Should I get this first, or play vanilla Dawn of War II?

[Angry Soviet]

I'm been getting interested in the Warhammer 40k universe recently, and these games caught my eye.

Should I buy the standard Dawn of War II game, or dive straight into Retribution? I thought about getting the regular game first, but I heard that it gets to be very repetitive, with the same tactics constantly recycled. Which game is better?

[molul]

I'd suggest you to play the whole DOW2 saga. It only gets boring if you do all optional missions. For me, Chaos rising was the best of all three campaigns, and Retribution would be more or less as good as vanilla (in Retribution the gameplay changes a lot, but it lets you play with many different races... although you play basicly the same campaign).

[Angry Soviet]

Originally posted by molul:

I'd suggest you to play the whole DOW2 saga. It only gets boring if you do all optional missions. For me, Chaos rising was the best of all three campaigns, and Retribution would be more or less as good as vanilla (in Retribution the gameplay changes a lot, but it lets you play with many different races... although you play basicly the same campaign).

I was actually planning on buying the entire saga, I've heard nothing but good things about these games.

Still though, would you recommend that I start with Vanilla or Retribution? I heard the main difference is that Vanilla is more about Squad-based combat, and that Retribution is about base-building and large armies.

[molul]

Vanilla is about squad-based combat, yes. And that's why I liked it more than Retribution, because it was trying to do something very different and still very fun. In Retribution I think Relic was trying too hard to please all kinds of fans and they ended up with some "mutant" mechanics I didn't really like. Having played with 4 heroes for two campaigns (vanilla and Chaos Rising), some army support was out of place in my opinion.

I'd suggest starting from vanilla, so you have the same experience as most DOW2 players and you can judge what approach you prefer :)

[Angry Soviet]

Ok, that sounds like good advice and I think I'll definitely buy Vanilla and then Retribution. Might try Crusade as well, heard good things about it.

Thank you!

[molul]

My pleasure. I hope you enjoy the games! :)

[3lives]

Maybe you can help me, too.
I have the whole DoW 1 and 2 pack; should I install everything or does that overwrite vanilla? Also, is there a comprehensive list in which order I should play the addons?

[molul]

1.- I don't know about DoW1, but DoW2, I think that Chaos Rising and vanilla kind of "merge" (if you own both, no matter which one you run, you're running both).

2.- I don't know, but maybe the release date of each is useful :)

[Vuud]

DoW2 and Chaos Rising are good for the single player. Both campaigns are very good and worth the price for that alone.

Retribution is good for multiplayer. It's got the most races and units, and that's where people play online. Retribution's campaign is not very good and I only finished it with the Blood Ravens.

[4th3ist4ng3l]

@3lives As @molul pointed out if you want to play things in order go by the release date of each addon/game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Games_Workshop_video_games#Warhammer_40.2C000

As for overwriting if you install DoW1 and xpacs no it doesn't overwrite, but adds to your selection of multiplayer armies you can use (http://steamcommunity.com/app/9450/discussions/0/864947835001467881/#c846962627001563311).

[kaori]

I like dow 1 for the base building like warcraft 3. While dow II , struck me quite odd,
cause it was more squad based without building stuff :( .

Can we build bases later in game? havnt got that far.

[Raz//RIP Kentaro Miura]

No.
At most you can summon turrets but thats pretty much it.

[Cybot]

The first 2 have the best campaign/story.
Also, the first DoW and it's 3 expansions are old but still great imo.

[3lives]

Thanks, guys, for the advice and links!

[Rodfather]

def buy dow2 regular campaign in addition to retribution...retribution is mainly for multiplayer which i think someone stated before...i loved dow2 campaign cause it scraps base building and focuses on small squads rather than large mobs of units and intorduces some limited rpg characteristics so it was fun to tailor units and had quite a good story

[Kaizoku-sama Pedro]

either start from DOW 1 or DOW 2, you wont miss much of the story from DOW 1, but i do not recomend starting Retribution without playing DOW 2 AND Chaos Rising, since the events in Retribution follow the events of DOW 2 and Chaos Rising.