It has been a great many years since I first encountered Warhammer 40,000, the grimdark tabletop miniature wargame that costs a lot of time and effort before you even begin to play the game itself. Kinda like gathering a bunch of games and a gaming computer for a silly little 1001 list, really.
The setting is so embracing of different alien races and ideologies that it has spawned games dedicated to small skirmishes, to piloting giant mechs, to racing around in demolition derbies. The Black Library contains what must be hundreds of stories for readers of all interests and ages, with seemingly more coming out than you can ever keep up with. And then there are the video games.
Ah, the video games. For an incredible setting that has captured the imagination of a great many fans across multiple mediums already, why is it so tricky for video games to do right? Warhammer video games are always - or at least, always were - OK at best. Entertaining for fans, but could have been so much more. Not phoned in, per se, not half-arsed, but just nowhere near the quality that the setting deserved.
Does Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War serve as an excellent example of that mediocrity, or is it one of the highlights of the many, many attempts at a Warhammer video game? It has been sitting in this Steam library, unplayed, since I got my Steam account. It's time to find out what we've been missing.
Fun Times
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. So sayeth W40k. You are birthed. If you're lucky, you'll live in service of the Emperor of mankind. If you're unlucky, you die in service of the Emperor of mankind. There is no escape from war, as planets are routinely overrun by chaotic forces, or Orks, or deemed such a lost cause that the heroes, the Space Marines, consider the only solution to the problem to be the complete eradication of the planet and all its inhabitants via orbital bombardment.
The Imperial Guard find themselves overrun by Orks. Cowardice is rewarded with a bullet in the back of the head. Bravery is rewarded with an Ork choppa slicing through your torso. The outlook, like the rest of life, is grim, but you get through it. Somehow.
You may find yourself in two or more pieces, but today is your lucky day, guardsman. The Blood Angels have descended, slamming their drop pods to the ground and pushing back the Orks from your severely weakened front line. Angels indeed. Where were they before all the bloodshed, though? Don't question the Space Marines, guardsman. Serve them.
Or more accurately, control them from the skies in the real-time strategy game that is Dawn of War. We are those heroic Blood Angels, and we need to set up a small base and then wipe out every Ork we find.
To do all of that, we need to spread out across the map to control points of interest, which will generate points for us to use to construct buildings and resupply troops. The more secure we keep those points, the more resources we'll have to do all the stuff we want to do.
Like other RTS titles, you'll be building barracks and power generators and upgrading them to produce better units, but it all feels a little more user friendly than I was expecting. For the most part, I forgot about the number of resources I had to spend. If I couldn't afford to make something, just waiting a few seconds for the totals to increase, as they naturally do over time, would be all I needed to do.
With a barracks built, new units of Space Marines can be trained up. Usually, this genre of game churns out a single trooper, ready to be put into a squad as and when you remember that you trained him in the first place. In Dawn of War, four basic Space Marines plop out and await your orders. What shall we have them do?
We've got to wipe the Orks off the map, so let's clear the fog of war to find them all.
That... that was satisfying. Controlling your squads around the map is as simple as clicking on a squad and clicking a target to move to or interact with. 'Interact' meaning 'destroy' or 'capture', for the most part. And boy, do they destroy it. Bolters pounding rounds into Ork defences, flamers roaring into the Gretchin that pour out of them... this is fun. This is intense. I'm glad I put the 'stuff left on the battlefield after it all kicks off' option to 'High', as bodies pile up and craters cover the floor.
In the cutscenes, the characters looked a little chunky and required our imagination to bring to life. In the game itself, while still chunky, these Space Marines do, from a distance, look like the utter killing machines they're depicted as in the setting. Don't get in their way. You don't stand a chance.
As I make my way through the map, taking moments to pause and pray in front of a control point to take it over (not really sure why it takes a whole squad to sit and reflect on a banner while they capture a control point, but whatever), I'm really enjoying how Dawn of War has taken the RTS and done its own things with it. Case in point, upgrading squads on the fly.
In firefights like these, your numbers will dwindle. Slowly, perhaps, but there will be spaces in your Space Marine ranks. In other games, you'd have to train new troops back at base and ferry them to the front lines as soon as you could. In Dawn of War, each squad can be reinforced, both in terms of manpower and weaponry, on the fly. They each have a build queue where you can ask for another Marine, or a Heavy Bolter, or a Rocket Launcher, and, provided there are the resources available (and the squad hasn't been wiped out), they can be spawned in the thick of battle.
You can double the number of boots on the ground in a given squad, and even attach leaders to it to increase their morale, which serves as another kind of health bar - lose enough morale, and a squad will be as out of the fight as they'd be if they lost enough men.
It all allows you to keep marching forward, putting pressure on the enemy and keeping the explosives flying. More than that, it shows the Space Marines to be as unflappable and unstoppable as you picture them being. They just don't stop. Thining their ranks does nothing. Their resilience is unrivalled - providing they prayed at enough control points.
With overwhelming firepower, the Orks are scrubbed from the map. The mission is complete. There is no time for celebration, for there is always war, but there is time for a little rest and a cutscene. What's the story of Dawn of War, anyway?
Frustrations
I'm not really sure if I'm honest. Perhaps it's too early for the story to tell me. It may be, however, that these character models are showing their age. They're goofy, they're awkwardly animated, and the voicework is full of 'mightier-than-thou' wisened super-soldier kind of stuff. It's a given for the setting, though, so I suppose it is at least on point there.
They are the weakest part of Dawn of War, but the gameplay is so good that it raises these silly cutscenes in a way that I can't quite explain. It is dumb to consider yourself as high and mighty as these Space Marines, but it is dumb fun at the same time. This is how you play Warhammer. Of course your units are the best of the best. Obviously your leader is the greatest of leaders, save for the Emperor.
For all the remarkable stories out there in the W40k universe, it's the stories we make ourselves that we remember. I might end up forgetting whatever was written for Dawn of War, but I'm not going to forget what I did to see it all.
Further Fun Times
The Space Marines are at odds regarding how to deal with these Orks, even to the point of our Captain, Gabriel Angelos (no, really), ending one cutscene with words to the effect of 'We've got to show the Orks our strength' and then beginning the next with 'We've got to infiltrate their ranks all quiet-like'.
Our second mission, therefore, starts with some scouts hiding in bushes and sniping Orks from a distance, or, in my case, standing in the bushes and running through the Orks to shoot them point-blank.
It doesn't go well for my scout squads. Even rebuilding them on the fly as their numbers dwindled, they were no match against Orks in open combat. Time to bring in the big guns, like we should have done anyway...
Much better. More my style, this. Orks out of the way, we can now set up camp and get ready to wipe out the rest of them. I guess in some sense, Dawn of War is a little repetitive, but right now, I'm not too worried. I'm playing in a jungle and not a city this time.
Like any RTS, we'll get some map-specific objectives to fulfil, but the order of events remains much the same. Push out, take some control points, build your forces, push further and faster than the enemy can recover.
It does help that it looks terrific when a squad squeezes their trigger fingers in unison. Looks even better when their destruction remains visible for all to see. Shame the Orks don't fear piles of dead Orks, though.
As I pushed forward, my ranks were thinned and, unexpectedly, thinned to the point where things were looking pretty grim for the Blood angels. I was outnumbered, which wouldn't usually be too much of an issue, but these Orks like charging into the thick of things and dishing out the damage with melee attacks. There are defences to that, of course, but the one available to me right now is to hope my backup regiment will get here in time.
They do. I practically double my numbers, and the squad cap looks close, but there is still room for more, should I need them. Given the amount of highly trained Blood Angels on screen, though, I'm going to take my chances. Brothers! Follow me!
Yes, that'll do nicely. One Ork base burnt and blown to bits. I'll get the nuance and the proper way of doing things in time, but kicking in the front door and lighting it all up is just a joy to see, so that's what I'll be doing for the foreseeable future.
Another rubbish cutscene hints at the chaos to come, and with it, we bring a few hours of Dawn of War to a close.
Final Word
Why did I wait so long to play it? What a fool I was. There are now three Dawn of War titles, along with oodles of expansions. Why? Because it's a damn good game. One of the few highlights of the Warhammer universe in video gaming.
They're getting better, it must be said, but on the whole, you just don't get a lot out of a Warhammer game if you don't put a lot in. I think Dawn of War is different, though. I think you can get a lot out of it with only a little investment. You'll get more out of it if you know the setting, but I am in no way, shape, or form an expert of the W40k lore, and I'm still having a blast - though, that may be because of all the explosions. I'm easily amused.
I was playing on normal difficulty, and I'm not sure how that will change over time. Will I really have to learn how best to upgrade my squads? Can I just plough through, resupplying on the fly? I'm not too sure, but I'm eager to find out, especially when I haven't played with the vehicles yet. Gimme them Dreadnoughts, Dawn of War.
If you're a fan of W40k and haven't come across Dawn of War, do yourself a favour and play it. If you're not a fan, consider it a little twist on the RTS genre that might make it a better entry point. As I say, I found it a little easier than others. Less about the army, more about the units, perhaps. Either way, I really like it.
Give it a go. Or, to spoil another entry on the 1001 list, give Dawn of War II a go...
FILLING YOU IN
I've since been able to churn through the single-player campaign for Dawn of War (hurray, self-isolation), and it satisfied me for some 10 hours or so. There's not a lot of story going on with these Blood Ravens and their quest to vanquish evil chaotic forces, but the gameplay rose above it all to carry me through.
From Dreadnoughts to Deep Striking Terminators, the vehicles and heavy units, once you build up your technology levels and farm enough resources, are all great to play around with. Creating a bunch of stuff and then stomping all over the map with it, guns, rockets and flamethrowers flaring in the gloom, is something Dawn of War does well.
It's a little repetitive, sure, but the maps are large and varied enough to keep you on your toes, even when the goal is to go stomping. How and when and where you start stomping is the only difference, I guess.
I thought I had a whole bunch more content than I actually do, but I don't. But I could, it's all available to buy and download. Maybe. Just maybe.
Fun Facts
Four races are playable in the base game, and more in expansion packs, allowing for you to have your own multiplayer skirmishes as your favourite faction. You can even create basic colour schemes for your units so that you don't have to parade around as Blood Angels or Ultramarines. Though my first few models were Blood Angels. Actually, the first few were Dark Eldar, but we don't talk about them.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, developed by Relic Entertainment, first released in 2004.
Version played: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Game of the Year Edition, PC, 2005.