[NGTM-1R]

Yeah, but we were talking of them equipped with terminator armor, with the armor they only get one suppression capable weapon.

The assault cannon is something of a step up.

Completed the campaign, found the suits. The assault terminators were hella impressive when they fought the warboss' underlings, nearly unstoppable. (Unlike my first experience with the tactical terminators in the mission to save Angel Forge.) But both the Warboss and the Avatar of Khaine I couldn't stand up to in a single head-to-head. The warboss I had to retreat from several times to replace downed Marines. The Avatar of Khaine I ended up doing a flanking thing from two sides, then discovering if I posistioned my new tactical squad just so, the Avatar would repeatedly wander into range for them to fire on it without actually engaging. (Though it was luring in some folks for the assault squad to kill that finally got him; plasma cannon to the face.)

Compared to those two, the Hive Tyrant was a pansy. The final mission was, in fact, between my Devastator Squad laying down continous rapid heavy bolter fire (the trait that lets Avitus recover energy for every kill meant that those huge swarms of Hormagaunts were literally self-defeating in the face of Focus Fire) and the tactical squad standing out in front of a line of IG backed by the Force Commander with Heavy Flamer, something of a pushover. I only took one casuality, during the push to the teleport beacon; an initiate of course, and why I left Cyrus and co. on the Strike Cruiser every time I could.

The IG stormies again proved to be remarkably capable, surviving repeated (though usually very brief) hand-to-hand exposure to Hormagaunts, something that would never happen in the tabletop. Then again, in tabletop Avitus wouldn't have been able to fire into close combat to support them.

[TrashMan]

Rosarius + That green healing thing + Rally for Force Commander (Flag) = you'll never loose a squad memeber if you use your abilities carefully.

The FC becomes invulnerable for a short time when he uses To Victory! and the Assault squads when it jumps/teleports. I still consider jumping to be better than teleporting, because of sheer area damage, but DAMN, the assault termies ROCK. Well, ALL termies rock.

The game really makes you feel like Space Marines are the unltimate badasses, given that you 10 man force usually wipes out 200 enemies per mission

[Stormkeeper]

DoW 2 should just be renamed "Warhammer 40K: 300".

I know, NGTM-1R. The Hive Tyrant was an absolute fail in the face of the Avatar and the Warboss. I had to retreat multiple times when engaging both. But when Gabriel used his 'amplify damage' thing on the Hive Tyrant it dies damn fast...

[eliex]

Does anyone bet that the first expansion pack will include the IG? Relic has virtually all the unit models in-game (check the stormtroopers aiding the SM in "Angel's Gate," not to mention that they are one of the most popular factions.

[SpardaSon21]

I think Relic would fail hard if the first expansion doesn't have IG and Chaos.  I think they already failed hard by not including Chaos.  How can you have WH40K and not have Chaos?  And you don't even get that many Tyranids on screen to make up for the lack of the Ruinous Powers.

[StarSlayer]

Considerin' how generous they've been with most of th' expansions for DoW I wouldn't be surprised if they knock our socks of with th' follow ups t' DoWII

[Stormkeeper]

I'd be most interested to see what sort of campaign they cook up for the expansions, tbh.

[NGTM-1R]

DoW2 is not suited to the type of gameplay that the IG are conducive to. What do the IG do? Men, lots of them. And tanks. Lots of those too.

I suppose, suppose, you could develop a sort of armored-vehicle version of the DoW2 campaign, commanding your IG armored company to victory. I'd actually rather enjoy that.

But that's also something that you should do with the World In Conflict engine, not this one.

[eliex]

I think they already failed hard by not including Chaos.  How can you have WH40K and not have Chaos?  And you don't even get that many Tyranids on screen to make up for the lack of the Ruinous Powers.

I believe Relic's line of reasoning was to appease the constant pleas for Tyranids to be added in the game, as well as making the starting race combo different from the original DoW (SM, Eldar, Orks and CSM) That said, Orks and Eldar were needed to continue their type of plot as Tyranids were to be the main evil of the story, something that Chaos normally are.

I'd be most interested to see what sort of campaign they cook up for the expansions, tbh.

I just hope that if more than Imperial forces are in the story, Relic can make up a better story of them fighting against each other if they are.

[Stormkeeper]

Ah hah hah. I tried something really weird today. I gave Thaddeus bolters, and Tarkus power swords.

=edit=

Funny thing happened. I went after the Avatar, and I discovered she/he/it keeps roasting her/his/its guards with that cross-shaped flame strike thing. Much lulz were to be had after the Eldar screamed "We must protect the Ancient!" and the Ancient promptly roasted them.

[NGTM-1R]

Funny thing happened. I went after the Avatar, and I discovered she/he/it keeps roasting her/his/its guards with that cross-shaped flame strike thing. Much lulz were to be had after the Eldar screamed "We must protect the Ancient!" and the Ancient promptly roasted them.

It does that, but it doesn't seem to actually, you know, hurt the Eldar...

[Stormkeeper]

Well, maybe because this round I was playing on easy.

[Polpolion]

Regarding the earlier comments about the "useless" force commander, that's kinda weird. I found him to be actually a really effective fighting unit all around. When I found a commander jump suit, I gave him that and essentially used him in complement with Thaddeus. That was a really weird situation because with two jumping units on the field, they tended to move a lot faster than Tarkus and Avitus, and they barely ever had time to move to their next position before Thaddeus and FC were done with the group of enemies.

After that, I decided to try out his ranged abilities, so I found this Plasma Cannon that had no setup time and good damage and gave it to him, and he turned into a pretty effective mobile weapons platform. Sure it was a low fire rate, but combined with another Plasma Cannon on Atavius and a melee Dreadnought and normal Tarkus, it was just as good as setup with Thaddeus, if not better.

[Stormkeeper]

If I haven't already, I shall retract my 'useless FC' statement. I gave him a teleporter pack and it made him live longer. Much, much longer. Helped that I found a Thunder Hammer that gave +19% Melee damage, and also that  I found a seal that gave +30 armour, and adds some armour to everyone around him.

I also gave him one of the Termie suits, cause I found an extra set of Storm Shields & Thunder Hammers. Not to mention I found a kickass heavy bolter. I shifted the seal to Thule, since this time 'round he's a melee spec, and usually fighting along side the FC and Thaddeus. I found it incredibly funny that the Orks, during one defense mission, couldn't stop Thule, and he was rampaging around the map, slaughtering all the Orks.