How to Master the Basics of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Not only is this the best Warhammer 40,000 game yet released, it is also one of the best Real Time Strategy (RTS) games currently on the market. It has lots of unique features, four different races to play (up to seven with expansion sets), excellent gameplay and tons of cool animations! What reason do you have NOT to play this game?

Things You'll Need

• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Instructions

1. Choose a race. To begin, there are four races available: Space Marines, Eldar, Orks and Chaos. Each has its benefits and hindrances and all are more or less equal. No race has a clear and distinct way to slaughter another right off the bat. It's all up to you! If you purchase the Winter Assault and Dark Crusade expansions, you will be able to command the Imperial Guard, Tau and Necrons as well!

2. Choose a color. Each race also has several units you can choose from! It has no effect on gameplay, but it is nice to choose your own colors for your units. If you want, you can also create your own colors!

3. Pick a battle! The game comes with dozens of maps for both Skirmish (single player) and multiplayer battles, with the number of players varying from two to eight. There is also a Campaign feature, which takes you through a series of Space Marine battles.

4. Let the battle begin! The first thing you will want to do is start establishing your base. Build a Barracks, power generator and a couple of units to start capturing resources.

5. Build power plants quickly. In this game, there is no mining or harvesting. Rather, your units are produced through power and requisition points. Power is produced through Plasma Generators and Thermo Plasma Generators, which can be built anywhere in your control area. Thermo Plasma Generators can only be built on Slag Deposits, which are marked as purple dots on your map.

6. Capture those points! In order to produce Requisition, you must capture Strategic points, Relics and Critical points. These are circles set into the ground. Your troops can capture these points by staying at them undisturbed for a few minutes. Once the Strategic point or Relic has been captured, bring a builder over and put a listening post on it. This fortifies the position and ensures that it will remain yours for a while. Once you can, build weapons on the post to keep enemies away. Listening posts also project small control areas in which you can create additional buildings.

7. Build some additional units once you've got your early base established. By now, your opponents should be waking up as well, so make sure you've got something to fend them off with.

8. Create turrets to bolster your defense line. Every race except the Tau has some sort of defensive structure that can shoot at enemies. Make sure you place them liberally along your main lines of defense. Be aware that you will have to change tactics in the Dark Crusade expansion: there, you are limited to five turrets! Make them count!

9. Continue building your units and upgrading them. Upgrading is very important and should not be ignored!

10. Take a look at your more advanced units and commanders. Many of them have special abilities and wargear that can make or break a battle! Use them wisely!

11. Take the fight to the enemy once you have built a sound base of operations and a sizeable attack force.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't forget about vehicles! They are essential to any large-scale assault!