Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade
| Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Relic Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | THQ |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Release |  October 6, 2006
 November 3, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade the second expansion to the PC-based RTS game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War: Dark Crusade was released in 2006. The expansion features two new races, the Tau Empire and the Necrons. Including the Imperial Guard from Dawn of War's first expansion pack Winter Assault, this means a total of seven playable races after this expansion.
Unlike Winter Assault, Dark Crusade is a standalone expansion that does not require prior installation of Dawn of War and Winter Assault to play, allowing the user to play as all seven factions in single player both in Skirmish and Campaign modes. Multiplayer is limited to Tau and Necron factions if Dark Crusade is installed alone, with the other factions "enabled" with the installation of Dawn of War and Winter Assault.
Parallel to the release of Dark Crusade, THQ also released a triple pack of Dawn of War, Winter Assault, and Dark Crusade, dubbed Dawn of War Anthology. The case is embossed with images of all the faction leaders of the campaign dressed in their respective wargears.
New races
Tau Empire
One of the new races included is the Tau Empire. The Tau are designed to be powerful in shooting, but weak in close combat, much as they are in the tabletop game. To protect themselves, the Tau rely on slowing down enemy advances (mainly through snare traps set by the Tau Commander), and using the Kroot infantry to engage enemies in close combat before they can reach other Tau units. Also, unlike the other races, the Tau have no defensive structures other than Fortified Listening Posts, nor do they have the ability to lay mines like the other races, though the Tau Commander does have the ability to deploy stealth snare traps along the ground, which explode and slow down nearby enemy units for a period of time.
However, they have the ability to produce units which act as turrets and mines. XV88 Broadsides have the ability to "entrench", whereby they become stationary but deploy dual railguns which deal devastating amounts of damage. Their Drone squads have the ability to bury themselves, and upon becoming infiltrated, they explode violently when they have taken critical damage. However, both take large amounts of squad cap. In both cases can revert to moveable forms to act as normal units. Note that the Broadsides came in squads of 3, but could not replace any lost members(this may have been to balance out so that the player cannot create an endless supply of turrets). In a recent patch, they were altered and now come singly, with each that you build costing, having the same firepower and health as all three original ones, making them much more useable and wieldable, with considerably more firepower behind each shot. Broadsides need to be deployed to actually attack, but they have an incredibly long range.
Also, unlike other races, the Tau scout unit, the XV 15 Stealthsuits, are automatically infiltrated, which means they are cloaked, and cannot be seen, unless there is a unit which detects infiltrated units close by. Even though other races can upgrade their scout units to become infiltrated, the stealthsuits are automatically cloaked, making them a good early-game unit. However, because they are relatively weak, they are not the best in late game, even though they can be upgraded with anti-vehicle weaponry, by giving them a XV 25 commander, and fusion blasters.
Another difference between the other races is that the Tau's tech tree branches along two separate paths (some players believe this is the influence of Company of Heroes, another game by Relic). During a game, the player is given the choice of one of two buildings to construct, which both allow more technologies to be researched, which are called the "Mont'Ka (Killing Blow in the Tau language) Command Post", which allows to build two of the more powerful vehicles called the hammerhead gunship, and the "Kauyon (Patient Hunter in the Tau language) Command Post", which allows more Kroot units to be built, respectively, of which only one type can be placed in a single battle. The placement of this building allows a different selection of units and upgrades to the player, depending on which building is chosen.
Once a Relic is obtained by the Tau, a Greater Knarloc may be created. The Knarloc is a creature similar to the Squiggoth but not having any ranged weaponry. A main Tau fighting strategy is utilizing the Krootox which unleashes a whirlwind of damage when used. In the recent patch, there was placed a limit of two Krootox per Tau army, balancing the game. The Krootox is still used often though.
Necrons
The other new race is the Necrons. The Necrons have a different economy model than the other races. They do not require requisition to gain more units, only power. Because of this the Necron Monolith (their HQ equivalent to other races) can support more generators than other HQ equivalents. There is a drawback, however, as the generators will decay over time (this factor is no longer as relavent as patch 1.2 causes all races' generators to decay). This makes resource management for the Necrons much simpler though, as the Necrons only have to build Generators and watch only one resource. Capturing strategic points and building Obelisks on them (the Necron version of a Listening Post) allows them to build units faster, and also increases the vehicle and infantry cap. To balance this out, Necrons in early games can only produce units at an extremely slow pace until Obelisks are built. Necron Obelisks are also more resilient and more powerful than the listening posts of other races, making them good enough to stand up to enemy troops alone. Necron players are able to balance their forces between units to protect their base and attack the enemy, or upgrade their central HQ to eventually become a powerful Restored Monolith.[1]
The Necrons, unlike other armies, use their Scarab builder units to capture strategic points, critical locations and relics, and their other Necron units cannot capture strategic points, critical locations, or relics. The Wraith is an exception, as it may uncapture them but not claim them for the Necrons, in a similar way to the Imperial Guard Sentinel.
Only the Monolith can summon more troops, while other buildings are needed for upgrades and unlocking Necrons to summon into battle.
The Necron Lord can be given various artifacts through the "Forbidden Archive" building, and can have up to three unique artifacts that heighten its power. It also gains hitpoints for Monolith upgrades.
Unlike the other races, Necrons cannot build minefields. Near the end of the Necron tier stages, the Monolith is able to be "restored" (reactivated). It becomes a moving base, and is extremely powerful. When it's destroyed it will teleport back to the base, ready to be reactivated as soon as repairs can be carried out. Once activated, the Monolith will serve as a powerful mobile fortress.
The Necron Lord is easily the trickiest unit in the Necron army due to its ability to transform into the invincible Nightbringer, a deadly cosmic being whom the Necrons worship. It also has the ability to revive the dead wherever they fall once having researched the Resurrection Orb upgrade, as well as many other things, including being able to summon a solar pulse and being able to slow time down (chronometron). The Nightbringer is invulnerable to any kinds of attack, but each time only exists for about 30 seconds.
A unique feature of the Necrons is the ability to leave "corpses" behind. These corpses cannot be consumed by Kroot Carnivores, and, once harvested by Tomb Spyders, can be used to summon units in an instant. Corpses can also be used as a deadly minefield, as the Necron Lord (equipped with a Resurrection Orb) can summon whole legions of Necrons in an instant so long as there are enough corpses nearby. The Tomb Spyder and Necron Lord's corpses cannot be harvested in such a way, but can be revived. Pariahs cannot be revived either. (Pariahs are also the only Necron corpses to bleed and vanish into the ground, just like most infantry of other races.)
Necrons also appeared during the final mission of Winter Assault, where the player must defend a ruined Titan from them. The only units seen were Necron Warriors and Monoliths; the latter are so powerful that only the Titan's cannons could destroy them easily, although it was possible to take them down with other means (most effectively with Chaos Predators in the Disorder campaign). Several Necron qualities were implemented especially for this race, such as "We'll be back!" (self-resurrection) and "Phase out" (the sudden disappearance of the entire assault force once it has taken a certain amount of damage).
New units
- The Space Marines gain the Grey Knights, a mysterious chapter of Space Marines that specialize in hunting and killing Daemons. All Grey Knights are gifted with powerful psyker abilities, and these powers give them devastating special abilities.
- The Forces of Chaos gain the Daemon Prince. This is an end-tier research ability used only for Chaos Lords that allow them to "ascend" as a Daemon Prince. The Daemon Prince is very powerful and has a Demonic Roar ability that easily saps the morale of enemy units in range.
- The Orks gain the Flash Gitz. These are especially "Shooty" Orks that spend most of their time modifying their terrifying Kustom Shootas. They are extremely powerful in ranged combat but weak in hand-to-hand combat and take pride in their powerful guns.
- The Eldar gain the Harlequins. These servants of the Laughing God are excellent at melee combat and disrupting infantry. They have two powerful abilities, Harlequin's Kiss, and the Dance of Death. The Harlequin's Kiss instantly kills any unit (save commanders, vehicles, and relic units), while the Dance of Death causes the Harlequin to leap around wildly, knocking down infantry and commanders alike.
- The Imperial Guard gain Heavy Weapon Teams, Imperial Guardsmen that can entrench into a stationary position to fire a prominent heavy weapon. They start with a heavy bolter, but can be upgraded to use a lascannon (a large laser cannon effective against vehicles) or an autocannon (a large-caliber repeating cannon, effective against light vehicles and heavy infantry).
New campaign
The events of Dark Crusade take place on the planet of Kronus, a world on the eastern fringe of the Imperium, where the local human population co-exists peacefully with the nearby Tau Empire. The Tau governer of Kronus Aun'el't'pel saw the world as a possible gain in the third sphere campaign taking place in the eastern fringe and ordered the fire warriors into battle. A local Ork population also exists in the southern jungles. In addition to the local populations, Kronus also happens to be a world with hidden secrets of interest to the Blood Ravens Space Marine chapter and to the Word Bearer Chaos Space Marines. Unknown to all, Kronus also appears to be a Necron tomb world, with its inhabitants starting to awaken, and the Eldar from Craftworld Ulthwé soon arrive as well to stop the Necron threat from growing. Kronus is soon driven into a seven-way war.
The expansion features an "all new single-player experience", a campaign including a "meta-map", similar to that in Westwood Studios's Dune games as opposed to the old, programmed, linear storyline version.
Players pick a faction to play as, and then battle it out for supremacy on Kronus using that army. Capturing and holding certain special regions provides special bonuses on the strategic map or in battle (e.g. capturing the Spaceport allows the owner to attack any region on the map except strongholds; satisfying the Blood God gives 2 attacks/moves per turn; capturing one region allows orbital deployment of structures in every mission; capturing factories pumps out resources at an extremely high rate).
Also, most other territories give the player "Honour Guard" units. These are small but powerful units, often made up of sergeants/squad leaders or upgraded troopers. (For example, Space Marines get First Company Veterans, semi-hero singular marines; Eldar get units of Exarchs; Orks get 'Eavy squads; Chaos gets Chosen Champions; the Imperial Guard get stronger infantry units; Tau get Fire Warrior Bodyguards and Kroot Alpha Packs; and Necrons get upgraded units.) Of course, they get other types of units as well such as commander units and some tanks. These units are deployed at the start of the battle alongside the commander. They must be trained in the Campaign's strategic screen (not in battle), and if they are destroyed, they must be re-trained. They allow for quick attacks or early defenses. Each faction can get up to twelve units, one for each region they conquer.
The Dark Crusade campaign also features items of Wargear that your chosen character can receive for achieving milestones (such as achieving a number of offensive and defensive victories as well as high number of kills) and use in combat to give them extra abilities. There are a total of 10 different items of wargear for each Hero/Commander, these are only available during the Campaign Mode. However, in multiplayer and skirmish matches, commanders are seen equipped with certain wargear items purely for cosmetic reasons: the basic commander in skirmish and multi-player games may actually be more powerful than a basic campaign commander. Also, in these games some of the available wargear may be available as a tech research, such as the plasma pistol for Chaos and Space Marines.
Other updates
In addition to the new units, the previous five races also receive a "slight overhaul" to their tech trees, with many of the original units getting new abilities and/or appearances. For example, the Imperial Guard Hellhound tank gains an ability called "Let it Burn", where it spreads a wall of fire on the ground. The Chaos Aspiring Champions gain an ability called "Fear Aura". This increases the amount of maximum health of the Chaos Space Marines, Raptors or Cultists in the squad and also increases the Champion's health. Mad Doks from the Ork race have also gained a new ability called a "Burna Bomb", which places a crude bomb on the terrain, and has a set amount of time before it explodes cataclysmically. Another key difference is that infiltrated units are much more valuable because in the expansion they can fire while infiltrated. In the recent patch, there are multiple researches to infiltrate for multiple units, making the game much more balanced (especially now that chaos space marine infiltration is tier 3). Also, the commander units for the Space Marines, Chaos, and Imperial Guard factions get a new look, namely making them look younger (although the Chaos Lord gets a large ornate helm). The voices of those commanders are also replaced, but with the same dialogue (i.e. the Space Marine Force Commander still has his speeches, only in a different voice). The Chaos Lord has a different dialogue altogether when in battle (like the very common Space Marine "For the Emperor!"). His response to the player clicking on him, (along with being created) is still the same, just with a different voice.
The expansion also features "hard-caps" on various units, being strict limits on how many can be built. Previously some existed, such as the maximum of 3 Basilisks in Imperial Guard side. Further units have been given hard-caps, presumably to help deal with issues of imbalance and the "spamming" (producing many of one unit, generally a powerful unit that is either imbalanced or very hard to defeat) of too many powerful units, such as the infamous "Fire Prism spam" present in Winter Assault. This is only bypassed in Stronghold missions in Campaign Mode, but usually only when certain circumstances are met and usually only by the AI. There is one(and only one) mission where the player gets to bypass this rule. In the Mission for the "Forward Base" ability the player is given a very large amount of units at the start, including 2 relic units(such as 2 Baneblades or 2 Land Raiders. Chaos is an exception but they get 4 Predators and a Daemon Prince to compensate). This is due to the fact that the player has no buildings, therefore cannot replace any non-squad units.
Reception
So far the expansion has received rather acclaimed reviews, citing its overhauled single-player campaign, balanced gameplay, stabilized multiplayer and overall enjoyment. Most were quite surprised by the quality, and by the sheer size of the expansion. [1]
The expansion has an average critic score of 87% at Game Rankings.
Notable characters
Brother-Captain Davian Thule
Brother-Captain Davian Thule is the leader of the three Blood Ravens companies of Space Marines sent to Kronus by his Chapter Master in the Dark Crusade. Upon arrival he sent a message to Governor-Militant Alexander, ordering him to evacuate all civilians and Imperial Guard personnels as to allow the Blood Ravens to begin their purge of the planet. However, Alexander refused to withdraw, and now the Blood Ravens must fight their fellow soldiers of the Imperium. Thule regrets having to kill his brothers-in-arms, but his orders are absolute — Kronus must be purged. At this time, little is known of him other than his being part of the Blood Ravens. Thule is armed with a two-sided chainsword and bolt pistol at the beginning of the campaign, and when fully upgraded carries a Daemonhammer and meltagun, as well as wearing heavily ornate Artificier armour, with a backpack-mounted teleporter.
If the Blood Ravens finish off the other six races in Dark Crusade, they collect their spoils of war (Tau blood-samples, Chaos artifacts and the remains of the Eldar Avatar of Khaine, to name but a few) and preserve some of the Chapters' secrets on the planet. The Inquisition arrives to question their actions, but the commanding officers manage to finagle their way through the interrogations by claiming they were only 'following orders' from their Chapter Master. The narrator then states that the darkest time for the Chapter begins after they complete their Dark Crusade. The survivors of the shattered 1st Kronus Regiment bear a deep hatred for the Blood Ravens, even though Thule arranges safe transport for the Guardsmen who actually fought against his Marines, and Thule and the Blood Ravens Chaplain honour the dead body of Governor-Militant Alexander for following his orders so fervently. They also, however, execute every one of the soldiers of the Kronus 1st Regiment 5th Company for their rebellion against the rest of the Regiment.
When another race successfully destroys the Blood Raven stronghold in North Vandea, it shows Captain Thule lying on the ground (dying), as one marine orders an Apothecary to take Thule back into the taskforce battlebarge to retrieve his gene-seed. Chaplain Reclusiarch Mikelus of the Blood Ravens' 1st Company then calls down an orbital strike on the location, sacrificing himself and remaining marines as well as destroying enemy attackers in an attempt to keep sacred relics and secrets about the Blood Ravens past hidden from other factions.
Warboss Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter
The self-imposed warboss, who escaped from Lorn V in Winter Assault, returns in Dark Crusade.
Gorgutz, in search for a new place to rebuild his Waaagh!, chances upon Kronus as an excellent starting point due to the fighting occurring there. "Landing" his Rok upon the planet, despite the furious battle between the Tau and Imperial fleets, Gorgutz imposed his leadership upon the local feral Orks, and prepared to launch the Waaagh! upon the rest of the inhabitants of the planet from his stronghold/"landing point" in the Green Coast. As a Warboss, Gorgutz is initially armed and armoured with a standard Mega-Armour suit and weapons, though as the Waaagh! gains momentum, his suit and weapons becomes more "Kustomised" and incredibly powerful. Gorgutz is one of the most powerful commanders (next to Eliphas as a Daemon Prince) in the campaign as his wargear upgrades will eventually increase his damage, health and other attributes so much, he can take incredible amounts of punishment, move very quickly and be a one-man army of his own. (Note that he has more health than the Tau, Space Marine, and Imperial super units.)
Should the Orks manage to defeat the other six races in Dark Crusade, the remnants of all the opposing races are eventually hunted down, and Kronus becomes a major staging point for Gorgutz's Waaagh! upon nearby systems. Gorgutz would use it for years to come, becoming a major annoyance to the bordering worlds of the Imperium. Upon defeating each race, Gorgutz takes on new titles. In addition to his original title of 'Ead 'Unter, he is called Daemonkilla, Deathkilla, Bloodspilla, Gunsmasha, Ragescreama and Ghostkilla for defeating Chaos, Necron, Space Marine, Imperial Guard, Tau and Eldar forces respectively.
When the Ork stronghold is taken, it shows Gorgutz escaping with a Nob, just as the explosives he planted in his base/"landing point" go off he comments "Always have yer tunnels dug 'n ready", effectively taking out the attackers. As they flee, Gorgutz promises that his Waaagh! will be rebuilt on another planet. If defeated by the forces of Chaos, the Chaos Marines claim the skull of Lord Crull that was formerly in Gorgutz's possession, and offer it as a sacrifice to Khorne.
Eliphas the Inheritor
A Word Bearers Dark Apostle who seeks the favour of the Chaos gods, he is the Warlord of the forces of Chaos on Kronus in the Dark Crusade, leading a full company of Word Bearers from an active Warp Gate in the Deimos Peninsula. What is known of him is that he seeks to restore Chaos' long-lost honour on Kronus after their defeat by the loyalist Ultramarines during the Horus Heresy. Eliphas was but a mere Sergeant in the Horus Heresy then, but subsequently rose through the ranks. He is initially armed with a power sword and a bolt pistol in the beginning of the campaign, but once fully upgraded, carries a meltagun and an accursed Crozius, wears the Helm of the Word Bearer's Primarch Lorgar, and is gifted with Daemonic Armour sporting, among other things, a backpack-mounted banner made of human skin. Should Eliphas successfully obtain his other wargear, he ascends into daemonhood, becoming a fearsome Daemon Prince. Although his voice remains unchanged when exchanging dialogue with the leaders of the other factions, it is likely that he simply uses his mind's voice to talk telepathically with the other leaders. Also, if one were to play the Hyperion Peaks scenario once Eliphas has attained Daemonhood one would be able to control two Daemon Princes (one being the newly ascended Eliphas and the other is an unknown Word Bearer Daemon Prince). Due to his daemonic status he is clearly one of the strongest of all 7 characters, only rivaled by Warboss Gorgutz, but is also the hardest to obtain.
If the Word Bearers finish off the other six races in Dark Crusade, Kronus itself is transformed into a Daemon World, with most of the population being either converted to Chaos or killed off. Eliphas ascends to Daemonhood with the favour of the four Chaos Gods, Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler, and Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers. Eliphas rules over this Daemon World, and uses it as a stepping stone to launch further attacks against the Imperium. It should be noted that Eliphas gains Khorne's favor by giving him the skull of Lord Crull, meaning Gorgutz was successful in killing him on Lorn V.
An interesting situation arises when Eliphas attacks the Blood Ravens' stronghold. In addition to the bad blood and grudges between both sides, from Eliphas' comments during the mission it is implied that the Blood Ravens are indeed a loyalist splinter of a traitor Legion. This is because Eliphas repeatedly mentions they are close kins, which could mean: 1) He is talking about the origin of the Chaos Marines or 2) He meant the possible link between the Blood Ravens and a Chaos Legion (indeed, Ahriman himself of the Thousand Sons reveals that the Blood Ravens are infact a loyalist splinter of his legion). Of greater significance is the aftermath of the mission. Should Eliphas succeed in taking the Blood Ravens' stronghold, he gains the favor of Warmaster Abaddon, which is noted as odd considering the Blood Raven's history does not extend as far as the Horus Heresy, providing no apparent reason why the Warmaster should take a special interest in Blood Raven deaths.
When the Chaos stronghold is taken, Eliphas is shown conversing with (and shooting at) an unknown Daemon Prince possibly Lorgar the Word Bearer primarch himself, inside the collapsing Warp Gate, who stated that Eliphas has failed beyond redemption, before he causes him to lift into the air, and making Eliphas explode into a spray of blood and viscera, possibly as a sacrifice for the god Khorne.
If playing against Eliphas and the Deimos Peninsula as another race, Eliphas makes mention to the Daemon Prince a place called the "Bascillica of Torments". What can be interpreted is that it is some sort of torture temple, and that Eliphas had been there before for some past failure. Should Eliphas be defeated in the Deimos Peninsula, the Daemon Prince refuses to send Eliphas back to the Bascillica of Torments, choosing to kill Eliphas instead.
When confronting Eliphas with any of the other six races, he whispers into the minds of the enemy commanders:
- Imperial Guard: Lukas recognizes the Chaos Lord's voice and fearfully orders for a psyker to be brought at once.
- Orks: Gorgutz maddeningly shouts back at Eliphas, ordering him to "get out of me head", while Eliphas makes insulting commentary of Gorgutz's barbarity and crudeness.
- Tau: Kais cannot hear Eliphas at all due to his lack of a warp presence, so all he can hear is some kind of buzzing. He attributes this to a defect in his communication system before "switching channels", but the "comm chatter" persists when Eliphas attempts to speak to Kais again, at the end of the level.
- Necrons: Eliphas attempts to whisper vainly to the Necron Lord itself, only to realize that it has no soul to respond back with. Eliphas responds with a tone of shock, fear, and hatred, as nothing is more detestable to a Word Bearer than the soulless. This is also the only time that the Necron Lord "speaks" for itself, rather than being spoken for by the Pariah.
- Eldar: Farseer Taldeer responds normally, as external voices in an Eldar's mind are far from abnormal. Eliphas claims that "destiny" brought Taldeer to Deimos.
- Space Marines: Eliphas makes attempts to offer Thule redemption, referring to him as a "brother" (much as is the case when Eliphas in turn attacks Thule's stronghold), and opening the door for him to be "forgiven". Thule obviously rejects these offers strongly.
Farseer Taldeer
The overall commander of the Eldar forces on Kronus, Taldeer first appeared in Winter Assault.
Leading a strike force from Craftworld Ulthwé, she returns in Dark Crusade with a seemingly deeper voice (much resembling that of Farseer Macha). As in Lorn V, Taldeer is primarily concerned about the re-emergence of the Necrons and will go to any lengths to neutralise their threat to the Craftworld, and to the rest of the galaxy in general, so much so that she is willing to attack anybody between them and the Necrons. As a Farseer, she is initially armed with a standard Eldar sword and shuriken pistol. As the strike force progress deeper into Kronus, Taldeer is eventually equipped with a dual-bladed Singing Spear, a dual-barrelled shuriken pistol, the Gauntlets of Isha, a Ghosthelm, Runes of Warding and Witnessing, a Rune Aura, and a full suit of Wraithbone armour.
If the Eldar defeat the other six races in Dark Crusade, especially once the Necrons are defeated, the Eldar abandon the planet, leaving it to its fate. The planet Kronus turns into an unstable world in constant warfare and this state remains for centuries. Although the exact reasons for this behaviour are unknown, the narrator suggests that Taldeer might have foreseen a ruler of Kronus, who would have caused the universe great harm. This could possibly be why she left a Ranger squad and a single Warlock to keep watch on the Orks, manipulating them into infighting to keep individual clan strength down. The ultimate fate and whereabouts of the Farseer are not known, according to the narrator.
When the Eldar stronghold in Tyrea is taken, Taldeer is shown telling the remaining Eldar to evacuate and to find refuge in the wilderness. She renounces the title "Farseer", saying her visions have failed them all, before she charges off into the charging attackers, taking a few down before being overwhelmed — her ultimate fate is death with most factions. One alternative possibility is when the Imperial Guard are the victors, Taldeer is taken alive, imprisoned and sent to the Inquisition to be "questioned". Another possiblilty is when the Tau are victorious, various Eldar (who may include Taldeer) are captured and await trial while the Tau study their technology. One more ending is that if Tryea is captured by Chaos, the beginning of the scene shows the Avatar falling at the hands of the Bloodthirster. They have a short duel, then the Bloodthirster decapitates the Avatar.
As an interesting aside, the map of Tyrea closely resembles the face of an Avatar.
Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander
General Lukas Alexander was initially sent to Kronus by Segmentum Command to track down and capture Farseer Taldeer after her actions on Lorn V (as shown in Winter Assault). His forces landed in the abandoned city of Ironworks Bay, and found traces of ancient relics scattered across the planet, including the "Hellstorm Cannon", a weaponry from a Horus Heresy-era Imperator Titan, Aquila Ignis. The city was renamed "Victory Bay", and techpriests began excavating the massive Titan cannon. The Imperium then gave Lukas Alexander the title of "Governor-Militant" of Kronus, and tasked him with (re)conquering the planet for the Imperium from the Tau.
Alexander formed the 1st Kronus Regiment, naming them "The Liberators", since his soldiers were fighting to free the humans who were living under the rule of the Tau. Unfortunately, his goals soon put him at direct odds with a Blood Ravens task force that arrived on Kronus soon after "The Liberators", trying to uncover mysteries about the chapter's past. The Blood Ravens are then ordered to purge the planet in order to ensure their findings remain secret. They warn Alexander to leave, but he is determined to follow through with his orders and push the other factions off Kronus. Alexander is initially equipped with power claws and a wrist-mounted bolter. As his campaign progresses, he eventually obtains a wrist-mounted plasma pistol and power fists, as well as a full suit of carapace armour along with his Symbols of Office and optical implants.
When the Governor-Militant be successful in his task, he will become one of the most powerful men in the sector with an entire planet at his command. Most of the 1st Kronus Regiment are subsequently sent off to other nearby worlds as reinforcements, while the Governor-Militant himself remains on Kronus to oversee the administration of Kronus and the creation of the Planetary Defense Force. With the ancient Titan cannon safely secured, the Adeptus Mechanicus were able to better study it, eternally grateful to Alexander. With the loss of Tau control on Kronus, the human population, with little encouragement, proceeded to massacre any Tau (or Tau-aligned humans) who did not evacuate along with Shas'O Kais. Finally, with the defeat of the Blood Raven taskforce, incriminating documents and artifacts from their Castellum Incorruptus was found and handed over to the Inquisition, calling into question the history and the "true nature" of the Blood Ravens.
Should the city of "Victory Bay" be captured, after the death of Lukas Alexander, the last of the 1st Kronus Regiment make a futile last stand near the Hellstorm cannon. To prevent the fall of the Titan cannon to the attackers, the last surviving NCO orders a Techpriest to "overload it". The Titan cannon begins to overload and explode, the blasts taking out the nearby combatants. However, if Chaos were the victors, it implies that pieces of the Titan cannon still remain, as Eliphas' sorcerers released a daemon of rot and plague (which means it belongs to the Chaos god, Nurgle) from the cannon through a ritual of sacrificing the corpses from the attack. How the daemon was trapped in the cannon was not stated, but by doing so, Eliphas gained the favour of that particular god. Also, if Eldar attacked Victory Bay and won, implications of pieces remaining of the Titan cannon are evident as the narrator states that the Farseer ordered warp bombs to be placed on what was left of the Titan cannon and denonated, disallowing the Imperial Guard the chance to salvage anything of the formidable Titan cannon.
It is uncertain why the Imperial Guard would destroy the cannon in such desperation if defeated by the Space Marines, although perhaps Alexander's desperate last shout to his men "(These marines) fight against the Emperor's holy will!" indicates that the Governor-Militant is taking no chances regarding the cannon possibly coming into the hands of traitors. It is most likely after what we see in the introduction of the Space Marines where Davian Thule orders Lukas Alexander to step down while the Space Marines purged Kronus, and Lukas bluntly refused, causing a war between the Space Marines and the Imperial Guard. In the introduction the narrator says: "Captain Thule ordered the withdrawal of the Imperial Guard forces stationed in Victory Bay, but Governor Alexander flatly refused to pull his men back. Thule judged the Governor a good man, but had little choice but to send his Space Marines to battle the Governor's troops along with all the other powers on Kronus. The Blood Ravens' willingness to fight soldiers of the Imperium did not go unnoticed."
Shas'O Kais
The leader of the Tau forces on Kronus in Dark Crusade, Kais plans to reclaim the entire planet from the other six races. As a firm believer of the Greater Good, he is convinced that he can persuade anyone to accept Tau ideology, and he often gives his foes the chance to surrender before attacking. Initially sent to Kronus after receiving a distress call from the colony, under attack from the Necrons, his mission became more complicated as the colony came under attack from the other races. From the capital city of Or'es Tash'n, under the guidance of Ethereal Aun'el Shi'ores, Kais faces an uphill task in securing Kronus. Using a XV22 Battlesuit, like the Tau Commander Shadowsun, he is at first only equipped with a burst cannon in his right hand, but as the campaign progresses, at full weapon capacity, he carries a fusion blaster (replacing the burst cannon), subsequently replaced by a plasma rifle, a heavy flamer in his left hand and missile launchers mounted on each shoulder. Of significance is the fact that Kais is the only faction commander without a melee attack. He can also be equipped with Iridium armour, as well as a cloaking field, a jetpack, and an advanced sensors array that allows him to detect stealth units. A combination of Shield and Gun Drones can accompany him once they are earned in the campaign.
If his Tau strike force finishes off the other six races in Dark Crusade, the Tau colony on Kronus is slowly revitalized as more Tau and Kroot begin to move in from other worlds. The defeated human Imperials that fought (and/or betrayed) the Tau were placed in re-education camps. Rumours of a sterilization policy upon the humans abound — as (according to the narrator) the human population starts to dwindle very rapidly as the Kronus colony begins to thrive again.
When the Tau stronghold of Or'es Tash'n is taken, it shows the Ethereal Aun'el Shi'ores being killed. Kais lands with some Crisis Suits, discovers the Ethereal's body, and tells the remaining Tau to evacuate the planet, and that he will return to T'au to give the Ethereal a proper burial. He is one of the few commanders who definitely survives after their faction is defeated.
Though there is no evidence to directly support or deny this fact, it is worth noting that he shares the same name and homeworld as the Tau protagonist from the game Fire Warrior, and may indeed be the same Kais; however, it is also worth noting that "Kais" is the Tau word for "skillful", and it is itself a common name in the Fire Caste, borne by Commander Farsight for instance. Technically speaking, the Tau themselves are named for their capacity on the battlefield, so it is possible for numerous Tau to share identacle names if their combat abilities and valor are similar.
Necron Lord of Kronus
The leader of all Necron forces on Kronus. As he appears unable to speak, all external communications are made by one of his Pariahs, a former human (or Gue'la as Archives note: Gue'la in Tau language means human) scientist named Thomas Macabee who was the sole survivor of an expedition he led to explore the catacombs of the Thur'abis Plateau. For reasons unknown, he retained traces of his former identity and was turned into a Pariah instead, serving as a "spokesman" of sorts for the Necrons. Dormant for millions of years, the Necrons of Kronus are now reawakening, like their compatriots on other worlds, and are determined to exterminate all other life on Kronus. In all likelihood, their actions could have precipitated the conflict leading to the Dark Crusade. The Necron Lord is initially equipped with basic equipment, but eventually gains more powerful equipment such as an advanced suit of armor, a better staff, a mask which makes him see infiltrated units and cloak which makes him travel faster. All the upgrades are available in turn when a battle is completed. On the whole he uses these upgrades to slaughter anything in his path.
If the Necrons finish off the other six races in Dark Crusade, they deploy their massive Monolith from beneath the surface and proceed on to kill off every single living organism on the planet, eventually drying up the oceans, and turning the resultant lifeless planet into a Tomb World. The Tomb World of Kronus then becomes a thorn in the side of the Imperium for years to come, as more Necrons reawaken and continue their Great Work on nearby worlds.
On the other hand, when the Thur'abis Plateau is taken, it shows the Necron Lord near the Pariah Thomas Macabee, who discovers the planted bomb. He tries to warn the Lord, but the bomb goes off in a massive explosion, collapsing the catacombs of the Thur'abis plateau, and entombing the Necrons under tons of rock. We also see the Nightbringer screaming from the top of the catacombs before he is consumed by the blast. Whether the Necrons of Kronus are truly defeated remains to be seen, although it seems highly unlikely that they survived.
"In the end there would be victory for one of these factions and the total annihilation of all others."
Other Characters
Warp Spider Exarch Rakanis
Rakanis, Warp Spider Exarch, was a character shown briefly before the start of the Eldar stronghold battle. He was declared the Young King and was to be sacrificed to become the Avatar of the Bloody Handed God, Kaela Mensha Khaine. Not much else is known about Rakanis other than that he was an exarch.
Captain Vash
One of Governor Alexander's subordinates, a Kasrkin officer who often reports to Alexander about new developments during battles and possibly fights beside him as part of his Commander Squad. If the Imperial Guard is defeated at Victory Bay, he and fellow Kasrkins stand their ground outside the Hellstotm Cannon, where he orders the last techpriest to "overload the core", the resulting explosion killing him if he hasn't been gunned down already. On the other hand, if the Imperial Guard succeeds in capturing Kronus, he is promoted to Colonel and becomes head of the planet's newly formed Planetary Defence Force.
Aun'el Shi'ores
The Tau Ethereal governor of Kronus and Shas'O Kais's advisor. Described as being the next generation of the Tau Ethereal caste, he is determined to restore Kronus back to the Tau Empire and feels discontent towards those who do not accept Tau ideology of the Greater Good, especially Orks and Necrons. If the Tau are attacked in their city of Tash'n, he becomes the prime target of the invading force, seeing as how his death would shatter the Tau morale. If the invaders are successful, he and his bodyguard are killed in a hail of gunfire, where his body is recovered by an emotionally shattered O'Kais; who orders all Tau military to evacuate and return the Ethereal's body back to T'au, leaving the civilian population of Tash'n to the invaders.
Thomas Macabee
The head of a Adeptus Mechanicus detachment sent to Kronus, Macabee and his team inadvertently opens the entrance into the Necron Catacomb in the Thur'abis Plateau, waking them from their millennia long slumber. Whilst most of the team was killed, he was instead transformed into a Necron Pariah, where he retained traces of his personality. He acts as both the spokesman for the Necrons, often telling the enemy their death was coming, and a sort of advisor for the Necron Lord. If the Necrons are defeated in the Thur'abis Plateau, the final scene shows him urging the Necron Lord to resurrect fallen Necrons. He then discovers bomb left in the centre of the plateau and before he could warn the Lord, the bomb detonates and brings down the area, killing him as well.
Voice cast
- Lee Tockar – Tau Commander
- Brian Drummond – Fire Warrior, Broadside battlesuit, Crisis Suit, Path Finder, Stealth Suit, Generic Vehicle, Hammerhead, Drone Harbinger, Devilfish, Skyray
- Brian Dobson – Earth Caste Builder, Shield Drone, Drone Squad, Flash Gitz, Grey Knights, Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander
- John Novak – Imperial Archivist
Awards
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (May 2007) |
- Early Dark Crusade videos depicted the Tau Commander (represented in the single player campaign by Shas'O'Kais) hovering around the battlefield (not unlike Eldar vehicles). Games Workshop disliked this idea, so the Dark Crusade demo had the final version of the Tau Commander running instead of hovering.
- In the United Kingdom release, the game case came with two different box artworks. One is similar to the American design, showing a Necron Lord, a Monolith, and Necron Warriors, however no Space Marines can be seen. The cover is reversible, and the flip side features Shas'O'Kais, the Tau commander, along with Fire Warriors and a handful of Drones defending a large Tau structure.
- In the opening cinematic of the PAL version, the part where a Space Marine is torn in half by a Wraith was removed. Instead, after being impaled the killed Marine is just flung to the side.
- The Blood Ravens in the Vandean Coast, whenever the player is a different faction trying to defeat them, have a gold badge and green eyes, while anywhere else they have red eyes and a silver badge (the general colour of them for Dark Crusade). This is because fans have continually stated that the non-stronghold missions of Dark Crusade are more akin to the single-player missions of the other Dawn of War games, and the forces included would use the 'skirmish' colour schemes. This is also true for the Orks; whenever the player plays for a mission with special bonuses other than Honour Guards (the Hyperion Peaks, for instance), the Orks' topknots would change color. The topknots also changed if the Orks are fighting a Stronghold battle.
- At the end of the game a small movie plays which zooms out from Kronus showing explosions on two other planets before fading to black and showing the Relic logo and the text "2007" hinting that in Dawn of War 2 players will be able to hop between 2 different planets. It is also possible that these may be Tyranid Spores, hinting to the fact that Tyranids may be a playable race in the next game.
- Another hint that Tyranids may be playable in a sequel is in the description for the Hellfire Canyon map. It says every known power in the galaxy has attempted to take the area, except for the Tyranids, but "time will soon remedy this exception."
- The Blood Raven's ending has spoken of the fact that the Inquisition is still suspicious of the Chapter, as well as the darkest times of the Blood Raven's history follows the end of Dark Crusade. It is likely that the Blood Raven's ending hinted at the Sisters of Battle being another possible playable race in the next game.
- At the beginning of the victory cutscene for the Imperial Guard an Imperial Guard listening post with a Blood Ravens banner can be seen behind Lucas.
- Additionally, the opening Chaos cutscene mentions that Eliphas the Inheritor "had only been a young Champion" at the time of the Horus Heresy. Whilst this is being said, the camera zooms in on a Space Marine sergeant, presumably Eliphas. Of particular note is the Blood Ravens banner on his back, making Eliphas' hints about "Brotherhood" when attacking the Blood Raven stronghold even more suggestive. Though the word bearers pre heresy symbol would have been different from their current symbol it is possible that the game producers didn't make a pre heresy word bearer badge and they just used the Blood Ravens badge as an alternative. According to the Word Bearers article their original symbol was an open book with a flame super imposed over the pages. Eliphas also had light-grey armour. This is drastically different from the Black Armour of the Word Bearers in Official material.
- The Imperial Guard in the Dark Crusade campaign introduction video are the exact same colour and symbol as the regiment from Winter Assault, the Cadian 412th, bearing more of a colour that looks vaguely white compared to the dark green Kronus regiment. These vaguely white Imperial Guard make no appearances during game play but appear to be a mistake in several videos. Also, the Leman Russ in the introduction has the number 412 written on the back of it, as opposed to the 001 insignia used by the 1st Kronus regiment. The Valkyrie air transports also bear the colours of the Cadian 412th instead of the Kronus 1st. Though likely a mistake, this adds validity to the theory that the Kronus 1st was derived from the Cadian 412th, as the opening video states that Lukas came in pursuit of Farseer Taldeer, who was at odds with the 412th in Dawn of War: Winter Assault.
References
- "Index Astartes � Blood Ravens". White Dwarf: Australian Edition (298). 2004. ISSN 0265-8712.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help); replacement character in|title=at position 16 (help)- The same information can be found in "Index Astartes � Blood Ravens". White Dwarf: UK Edition (305). ISSN 0265-8712.
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- The same information can be found in "Index Astartes � Blood Ravens". White Dwarf: UK Edition (305). ISSN 0265-8712.
- 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.
Footnotes
External links
- Fansites