The beta is here, and has been for a few days, but I managed to get my hands on a key. Oh what good times these will be.
But first I'd like to mention, I am here. Not done any work on the blog for a while but there has been an exam period so consequently I've not been able to do any work on this. I'll be doing an introductory vlog/blog at some point just introduce myself a bit more, as well as this I'll be making a post every Tuesday so keep your eyes on the horizon.
Eitherway, back to DoW2.
Me and a couple of friends played throughout the DoW2 beta had a ball with that, so I'm definately looking forward to playing this. Especially with the induction of Imperial Guard, which I was a little sceptical of. Going back to DoW1, IG was particularly weak without commanders in their squads or supportive abilities. However long since gone are the days where building a pretty little base was an issue, in DoW2 you build MANunits and go wreck someones stuff. Alternatively you can hold the victory point.
I have to say I am very impressed with the Imperial Guard as stands. Not quite as weak as I anticipated and much stronger than I thought possible. Following is an introduction to each of the IG commanders (Heroes) and their various flavours:
The Commissar Lord is a high ranking Commissar of the Imperium charged with keeping the mens 'Spirits high' by any means necessary. The Commissar fulfils a more supportive role than the other two heroes, who generally uses his abilities to empower nearby infantry. He comes with the ability 'Refractor Field' built in, essentially a yellow ironhalo-like shield, causing him to lose energy instead of Hp. As well as the ability execute a member of an infantry, increasing their damage output substantially.
His Global abilities are as follows:
Bunker Drop: Allows him to call in a bunker via Valkyrie which can then be garrisoned by infantry, then upgraded to a medical or repair bunker. It can also be booby trapped.
Off-Map Basilisk Flare: Fired by an off-map basilisk, the flare lands at the targeted location revealing the area and detecting infiltrated units. As well as shortening the enemy's ranged weapon fire, it also bears a significant resemblance to the Manticore's pre-strike flare allowed it to be used to fool opponents into retreating or being less aggressive.
Air Dropped Mines: A Valkyrie flies overhead, dropping its payload of mines in the area that both damage and snare the enemy. Vector Ability.
Loyal to the End: Temporarily inspires infantry squads in the target area. As the members of affected squads dwindle, the remaining members fight on becoming much stronger. Can only effect own squads.
Rocket Run: Calls in 2 Valkyries, performing rocket pod runs for massive damage. Vector Ability.
Pre-Retribution I was unaware of these vector abilities, perhaps added in Chaos Rising but not to my knowledge, these abilities require you to click then click again which designates the vector, or line, in which you want the ability to occur. The Manticore artillery also performs a similar function, clicking once to designate an initial AoE then 4 more times to designate individual strikes.
I really really like the Commissar. His style of play fits my knowledge regarding the lore of IG well, as well as being very fun and viable to play. His war gear options improve his own, already considerable, strength as well as granting abilities to empower nearby infantry. Allowing him to roll around with a 'death ball' of sorts. Off-Map flares hinder and fool enemies easily and if they dont run, next time it'll be a manticore strike to make sure they do. Individual Guardmen are very expendable but as a whole they are incredibly mighty, burning down the enemies of man in a hail of lasgun fire. He isn't without his weaknesses however, AoE weaponry and strikes are very effective on his supporting guardsmen who without the Commissar becomes very lackluster. The ball of death is also very slow moving, allowing much quicker races to exploit this. I'm looking at you Eldar.
The Lord General is, perhaps deceptively, aimed at the more defensive minded players. Leader of an Imperial Guard garrison, he keeps a retinue of infantry near him at all times augmenting his, the squads, firepower and effective Hp. Starting with no abilities, they are gained via the application of various wargear and retinue. He excels at supporting nearby infantry, much like the commissar but more defensively and much more conservatively, with his abilities and called down turrets / vehicles.
His Global abilities are as follows:
Bunker Drop: Allows him to call in a bunker via Valkyrie which can then be garrisoned by infantry, then upgraded to a medical or repair bunker. It can also be booby trapped.
Heavy Turret: Calls in a Valkyrie to deploy a heavy turret armed with a vanquisher cannon that excels against vehicles, which can also be upgraded to an Executioner cannon effective against all targets. I say that, through I swear the Executioner cannon is bugged, as does roughly no damage in a large aoe.
Basilisk Creeping Barrage: Off-Map Basilisk artillery fires an advancing wave of artillery shells, knocking back infantry and damaging all targets. Vector Ability.
Leman Russ Drop: A Valkyrie drops a Leman Russ tank at the targeted location.
Rocket Run: Calls in 2 Valkyries, performing rocket pod runs for massive damage. Vector Ability.
The Lord General whilst aimed and named as the defensive hero, is actually more for the long thought players of strategy games. Imparting large buffs to nearby infantry as well as being individually not only hard to kill but very flexible and powerful in his own right, the tradeoff however is a larger cost in resources as well as the ability to eliminate members of the command squad. The general himself however cannot be killed unless all members of the squad are eliminated first. In terms of feel the general feels like a stronger lategame Commissar whilst not as brutal in individual strength he definitely provides it in terms of his turrets, tank drops and artillery drops which the Commissar either does not receive or receives a much weaker version.
I'd like to point out that the Imperial Guard has no such access to 'assault' units, such as assault marines or Bloodletters. They can call down units much like drop pods or spores but without the disruptive impact. However to offset this, though only partially, they do have access to the Sentinel walker tier 1. Effective at kiting enemy units and dealing good damage to infantry as well as a large PBAoE (Point Blank Area of Effect) knockback and stun. A different take on a similar role I suppose, though I'd rather have an assault unit.
Hailing from the Ordo Hereticus fulfils the role of the offense hero for the Imperial Guard, her array of spells bringing devastation to the enemy. Unlike the other heroes of the IG her spells revolve around debuffing and damaging enemy units, with most of her war gear granting her an additional ability and while she has little defensive capability she is indeed a worthy foe. Her global ability differences allow her to call in additional units to clean up, or purge the enemy with righteous fire.
Her Global abilities are as follows:
Bunker Drop: Allows him to call in a bunker via Valkyrie which can then be garrisoned by infantry, then upgraded to a medical or repair bunker. It can also be booby trapped.
Hellfury Strike: A Valkyrie flies overhead, unleashing it's payload of holy promethium damaging units over time. Vector Ability.
Infiltrated Storm Troopers: Calls in a squad of infiltrated Storm Troopers.
Bane Wolf Drop: A Valkyrie drops a Bane Wolf at the targeted location.
Rocket Run: Calls in 2 Valkyries, performing rocket pod runs for massive damage. Vector Ability.
A veritable and powerful spell caster the Inquisitor functions much like the Warlock for the Eldar, 'supporting' her units via spells unleashed on the enemy. In terms of general feel I must say I find their choice of hero here somewhat confusing, as the Inquisitor offers very little in terms of support to an army that in essence relies on it. As mentioned prior each individual guardsmen is not very strong but as a whole group is indeed powerful, the inquisitor offers very little in this regard but makes up for in in spellcasting ability one could surmise.
All in all the Imperial Guard army is powerful and flexible but does have some difficulty with mobility and enemy armour in a sense, here's a brief list of the units and their tiers:
Tier 1: Imperial Guardsmen Squad, Sentinel, Heavy Weapons Team, Catachan Devils
Tier 2: Storm Troopers, Chimaera, Manticore, Ogryns
Tier 3: Leman Russ, Baneblade
The Imperial Guard is definitely a fun race to play and a welcome addition to Dawn of War 2, here's looking forward to Retribution. If you can get out and play, otherwise check out Dow2live.com which has more details as well as live competitive games.
See you next tuesday.
~Gamesbass
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