Game insanely Difficult in singleplayer

[BigBoss]

bit dissapointed tbh

[[AP] Will]

Yeah I don't really appreciate the singleplayer campaign in Winter Assault, especially on Order Campaign. Mainly Mission 2 where you have to go through an army of about 5,000 orks

[Nod]

i did it a year ago replaying where i was upto years of c&c :)

[Dic Tator]

If it's too difficult, you're not being tactical enough.

[JustApizzA]

keep on playing and you'll find it pretty easy ^_^ then you can play 3 humans vs 5 comp stomp and things like that!

[Unconditional Love]

all i am going to say is tanks... use tanks

[Eifersucht18]

All good advice....

- but i am on my first playthrough of Winter Assault (having just finished the epic DOW1) and have to agree with @OP that the campaign so far (playing the Order Campaign - and jumping from Imperial Guard to Eldar) is just not as much fun as the phenomenal Space Marine campaign in Part 1.

- DOW1 made you feel connected to the Space Marine cause and protagonists, but in Winter Assault, im playing as all these races, and sure the storyline is more complex but that sense of ownership is gone. Pity, and a bit of a disaapointment tbh

[Eifersucht18]

And ....the difficulty level has gone way up (on normal !?!?).

Instead of the OP Space Marine and their tech from DOW1, we get to control a pretty weak bunch in the Imperial Guard and Eldar, throw in timed elements on everything and its...

definitely a step down from the first game

[Dic Tator]

It's not a step down. The Imperial Guard are normal humans, not genetically modified super-soldiers like the Space Marines. The Eldar are, in theory, the best race for one who knows how to play them because of their highly specialized units. The Imperial Guard are weak alone. Their strength lies in numbers, and in their mechanized units - the Leman Russ in particular. There's of course the Baneblade too, but you need a relic to build that one.

In short, for the Imperial Guard;
- Always max out squad size. Always. Attach a Priest or a Commisar to increase their damage.
- Research everything. Increasing their morale and health is very important.
- Get their wargear depending on what you're going up against. Heavy infantry? Get Plasma. Light infantry? Grenade launchers will wreck them.
- Numbers numbers numbers. The duty of the Guardsman is to die for the Emperor, don't be afraid to let him. They're quick to train and reinforce.
- When you can get tanks, get them.
- Can get the Baneblade? Support it with tanks and guardsmen and the game is won.

[Dic Tator]

And that's not even bringing up Kasrkin- or Ogryn squads, who're beasts in their own right.

[BigBoss]

Originally posted by Ursus:

And that's not even bringing up Kasrkin- or Ogryn squads, who're beasts in their own right.

The game is hard because iots designed to be played co-op so if you play it single player its literally twice as hard. it has nothing to do with the units in the game

[Eifersucht18]

Originally posted by Ursus:

It's not a step down. The Imperial Guard are normal humans, not genetically modified super-soldiers like the Space Marines. The Eldar are, in theory, the best race for one who knows how to play them because of their highly specialized units. The Imperial Guard are weak alone. Their strength lies in numbers, and in their mechanized units - the Leman Russ in particular. There's of course the Baneblade too, but you need a relic to build that one.

In short, for the Imperial Guard;
- Always max out squad size. Always. Attach a Priest or a Commisar to increase their damage.
- Research everything. Increasing their morale and health is very important.
- Get their wargear depending on what you're going up against. Heavy infantry? Get Plasma. Light infantry? Grenade launchers will wreck them.
- Numbers numbers numbers. The duty of the Guardsman is to die for the Emperor, don't be afraid to let him. They're quick to train and reinforce.
- When you can get tanks, get them.
- Can get the Baneblade? Support it with tanks and guardsmen and the game is won.

Cheers, much appreciate the thoughtful reply and tips @Ursus. Maybe my choice of words was wrong - not a step down from the first game, but certainly not a step forward - more a shuffle sideways. Winter Assault was the first expansion (and uses the base game files) but besides giving you the opportunity to play as the other races, does not do anything different.

- Gameplay is identical to the first and this is just my opinion, but after the great xperience in DOW1 with the Space Marines, I am just not enjoying jumping aorund / playing as all the other races as much. To your point, Space Marines are the tip of the spear and i feel im playing with the reserves.

- Secondly, the game also throws you into situations (timed situations w/ a countdown clock i might add) where a gamer is supposed to know how to appropriately use these new races with no prior experience. For proof that this approach is incorrect, one has to only look at Relic's later work in 'Company of Heroes' where there is a tutorial for each faction/buildings/units prior to the game so you do not have to die/fail the mission 10 times to figure it out. Once you do, I agree its ridiculously easy using the Eldar for example.

I could go on, but having got through the main DOW1 campaign barely a week ago with only 1 or 2 saves (beyond the automatic Autosaves), i assume my skillset hasnt changed much and I have failed Order Mission 3 about 5-6 times already. It's just harder imo. Nothing wrong with that, but im just not enjoying it as much.

[Dic Tator]

Originally posted by MajorPlupe:

Originally posted by Ursus:

And that's not even bringing up Kasrkin- or Ogryn squads, who're beasts in their own right.

The game is hard because iots designed to be played co-op so if you play it single player its literally twice as hard. it has nothing to do with the units in the game

...The Single Player game, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, is meant to be played co-operatively? I'm starting to think you might just suck at the game. And I'm not saying that to insult you, just stating a probable truth.

@Eifersucht18,
You're welcome. And the game is just an expansion, not a full game per se, so it's to be expected that it's a bit same-y. I can understand your shock though, I'm quite well-versed in the Warhammer 40k universe, so I knew what to expect from the units. Space Marines are literally walking tanks who can take more punishment than ten normal men, whereas Imps are just... average joes.

It's a bit of a contrast coming from walking tanks to average joes, I know, but they have a charm no other race has. Sorry to tell you though, if you think the third mission is hard, the fourth will be hell... unless you play it right. Take my tip, go north, off the beaten path. Your commander can direct the escort during that mission.

[BigBoss]

Originally posted by Ursus:

Originally posted by MajorPlupe:

The game is hard because iots designed to be played co-op so if you play it single player its literally twice as hard. it has nothing to do with the units in the game

...The Single Player game, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, is meant to be played co-operatively? I'm starting to think you might just suck at the game. And I'm not saying that to insult you, just stating a probable truth.

You do realise it is desinged for co-op even though you can play it in single player. some people :s

[Dic Tator]

Originally posted by MajorPlupe:

You do realise it is desinged for co-op even though you can play it in single player. some people :s

It isn't. You cannot play it co-operatively. Simple as that. You can, however, play it competitively. Sure you can have teams in competitive matches, but that's not co-op. Co-op means you are able to tackle the main story with someone else, which you cannot in this particular game. Maybe you're bad at explaining what you mean, what do I know, but your claim that the game is twice as hard in single player is ridiculous either way. If you can't beat the AI on your own, either in the campaign or in Skirmish mode, you're simply bad at the game.

I'm not sure how old you are, but Winter Assault harkens back to a day when strategy games were actually difficult and punished you for not using your brain.

Originally posted by Blue Orb:

The third mission in the Order campaign is ridiculous...they have you defending against a huge army of orks and a squigoth and then when your reinforcements arrive its only three guardsmen squads and a baneblade...Banblade very good but the guardsmen at that point are useless and the baneblade just cant do it.

Not sure how you're doing it, but you basically defend the Eldar base until they've relocated, all the while building listening posts and enough power generators to keep your guardsmen at full strength. When the Eldar have relocated, pull back to your main base, and hold the line. It's a difficult mission, but if you keep your men alive for long enough you'll be fine. The Basilisk (Pretty sure you get/can get them in that mission) is amazing with its ability to blind-fire into the ground. Get a few, set them to shoot at the chokepoint, and watch them break the morale of any Orks coming close. Plus a Basilisk shot will knock them over, allowing your guardsmen to get a few free shots in before they get back up and continue their charge.

[Eifersucht18]

Originally posted by Blue Orb:

The third mission in the Order campaign is ridiculous...they have you defending against a huge army of orks and a squigoth and then when your reinforcements arrive its only three guardsmen squads and a baneblade...Banblade very good but the guardsmen at that point are useless and the baneblade just cant do it.

Ok ,Heres how I finally got through it - Read only if you dont want to figure it out on your own

- Restart Mission 3 and play through the 'Relocating Eldar' part again so you can get to the 'Protecting Eldar' and control of the Imperial Guard Base with a fresh start

- Send one group of Guardsmen to immediately capture the 4 strategic points inside the base and get your Enginseer (Build x2) to build listening posts on all of them (to maximize reosurce points)

- At the same time, send the rest of your Guardsmen + Sentinels + Hellfire Tank to the edge of the camp walls near the Eldar (Note: Not out in the open) and provide covering fire for the Eldar, but let them protect themselves

- Once Eldar are relocated inside your base (you should still have all / most of your original troops / tanks - Start spamming Guard/RocketTowers with your 2 Enginseers near the mouth of your base and all the way inside - I built 10-12 Guard Towers - they last longer than troops, destroy the orks and slow down the ork tanks

- Then research Hellfire Depot and spam these and Guardsmen which should be able to handle the orks till the Squigoth

- Once the Squigoth appears its critcal to send your Force Commander outside the main base area and use his special skill of calling in airstrikes so that they all focus on him (irrelevant if he dies / he just respawns) and not your gunturrets cause the squigoth will destroy them too easily

- This gets you to the reinforcements - Use Baneblade to destroy all tanks around Squigoth first and then hit it - it is easily stronger and its only a matter of time

Ultimately, it took way too long and too many mission failures to get to this point and thanks @Ursus for the tips on Mission 4 - although now im not really looking forward to it anymore :(
If the game becomes a grind, it just defeats the purpose imo