Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Winter Assault
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| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault | |
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| Developer(s) | Relic Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | THQ |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Release | September, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Winter Assault is the first expansion to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War for the PC developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War: Winter Assault was released in 2005. Some time after its initial release, Winter Assault and Dawn of War were coupled together in a double pack which featured some art on a fold out cover, an Ork with a flamethrower, or a group of Imperial Guard tanks lined up for attack.
Expansion features
Imperial Guard
A new faction was included, the Imperial Guard, previously available in certain single player missions of Dawn of War. The military unit featured in Winter Assault is graphically similar to the Cadian Shock Troops.
The Imperial Guard specializes in defense, and therefore has the strongest defensive structures of all the factions in the game. Their infantry tends to be of lower quality than that of their opponents in terms of weapons, armor, and morale, but the Imperial Guard makes up for this with a range of powerful tanks, such as the Baneblade and Leman Russ, as well as the walking Sentinels, which until the Dark Crusade expansion are the only vehicular unit in the game which can uncapture strategic points.
New Units
The four existing factions from Dawn of War remain in the expansion, and each also gains a new unit to field:
- The Space Marines gain the Chaplain, a powerful close combat commander unit with a healing aura and a special "shout" ability which temporarily weakens an enemy squad's morale and decreases their movement speed.
- The Chaos Space Marines gain Khorne Berzerkers, which are a strong and fast close combat-oriented squad armed with a bolt pistol and a chain axe. Unlike other Chaos assault units, Berzerkers are completely fearless and never suffer negative effects from morale.
- The Orks gain the Mega-Armored Nobz, which are a slow-moving, but powerful and heavily armored semi-hero unit. Their speed can be boosted temporarily by utilizing their "power boost" ability, although they take steady damage while doing so.
- The Eldar gain Fire Dragon squads, Aspect Warriors which wield short-ranged anti-tank weapons which are best used against enemy vehicles and buildings; however, Fire Dragons are relatively weak in hand to hand combat.
New Campaign
There are two new single player campaigns, both of which involve each faction attempting to recover a lost Warlord Class Imperial Titan. Three of the races from the original Dawn of War (Orks, Eldar and Chaos) are available in addition to the new Imperial Guard, with each race trying to find and gain control of the Titan for their own reasons. Although the Titan as a whole is not controllable, its weapon systems can be used to assist in the destruction of the Necrons, who make a cameo in the final mission for each faction.
Other changes
Many of the units available in Dawn of War were simplified, reduced or limited for the Winter Assault expansion. For example, Space Marine Predator tanks were limited to carrying anti-tank weapons while Chaos Predators were limited to anti-personnel weapons. In the original Dawn of War game both sides could upgrade their tanks from anti-personnel to anti-tank (Destructor pattern and Annihilator pattern respectively). Likewise the Land Raider was limited to one per player.
Limitations were also applied to the Orks, who lost most of their upgrade choices and became limited in their weapon choices. The Eldar had their "hard counters" removed, meaning that specialized units such as Dark Reapers were no longer as prominently effective against heavy infantry. Some units, including most of the Ork army, also lost the ability to use grenades. The Chaos Space Marines also lost the ability to upgrade to any heavy weapons other than the heavy bolter.
Plot
In the Forces of Order campaign, one plays as the Imperial Guard (with occasional allied assistance from the Space Marines) and the Eldar. General Sturnn and the Cadian 412th land on Lorn V, intending to assist the Ultramarines already on Lorn V get a Titan crew to the Warlord Class Titan Dominatus, a massive and powerful humanoid battle machine that can almost win a war by itself. Built in ancient times, the construction of a titan is an enormous undertaking, and any Titans now found are treasured relics. Though the Guard hits a wall (literally) trying to get past the forces of Chaos, the Eldar secretly assist the Guard and disable the gate preventing their progress. Eventually the Guard rescues the Ultramarines and Titan crew, and begins the long trek to the crashed Titan.
The Eldar, led by Farseer Taldeer, do everything in their power to make sure their presence is unknown, but when an Ork with unique technology capable of sensing their teleportation appears, they are forced to reveal their presence, destroy the Ork, and teleport away. Too badly damaged to accomplish their original goals, Taldeer is forced to ask Sturnn for assistance. Sturnn agrees, and the Orks are pushed back.
In the aftermath, Taldeer reveals that she does not care about the Titan, but instead her goal is the Necrons underneath the planet's surface. Ages ago, an ancient race known as the Necrons went to sleep for thousands of years, and now they are awaking. She cannot allow the Necrons to get off Lorn V, because if they do, they will cause untold damage to the surrounding systems before being stopped. The two factions ally, but both know their goals are mutually exclusive.
This is where the Forces of Order campaign branches. If the player chooses the Imperial Guard, Sturnn assists the Ultramarines in getting the Titan crew past an alliance of Orks and Chaos into the safety of a waiting psychic shield, preventing their enemies from following them directly to the Titan. However, Taldeer and her Eldar are trapped with the Orks and Chaos, and she tells Sturnn behind the shield that he cannot defeat the Necrons without her. As he will not risk his men for hers, Sturnn and the 412th march on to their goal, while the Eldar are butchered a mere few feet away from them.
Upon reaching the Titan, the Ork/Chaos alliance descends on the Imperial encampment protecting the Titan. The crew begins to work, but they require a massive amount of power to use the Titan, and Sturnn is forced to protect the Titan, several power generators, and a nearby Imperial encampment of survivors from the Forces of Disorder. Although the Titan is too badly damaged to move until extensive repairs can be carried out, its now-operational weapons easily dispatch the Orks and Chaos. However, the Necrons now awaken, and butcher the remaining Ork/Chaos alliance. Beginning their slow march to destroy the only living souls left, the Imperials, they nearly succeed before the Titan Crew is able to destroy the Necron Monoliths using the Titan's weapons. Ultimately, the Cadian 412th and the Ultramarines are successful in repairing the Titan, destroying the Ork/Chaos alliance, and stopping the Necrons before they escaped the planet, but at the cost of Taldeer and her Eldar (which does not bother Sturnn or the Ultramarines in any way).
If the player chooses the Eldar, Taldeer uses Imperial distraction of the Guard and Ultramarines to get teleport her buildings, troops, and Soul Stone past the psychic shield. The Ultramarines are slaughtered, but Sturnn and much of the Imperial Guard manage to escape the horde of Orks and Chaos.
Unlike the Imperial Guard campaign, Taldeer does not fight the Forces of Disorder when she reaches the Titan: the Imperial Guard has surrounded her, but the Necrons awake and begin trying to kill the Eldar. Taldeer uses the Soul Stone she sneaked past the shield to utterly destroy a Monolith, but too many more appear before the Soul Stone can recharge. Desperate for a weapon to use, she decides to power up the "primitive, but still powerful" weapons of the Titan surrounding her (able to jury-rig a solution, since she does not have a Titan crew), convinces Sturnn that he can have the Titan once the Necrons are defeated (thus once again gaining the humans as allies), and uses the Titan's weaponry to utterly defeat the Necrons. Although successful in destroying the Necrons of Lorn V and gaining a momentary victory over her undead foes, Taldeer's unfamiliarity with the Titan's weapons systems causes them to explode, destroying the Titan. She and her base manage to teleport away in time, but the fate of Sturnn and his men is left unknown.
In the Campaign of Disorder, the mission begins with Warlord Gorgutz trying to unite the Ork Boyz under his control. With Gorgutz's starting force, he launches attacks across Headcrushaz,Rokkitranza, Burnaboyz, and Kwikmeks, destroying their "Big Banners" and uniting them under his rule. His force is eventually stopped by the shielded gate of Footstompaz, which he promptly destroys the generators feeding power to the gate. He soon discovers that Squiggoths are loose in Footstompaz's base. After freeing the Mad Dok from the holding pen, he brings Squiggoths and Footstompaz under his control, after which he attacks a remote Chaos outpost.
Gorgutz, to take his WAAAGH! across the planet, flies to some unknown destination. But he is shot down by Forces of Chaos battery. Gorgutz survives, and the Chaos Lord Crull is out to get him. Crull soons meets Gorgutz's remaining boyz launching assaults on his Temples of Khorne. While trying to kill Gorgutz, Crull realizes Gorgutz is surrounded in shield, making him invulnerable. Crull soon sets out to destroy the Ork base nearby and also a power generator feeding power to the shield. After destroying Ork's base and the generator, Gorgutz launches massive assault on Chaos, but Crull Promptly returns and puts end to the Gorgutz. Though Gorgutz is dead, before Crull can savour his victory, the Imperial artillery barragee begins on the location. Gorgutz suddenly springs up, as it turned out he was just playing dead. Crull expects Gorgutz's force to aid him defeating the Imperial, but Gorgutz flatly refuses and escape to route his boyz and kill the "humiez" himself.
Canonical ending
Although the game has several endings there is a canonical ending to the game- the following can be found in the sequel Dark Crusade.
- Farseer Taldeer is still alive, suggesting that she might have used a psychic power of some sort.
- Warboss Gorgutz lives to fight another day, literally. He can be seen in Dark Crusade, leading the Orks again.
- The chaos lord Crull's skull was taken by Gorgutz and can be retrieved in dark crusade, given to Eliphas the Inheritor should he be successful in the campaign.
- Should the Eldar defeat the Imperial Guard in Dark Crusade, the narrator states that Farseer Taldeer was branded "an enemy of the Imperium" after her manipulation of the Cadian 412th regiment on Lorn V. Lucas Alexander's regiment was ordered to pursue the Eldar and that "this long chase was finally over" when they faced off at Victory Bay.
- It is noted that if Governor-Militant Lucas Alexander defeats the Elder in Dark Crusade, the narrator states that his "original mission was at an end". Suggesting that his mission was to hunt down Farseer Taldeer for her treachery on Lorn V. His new mission of Liberating Kronus was only given after discovering the Hellstorm Cannon at Victory Bay.
It is thus likely that the canonical ending is the Eldar one: Taldeer dies in everyone's campaign except her own, and Gorgutz also survives the Eldar campaign.
Voice Cast
- Brian Dobson - Khorne Berzerker, Slugga/Shoota Boyz, Mega Armored Nobz
- Michael Dobson - Techpriest Enginseer, Sanctioned Psyker, Chaos Lord Crull
- Paul Dobson - General Sturnn, Chaos Sorcerer (Cutscenes Only)
- Scott McNeil - Imperial Guardsman, Sentinel, Chimera, Hellhound, Basilisk, Kasrkin, Baneblade, Ogryn, Chaplain Varnus
- Laura Sadiq – Farseer Taldeer, Warlock (Cutscenes Only), Fire Dragons
- Brian Drummond – Vindicare Temple Assassin, Warboss Gorgutz.
Further reading
- "Index Astartes – Blood Ravens". White Dwarf: Australian Edition (298). 2004. ISSN 0265-8712.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - Goto, Cassern (2004). Dawn of War. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-152-8.
- Goto, Cassern (2005). Dawn of War: Ascension. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-285-0.