Dawn of war 1 or 2?

[The Marknd]

Eager to jump into a warhammer gaming experience, but i cant decide between the first or second one. Im new to these type of strategy games as well, not sure if ill be any good at it. Ill be playing on a laptop c:

[Tyrant (My Vision is Augmented)]

Welcome to real time strategy gaming and if you're new to Warhammer, welcome to that also!

The question of DoW 1 or 2 is a divisive one, but most old-school strategy fans tend to prefer the first.

DoW 1 features a larger scale than DoW 2 (more units fighting at once, larger-scale combat, etc). DoW 2 focuses on smaller teams going after focused objectives, while DoW 1 is a very traditional RTS game, complete with base building, resource collection, and tiered upgrades for units and buildings. DoW 1 also has a better modding scene than DoW 2 (Ultimate Apocalypse being arguably the most popular mod).

That said, DoW 1 looks... like a strategy game made nearly 20 years ago. It looked remarkable for its time, but if you have a problem with older graphics and gameplay mechanics, DoW 1 is going to be a tough sell. DoW 1 is also regarded as the more "tactical" game, with a bit more depth and a higher skill ceiling. This could be a turn-off if you are looking for a game that might be a bit more simple and has less going on behind the scenes (although the campaign for DoW1 is quite forgiving). DoW 1 also has more content in the form of expansions and add-ons, making it very robust experience if you buy in fully.

If looking to play multiplayer, either title still has the occasional random lobby up.

Hopefully this helps. Ultimately, I'm a fan of DoW1 more than 2 - but only slightly. If you are looking for a strategy game with fewer units to manage, less complexity behind the scenes and a more polished appearance and UI, DoW 2 should be your choice.

[The Marknd]

Thank you! Ive been watching youtube videos and listening to an audiobook. Im enjoying warhammer so far. Im a fan of larger scale battles, so i am kinda leaning towards the first one. Im just not sure if Ill be any good at the game, but ill give the first one a shot. Thanks for breaking it down for me! c:

[Rain]

Dawn of War 1 offers a much more indepth look into the 40K lore and universe while Dawn of War 2 is much more streamlined and cinematic.

Gameplay-wise, Dawn of War 1 is a Real Time strategy while Dawn of War 2 is more RPG-inspired isometric gameplay, like Diablo.

I personally prefer Dawn of War 1, much more exciting with all the different storylines.

[InhumanBean]

DoW 1. I don't know what the ♥♥♥♥ 2 & 3 are supposed to be.

[DntBeHasty]

Alittle late to the convo, but DoW1 for sure. the first one and winter assault have solid story modes, theyre also more balanced. Soulstorm, and dark crusade add more factions and play out abit differently but are still great.

DoW2 cant decide if its a moba or RTS. never played 3, but have never heard anything good about it.

[kamikaze4kanojo]

Keep in mind this is also the DoW forum so probably more people who prefer DoW1 here. I played 1000s of hours online back in the day, whereas DoW2 I just got through the campaign and stopped. DoW2 feels more true to Warhammer 40K feel to me, with regards to an individual soldier's significance. DoW1 being a traditional RTS (albeit with several original mechanics at the time), there's just, I dunno. More death and destruction than feels right for W40K. And units that have been bastardised to fit a needed role in the RTS, like dark reapers and warp spiders.

DoW1 is a chapter of my gaming career very dear to me though. Steam only showed me this forum because I booted the game up again JUST to watch the opening FMV for the 100th time. And I'm only doing this at all because I just bought Chaos Gate. I'm loving it so far, it's like DoW2 but without any suggestion of trying to be an RTS. It's also new last year and needs half decent hardware to run on.

[Eoin Lynne]

There is only 1 Dawn of War game. The other 2 are Warhammer 40k games for sure, but they are not Dawn of War games. Whomsovers idea it was to name completely unrelated games Dawn of War 2 and 3 is beyond me.

[SteahmChip]

Dawn of War 1 also has autoexec.lua that can be used to have a high level of control over speed settings, so the game can be played in slow motion to allow max zoom in of intense battles to allow a detailed view of those lucious "painted" models in glorious combative action
details here
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/pausetacticality/discussions/0/2906376154321402758/?ctp=4#c2998799417465065328

FYI Titanium Wars Mod for eithr Dark Crusade or SoulStorm will also install that file and it can be edited