DoW2 beta infos!, INFOS! Options

[Oddies da Nerfed]

Toying with DoW2 beta, played for a bit last night vs computer. (online though, stupid mp only beta!)

First: graphics are fucking amazing, however beta is about as rough as crysis when cranked, you need a monster machine for ultra. I am hopping release will be a little more refined and fun better, but shall see.

First part two!: Forget what you know about DoW 1, this game is way way different. DoW2 is designed around tactical infantry fighting with some vehicles thrown in. It is also heavily designed around 'instant action', as in you are going at it from within a minute in game till one side wins. A main change beyond this, no base building. You start with a Fortress in MP with 1-2 turrets defending it, and that is it. No rebuilding it, no lil factories it does everything. You have 3 tiers, starting in 1 with upgrades to 2 and 3 unlocking more upgrades and more units. Heroes upgrades can be changed at any time for most things, certain ones like Force Commanders Terminator wargear is not reversable.

Races: Orks, SM (and IG in camp not sure if playable), Nids, and Eldar.

Base: This thing takes a fucking beating, 15khp with the omgwtf elite units like avatar packing 6k and its armored out the ass. Turrets have around 500hp and will mow down infantry or at least suppress them (more on this later). This thing is your baby, it dies you lose. It produces everything and contains the 2 tier upgrades. It can be repaired, however what units repair are limited per side. ie for SM the scouts repair, or the defensive Tech Marine Hero can repair.

Heroes: Unlike DoW these things are not walking machines of death, they go down decently fast though do unload some sever ass beating before dying. There are 3 to pick from before starting the map, and you CAN NOT CHANGE during the map, so pick carefully. Each has its own specialty like front line killing, back line support, front line support/healing and so on. Force commander for SM is offensive and has offensive 'calls', I'm not sure wtf they are truly called more on em later. Like all heroes he has 3 upgrade slots, usually wep, armor, and misc. You can alter these at any time for cost of new upgrade based on what you need him to do. The exception is the terminator upgrade, which is perm. You can however as term change from auto cannon or flamer for dug in units per what you need and for cost. When they get bitch slapped, if you are not on a team a counter shows over em counting down cost in requisition to revive them. It continues to drop as you wait. If you are playing team games you can run your hero over to a friendly downed hero and revive them.

Squads: Bread and butter of the game. Squads are handled much like CoH with reinforcements only being allowed at certain heroes, hero deployed stations, or at HQ. Size varies on race and squad type. SM have 2 primary heavy squads 1 airborne squad and 2 standard. The heavies are heavy bolter, 3 man squad 1 with the heavy bolter which requires setup and take down time. Heavy bolter suppresses units amazingly well. While suppressed enemy infantry have issues attacking, move very slowly and are easily mowed down. To counter this from enemies you have assault squad with jump packs, used much the same as DoW, drop em on entrenched bolter style squads and rip em apart. Heavy squad 2 is the plasma cannon, long range slow firing own machine this is. Splash damage and will take a chunk out of vehicles and flatten buildings. Standard infantry is tac squad with assorted weps ala DoW1, and scout squad. Scout squad this go can only have 1 sniper, but its nasty. For more pop cap you can add a sergeant with frag grenades and of course they can infiltrate (costs energy to use and energy over time, attacking breaks) as well as repair. They also get shotguns as opposed to snipers, nasty close range with knock back for dislodging people from cover.

Vehicles: Chew up pop cap like nothing, can chew up unsupported infantry like nothing. T3 ranged for SM is predator, rails infantry very badly, will roll over most types of object cover (trees etc) destroying them. Anti vehicle units and melee vehicles trash em quickly. SM also get razorback transport tank, this can be used to reinforce units in field. Melee vehicle is of course the dreadnought. Slow, melee primary (can be upgraded with an auto cannon reducing melee giving it suppression abilities), will 2-3 shot ranged vehicles and chew up infantry if they can get a hold of em. Infantry watching dread kill things gain boosts to their damage. Most vehicles are immune to small arms, meaning standard bolters and what not do no damage. Heavy infantry weps will damage them, but not very fast. Anti vehicle weps or other vehicles are needed.

Resources: Req is handled same way, just no listening posts to defend the point, so guarding areas either with turrets (certain heroes can deploy for pop cap) mines or units. Power is handled differently, these are now also points like Req points that must be captured. These can then be upgraded with 3 or so generators added on to expand production. These can be destroyed or stolen, so guard them as well. Resource points are shared in MP, does not matter who got it you gain the resources from it like you took it.

'Calls': Nifty little toys to turn the tide of battle. These require an additional resource type which is gained by killing and only killing. Additionally they may require req power or even pop cap if its a unit call. Offensive SM consist of things like orbital strike, termi assault, reg termi, dread, goodies like that.

Leveling: Everything levels up if it stays alive, leveling improves units health and damage. Reinforcing is also cheaper than replacement. Between those two keeping units alive is a must! Fall back makes the units haul ass back to HQ while taking reduced damage. Know it, love it, use it.

Terrain: Some weapons have firing arcs, some are flat trajectory, keep this in mind when shooting at shit behind stuff. Cover is used like CoH, no cover, light cover (trees, small objects), heavy cover (large stones, walls, even vehicles). Heavy wep teams in cover will slaughter any frontal assaults. Infiltration, jump units, vehicles etc must be used to dislodge them. Most heavy units have a limited firing field, so flanking maneuvers will force the heavy wep unit to pack its wep up, and turn it then unpack it before firing. There are also buildings on some maps, these can be garrisoned by 2 squads which will move around and fire on people as they can. Snipers and a heavy bolter make short work of any infantry that gets close. Vehicles and units with flamers or other 'anti cover' weapons will butcher the occupants however. Flamers ignore cover dmg and units inside take additional dmg being burned alive in a building. Most types of ground cover can be destroyed with vehicles, keep this in mind if you need to deprive your enemy of some good cover. Just be aware you deprive yourself of it as well.

more to come!



Overview: At first with me not having a clue wtf I was doing nor not realizing they went with such a different style than both DoW and CoH the game took me off guard and I view it rather dubiously. However the more I play it and pick up how things work, strategies and what not, the game has grown on me. Now that I have gotten in to it some I am enjoying it. This game is no your traditional RTS, they were certainly trying to do a 'unique' style game with it, and they did well. It has all the violence, killer sounds, and 40k goodies one would expect from a Dawn of War title. The AI even on easy is pretty nasty, there is a bit of a learning curve to the game as a whole. It uses MS live stuff like Xbox to track stats, easy invite friends to games and what not. All in all it currently gets two thumbs up.

content note: I have read, and need to verify their attempt at anti piracy. It appears the game as is, and as will be at launch will be a 'striped' down variation. You register on the website and download a patch which adds/unlocks a good chunk of units maps and what not. Current there is 4 races, all of 6 or so maps, and what appears like a lot of missing units and abilities. This could be just due to beta or part of their content control anti piracy gig. With that said, still enjoyable.

[Oddies da Nerfed]

Screenies! These are from SM v Nid computer.

edit: breaking pics for time being.

[AC9breaker]

Man, I wish my pc could run this. I was on Xbox live playing gears and go to check my friends list and I'm all like wtf people playing DoW 2???

Everything I've heard and seen of the game looks so badass, and I can imagine sinking hours into this puppy. Actually, only reason why I stopped playing the first one was cause my video card died on me. Well, now I have a modest goal to aim for when building my new pc. Quick question, how is the orkz population cap handled? Are they the same like everyone else and whats the max amount of units on a field from any given army?

[Oddies da Nerfed]

That is one thing that has me disappointed, there really are no differences in pop cap, resource usage or anything like that. 100 cap for Orks as well, sluggas are 6 man squad, stormboyz are 5 man. Nob leaders (ork sergeants do not cost popcap). In this regard they simplified the game and made it rather standard in resource and population management.

[AC9breaker]

O dang, but at least they still have their Waagh resource. Seems a lot easier to manage then it was in the first game. Keep the info and images coming!

[Oddies da Nerfed]

The waaaagh is more or less the same as the other races resource for their 'calls'. Orks goes up over time slowly + killing, while nid and SM goes up killing, Orks also use it for a few unit specials as well, while I do not really recall any SM using it. Did not use the support hero for them so I do not know what waaaagh banners do. I assume forward healing/reinforcements like SM variant.

[Oddies da Nerfed]

THE STRIKE CRUISER
Planetary travel
Today we’re going to be taking a look at the Strike Cruiser and the role that it will play in the Dawn of War II campaign. The Strike Cruiser serves a number of purposes in the campaign: it’s a place to take a breather between missions, to customize your squads with war gear, to spend attribute points to enhance your squads, and to strategize and plan your next move.

Space Marines are the ultimate mobile strike force. They strike without warning, and take the fight to the enemies of humanity throughout the universe. They have access to a variety of spacecraft for launching and supporting their operations, and this is reflected in Dawn of War II with the Strike Cruiser. The Dawn of War II campaign takes place over multiple planets, and you will use a Blood Ravens Strike Cruiser to transport your strike force between them. This ship is designed for close combat support of planetary landings, and it is from the Strike Cruiser that Space Marines deploy for missions to the planet surface. The Strike Cruiser can also be called on for bombardment as well as for reinforcement.

Gearing your squads
The most exciting feature of the Strike Cruiser is the ability to customize your squads between missions. In Dawn of War II, you’ll get to choose your weapons and equipment before each mission. You’ll start the campaign with a very basic set of equipment, and, as the campaign progresses, you’ll be rewarded with a variety of war gear that you can use to enhance your squads. These items include armor, weapons, and squad-specific tools like frag grenades and med kits. Equipping a new piece of gear is a simple drag and drop system. The number of slots that you have to fill with war gear depends on the character that you are equipping and their level.

The leveling system in Dawn of War II is another way for you to enhance and customize your squads, and you’ll get to make all kinds of cool decisions on your Strike Cruiser between missions. As you use your squads in campaign missions, they gain experience, eventually reaching a new level. Every time your squad gains a new level you are granted attribute points to spend in one of four areas, Health, Ranged Damage, Melee Damage, or Energy. The most exciting part of the leveling system, is that you get to unlock cool new abilities when you invest in an attribute. Each of these abilities adds a whole new dimension to your squad.

As you can see there is a lot to explore on the Strike Cruiser between missions, and the squad screen is vital for truly utilizing the full potential of the experience gains and gear in the game. Your strategic planning will also be done here as you fight through the campaign, and we’ll have more on that in future updates.






DISTRESS SIGNALS
The Dawn of War II campaign puts a lot of control in the hands of the player. The leveling system lets you to customize your squads’ abilities, war gear let’s you further specialize their combat role, and the distress signal system let’s you choose which missions you will accept. You’ll often have several choices when it comes to the missions available to you. We’re going to take a closer look at distress signals and how they come into play when planning your next move.

Distress Signals
We’ve previously talked about the Squad Screen where you level and equip your squad leaders. This is done between missions aboard your Strike Cruiser, the Armageddon. Selecting the missions you’re going to deploy on is also performed aboard the Armageddon via the planetary view screen. It shows the big picture view of the campaign, including the surface of the planet that your ship is currently orbiting, along with any provinces that are sending out distress signals. Answering a distress signal will deploy your squad on a mission in that region of the planet.

A variety of information is available to you before you make your decision on which distress signal to respond to. A mission briefing will display all known intelligence information on the specific nature of the distress signal, such as whether you’re being called in to assassinate an Ork war boss or to defend a location from attack, and the rewards that you’ll get for achieving this objective. If there are any Stratagems located in the region, this information will also be displayed on the planetary view.

Since the Dawn of War II campaign takes place over a number of planets there is also a Star Map that allows you to travel between planets. As the campaign rages on you’ll likely have distress signals coming in from multiple planets as the enemy moves to capture regions you’ve secured. You won’t be able to answer every distress signal, you’ll have to decide when, where, and how you strike at the enemies of humanity.







STRATAGEMS
While you are rumbling through a campaign scenario you are going to encounter a variety of different points on the map that you can capture with your squads. Among these are Stratagems, valuable points that give you advantages in the scenario that you are playing and beyond. You might have to go out of your way in a scenario to capture a Stratagem, or tackle a nasty pile of Orks defending it, but they’re generally worth the effort. Here’s a look at how you capture Stratagems, the different types, and what they offer you.

Stratagems are captured like standard rally points, and offer the same basic benefits. Rally points and Stratagems all offer you a safe place to retreat your forces to as well as the ability to reinforce your squads if you’ve taken casualties. Instead of retreating all the way back to the start of the map, having a rally point or Stratagem secured near the mid or end points of a map will make things a lot easier if you run into a tough fight and need reinforcements. To capture a point you just need to task a nearby squad to the rally point or Stratagem and after a short time you will gain ownership.

Stratagems come in three flavors, Imperial Shrines, Communications Arrays, and Automated Foundries. You can only capture one Stratagem per mission, so you’ll have to choose which will help your tactical and strategic situation. Here is a closer look at what each provides you with:

Communications Array – Capturing one of these Stratagems gives you the Signum war gear accessory. When equipped on one of your squad members that’s taking part in a mission, the Signum allows you to call in Artillery Strikes that rain fragmentation shells down on the enemy. The number of times that you can call in artillery during a mission depends on the number of arrays that you hold on that planet. Communications Arrays will also unlock additional intelligence information for you during mission briefings, perhaps warning you of enemy movements or letting you know of weaknesses in their lines.

Imperial Shrine – These holy structures may be well guarded, for the enemies of the Space Marines know of their value. If captured, these Stratagems grant you the use of the Rosarius war gear accessory. The Rosarius allows its user to cast the Blessing of Fortitude which grants several seconds of invulnerability to your squads. If timed correctly, this can certainly be a mission saving maneuver. Controlling Imperial Shrines also reduces the rate at which a Tyranid infestation grows on a planet, and increases bonus experience earned at the end of missions. The experience goes towards leveling your squads, making them more powerful at a faster rate.

Automated Foundry – The foundry produces weapons of war. Capturing it will grant you the Locator Beacon war gear accessory which allows you to call in automated Turrets to add to your firepower in a given area. Very handy for quickly adding firepower where you need it most. Just like the other Stratagems, the more foundries you control the more times you can call in for a Turret while you’re on a mission. Lastly, Automated Foundries will also reduce the requirements for allowing you to make an extra deployment during a day. This allows you to potentially run two missions in one day in the campaign, allowing you two moves to the enemy’s one.

Stratagems are a way for you to have a lasting impact on the planet you’re fighting on. If you hold two Communications Arrays on Calderis, as long as you’re deploying for missions on that planet you will be able to call in two Artillery Strikes during a mission and gain bonus intelligence during your briefings.

Control of Stratagems and their bonuses can be lost however, if the enemy retakes the sector of the planet that holds it. A territory that you control on a planet may become disputed if the enemy moves into it. If you don’t deploy on a mission to defend it, you can lose the territory. You may be forced to choose between saving a territory that contains a Stratagem from enemy attack or dealing the enemy a decisive blow elsewhere.






STRIKE CRUISER - WAR GEAR
We previously talked about customizing your squads on the Strike Cruiser in Dawn of War II., Now we’re going take a closer look at war gear for your squads, what it is, how you get it, and what it can do.

One of the most exciting things you’ll get to do in Dawn of War II is equipping your squads with better weapons, better armor, and a variety of devices to aid you during missions. This is your war gear and it is stored on the squad screen in the Strike Cruiser. Equipping your squad involves simply dragging an item from your inventory onto the squad of your choice. War gear comes in all shapes and sizes but can be broken down into four specific types: armor, weapons, accessories and commander items.

Heavy Bolter warming up
Armor is certainly the most noticeable piece of war gear that you can equip your squad with. In addition to reducing damage taken by your squad, armor can also grant other benefits such as an increasing movement speed or making your squad more resistant to being suppressed by enemy fire. This all adds up to increasing the general survivability of your force, letting them stay in the fight longer.

Weapons are also incredibly important, not only in how much damage they do but also in how they work together to get through a mission. If your Devastator Marines are equipped with a Heavy Bolter to suppress enemy units, you might want to compliment that with a squad of Tactical Marines with a Flamer. If your mission has you re-taking a village, you better put something like a Missile Launcher in the hands of one of your squads so that they can quickly deal with enemy units holed up in buildings, unless you’d prefer to use explosives.

But accessories are the items we’re most excited to show. Accessories always grant an ability and each accessory equipped adds an entire new dimension to the squad you equip it on. Demolition charges, frag and flash grenades, and mines can all be used in a variety of ways to deal with clumps of enemy units that are either holed up in cover or charging your position. It’s also a good idea to have one of your squads equipped with a Stimulant Recovery Kit to heal wounds taken on the battlefield, and if you have spare slots you might be able to fill them with a purity seal that can grant additional bonuses.

War gear is a big part of the tactical side of the Dawn of War II campaign. With the right tools at their disposal, your Space Marines realize their true potential and can deal with just about anything the enemy can throw at them. In upcoming posts we’ll be taking a look at more of the Sergeants that you will be equipping to help you lead the charge in the campaign.

[Oddies da Nerfed]

SM Infos! Props to ESRFooF for writeup.


I’m currently enamored with Space Marines so I’m writing this up to help newer players get a feel for what the army has to offer. By no means is it meant for advanced tactics but just a general overview of the units, common strategies and my opinion of a few things.

Overall

Space Marines are by far the least numerous of the factions. All squads start with only 3 members while the other race’s squads are in the 6-8 range. Immediately, you can tell that SM is a quality over quantity faction. That being said, SM units are noticeably more powerful on a unit-by-unit basis. Likewise, the first thing you’ll notice on SM is the cost of their squads. They’re almost double that of other race’s. Except for the Scout squad, you can bet on paying nearly twice as much for “equivalent” units. However, most players will agree that a single SM squad is on par with two similar-role squads of another faction, so it all balances out.

With all that being said, SM players are going to control fewer squads. All the other races can field basic CC or Ranged infantry for about 270 Req. The same basic infantry for SM are 500, meaning that not only are the other races going to have more squads, they’re going to have more cappers. Map control can be tough to achieve as the SM simply because you have fewer squads to spread across the map.

With that shortcoming comes very localized area superiority. A SM player with a few squads in one area projects much more command of that area than another race with equal number of squads. Two Tactical (Tacs) squads and a Heavy Bolter Devastator (HB Dev) squad is a force to be reckoned with when behind cover. The amount of ranged firepower that can be laid down is impressive. Such a force is not easily dislodged with general infantry.

Later on, SM enjoy adding Sergeants (Sgts) to their Scout, Tac and Assault Marine (ASM) squads. These leaders impart another body in the squad (important later) but also special abilities and added firepower. They all around 50 Req/25 Power (50/25) and are usually worth the investment. The reason having an extra member in the squad is so important is that SM have a lot wrapped up into individual squads which means losing an entire squad is devastating. Having that extra member gives you a greater chance to retreat and regroup. Reinforcing is much, much cheaper than buying a new squad. For example, a Tac squad cost 83 Req to reinforce. If you added a Sgt, and lost all three of the original members, it costs 250 to reinforce them back to full fighting force, half of what it cost to replace the entire squad.

All Commanders have the global ability to use Drop Pods, Regular Terminators and Orbital Bombardment.

Drop Pods
500 Zeal/400 Req, 15 pop cap
Drop pods allow you to call down a Tactical Marine Squad on the heads of your enemy, anywhere on the battlefield. Even more, any of your squads that are missing members will be reinforced back up to full strength. Now, realize that the pod itself does not reinforce (it just gives heavy cover), it just carries with it all the missing members of other squads. So, it’s like a one-time instant reinforcement. Considering that a Tac squad costs 500 Req, if no other squads were reinforced, this is still a good deal but using it to replace battle brothers at a losing battle can quickly turn the tide. By the way, I’m not kidding about calling it on the heads of your enemies, it will kill virtually anything it hits when it lands!

Terminators
900 Zeal/900 Req
More below.

Orbital Bombardment
750 Zeal
Three beams of light come from the heavens to blow up your foes. The beams have the nifty effect of lifting infantry into the air, immobilizing them. It also does damage prior to the actual shot. It’s a very powerful AoE ability that kill just about everything.

Units

Scouts
210/0, 9 cap
420 HP/100 E
- Shotguns: 40/20
- Sergeant: 40/25, 3 cap (+250 HP)
- Sniper R: 100/40
+ Infiltrate: 10 e, 1 e/sec
+ Frag Grenade: 45 e
+Repair

You initially start every match with a Scout squad. They’re much faster than the rest of your infantry so use that speed to quickly cap important points. They’re also the cheapest unit in the SM arsenal (and among the cheapest in the game). They’re far superior in ranged combat than CC so make sure to get them behind good cover. Their Bolters actually do decent damage for a basic unit but their health is low (for SM).

Scouts can be upgraded with either Shotguns or a Sniper Rifle, either of which allows them to infiltrate (cloak) for a modest energy drain. Firing from infiltration is possible but it reveals your location briefly. Shotguns are in T1 so they are available at the start and are incredibly useful for disrupting enemy attackers. They do knockback fairly regularly so they can keep enemies on their backs and not attacking. Against single targets, the chain knockdowns can keep them practically immobilized. A few Scout squads with Shotguns, backed by other more powerful units, are a deadly combination.

The Sniper Rifle on the other hand is a great way to take out high priority targets. Set-up teams and Commanders are prime targets. It doesn’t fire very fast though.
The Sgt upgrade allows Scouts to throw Frag Grenades that do damage and disrupt enemy squads. Infiltrating and throwing grenades is a popular past time. With Shotguns as well, you can do a number on unsuspecting squads.

Scouts will remain viable all game but as enemies get more powerful, there are more ways to compensate for infiltration and knockdown. Once discovered, Scouts will fall pretty quickly to modest ranged damage and will get destroyed in close combat. Retreat them if they get tied up by CC specialists.

Tactical Marines
500/0, 15 cap
900 HP/0 E
- Flamers: 75/20
- Sergeant: 50/25, 5 cap (+400 HP)
- Plasma: 65/30
- Missile L: 80/40
+And They Shall Know No Fear: 0 e, requires damage be taken

Tactical marines are the bread and butter of the SM force, as they are tough, powerful, ranged units. At 500 Req, they are very expensive, though. You’ll notice that Tacs have over twice the HP of Scouts and each Tac has as many hit points as many as 3 of corresponding race’s general infantry. I will note here that the basic Bolter is not lacking in firepower. It’s great against light infantry at medium-long range From behind cover, you can expect a Tac squad to outshoot two squads of basic ranged infantry from the other races but once more ranged specialists come in, you’ll need more specialized firepower.

Fortunately, Tacs have a few upgrades at their disposal. In T1, the Flamer is available and it ignores cover. It also rips apart “swarm”-type squads that are high in number but weak individually. It does have shorter range than the standard Bolter so you have to play aggressively. In T2, the Sgt, Plasma gun and Missile Launcher are available. Plasma does more damage to heavy infantry but fires slower than the standard bolter. Heavy Infantry are going to include the tougher units like Warriors, other Tacs, Nobs, etc. It also hurts armor a bit more than standard Bolter fire. Finally, the Missile Launcher is a dedicated anti-vehicle weapon. It is excellent at taking out enemy walkers and tanks but it fires slowly and is only moderately accurate. You’ll want to fire from medium range if you want to ensure a hit. It is one of the SM’s only AV weapon so once you’re in T2, make sure to get one for the inevitable walker.

Tacs are tough but they’re not that tough. They can be easily overwhelmed by CC specialists and outgunned by set-up teams. They are suppressed about as easily as any other squad so if they walk into the firing arc of a set-up team, you might as well retreat out. There’s nothing they can do until they add a Sgt in Tier 2. “And they shall know no fear” requires the squad to take damage but when activated, It makes them immune to suppression and gives them a defense bonus at the cost of speed. They can tank pretty well with the ability on but after it wears off, they’re back to normal.

Tac’s biggest weakness is that they have no way to mitigate damage like any of the other T1 units. Scouts have knockback and infiltrate, the HB Dev squad can suppress and ASM squads can jump in to a group to disrupt. All of these things keep enemies from attacking and so increase the longevity of the squad. Tacs have no such ability. While they have impressive firepower, they must rely on simply outgunning the opposition and hoping they don’t get tied up into melee. In T2, they’re more useful because of the Sgt and AV abilities, but in T1 they’re arguably overpriced for what they’re able to achieve. Even with all that being said, Tacs in heavy cover are ranged monsters and worth their cost if they can continually stay out of melee but it’s sometimes hard to get into that ideal situation.

Heavy Bolter Devastator
345/0, 12 cap
675 HP/0 E
- Targeter: 20/10
+ Focus Fire: 0 e (only cool down)

HB squads sacrifice mobility and versatility for brutal fire within an arc. Those familiar with MG teams in CoH know exactly what I’m talking about. They do have a set up time (~3 seconds) and a limited firing arc. They must “tear-down” and re-set up if they want to move their firing arc. Even with those limitations, the firepower of a HB squad is awesome. Virtually all infantry can be suppressed by HB fire and when a unit is suppressed it moves slower and does less damage. I wouldn’t call a suppressed squad “useless” but they’re close. Unless the squad get out of the firing arc or uses an ability that removes suppression, they’re in very real danger of getting wiped out.

HB squads are best used to cover choke points and important Points like VPs and Power. They’re best used from behind heavy cover where incoming fire is less effective. They’re much cheaper than Tac squads and use up less cap but this is because they’re not as durable and cannot fire on the move. The two supporting Marines that guard the HB Marine can fire on the move and will fire their Bolters at the enemy but they are not in the same league as normal Tacs.

Like all set-up teams, they’re very vulnerable to being flanked. If the enemy is outside their arc of fire, they cannot fire the main weapon. Once tied up in CC, they also lose the ability to fire the main weapon. Thus, any kind of flanking maneuver, jump troop, grenade, disruption, etc. will make these units nearly useless. These units are also not immune to suppression so two set-up teams firing at each other may suppress one another.
In particular, the HB squad has an upgrade that allows them to trade suppression for raw damage. For about 10 seconds, the HB will fire much larger rounds at the enemy and do tremendous damage. It is best used after achieving suppression, when the enemy is slowed. It does have a considerable cool down, however. It is a very cheap upgrade so I’d recommend getting it. Few of the other set-up teams can improve their own damage so this is a distinct advantage.

Know the limitations of HB squads and place them strategically. Two Dev squads with overlapping fire will create impressive kill zones, however, realize that once an enemy gets behind or to the side of a Dev squad, they’re drastically reduced in effectiveness. Retreat them if you don’t think you can swing the gun around in time.

In the later tiers, there are many more ways of dealing with set-up teams so HB Devs start to diminish in usefulness. Vehicles are practically immune to their normal fire (the special ability can dent a vehicle but don’t expect it to stop them) and many troops will be given suppression immunity by various leaders/abilities/Commander’s war gear. However, many of these suppression immunity abilities have short durations so don’t abandon HB squads late game. Just realize that they’re much more situational.

Assault Marines
550/25, 15 cap
1080 HP/100 E
- Thunder and Lightening: 30/15
- Sergeant: 50/25, 5 cap (+320 HP)
+ Jump: 55 e
+ Melta Bomb: 40 e
+ Blind Grenade: 20 e
+ Merciless Strike: 30 e

Assault Marines (ASM) are the Space Marines dedicated CC troop choice. They’re incredibly tough and their jump ability gives them superior mobility. However, they’re also very expensive. While many of the other races can field a similar troop type for roughly 400/15, ASM are much more Req/Power hungry.

What gives ASM their ferocious reputation is the ability to jump into a group of units and cause them to get knocked down upon landing. This disruption allows the ASM to get free hits in while taking no damage themselves. At full energy, an ASM squad can jump twice in fairly short order, keeping an enemy squad on their backs once they get up. As ASM squads level up, their maximum energy also goes up, allowing them to jump at shorter intervals.

One-on-one, a single ASM is a powerful figure. Very few units can go toe-to-toe with them early on and they can take on other CC specialists and expect to win. Don’t expect them to take on two squads of dedicated CC specialists without help, though. Used combined arms. Two ASM squads are very powerful but can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers so try to use some powerful ranged units like Tacs or HB Devs to lay down fire from range while the ASM deal in melee.

In T2, ASM get Sgts that have Power Swords and the ability to hit a line of enemies with a powerful attack that also knocks them down. The Sgt is actually cheaper than a replacement ASM (92 vs 50 Req) but costs a lot more power. The Power Sword is much more effective against Heavy Infantry and Commanders so if possible, always have the Sgt with your squad. Secondly, just like Tacs, the Sgt gives your squad that extra man in case things go sour and allowing you a greater chance go retreat back to base with at least one in the squad.

Because of the disruption, jumping in on targets is the best way to engage them. Sometimes you can wipe out a weak set-up team or general infantry squad before they can get up. ASM are best-suited to engage said set-up teams that are behind cover. Most units would get suppressed trying to close within firing range but jump troops can close the gap quickly and get behind the firing line. Jumping on retreating troops is also very effective. Lead the retreating squad a little bit and the impact of landing will knock them down for you to finish off. ASM jump over cover automatically and will pursue a retreating squad quite closely. It’s also best to try to surround a retreating enemy so that they’re constantly looking for a way out. This is very important when chasing retreating Commanders.

As for the grenades, Melta bombs do decent damage against vehicles but they’re not effective enough to be your primary AV weapon. Against a Transport, the Melta plus the attacks of the ASM themselves are usually enough to take it out without losses but a Walker will chew up an ASM squad even if they use the Melta. Multiple ASM squads can engage a Walker using Meltas plus their normal attacks but unless the Walker is alone, the ASM will be better used by engaging infantry and leaving the AV to dedicated anti-tank units. If you see garrisoned buildings, the Blind Grenade is very useful. It prevents firing and does significant damage to garrisoned troops.

ASM are useful in all the tiers but against Elite infantry like Nobs, Terminators and Seer Council, don’t expect them to hold their own without help. Many Commanders are also dangerous prey once they get decent war gear so just because you owned that Warboss early on that doesn’t mean he won’t come back with ‘eavy Armor and a big power claw to completely toss your ASM around. Also realize that an ASM squad without energy is much less effective. The key to their survivability is disruption and they can’t disrupt without being able to jump. If you’re ASM are getting hurt and you only have 25 energy, get out of there with retreat.

Plasma Cannon Devastators (T2)
400/0, 12 cap
675 HP/0 E

Like their Heavy Bolter cousins, Plasma Devs are set-up teams with a fixed firing arc. However, they have nearly twice the range and fire much, much slower. Their plasma shots are more like mortar fire or artillery: long-range, slow, but very powerful. They’re useful against swarms of infantry and are moderately effective against vehicles. Because of their range, they can fire from beyond the firing arc of the suppression set-up teams like HB Devs or Shuriken cannons, but also turrets. Use them to wipe out defensive positions that rely on suppression.

There isn’t much to say about them besides use them to take out slow-moving targets or groups of infantry. Their shots are incredibly powerful and can take out most infantry in one hit. Multiple Plasma Dev squads, with a spotter, are very powerful. Realize, though, the plasma rounds do friendly fire.

Dreadnought (T2)
500/90, 15 cap
800 HP/100 E
- Assault Cannon: 45/45
- Dark Age of Technology: 100/50 (+300 HP)
+ Emperor’s Fist: 40 e
+ Assault Cannon Barrage: 100 e

Dreadnoughts are very powerful Walker units that are almost immune to small arms fire and can knock down all forms of cover and walls. They’re initially equipped with two Power Claws and a Flamer so expect them in close combat. Against most anything that does not have anti-vehicle weapons, the Dread will rip them apart with its high DPS and AoE special attack (which also stuns). Every time it kills a unit in melee, it grants a damage bonus to surrounding troops.

The Dread can also be upgraded with an Assault Cannon at the expense of melee damage. The Assault Cannon is very good against light infantry and it has a special ability that sweeps an area in front of the Dread with overwhelming firepower. It knocks down infantry and does tremendous damage (sometimes gibbing the poor infantry). Note, however, that the bonus for killing units is lost.

In T3, it can be upgraded with “Dark Age of Technology” that gives it an extra 300 HP and further increases it’s bonus for killing in melee. This gives the Dread much more survivability.

While it’s good against infantry, it tears apart vehicles. It can knock out a Transport in 3 hits and other Walkers in about 4. Likewise, all the other Walkers do a lot of damage to vehicles so unless your Dread is at/near full health, don’t engage a newly spawned Wraithlord. Most Walker battles come down to who hits first so make sure you’re charging right at them. The Dread will win against a Deff Dread or Wraithlord one-on-one at full health (even without the Dark Age of Tech upgrade) but will lose to a Carnifex. If your Dread is at less than full health, I wouldn’t try to take on an opposing walker without backup AV.

The Dread is tough against most fire but it falls very quickly to dedicated anti-vehicle weapons. Missile Launchers, Tankbustas, Lootas w/Beamy Deff Guns, Bright-lance platforms, Zoanthropes and Warriors with Adrenal Glands can very easily take out a Dread so don’t get cocky. Many Commanders have anti-vehicle power weapons that will slaughter a Dread in CC or have ways to immobilize vehicles, so be wary of any Powerfists/claws Scouts and the Techmarine Commander can repair Dreads and it’s much easier to repair than replace. Even though they’re lumbering beasts, try to get them out of there if they’re being pummeled.

Apart from the aforementioned weapons, however, a Dread is hard to beat. They can be tickled to death but won’t go down easily.

I’ll include the Venerable Dreadnought here as well because it’s not much different than a Dread with the Dark Age of Technology upgrade. It has 1200 HP (100 more than a Dread with DAoT), comes from a Drop Pod and has a very powerful bonus for other troops when it kills in melee. It also has a Charge ability that lets it run through infantry. It is only available to the Techmarine and it costs 750 Req/750 Zeal. Only one is available at a time (but if you lose it, you can spawn another).

It is a powerful force on the battlefield but it isn’t much more powerful than a T3 Dread. It’s greatest asset is being dropped on the battlefield where it is needed most and for no Energy but it isn’t a game-ender unit. Don’t expect it to take on two Walkers at once.

Razorback (T2)
240/40, 10 cap
450HP/0 E
- Reinforced Armor Plating: 15/15 (+250 HP)
+ Smoke Launcher

The Razorback is an armored transport that has anti-infantry capabilities and can act as a reinforcement point. Like the Dread, most small arms fire will ping virtually harmlessly off its hull but anti-vehicle weapons will take it out in short order. It is a cheap unit, relatively speaking, costing much less than most infantry squads but with a modest Power cost.

I haven’t used Razorbacks to their fullest extent but from what I remember, they can hold 3 squads. The ability to reinforce in the field is paramount for a low-number force like the SM who’s each member contributes so much to the squad. Also note that all transports, regardless of race, reinforce allied squads so even if you can’t use the Razorback to its fullest extent, your allies may thank you for making one.

The Reinforced armor plating is cheap and gives the Razorback 55% more health so it’s a no-brainer. Like most vehicles, it has rear weak armor and rear armor hits are much more effective. The extra armor from the upgrade helps a lot in that regard.

Predator (T3)
450/125, 18 cap
600 HP/0 e

The Predator is a T3 tank that has dual heavy bolters (one on each side) and a powerful main cannon. It’s not a main battle tank, though. Most T3 tanks in the game are surprisingly fragile: a Walker of nearly any race can easily take one out if it gets into melee range. The weak rear armor does not help the situation either. Anti-vehicle weapons will decimate a Pred from behind.

Used at a distance, though, the Pred can give impressive support fire and that’s what you must use it for. The main cannon throws infantry so it’s great at disruption and the heavy bolters chew up low-health infantry. Kiting Walkers and other AV units is the key to keeping it alive. Most AV units have to close within melee or set up to fire but the Pred can continually move backwards while firing. Use this mobility to your advantage or you’ll waste the resources put into it.

Terminators
900/0, 900 Zeal, 24 cap
4500 HP/0 E
- Assault Cannon: 70/70
- Heavy Flamer: 40/40
- Cyclone ML: 60/60
+ Cleansing Flame: 0 e, cooldown
+ Cyclone ML Barrage: 0 e, cooldown
(in case you were wondering, 150/50 to reinforce!)

Both Terminator types, Regular and Assault, are Elite infantry designed to be slow-moving juggernauts. They cannot be suppressed, have extraordinary health and can teleport. Neither can retreat, however, nor can they be healed by an Apothecary. Only area of effect heals will heal them (HQ aura, reinforcement beacon aura, Advanced healing). Also note that, like the Dread, every time they kill a unit, an attack bonus is added to surrounding troops. Finally, like the Dread, they can walk through all forms of cover and knock down walls.

Regular Terminators are ranged specialists that come initially with Storm Bolters and Power Fists. The Power Fists are anti-vehicle weapons and it is best to engage a Walker or Tank in melee range with these. The Termies can also be upgraded with a Heavy Flamer, Assault Cannon or Cyclone Missile Launcher. The Heavy Flamer is much like it’s smaller counterpart but has greater range and power. It ignores cover and really hurts swarm-type enemies. The Assault Cannon has excellent range and can be fired on the move. It does good damage to infantry but is more useful against single targets. The Cyclone Missile Launcher equips the missile rack to one of the Termies but does not have a regular fire function. It can only be fired when the special ability is charged. However, it fires multiple anti-vehicle missiles in tight cluster that absolutely shred vehicles. No vehicle can survive a full barrage. It is also useful for disrupting hordes of infantry, though the damage is not as impressive.

Regular Termies are effective against most units but can specialize in one area or another with their heavy weapons. In CC, they’re not effective against swarm-type infantry because power fists attack so slowly. However, they can jump out of harm’s way easily enough with their teleport function.

Assault Terminators can only be spawned by the Force Commander. They forego ranged weaponry for a Thunderhammer and Storm Shield. They are effective against all unit types, including vehicles. They routinely knock down opponents so even dedicated CC specialists will have a hard time fighting them. Their massive stockpile of HP allows them to go toe-to-toe with virtually anything, including decked-out Commanders, upgraded Nobs, and the Avatar. They are one of the most powerful units that can be fielded.

Shortcomings to the Terminators are many, however. Their slow speed means they will not be able to react to quickly changing fronts (even with Teleport). They will not be able to retreat if they get in over their heads and even if they get away from harm, the only way to heal them (in any reasonable amount of time) is to leg it back to base. Their exorbitant cost is the major flaw, however, since 900 Req is hard to amass but 900 Zeal is downright ridiculous. They’re also very expensive to reinforce.

Commanders

Force Commander
800 HP/100 E
+Battle Cry: 50 E

The FC is a melee-oriented Offensive hero. He excels in tanking for your other troops and disrupting the enemy in CC. He has a variety of war gear that can adapt his role on the battlefield from anti-Infantry, to anti-Commander, to anti-vehicle. He can also equip 3 types of armor that makes him a better tank, more mobile or in the case of Terminator armor, a slow moving juggernaut. Finally, his accessories allow him to either use energy as extra HP, teleport around, or inspire nearby troops.

Initially, the FC is not much superior to any melee-oriented Commander. Other Offensive Heroes will be able to go toe-to-toe with him and even Support Heroes with special abilities that increase their longevity will be able to dual him reasonably well. It isn’t until he starts upgrading his war gear that he becomes more powerful.

Battle Cry is his unit ability and it allows him to perform special attacks (usually that means knockdown or AoE) with each swing. It also keeps him upright, granting knockdown immunity. It also boosts the attack power of units nearby. It lasts roughly 15 seconds.

The global ability, For The Emperor, grants what seems to be the equivalent of “And They Shall Know No Fear” to any squad on the battlefield for 150 Zeal. Unlike the previous ability, the unit is completely immobile (instead of slowed). It boosts attack power and defense and makes them immune to suppression. The other global ability calls in Assault Terminators, which have already been covered.

Weapons

Power Sword/Plasma Pistol
120/25

This combo gives the FC more melee and more ranged damage but excels in neither. It’s in T1 but the power cost is steep early on. The Power Sword is effective against all forms of infantry and is far more effective than the standard Chainsword. The Plasma Pistol, likewise, is more effective against heavier infantry but doesn’t fire as fast as the standard Bolt Pistol. It also boosts the Battle Cry ability for allied infanry.

As a combo, it’s a good early choice but the FC will never be excellent in any one area. Dueling other Commanders with more specialized gear will probably get the FC killed.

Chainsword/Storm Shield
150/30

Sacrificing offensive power for defensive, the Storm Shield allows the Commander to turn on a defensive aura that makes units around him take less damage and become immune to suppression at the cost of the FC’s energy and speed. It drains 4 energy/sec so an early FC can have it on for a maximum of 20 seconds. This is a very good piece to have if you’re facing a lot of suppression-causing enemies.

Thunderhammer (T2)
150/30

This is the ultimate anti-Infantry weapon for the FC. It hits incredibly hard against single targets and its special attack causes AoE damage and knockback. It’s fantastic against Commanders, as well.

Against Vehicles, it does “ok” and can reliably be used against Transports but I wouldn’t call it a good AV weapon.

Powerfist (T2)
200/65

This pricey piece is an anti-vehicle powerhouse. Not only does it cream all forms of vehicles, it has the “Flesh Over Steel” ability that immobilizes a target vehicle. That being said, the FC can take any vehicle out single-handedly.

On the other hand, it attacks very slowly and is much less useful against infantry or other Commanders. It does knockback many times but the DPS isn’t high against these targets. Even still, AV is hard to come by for SM and this can very quickly even the battlefield for you.

Armor

Artificer Armor
125/30

Boosts your HP by 200 and increases regeneration. This helps your FC stay in the fight a little longer and allows him to regenerate a little more between battles. The Regen isn’t that impressive (2 hp/sec), though, so don’t count on it to keep him topped off but if it’s any consolation, it’s double that of base regen.

Armor of Alacrity
110/20

Increases your HP by 100 and makes him about 50% faster. It also grants the Sprint ability for the FC which practically doubles his already enhanced speed (for 25 energy). He’s incredibly fast with Sprint going (able to keep up with fully retreating enemies).

This armor allows him to keep up with Scouts and also get to hotspots much quicker. It’s also cheaper than any of the other armors, but doesn’t protect as well.

Terminator Armor (T3)
300/150

There isn’t a single piece of war gear that a Commander gets (I’d daresay among all 4 race’s Commanders) that change the fundamental make up of a Commander like the Terminator armor. Let’s run down what it does:

-Turns the FC into a (regular) Terminator with 3500 HP (he starts with 800)
- Removes all previous war gear (no refund)
- Removes the leveling mechanic on the FC
- Makes him immune to suppression
- Gives him a Power Fist and Storm Bolter
- Gives him access to no other war gear besides the Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer (70/70)
- Removes his ability to retreat
- Does NOT give him the Teleport ability
- Allows him to knock down cover and walls
- Imparts the attack bonus aura after each kill

Basically, he receives a massive HP buff and becomes a ranged Commander with the ability to engage Vehicles with the Powerfist. The Heavy Weapons are no different than the regular Terminators, with the conspicuous absence of the Cyclone Missile Launcher.

There are many opinions on whether or not this war gear is “worth it.” Losing the leveling mechanic and losing mobility are large setbacks but the loss of all previous war gear is also a tough pill to swallow. It’s also ridiculously expensive, more expensive Power-wise than anything else in the SM arsenal.

Accessories
Iron Halo
120/30

The Iron Halo allows the FC to use Energy as hit points. Since he only has 100 Energy to start off with, you might not think this is all that great but coupled with the other armors, and the fact that he gains Energy as he levels up, you might be looking at an extra 350 HP vs his base armor.

Surprisingly, the Halo takes no energy to run nor does it stop Energy Regeneration.

I wouldn’t recommend running the Iron Halo with the Chainsword/Storm Shield combo because the FC just doesn’t have enough Energy for both. However, any of the other war gear pieces work well because they don’t drain Energy. In fact, the FC has barely any Energy problems because he only has one ability (Battle Cry) all game. The Iron Halo, therefore, is a good way to burn off all the Energy that the FC generally conserves.

Teleporter (T2)
40/40

Available in T2, the Teleporter allows the FC to jump short distances for 60 Energy. It has a lengthy cooldown and the energy cost is somewhat steep but it allows the FC to engage/disengage with much greater reliability.

It’s also incredibly cheap. Like the Iron Halo, the FC generally has Energy to burn so jumping every once in awhile won’t hurt him.

Pairing the Armor of Alacrity and the Teleporter makes the FC one of the most nimble units on the battlefield. Not only is he quick on the ground, he can jump across gaps that would normally slow units on foot down. Give him your favorite weapon and he can be nearly anywhere quickly. On the other hand, I personally find the Armor of Alacrity more than sufficient to meet my mobility needs. The Teleporter feels redundant and I’d much rather have the Iron Halo or Sacred Banner.

Sacred Banner (T3)
130/40

The Sacred Banner gives off an AoE aura (the same size as the Battle Cry AoE, use that to judge) that increases the damage of nearby units and if the FC should die, he projects a more powerful aura around the body (for as long as he is dead).

This is my favorite of the Accessories since it’s always “on” and costs no Energy. Dying is never good, but at least my FC can inspire his troops from beyond the grave.

Apothecary
600HP/100 E
+Regeneration Aura (always on)
+Heal, 35 E

Overall

The Apothecary is support Commander that is predominantly melee but does not have the raw damage of the Offensive Commanders. However, due to his healing ability, he is able to go toe-to-toe with many of the Offensive Commanders early on, prior to them getting superior weaponry.

The Apothecary naturally gives off a Regeneration Aura to all allied troops. It’s hard to pin down the exact rate at which it regens but my guess is about 3 hp/sec for all troops.

The Heal ability is a combination heal. That is to say, it gives a straight HP bonus on the onset and then adds the other half of the heal via a very fast regeneration-like effect. For example, on my Tac squad that was down to 650 health, it immediately healed about 100 HP and then it regenerated another 100 HP over the next 2 seconds. So, while it might heal 200 HP in that regard, it’s not all up front. On the other hand, I watched the Apoth heal himself for 400 HP at Level 3. I’m not sure if it’s a % of the Health of the unit or of it’s a flat +X HP.

The Heal becomes more powerful as your Apoth levels up but I haven’t tested to see exactly how much it goes up.

Later in the game, his usefulness becomes apparent. Squads are held upright longer and have less losses, which allows you to win the economic battle. The Apoth himself is becomes a decent offensive unit but no one is going to mistake him for a FC.

The global abilities for the Apothecary is Larraman’s Blessing, a 250 Zeal ability that resurrects any fallen Commanders (yours included) and Angels of Death, a 400 Zeal ability that causes your (not your allies’) troops to be invulnerable for about 10 seconds. The Commander revive can save the team loads of Req if you decide to use it but realize that the Commanders get up from where they’re laying. That means they could get killed immediately if surrounded by enemies. The invulnerability is useful when taking on superior numbers or when you just need to get your foot in the door of a well locked down area. Note that it does not remove suppression effects so your units will still be moving slowly while under it.

Weapons

Power Axe/Plasma Pistol
80/25

An early (and cheap) alternative to the Chainsword/Bolt Pistol combo, the Power Axe has the added feature of draining Energy. This is especially helpful for Commanders that rely on Energy for their most potent attacks (including other Apoths who want to heal themselves!) It does more damage than any of the other Weapons but it’s not going to make the Apoth a monster in melee.

I personally find this to be the best weapon simply because it allows the Apoth to hold his own against other Commanders. With ASM builds, the Apoth can lay into heavy infantry reasonably well and even at a distance, the Plasma Pistol does good damage. I can also afford it early, which grants me that extra power when it is needed most.

Master-Crafted Bolter
85/25

If you want to keep the Apoth out of melee, you can go with the Bolter option. It improves his ranged damage and also grants him a Full Auto ability (50 E) that does knockback and good damage.

Personally, I like my Apoth in melee because he can tie up set-up teams but putting him at range keeps him behind the front lines where the most danger is. You can judge what’s best for you.

Sanguine Chainsword (T2)
100/30

This chainsword doesn’t do a lot of damage but it leeches health from your enemies. It’s hard to tell exactly how much health it grants per swing but what I’ve seen is about 30 HP. With the self-heal on this, the Heal ability itself and the Armor of the Apothecarion (below), it will be very difficult to outright kill you.

Armor

Armor of Purity
100/25

In addition to the +150 HP it provides, this cuts the cooldown of Heal in half. Heal originally has a cooldown of about 20 seconds but is reduced to 10. If you plan on spamming Heals to your troops, this Armor is very good early on.

Combat Stimulant (T2)
90/25

While it provides +100 HP, the Combat stimulant is more like an accessory than armor. It increases the ranged firepower of a squad for about 10 seconds. Compared to the other two armors, it is severely lacking in utility, in my opinion.

Armor of the Apothecarion (T2)
200/80

The +200 HP is nice but the extra regeneration (~5 hp/sec) and the ability to massively heal nearby allies makes this Armor too good to pass up. Oh, did I mention that it might revive the Apoth for no charge? It costs a lot but this will put the Apoth near the head of the Commander class.

Advanced Healing makes the Apoth immobile but all infantry around him have a regen aura like they were at HQ. While it costs 5 energy/sec, that’s really not that bad considering its effects. It’s also the only heal that can heal your Terminators. To give you an idea of how powerful it is, a Tac Squad could not be killed by two Eldar base turrets firing on them. What’s more, it has no cool down. You can turn it on and off at will.

Note however that Advanced Healing does not affect the Apoth himself. While the Armor provides him modest regeneration, he’ll still be the weakest link in the chain. You can still heal while using Advanced Healing or throw a grenade, you’re just immobile.

Now, the crux of Advanced Healing is getting the Apoth into position. If you have primarily ranged troops, it might be best to get the M-C Bolter because that keeps the Apoth near your troops. If you have ASM to support, you might want to stick with the melee weapons.

Accessories

Purification Rites
120/25

This Accessory causes any enemies around the healed unit to receive damage. I’ve been trying to lab how much damage it actually does but it’s hard to tell when my units are also doing damage. However, for units that are always in the thick of it, like ASM, Purification Rites is helpful.

Purification Vials
130/25

Basically a Frag Grenade that leaves a lingering cloud behind which continues to do damage over time. Against set-up teams or swarms of enemies, it’s devastating. It’s a modest 45 Energy, which isn’t much to the Apoth so it can be used as often as it’s cooldown allows.

Improved Medical Equipment (T2)
120/30

This is a must-have for any Apoth wanting the Armor of the Apothecarion but is also incredibly useful with the Armor of Purity. It boosts the Apoth’s Energy by 100 and increases his energy regeneration to something like 5/sec. It’s actually difficult to run out.

With the added pool of energy and the quickened regeneration, Advanced Healing can be held for much longer periods of time and be ready for another long duration quickly.

Techmarine
700/100
+Turret (200/30, 5 cap)
500 HP
+Teleporter Relay Beacon (200/30, 5 cap)
1000 HP
+Proximity Mine: 50 E (requires Artificer Armor)
+Repair

Overall

The Techmarine ™ is the defensive-minded Commander in the SM repertoire. He has abilities that cause area denial, suppression, increased range damage and a very handy reinforcement point in the field. He is a ranged combat Commander and prefers to stay there as all his weapons are range-oriented and he has multiple ways of boosting either his or his allies ranged damage.

He also has the ability to build static defenses. Turrets are fixed-arc emplacements that are incredibly effective at suppressing and killing most infantry units. Set up at choke points or to guard important points, they can cause area denial for most of the T1 phase of the game. They’re remarkably resilient and even if you do manage to get behind them, their building armor makes them very hard to take down with small arms. All that being said, they’re expensive, as 30 power is hard to come by in the early part of the game. Spamming turrets is a sure way to get out-teched to T2. Somewhat like a Heavy Bolter squad, you must realize the limitations of a fixed-firing unit. However, the Turret has an advantage over the Dev squad in that it can’t be suppressed, tied up, is much more durable and can be repaired in the field. It also costs less cap room. Turrets are very powerful in the early portion of the game where counters are hard to come by, but by T2, any vehicle or anti-vehicle weapon will cream them. Placing three turrets with great firing arcs, covering each other, etc. can deny a large area but an enemy can use the same resources to tech up and build a counter. A single Plasma Dev Squad, for example, outranges turrets by a good margin and can take a number of them out in short order. A Dread will walk into turret fire and laugh. Like the Dev squads, know the limitations.

The TM can also place Teleporter beacons on the map that allow you to reinforce around them, puts out a fairly significant (~5hp/sec) Heal aura and allows you to retreat to it instead of legging it all the way to the HQ. Allies gain all the benefits as well. Placing one of these behind the front lines but closer than the HQ allows your units to get back into the fight faster than retreating all the way back to the HQ. It be used directly behind your units to give them additional longevity. Be aware, however, that unless the HQ is noticeably closer, your units will retreat to this point so be sure to know where to look if you retreat your units. Also, don’t place it too close to the front lines or your units will retreat to nowhere.

The TM also repairs, both personally and with his global ability “Gift of Omnissiah” (250 Zeal). It repairs all allied vehicles (it doesn’t repair turrets, however) at around 50 HP/sec. He can also call in a Venerable Dreadnought for 750 Req/750 Zeal. See the Dreadnought unit for this.

Weapons

Plasma Gun
100/25

Much like the other Plasma Pistols wielded by various other SM battle brothers, the Plasma Pistol is effective against heavier infantry at the cost of fire rate. This particular weapon, when wielded by the TM, can use the Overcharge ability (50 E) to fire in rapid bursts, with the downside that it can’t fire for about 5 seconds after.

Consecrated Bolter
135/25

This Bolter allows the TM to use the “Brothers in Arms” ability (25 E, 4 E/sec drain) which increases fire speed and damage in a small area around the TM. It’s hard to tell exactly what the bonus is but if I had to guess, it’d be somewhere in the 33/50% range (fire speed, that is). For closely grouped squads of Tacs or Devastators, it’s a godsend.

Master-Crafted Bolter
100/40

Since the TM must like Bolters, the M-C Bolter is another option. This one gives him the “High-Powered Shot” ability (60 E) that kills most light infantry in one hit while also instantly suppressing any squad it hits. It also does a number on Commanders (the Apoth I hit with it took 300 damage).

Armor

Artificer Armor
110/25

The +200 HP is nice for a ranged character that doesn’t like to see too much front-line combat but the ability to place Proximity Mines (50 E) is also handy for area denial and sneak attacks. Once placed, they cloak and leave a small green marker for all allies to see. Not only do they detonate with good power, they instantly suppress. One problem I’ve found is that the enemy literally has to be right on top of them and they’re pretty small targets so it takes a minefield to hit anything. With no cooldown and modest energy cost, though, that’s possible with a little time.

Bionics
115/25

+150 HP and an anti-melee pushback (Sweep, 25 E) is a nice addition to any ranged Commander. The TM can get this early on if he starts getting mobbed.

Signum Armor
135/25

Not only does the Signum Armor give +100 HP, it also upgrades the TM’s ranged damage. Finally, it gives him the Mark Target ability (55 E) that increases the damage done to any enemy it’s used on. I’m not sure what the increased damage % is. Used in conjunction with the Brothers In Arms ability, you can lay down punishing firepower.

Accessories

Orbs of the Omnissiah
120/25

Immobilizing a Vehicle (and/or knocking out 100 Energy) is an awesome way to set up a Missile Launcher strike or allow a Dread to come in and wreck havoc. This is a must-have for any TM past the T2 part of the game. Modest 50 E to throw.

Refractor Field
125/25

See Iron Halo. Works identically but for a “softer” Commander like the TM, it will keep him alive longer. Unlike the FC, however, he has plenty of uses for Energy so don’t use this if it hampers your other special abilities.

Basic Strategies

Combined arms theory is always going to be important for role-specific games and DoW2 is no different. The following are just simple tips to improve play. You can figure out the more advanced stuff on your own. It goes without saying (I guess it doesn’t) that you need to be behind cover to get the maximum usefulness out of your ranged units and you need to retreat if you’re about to lose too many units.

1.) Scouts are the fastest infantry you have and their infiltration that comes with heavy weapons allows them survey the battlefield prior to assaulting. Remember, recon is half the battle. Also remember that Scouts repair (if you don’t have TM, they’re the only units that can) so make sure to have a squad around when your Vehicles show up. Scouts also tend to hold fire while infiltrated, as to not give away their position, even with a raging battle all around them. You might have to manually tell them to attack or uncloak them to get them to engage.
2.) Always support your Devastator squads. Alone, they’re vulnerable to being flanked, tied up in CC or getting jumped on. Once those happen, they’re useless. If you have a Dev Squad set up, lure enemies back into their field of fire, if possible, or if you’re using ASM, try to keep the fighting within their field of fire. Also, a little scouting goes a long way with Dev squads because you can see where the enemy is coming from and adjust the firing arc. An out of position Dev squad is just asking to get whacked. Finally, if a Dev squad gets tied up in melee, they’ll re-set up in whatever direction they were last facing. That means you have to re-deploy them in the correct position.

3.) Steel Rain. If you have 500 Zeal and 400 Req, and you’re losing troops left and right but you just have to hold that point, call in a Drop-Pod. It instantly reinforces every nearby squad back to full (minus leaders), you can drop on your enemies and it gives you a reduced-cost Tac squad. Such a momentum shift can win you the day. Every Commander has this and if it replaces half a dozen troops, it paid for itself many times over.

4.) Vehicle counters. Missile Launchers are the best AV that SM have, no question. It takes about 3 or 4 missiles to take down a Walker and as few as 2 to take down a Transport if you can get rear armor hits. The Dread also does great AV damage but risks getting mauled itself by other Walkers. Plasma Dev squads do respectable damage but fire slowly and miss at long range. You could get two of these and set them up at range for AV duty but vehicles can still flank them. Predators can kite Walkers and Transports to oblivion. Finally, the FC can decimate any vehicle with the Powerfist and his Flesh Over Steel ability while the TM can immobilize vehicles with his grenades. The Apoth doesn’t have much besides the Power Axe and self-heal but I wouldn’t expect him to take on any Walkers.

5.) Upkeep. For every 1 population cap over 30 you are, you incur a roughly 2.5 penalty to your Requisition rate. SM are hit noticeably hard in this category because they are in the “all or nothing” camp. Unlike the other races that have 6-8 units per squad, the SM only have 3 in most cases. They have large chunks of pop cap in each unit, while the other races have smaller chunks. Now, while those larger squads take up about the same pop cap, they’re also more effective if they lose one or two members. If a Tac squad loses a member, it’s 33% less effective. If a Gaunt squad loses 1 member, it’s only 12.5% less effective. Thus, as a ‘Nid player, you could get by with a 7/8 Gaunt squad. When that happens, the Gaunt squad is using up less cap and incurs less upkeep penalty while the Tac squad is hurt HP-wise, but still has all 3 members and is still using all 15 cap. Since it’s vital that your squads be topped off at all times (so they don’t get wiped out entirely), you’re almost always going to be floating more cap than the other races.

For example: You have 2 Tac squads, 1 ASM, and 1 Scout (54 Cap)
Your ‘Nid ally has 2 Termagant squads, 1 Hormagaunt squads, and 2 Warrior squads (54 cap)

In a battle, you and your ally suffer roughly the same damage (500 HP), however, due to your greater HP/unit, you don’t actually lose any units. The ‘Nids, on the other hand, taking the same damage, lose 2 Horms and 3 Terms. Now the ‘Nid player is down to 50 cap while you’re still at 54. They’re getting +12.5 Req/min compared to you until they reinforce. That doesn’t seem like much, but over the course of the game, you as the SM player might behind one hundred Req compared to your allies/enemies.

6.) Upgrade your Commanders. Never forget that your Commanders can become exceedingly powerful with the proper upgrades. I won’t tell you what to get except to get something. By T2, most Commanders have some really great gear that can single-handedly turn a would-be loss into victory.

[Crushinator]

Long post is long.

[Oddies da Nerfed]

Don't be hatin because you aren't me.