Dark Crusade impressions and thoughts

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2006-10-09 07:15pm

The game hits stores tomorrow for the US. Post thine impressions and expressions of joy, when you get your DC fix!

I'm going to see if Walmart gets it later today. If not, I'll grab it tomorrow, hopefully in the morning.

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-10-09 07:48pm

Expected Australian Release Date: 26/10/06.

THQ can kiss my ass.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2006-10-10 02:29am

Amazon isn't shipping for a few more days yet, despite the fact that I pre-ordered three weeks ago. *Shrug* What can you do, eh?

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2006-10-10 05:10am

What?! The US get Warhammer 40,000 2 weeks before the UK!!

Am I in bizarro world or something?

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2006-10-10 08:13am

2000AD wrote:What?! The US get Warhammer 40,000 2 weeks before the UK!!

Am I in bizarro world or something?

Relic's based in North America, so your not going by GW's typical release schedule.

Myself, I'm going to pick up my pre-ordered copy on the way home from school. It should be in by the time I get to the mall.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2006-10-10 01:00pm

But they're making the Europe copies in Germany! It sure as hell does not take 2 weeks to hop over the bloody Channel!

IIRC Tranj(THQ exec Producer or somesuch) said they were making the Eurasia copies in Singapore as well.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2006-10-10 01:36pm

Damn the install is slow. But then again, the DVD is about 3.4 gigs.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2006-10-10 01:39pm

Matt Huang wrote:Damn the install is slow. But then again, the DVD is about 3.4 gigs.

Spoilers, lots of. The Relic crowd have been failing misrebly at this. Oh, and screenies, lots of.

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-10-10 01:53pm

***SPOILERS INCLUDED***
I just picked up my copy and installed it. The graphics and game play are just about the same. The opening cut screen had better graphics than the original Dawn of War, but the cut screen was a little short. It did show the old Blood Ravens going against the Necrons. Other than the cut screen, everything else is pretty much the same.
The interface is identical to Dawn of War, so it won't take much to get used to the new game. The Necron units are awesome. I don't like playing against my brother Space Marines, but with these guys I just might try. They are hard as hell to kill, plus they can come back from the dead.
There are some new units that will make a big difference. For the Imperial Guard played there is a heavy weapon team. You build them just like infantry, and then plunk them down at a choke point. They fortify themselves and act like bolter turrets, but you can upgrade them to lascannons.
The Eldar now have the Harlequin, which can kill an enemy instantly with their "Harlequin's Kiss"
The Orcs now have a ranged infantry unit so they can support their mad charges with some heavy fire.
Chaos now has the ability to turn their Chaos Lord into a Demon Prince. Looks pretty much the same as the Bloodthirster you can summon in the original game.
The Space Marine have the Grey Knights, I thought from the previews that they would be a new playable chapter like the Blood Angels or Space Wolves, but any chapter can build them, but you only get 1 squad of them. Unfortunately I have not tried them out yet. I am starting with the Necrons and then the Tau.
The Campaign is different from the storyline form in Dawn of War. This one is more like the campaign mode in Final Liberation. It is more of a take the planet province by province rather than a set storyline.
So far, though it does look like a decent upgrade to the old Dawn of War. Be forewarned, you will need the CD Key for your original Dawn of War if you are going to use the Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, or Chaos in multiplayer games. So you might want to find that. But you can play everyone in single player mode without the key.

EDIT: Corrected some typos.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2006-10-10 02:00pm

We knew all that!!!!

We want spoilers about plotlines!

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-10-10 02:02pm

How many missions would you estimate to be a full campaign? And are they just a series of skirmishes or what?

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-10-10 02:18pm

The number of missions in the campaign is up to you. It all depends on how long it takes you to take full control of the planet. So your campaign could go on fo quite a while, or if you are a tactical genius, it could be over in 10-15 battles.
When you start the campaign you can pick to be one of 7 armies fighting over the planet Kronus.
The Chaos are led by Eliphas the Inheritor, the Black Apostle of the Word Bearer Legion.
The Eldar are led by Farseerer Taldeer of the Ulthwe.
The Imperial Legion is led by Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander, commander of the 1st Kronus Regiment.
The Necron are led by, well the Necron. They have no real leader.
The Orcs are led by Warlord Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter.
The Space Marines are led by Brother Captain Davian Thule, commanding 3 companies of Blood Ravens.
The Tau are led by Shas'o Kais, military commander of Kronus.
Kronus is a Tau planet that all 7 armies are fighting over. Unfortunately you cannot pick specific clans, marine chapters, army regiments, etc. You have to play one of the 7 pre-set forces. The sole goal in campaign is to defeat all other forces on the planet. (I don't know if the Guard and the Marines will fight against one another or not. Hopefully the AI will be smart enough to realize that they fight for the same side.)
Really, the campaign is a straight forward kill everyone else and take the planet. Unfortunately there are no real plot lines I have discovered as of yet. I am only into the 2nd battle for the planet, so not much has happened yet. But the cut scene opening for the campaign mode is pretty decent in describing all of the forces on the planet (plus the graphics aren't too shabby either.)
Sorry I can't provide anymore plot lines than that, but that is all I have found so far.

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-10-10 02:22pm

Sorry, i miscounted the number of territories you need to take, so there will be a minimum of 23 battles to take control of the planet.

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-10-10 03:10pm

So far after playing the Tau I have found out a couple of things. They are strong warriors with good weapons. A squad of Fire Warriors can decimate a squad of Orcs really quick. The main thing I do not like abou them, though, is that they lack turrets. The only automated weaponry you have to protect your strategic points is the weapons on the listening posts.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2006-10-10 03:10pm

Twenty... three?

HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD, A CAMPAIGN MODE THAT DOESN'T SUCK!

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-10-10 03:16pm

General Deathdealer wrote:So far after playing the Tau I have found out a couple of things. They are strong warriors with good weapons. A squad of Fire Warriors can decimate a squad of Orcs really quick. The main thing I do not like abou them, though, is that they lack turrets. The only automated weaponry you have to protect your strategic points is the weapons on the listening posts.

Hehe. If I ever get it, I'm sure as fuck not playing Tau, then...

General Deathdealer · Post by **General Deathdealer** » 2006-10-10 03:21pm

They may not have the turrets, but their infantry can lay a serious ass wooping on just about anyone. I kept getting attacked by Orc Stormboyz, so I had 2 squads of Fire Warriors next to the strategic point they kept attacking. I don't think the Orcs were ever able to land before they were all dead. So Infantry Firepower is definitely a plus.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-10-10 03:28pm

We've seen how the Tau play in the Demo. Assault Marines eat them alive as appetizers. Do their crazy mecha-suits no longer suck? Since in the demo, the crisis units were really, really bad.

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2006-10-10 03:48pm

*Intercepted Necron Transmition*
Warp-spawn servants have occupied islands in greater numbers than anticipated. Forced to phase out by enemy. Send more destroyers.
*end transmition*
I took the Necrons clean off the bat, and set it on Normal difficulty. No plot so far. Just fighting Chaos and Guard for territiories. Chaos gave up two territories easily, then drowned my warriors in a sea of berserkers and defilers. It would seem that my experiment in high-troop numbers was a failure. Must take into acount slow movement speed. I'll never be as fast as even the Guard, so I must drive the enemy before me rather than trying to catch them.
As an aside, I don't know if I'm ever gonna get all the wargear. Some of these requirements seem high.

Post by **Kuja** » 2006-10-10 06:52pm

PLAAAAAAAASMAAAAAAAA!!!!

PLASMAPLASMAPLASMAPLASMAPLASMAAAA!!!!!

FOR THE GREATER GOOD!!! AND LOTS OF GUNS!!

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2006-10-10 07:17pm

Hehe, I smited Chaos with slow, silent, shooty death, and it was good.

Warriors are almost as shooty as Firewarriors, but nowhere near as fragile. Support them with Flayed Ones (and later, Pariahs), and you'll pretty much overrun (err...overwalk?) anything stupid enough to not run away.

Destroyers and variants are decent, but simply don't deliver the volume of fire that their infantry counterparts pack. That's the price they pay for being speedy units in a slow army. Still, units that use the vehicle cap & regenerate health of their own accord are nice.

Gonna try the Eldar campaign as soon as I finish Kronus with the Necrons.

DarkSilver · Post by **DarkSilver** » 2006-10-10 07:25pm

Necron's are nice....

I really really really like the Necron....

Necron Lords with Ressurection, and Chronometron easily let me break the squad cap many times..

Oh, and Awakened Monoliths, I teched to this as quickly as I could in the early campaign, and I teleported and reigned down Particle Whip death to my enemy's bases..

All was good.

Play the Necron..let the cold chill of the grave fill your heart.

Huggle us.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2006-10-10 09:17pm

Don't forget, you can still summon squads to Awakened Monoliths. Makes deep-striking Space Marines look positively useless in comparison.

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2006-10-10 11:55pm

Yeah, the Necrons are almost unstopable as long as they keep their main body together, and as long as they have a good solid battery of Plasma generators. Which I discovered wear out just like Strategic points for the other races.
It's funny, but I find that I'm actually too quick for the Necron tactics. And that the Necron tactics make it damn hard for the computer to attack a Necron Held territory because they have it so thoughly built up and held so tightly.
And I freaking hate Chaos cultists pinning down my forces with shear force of bodies. That is all.

DarkSilver · Post by **DarkSilver** » 2006-10-11 04:52am

My Opinion of Dark crusade's new races so far:

Overall, incomparrison, the Necron are ruthless, and unstoppable in the right player hands.

The key is in the right players hands. Necron are a sssslllooowwww race compared to the Tau, Space Marines, or others. The Eco build relies entirely on generators, and cap points do shit except to lower research time and deny your opponent the requisition points.

A Properly played Necron force will walk over the other races. But the same can be said of the Tau.

A proper Necron player will turtle at least 45%-60% teching up to awaken his Monolith, using his Heavy Obelisk' Wailing Torment ability and also Gauss Turrents to watch for infiltrators and help reinforce defensive lines. Once you for your Monolith teched, and your Necron Lord has his three powers ( I go for Chronometron, Ressurection Orb, and one random other depending on how I feel at the time) it's game over. Destroyers make for good strikers and scouters with thier speed, Flayed ones are right up there i find with Necron Lords for melee, Immortals and Warriors should never be afraid to get into melee range. And as stated before, the Monolith retains full function while it's mobile, making it the centerpeice of a army that can replinish it's numbers with near impunity, as long as you have the economic base.

The Tau are all about range, while the Kroot Carnivores are good melee'ers, the Tau as a whole are designed to fight from a distance. From the Fire Warrior Teams who can cut down entire Space Marine and Terminator squads, to the Broadside and Skyray Missle Gunboats, it's all about the distance. I find the Tau listening posts' weaponry has been upgraded, and with the fact they can take alot of damage in themselves...yeah, they are adequate for the turrent duty, but not as good as a dedicated Turrent would have been.

I haven't played the old races yet, I will get around to do that later, I'm enjoying mysef far to much with the Necrontyr...