand new strategic campaign mode.

Dark Crusade takes place on the planet of Kronus where all the mighty armies of the galaxy clash in an epic battle. Although the game now lacks a storyline for the single player campaign, the strategic map and the possibility to take command of each of the seven races more than makes up for it, allowing for a totally new experience everytime you decide to start a new conquest.

At the core of the new mode is the strategic map or planetary overview, where you can move your leader around and attack or defend new territories, each offering a unique bonus to your army. Occupied territories award you requisition points, equal to the points awarded for holding control points in the game. You can either choose to add new troops to your own leader's "honor guard" or boast a territory's garrison. Gameplay is turn-based while the AI takes control of the other leaders. Of course, your goal is to defeat all other races on Kronus. Oh and you can customize your own leader's equipment and abilities by gaining experience points.

Needless to say, I'm absolutely impressed by this game and the entire series at that. Even if you're not a fan of the WH40K universe, the game's mechanics work so well that even a simple skirmish game against AI enemies can be lots of fun. Seriously, nothing beats sending a Baneblade heavy tank around the map and wreaking havoc on defenseless enemies. Also, the Dawn of War games are the first of their kind to introduce halfway realistic artillery that can fire across multiple screens. Infantry is organized in squads that can be reinforced and upgraded with special weapons and characters. Despite all this, the game itself never gets chaotic and the moderate speed allows for tactical decisions even in the midst of intense fighting.

I didn't find a thread on this yet so feel free to discuss this game and the series here.

Official site for further info and reference:

- Dawn of War series: http://www.dawnofwargame.com/homepage.php
- Dark Crusade: http://www.dow-darkcrusade.com

Jam it back in, in the dark.