Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Space Marines Guide
Written by Francis "Prankoys JJC" Tolentino in the year 005/M3
E-mail: prankoysjjc[at]ispx.com.ph
Website: http://prankoysjjc.tripod.com
v1.02 (06/04/2005)
Burn the heretic.
Kill the mutant.
Purge the unclean.
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Table of Contents
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1.  Introduction
2.  Version History
3.  Units
3.1 Infantry
3.2 Vehicles
4.  Structures
5.  Upgrades
6.  General Strategies
7.  Race-specific Strategies
7.1 Eldar
7.2 Orks
7.3 Space Marines
7.4 Chaos
8.  Miscellaneous Stuff
8.1 Dreadnought vs. Killa Kan
8.2 Weapon Stats
9.  Final Notes
10. Credits and Acknowledgments
11. Legal Information
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1. Introduction
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I'm no good with introductions, and I'll be blabbering throughout most of the
guide anyway, so I'll keep this short.
This guide is meant to help those who are new to the Space Marines and need
some tips on using the Emperor's finest soldiers. Most of the statistical data
has been taken from the game's data files, or LUA files. I've tried to organize
the data as much as possible, but with this being my first FAQ, there may still
be some rough edges.
I'm primarily a Space Marine player who plays Eldar and Orks every once in a
while. I seldom play Chaos because the voices of the Heretics and Cultists get
on my nerves. Also, I don't play online. I usually play with friends at the
local LAN cafe. I'm no expert with Space Marines, but I know enough to get
around.
Hopefully, you'll come out a better Space Marine player after reading this FAQ.
If not, oh well. Like I said, this is my first FAQ, so bear with me.
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2. Version History
===============================================================================
v1.00 - 04/13/2005 - First public release. Most sections completed.
v1.01 - 04/15/2005 - Minor corrections and additions. Allowed Neoseeker to host
the guide.
v1.02 - 06/04/2005 - Just a change to the legal section to include DLH.Net.
I'll update the guide with information from Dawn of War
v1.3 as soon as I can find time to download the patch (the
thing is 43 megs in size!)
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3. Units
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I've included weapon damage information where necessary, but if you want
detailed information on how much damage a weapon does to a certain unit, go to
Aetherfox' site at http://dowstats.relicnews.com.
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3.1 Infantry
===============================================================================
These are the units you'll be using the most. Infantry units range from the
lowly Servitor to the awesome Terminators. You can survive without vehicles,
but not without infantry.
Servitor
Prerequisites: Stronghold
Cost: 75 req, 1 squad cap
Standard equipment: None
This is the Space Marines' builder unit. It is built for two purposes: building
and repairing. Try not to send them into a firefight; they don't react well to
enemy fire, and unlike the Eldar and Ork builder units, have no weapons. I
usually build just two of these to save space for more marine squads.
Scout marine squad
Prerequisites: Stronghold
Cost: 90 req, 1 squad cap (45 req per scout)
Maximum squad size: 4
Heavy weapon slots: 2
Standard equipment: Bolter, combat knife
Heavy weapon options: Flamer, plasma gun, sniper rifle
Special Abilities: Infiltration
This is one of the best scout units in the game, especially once you fit them
with plasma guns or sniper rifles. Their sight range is fairly large, and they
can infiltrate, making them invisible to all except commander units. Also,
their movement speed is not affected by cover. A scout with the health upgrade
has as much HP as an upgraded marine, which is good. But remember that they are
standard infantry, and as such, will fall easily to almost any weapon out
there.
Heavy weapon choices:
Flamer - Cost: 40 req, 10 power
- The flamer, unlike in tabletop WH40k, does little damage. However, it
wreaks havoc on enemy morale. With only 2 heavy weapon slots, Scouts
are better off using sniper rifles for morale-breaking. However, these
are useful if you want your scout squad to be a bit more mobile.
Plasma gun - Cost: 40 req, 5 power
- The plasma gun is a weapon that fires superheated packets of
energy. It is very useful against heavy infantry. The Scout
version deals less damage than the one carried by Space Marines.
Sniper rifle - Cost: 40 req, 20 power
- This gun has long range, heavy damage, and the ability to turn
enemy squads into gibbering idiots. It can take out almost any
infantry unit in one shot, and deals a whopping 150 morale
damage per hit. Two squads equipped with this weapon are enough
to break any squad. (Tip: use snipers and plasma against
Possessed Marines.)
Special Abilities:
Infiltrate - This ability makes the squad invisible to all units except
commanders. Units like Apothecaries can also see them.
Space Marine squad
Prerequisites: Chapel-Barracks
Cost: 200 req, 2 squad cap (50 req per marine)
Maximum squad size: 8 + 1 Sergeant
Heavy weapon slots: 2 (4 when upgraded at Armory)
Standard equipment: Bolter, Combat knife
Heavy weapon options: Flamer, Heavy Bolter, Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher
Special Abilities: Frag grenades
The bread and butter of your forces, the Space Marines (also known as tactical
marines) are arguably the most effective and versatile infantry in the game.
Chaos Space Marines may be more numerous, but they are a little less accurate
with their weapons, and they cannot rally when broken. Space Marines can be
equipped with a variety of heavy weapons to increase their effectiveness
against certain targets. They can also take on most other infantry in close
combat, though grappling with dedicated melee units is not advisable. In
addition, Space Marines rally at 50 morale, as opposed to 150 morale for other
races.
Heavy weapon choices:
Flamer - Cost: 40 req, 10 power
- The flamer, unlike in tabletop WH40k, does little damage. However, it
wreaks havoc on enemy morale. A full squad equipped with 4 flamers is
frighteningly effective at making opponents retreat in disarray.
Remember that ranged morale damage drops dramatically once the target
units are engaged in close combat.
Heavy bolter - Cost: 40 req, 10 power
- A larger, belt-fed variant of the normal Bolter, the Heavy
Bolter spits out a steady stream of bolter shells which are
devastating against infantry. Beware: the heavy bolter requires
2 seconds to set up, and is quite ineffective against
non-infantry targets.
Plasma gun - Cost: 40 req, 10 power
- The plasma gun is a weapon that fires superheated packets of
energy. It is very useful against heavy infantry, and is a viable
alternative to the heavy bolter as an anti-infantry weapon, as it
does decent damage agains infantry while retaining the ability to
fire on the move. Make plenty of these when fighting Space Marines
or Chaos.
Missile launcher - Cost: 60 req, 15 power
- This is THE weapon to use against vehicles. One missile
takes a huge chunk out of any enemy vehicle's health. It is
also useful for knocking around enemy commanders, which is
vital if they're trying to cast Orbital Bombardment or
Eldritch Storm. However, it takes 2.5 seconds to set up,
which makes it vulnerable to artillery and other forms of
disruption.
Special Abilities:
Frag grenades - This ability is researched from the Chapel-Barracks. They don't
do much damage, but are useful for disrupting enemy formations.
Best used against heavy weapon squads or incoming melee troops.
Space Marine Sergeant
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 75 req
Standard equipment: Bolt Pistol (upgradeable to plasma pistol)
Chainsword (upgradeable to power sword, then power fist)
Special abilities: Rally
The Sergeant is primarily a close-combat soldier, which makes him a little less
useful for the "shootier" Space Marine squads. However, he is still important,
as he allows the squad to rally, returning their morale to full. He can also be
equipped with a plasma pistol, which gives him extra punch against heavy
infantry. Be aware that the Sergeant is relatively weak compared to other
leader units, especially the Ork Nob Leaders. Sergeants also add 2 to your
maximum squad cap, so you may find the second Stronghold squad cap upgrade
redundant. You should still research it, though; when the Sergeant dies, the 2
extra squad cap goes with him.
Special abilities:
Rally - The Sergeant rallies his squad, returning their morale to normal. This
is incredibly useful, and it is a huge advantage the Space Marines have
over the other races. Just make sure you use the ability before your
Sergeant dies (Trust me, those boys die a lot. Sarge, wear a helmet!)
Assault Marine squad
Prerequisites: Chapel-Barracks, Armory
Cost: 260 req, 2 squad cap (65 req per assault marine)
Maximum squad size: 8 + 1 Sergeant
Heavy weapon slots: 0
Standard equipment: Bolt Pistol, Chainsword
Special Abilities: Melta bombs
Assault Marines are regular marines with jump packs which allow them to fly
over obstructions and get across the battlefield quickly. They are armed with
bolt pistols and chainswords, and are primarily close-combat troops. Assault
Marines are useful for tying up enemy heavy weapon squads while the tactical
squads move into position in relative safety. They aren't any tougher than a
tactical marine, so expect substantial losses if you jump them into an enemy
position.
Special Abilities:
Jump - This ability allows the squad to jump in and out of trouble quickly. A
squad of Assault Marines can jump twice in a row before the jump pack
has to recharge. Jump into enemy heavy weapon squads and artillery for
best results.
Melta bombs - This, when combined with the Assault Marines' jump ability, is
very destructive. Melta bombs deal decent damage against vehicles
and buildings. Two melta bombs followed by a lascannon/missile
salvo are often enough to take out any vehicle, except perhaps
Land Raiders. Best used in conjunction with the jump packs for
hit and run attacks. Jump in, bomb the target, then jump out.
Assault Marine Sergeant
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 75 req, 20 req
Standard equipment: Bolt Pistol (upgradeable to Plasma Pistol)
Chainsword (upgradeable to Power Sword, then Power Fist)
Special abilities: Rally
Essentially the same Sergeant the tactical marine squads have, only with a
jumpjet. Assault Sergeants see much more close combat action, being attached to
melee squads. This also means their power sword/fist upgrades are actually
useful. Like the regular Sergeant, he adds 2 to your maximum squad cap.
Special Abilities:
Rally - The Sergeant rallies his squad, returning their morale to normal. This
is incredibly useful, and it is a huge advantage the Space Marines have
over the other races. Just make sure you use the ability before your
Sergeant dies (Trust me, those boys die a lot. Sarge, wear a helmet!)
Terminator squad
Prerequisites: Fortress-Monastery, Orbital Relay, captured Relic
Cost: 340 req, 100 power, 4 squad cap (85 req, 25 power per terminator)
Maximum squad size: 8
Heavy weapon slots: 2
Standard equipment: Storm Bolter, Power Fist
Heavy weapon options: Heavy Flamer, Assault Cannon
Special Abilities: Teleport
Terminators are, as they say, the Emperor's finest. Terminators are Space
Marines encased in massive Terminator suits which are pretty much the strongest
armored suits the Imperium has. They are armed with twin-barrelled Storm
Bolters and Power Fists, and can be upgraded with teleporters to help their
mobility (they are painfully slow). These guys go through infantry like a hot
knife through butter, but watch them carefully as they're rather vulnerable to
plasma. Also, they do not have a Sergeant, and therefore cannot rally.
I personally don't use Terminators much, since I can get much more out of two
extra squads of tactical/assault marines.
Heavy weapon choices:
Heavy Flamer - Cost: 70 req, 40 power
- This is the same thing the tac and scout squads have, only it
does a little more damage. Fairly useless, since you'll have
dedicated morale-breaking squads by the time you build
Terminators.
Assault Cannon - Cost: 70 req, 40 power
- Ah, now this is a weapon. This kills most infantry easily,
and, if memory serves, can be fired on the move, making it
somewhat more useful than the heavy bolter.
Special Abilities:
Teleport - This allows the squad to teleport to any point within a certain
radius. It's only useful for teleporting into battle, as there is a
long delay where the squad just sits there before they teleport to
the target.
Assault Terminators
Prerequisites: Fortress-Monastery, Orbital Relay, captured Relic
Cost: 340 req, 100 power, 4 squad cap (85 req, 25 power per terminator)
Maximum squad size: 8
Heavy weapon slots: 0
Standard equipment: Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield
Special Abilities: Teleport
While the normal Terminators' usefulness is questionable, this squad's
usefulness is undoubted. You are looking at the number one uber-unit killer.
They are armed with Thunder Hammers, which stun enemies, and Storm Shields,
which drastically reduce the melee damage they take. This doesn't sound like
much until you consider there's eight of them, each with a hammer that stuns
anything. Bloodthirsters, Avatars, and even Squiggoths don't stand a chance
against Assault Terminators.
Of course, they share the Terminators' slow speed and their weakness to plasma
and morale-breaking weapons. But they're still useful for tying up uber-units
while your other forces deal with the rest of them. Best used with commander
units, but don't attach the Force Commander to them; they lose their stun
ability while the Commander is attached to them.
Always keep a squad of Assault Terminators ready for deep striking, unless
your enemy's playing as Space Marines, in which case two plasma squads are
better.
Special Abilities:
Teleport - This allows the squad to teleport to any point within a certain
radius. It's only useful for teleporting into battle, as there is a
long delay where the squad just sits there before they teleport to
the target.
Force Commander
Prerequisites: Chapel-Barracks
Cost: 260 req, 85 power
Standard equipment: Daemonhammer (Power Sword in single player)
Bolt Pistol (upgradeable to Plasma Pistol)
Special Abilities: Battlecry, Orbital Bombardment, Inspiring Aura
Can be attached to squads
At the beginning of the game, the Force Commander is the second-strongest
commander unit, the Chaos Lord being the first. However, at the end of the
game, he turns into the strongest unit of all. Why?
Orbital Bombardment.
His Orbital Bombardment ability utterly annihilates anything in its blast
radius, except perhaps infantry. I once decimated an entire Fire Prism platoon
by waiting until they jumped then walling them in with Assault Marines while my
Force Commander called plasma lances down on them. Effective. I lost my Assault
Marines to a combination of plasma lances, prism blasts and shuriken cannon
shots, but it was worth it.
Also, due to a bug (or "design feature," pick one), the Force Commander has an
advantage over most other commanders. Basically, if he hits your commander and
you try to run away, your unit will just sit there. Apparently it's a
side-effect of the Force Commander's stun ability. Expect Relic to fix it soon
enough.
Special Abilities:
Battlecry - Gives all infantry around the Force Commander a 40% damage bonus
for a short period of time.
Orbital Bombardment - Calls a plasma lance strike down from the orbiting Space
Marine vessels. Effective against vehicles and buildings,
throws infantry around (and may even kill some). It takes
about 4 minutes to recharge, so don't go wasting it on a
bunch of grots.
Inspiring Aura - This gives all units a 10% increase in damage. Doesn't sound
like much, but every little bit counts with the Marines. This
ability is always active once researched.
Librarian
Prerequisites: Sacred Artifact
Cost: 245 req, 80 power
Standard equipment: Force Weapon
Bolt Pistol (upgradeable to Plasma Pistol)
Special Abilities: Smite, Weaken Resolve, Word of the Emperor
Can be attached to squads
The Librarian is the Space Marines' secondary commander unit. He has some
useful abilities that can turn the tide of battle. I usually keep him on the
front lines while my Force Commander and a few squads try to flank the enemy.
As a rule, whenever an uber-unit appears I have him and the Force Commander
help the Assault Terminators so it goes down faster.
Special Abilities:
Smite - The Librarian creates a pulse of psychic energy that deals damage and
knocks infantry off their feet. It's useful at times, but the Chaos
Sorcerer's Doombolt is better.
Weaken Resolve - Temporarily removes an enemy squad's ability to regenerate
morale. The only use for it I've found so far is for keeping
Possessed squads demoralized.
Word of the Emperor - The Librarian begins chanting, which keeps nearby
friendly infantry from dying. Their HP may drop to 0, but
they won't die until the ability wears off or the
Librarian dies. Be careful, the Librarian is not affected
by this ability. Attach him to a squad affected by Word
of the Emperor for best results.
Apothecary
Prerequisites: Sacred Artifact
Cost: 45 req, 15 power
Standard equipment: Chainsword
Special Abilities: Can be attached to squads
This unit is one you should create as soon as you reach tier 2 and build a
Sacred Artifact. It enhances the regeneration rates of nearby friendly
infantry, including heroes. This will drastically increase the survivability of
your squads. You are limited to 4 Apothecaries, but that's enough to cover most
of your squads.
Skull Probe
Prerequisites: Listening Post
Cost: 25 req
Standard equipment: None
Special Abilities: Infiltrate, Sabotage
Can be attached to squads
This unit is a skull with an antigravity drive that serves as a disposable
scout. It can infiltrate, and can self-destruct beside a building, which
supposedly disables the building for a short period of time. Never tried it,
though. Skull Probes lose HP over time, but you can place them beside
Apothecaries to heal them. Also, Skull Probes can be attached to squads to give
them a temporary boost in sight radius.
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3.2 Vehicles
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Rhino Transport
Prerequisites: Machine Cult
Cost: 75 req, 70 power, 2 vehicle cap
Standard equipment: None
Special Abilities: Smoke launcher, can carry one squad of marines
The Rhino is just like all the other transports in the game except the Falcon
Grav Tank. It's useless. It's cheap, fast, can transport infantry and generate
temporary heavy cover with its smoke launcher upgrade, but it's incredibly
fragile; even bolters can destroy it. Plus, it takes 2 vehicle cap, which could
be better spent on Dreadnoughts, Land Speeders or Whirlwinds. The Rhino is
somewhat useful on large maps, but try to avoid using it. It's not worth the
resources, and it loses any semblance of usefulness once you construct an
Orbital Relay.
If you HAVE to use the Rhino, delete it after you bring the Marines to their
destination. The 2 vehicle cap it takes up can be better used by Dreadnoughts
or Land Speeders.
Special Abilities:
Smoke Launcher - This is the only good thing about the Rhino. Even then, it's
not enough to make the Rhino worthwhile. It launches a smoke
grenade that creates temporary heavy cover around the target
area. It doesn't last that long, but it has its uses.
Land Speeder
Prerequisites: Machine Cult
Cost: 150 req, 130 power, 2 vehicle cap
Standard equipment: Storm Bolter, Twin-Linked Assault Cannon
Special Abilities: Jump
Ah, one of the most underrated vehicles in the Space Marine army. It is
equipped with an array of weapons that utterly destroy infantry. Two or three
of these is enough to cut down a good-sized infantry force. Five is overkill.
However, it has very little HP and armor, which makes it vulnerable to just
about any unit on the battlefield. DON'T send Speeders to fight in the front
line. Instead, hit the enemy from behind or from the sides if possible. Your
enemy WILL panic when he sees his squad's unit count go from 10 to 4 in a
matter of seconds.
Be careful when using these things, though. They're effective, but once your
opponent devotes some firepower to attack them, they're toast.
Special Abilities:
Jump - Like Assault Marines, the Land Speeder can jump twice in a row before
having to recharge. Very useful for popping up behind the enemy force
and sandwiching them with the rest of your army. Also effective for hit
and run attacks on Ork bases. Ork buildings are pretty fragile.
Dreadnought
Prerequisites: Machine Cult
Cost: 170 req, 405 power, 2 vehicle cap
Standard equipment: 2 Close Combat Weapons
Heavy weapon options: Assault Cannon, Twin-Linked Lascannon
This is one of the most effective units the Space Marines have at their
disposal. Capable of taking on entire squads, its only weakness is its lack of
ranged weaponry. This can be fixed by upgrading it with an Assault Cannon or
Twin-Linked Lascannon, but doing so halves the melee damage of the Dreadnought.
Keep this unit away from missile squads.
Heavy weapon choices:
Assault Cannon - Cost: 30 req, 70 power
- Basically a larger, vehicle-mounted version of the Heavy
Bolter, this thing sprays hundreds of bolts at the enemy. It
is most effective against infantry. It's usually a good idea
to equip this if you're thinking of going after infantry,
since smart players usually make their infantry run away when
a Dreadnought closes in.
Twin-Linked Lascannon - Cost: 30 req, 70 power
- This weapon is most effective against vehicles. It fires
slowly and has a tendency to miss, but it deals good
damage. Not really an advisable upgrade for the
Dreadnought. Predators with lascannons are a better
choice for ranged anti-vehicle duty. Strangely enough,
the lascannon does very little damage to Killa Kans.
Hellfire Dreadnought
Prerequisites: Machine Cult
Cost: 120 req, 275 power, 2 vehicle cap
Standard equipment: Autocannon, Missile Launcher
Heavy weapon options: Twin-Linked Lascannon
A watered-down version of the Dreadnought, the Hellfire surrenders its close
combat weaponry for additional ranged firepower. It's significantly cheaper
than the normal Dreadnought, but for good reason. It has much less health, is
helpless in close combat, and is rather useless once the Predators roll out.
Also, its missiles deal less damage than a marine with a missile launcher (!),
and its Lascannon/Assault Cannon is weaker than the ones found on the regular
Dreadnought or Predator. Its only advantage over a missile squad is that it
can't be knocked down and is unaffected by morale. Armor penetration _is_
better, but only for light and medium vehicles, and the Hellfire just can't
match the volume of fire a dedicated missile squad can dish out. Unless you
desperately need some extra fire support and can't afford a Dreadnought or
Predator, avoid this.
The Hellfire DOES look like a regular Dreadnought from a distance. Enemies
usually run when they see Dreads of any kind, so you might want to build one or
two to scare them off while you gather resources to get some real firepower.
Heavy weapon choices:
Twin-Linked Lascannon - Cost: 30 req, 70 power
- This is just like the one you can upgrade the normal
Dreadnought with, only it deals less damage. Upgrading
the Hellfire with this means it'll be helpless when
infantry start attacking it. Not worth the resources,
but then, neither is the Hellfire itself.
Whirlwind
Prerequisites: Machine Cult
Cost: 145 req, 380 power, 2 vehicle cap
Standard equipment: Missile battery
This is the Space Marines' artillery platform. It's basically a Rhino with a
missile battery bolted on top, and it's just as fragile. It does decent damage
to infantry, but that's not what the Whirlwind is for. With each shot, the
Whirlwind does 60 morale damage and disrupts enemy formations. One Whirlwind
can turn the tide of a battle by knocking infantry off their feet before they
can start shooting. Two Whirlwinds are even better. Three is a bit of a waste,
but the volume of fire they can deliver is ridiculous. The Whirlwind (and just
about all other artillery pieces) is also good for destroying massed turrets.
Just remember that it's painfully inaccurate, so fire ahead of your troops
unless you want to see flying Space Marines with red circles around them.
Predator
Prerequisites: Fortress Monastery
Cost: 190 req, 455 power, 3 vehicle cap
Standard equipment: Autocannon, 2 heavy bolters on side sponsons
Heavy weapon options: Twin-Linked Lascannon, Lascannon (right), Lascannon
(left)
The Predator is the Space Marines' main tank. It has a lot of armor, good
speed, and a respectable amount of firepower. It is initially effective against
infantry, but can be upgraded to be stronger against vehicles. Most of the time
you'll want to upgrade the main turret to a Twin-Linked Lascannon while leaving
the heavy bolters to fend off infantry. Giving the Predator proper support
makes this unnecessary, and equipping the Predator with a full complement of
Lascannons makes it extremely deadly to vehicles. A Predator in the Annihilator
configuration (pure lascannons) can take just about any other vehicle out, but
is painfully expensive at 370req/915power (!).
Heavy weapon options:
Twin-Linked Lascannon - Cost: 90 req, 230 power
- Replaces the autocannon on the Predator's turret with a
twin-linked lascannon. This increases the Predator's
effectiveness against vehicles.
Lascannon - Cost: 45 req, 115 req
- Replaces the sponson-mounted heavy bolters with lascannons.
NOTE: The left and right lascannons are upgraded separately.
Land Raider
Prerequisites: Fortress Monastery
Cost: 470 req, 555 power, 5 vehicle cap
Standard equipment: Heavy Bolter, 2 Twin-Linked Lascannons on side sponsons
Special Abilities: Machine Spirit, can carry a squad of Marines or Terminators
Ah, the Land Raider. Huge, heavily armored, heavily armed, and capable of
carrying a squad of Terminators. All fire usually shifts to this massive tank
when it shows up on the battlefield. Use this to your advantage; a pair of
Servitors repairing it from behind helps a lot. It can carry Terminators to
battle, but its usually better to just Deep Strike them. The Land Raider may be
equipped with Lascannons, but due to an oversight, it's not very effective
against vehicles. But point the Land Raider's guns at a squad of heavy infantry
and you'll be surprised how fast they die. Of course, the 5 vehicle cap is
questionable. Theoretically, a Dreadnought and a Predator can do far more
damage than a single Land Raider, and are much more tactically flexible.
Special Abilities:
Machine Spirit - this calls on the Land Raider's Machine Spirit (fancy name for
AI, I guess) to take control of the Land Raider, reducing
damage taken by 20% and halving the Land Raider's speed for
the duration of the ability. Only useful if your enemy's dumb
enough to focus all his fire on the Land Raider while
completely ignoring your other units.
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4. STRUCTURES
===============================================================================
Stronghold
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 450 req, 250 power (rises with each new Stronghold)
Builds: Servitor, Scout Marine squad
Upgrades: Monastery, Fortress Monastery, Squad Cap Increase, Vehicle Cap
Increase, Infiltration
The primary building of the Space Marines, the Stronghold projects an area
around itself in which you can construct more buildings. It is heavily armored
and can take quite a bit of punishment before going down. It can be upgraded to
a Monastery and then a Fortress Monastery, which unlocks more advanced units.
It also holds the Infantry and Vehicle Cap upgrades, which increase the number
of units you can build. It also generates +20 requisition.
Chapel-Barracks
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 250 req
Builds: Space Marine squad, Assault Marine squad, Terminator squad, Assault
Terminator squad, Force Commander
Upgrades: Frag grenades, Melta bombs
This is the first thing you should build as soon as the game starts. It trains
the Space Marines' infantry units.
Listening Post
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 100 req
Builds: None
Upgrades: Escalate Engagement, Fortified Position, Heavily Fortified Position
These buildings are your primary source of requisition. Build one on top of
your strategic points as soon as you capture them. It adds 6 to your
requisition rate, and will give you 50 requisition upon completion. The
Escalate Engagement and Full Scale War research items give another +6 to your
requisition with each upgrade. The Fortification upgrades increase the health
of the listening post and improve its weaponry.
Plasma Generator
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 165 req
Builds: None
Upgrades: Strengthen Power Grid
Generates power. Each generator boosts your power generation rate by 10, and
like the listening post, gives you 50 power upon completion. A Stronghold can
only support 6 generators; if you want more, you'll need to build more
Strongholds. Also, Plasma Generators explode violently when destroyed, damaging
nearby units and knocking infantry off their feet.
Armory
Prerequisites: Chapel-Barracks
Cost: 175 req, 50 power
Builds: None
Upgrades: Heavy Weapon Increase, Wargear: Target Finders, Wargear: Enhanced
Target Finders, Wargear: Bionics Level 1, Wargear: Bionics Level 2,
Wargear: Power Sword, Wargear: Power Fist, Wargear: Plasma Pistol
Carries various upgrades for your infantry. IMO, the most important upgrades
are Target Finders, Bionics and Heavy Weapon Increase. Also, keep in mind that
Deep Strike requires an Armory. If your Armory goes boom, you won't be able to
Deep Strike anything from your Orbital Relay until you build another one.
Machine Cult
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 350 req, 100 power
Builds: Rhino Transport, Land Speeder, Dreadnought, Hellfire Dreadnought,
Whirlwind, Predator, Land Raider
Upgrades: Wargear: Smoke launchers
The Machine Cult creates all Space Marine vehicles. Build one as soon as you
can, as even a single Dreadnought can make a huge difference.
Sacred Artifact
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 250 req, 125 power
Builds: Apothecary, Librarian
Upgrades: Commander Veteran Upgrade, Commander Hero Upgrade, Inspiring Aura,
Battlecry, Word of the Emperor, Weaken Resolve
This building creates Apothecaries and Librarians, and also contains upgrades
for your commanders. Build 4 apothecaries as soon as you complete the Sacred
Artifact; it'll help loads.
Thermo Plasma Generator
Prerequisites: Fortress Monastery, vacant slag deposit
Cost: 495 req
Builds: None
Upgrades: None
It generates about 4 times more power than the normal Plasma Generator, but
needs to be built on slag deposits. It generates 40 power, and gives you 100
power upon completion. 495 is a lot of requisition for one building, though. I
only build these if I have lots of requisition but no power, or I'm making lots
of vehicles. Lascannons are expensive.
Heavy Bolter Turret
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 150 req, 75 power
Builds: None
Upgrades: Missile Turret Upgrade
Now, this thing is effective for early scout rushes and the AI, but against a
decent human player, forget about it. Once a human learns you're massing these,
he'll just build some artillery to bomb your turrets to hell. Initially
effective against infantry, it can be upgraded to a missile launcher to make it
more effective against vehicles.
Mine Field
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 50 req, 50 power
Builds: None
Upgrades: None
A simple mine field. If a unit steps on it, it explodes. After a certain number
of detonations, the mine field disappears. Not all that useful, since
commanders and sergeants can detect the mines. Still, make a few fields around
your entrance to keep those pesky infiltrated scouts out.
Orbital Relay
Prerequisites: Fortress Monastery
Cost: 250 req, 500 power
Builds: Space Marine squad, Dreadnought, Hellfire Dreadnought
Upgrades: Wargear: Teleporters
Okay, this is at the very top of the Space Marine tech tree. Once you have
this, you can load units into it and drop them in a visible place after a short
delay. It can hold 6 units, with walker units taking up 2 spaces, so you can
load three Dreadnoughts into the Relay. It allows you to build Terminators from
your Chapel-Barracks, and builds some units itself, which are instantly
prepared for dropping the moment they finish building. Most importantly, this
building allows the Force Commander to call down orbital strikes on targets. Be
warned: if you lose all your Armories, your deep striking ability is
neutralized.
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5. UPGRADES
===============================================================================
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STRONGHOLD UPGRADES
-------------------
Squad Cap Increase
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 150 req
Effects: +5 to max squad cap
This upgrade increases your maximum squad cap, allowing you to build more
infantry. Hold off on purchasing this upgrade until you've filled the 10 cap
you start with.
Vehicle Cap Increase
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 125 req
Effects: +5 to max vehicle cap
This upgrade increases your maximum vehicle cap. Research this while building a
Machine Cult, since the Cult only gives you 2 vehicle cap to start with.
Infiltration
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 25 req, 15 power
Effects: Adds Infiltration ability to scouts
Allows scouts to use the Infiltration ability, making them invisible to most
units. This is nice to buy at the beginning of the game, since it still leaves
you with enough power to create a Force Commander.
Monastery
Prerequisites: Chapel-Barracks, Armory
Cost: 250 req, 100 power
Effects: Upgrades HQ to Monastery, allows production of more advanced units
Upgrades the Stronghold to a Monastery. This unlocks the Sergeant, plasma guns,
missile launchers, the Machine Cult, and the Sacred Artifact. It also allows
the research of more abilities. Get this as soon as possible, as you want to
have those missile squads ready fast.
Fortress Monastery
Prerequisites: Machine Cult, Sacred Artifact
Cost: 500 req, 250 power
Effects: Upgrades HQ to Monastery, allows production of more advanced units
Upgrades the Monastery to a Fortress Monastery. This unlocks the rest of the
Space Marine arsenal, including the Predator, Land Raider, Terminators, and the
Orbital Relay. It's expensive, but by the time you reach tier 3 you'll be
rolling in the requisition anyway.
------------------------
CHAPEL-BARRACKS UPGRADES
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Wargear: Frag Grenades
Prerequisites: Armory
Cost: 25 req, 75 power
Effects: Equips Space Marine squads with frag grenades
These grenades aren't very damaging, but are very useful for knocking someone
off their feet. Chuck them at heavy weapon squads or incoming melee troops.
Wargear: Melta Bombs
Prerequisites: Armory
Cost: 50 req, 100 power
Effects: Equips Assault Marine squads with melta bombs
This upgrade is certainly more important than the frag grenades. Melta bombs
deal respectable damage to vehicles and buildings. Great for picking off
badly-damaged vehicles and low HP buildings.
---------------
ARMORY UPGRADES
---------------
Heavy Weapon Increase
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 75 req, 75 power
Effects: Increases Marine squads' heavy weapon capacity to 4
This is a very important upgrade. 4 of any heavy weapon can do some serious
damage to the right target.
Wargear: Target Finders
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 100 req, 50 power
Effects: "increases accuracy" for all squads, actually increases ranged damage
by 20%
Standard RTS "improve weapon" upgrade. It says it improves accuracy, but the
datafiles show it just increases weapon damage. Still an important upgrade,
though.
Wargear: Enhanced Target Finders
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 150 req, 100 power
Effects: "increases accuracy" for all squads, actually increases ranged damage
by 20%
Same thing as above.
Wargear: Bionics Level 1
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 100 req, 50 power
Effects: Increases health of all squads by 20%
This, IMO, is more important than Target Finders. With this, scout health is
boosted to that of an unupgraded Space Marine. While they still die easily, the
increased health means they'll get a few more shots in.
Wargear: Bionics Level 2
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 150 req, 100 power
Effects: Increases health of all squads by 20%
Same as above.
Wargear: Power Sword
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 65 req, 25 power
Effects: Equips all Sergeants with Power Swords (replaces chainsword)
Power Swords are supposed to be effective against heavy infantry, but I've
found that Sergeants die miserably before they can even get into close combat
with the enemy. Only get this if you use Assault Marines.
Wargear: Power Fist
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 75 req, 40 power
Effects: Equips all Sergeants with Power Fists (replaces Power Sword)
Well, this is certainly an improvement. This allows the Sergeant to take on
vehicles, which is nice, until you consider that he's still weak and could die
en route to the target.
Plasma Pistols
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 60 req, 35 power
Effects: Equips the Force Commander, Librarian, and all Sergeants with Plasma
Pistols (replaces Bolt Pistol)
This gives squad leaders and all heroes Plasma Pistols, which increase their
effectiveness against heavy infantry. A must have if you're going up against
Space Marines or Chaos.
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MACHINE CULT UPGRADES
---------------------
Wargear: Smoke Launchers
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 75 req, 25 power
Effects: Equips Rhino Transports with smoke launchers
This lets the Rhino launch smoke grenades, which generate temporary heavy cover
at the target area. Nice when you're in a firefight with another shooty race,
but the Rhino still isn't worth the 2 vehicle cap it takes up.
------------------------
SACRED ARTIFACT UPGRADES
------------------------
Commander Veteran Upgrade
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 100 req, 25 power
Effects: Increases health, damage, and ability recharge rate of heroes
By the time you get a Sacred Artifact, the focus of the battle will have
shifted to vehicles, so this upgrade is important for improving your heroes'
survivability. The increase in the recharge rate of abilities alone is worth
the resources.
Commander Hero Upgrade
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 125 req, 50 power
Effects: Further increases health, damage, and ability recharge rate of heroes
Second hero upgrade. Same effects as the previous upgrade. If you use the hero
abilities a lot, get this ASAP.
Inspiring Aura
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 100 req, 35 power
Effects: Gives the Force Commander an aura that increases the damage dealt by
nearby infantry units
The damage boost provided by this ability isn't all that big (10%), but every
little bit helps.
Battlecry
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 150 req, 75 power
Effects: Allows the Force Commander to utter a battlecry that increases nearby
infantry's damage and morale.
Oh, now this is sweet. When used, the battlecry gives nearby infantry a 40%
damage boost and a morale boost. Pair this with Word of the Emperor and you'll
have your enemies screaming about how fast you're killing their units while
none of your own are dying.
Word of the Emperor
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 50 req, 40 power
Effects: Allows the Librarian to use the Word of the Emperor ability, which
prevents nearby infantry from dying while the ability is active.
For such a low price, this is one great ability. It keeps your infantry from
dying, though they still take damage. The ability deactivates after about 30
seconds or if the Librarian is killed, but you can just attach the Librarian to
a nearby squad to keep him from dying. The enemy will have to get through the
units in the squad first, and since they're affected by Word of the Emperor...
Weaken Resolve
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 125 req, 50 power
Effects: Allows the Librarian to use the Weaken Resolve ability, which reduces
the target squad's morale recovery.
This pretty much stops the enemy squad from regenerating morale (great against
Possessed), but doesn't last very long. Not really important, and expensive for
what it does. Word of the Emperor is loads better, comes before this ability,
and is much cheaper. Break the squad with flamers before using this ability for
maximum effect.
-----------------------
LISTENING POST UPGRADES
-----------------------
Fortified Position Add-on
Prerequisites: None
Cost: 100 req, 75 power
Effects: Increases the listening post's health and requisition rate, and adds a
Heavy Bolter to the building.
Get this as soon as your strategic points are covered with listening posts. It
gives a +6 boost to the listening post's requisition rate, and equips it with a
Heavy Bolter that can hold enemies off for a short time.
Heavily Fortified Position Add-on
Prerequisites: Fortress Monastery, Fortified Position Add-on
Cost: 450 req, 150 power
Effects: Increases the listening post's health and requisition rate, and adds a
more powerful Storm Bolter to the building.
Gives the position another boost in health, and again increases its requisition
rate by 6. The listening post also gains a Storm Bolter with extended range and
damage. When upgraded with this add-on, the listening post can kill entire
squads on its own.
Escalate Engagement Research
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 75 req, 250 power
Effects: Provides a global bonus to requisition resource production rates
Increases your requisition rate. I'm not quite sure how much it increases the
rate at which requisition is produced, but it seems to go up by quite a bit
with this upgrade.
Full Scale War Research
Prerequisites: Fortress Monastery
Cost: 100 req, 350 power
Effects: Provides a global bonus to requisition resource production rates
Increases your requisition rate. I'm not quite sure how much it increases the
rate at which requisition is produced, but it seems to go up by quite a bit
with this upgrade.
-------------------------
PLASMA GENERATOR UPGRADES
-------------------------
Strengthen Electrical Grid
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 200 req, 40 power
Effects: Provides a global bonus to power resource production rates
Increases your power generation rate. Very important if you're going heavy on
the vehicles.
Plasma Battery Storage Research
Prerequisites: Fortress Monastery
Cost: 350 req
Effects: Provides a global bonus to power resource production rates
Second upgrade. This increases your power generation rate even more.
----------------------------
HEAVY BOLTER TURRET UPGRADES
----------------------------
Missile Turret Upgrade Add-on
Prerequisites: Monastery
Cost: 50 req
Effects: Replaces the Heavy Bolter Turret's guns with Missile Launchers.
This equips the turret with missiles instead of bolters, which increases its
effectiveness against vehicles while reducing its effectiveness against
infantry.
===============================================================================
6. General Strategies
===============================================================================
Some of these may be painfully obvious, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
- Plan ahead. The game takes a long time to load. While it's loading, think
about what you can use against your opponent, and what he's likely to throw
at you.
- Know your hotkeys. It's much faster to click on a building and press the
hotkeys to build units than it is to move the mouse to the icon and click it.
If you can't be bothered to learn all of them, at least memorize the most
important ones: "R" to reinforce, "L" to build a squad leader, and "Q" to
stop the currently selected squad.
- Speed is important, especially at the beginning of the game. The faster you
can capture points and get those buildings up, the better. Again, hotkeys are
important. Once the game starts, I usually click on the Stronghold, press M,
M, S, M, then M to build 2 scout squads, a servitor, then another 2 scout
squads. Then I click on the servitor and press B, C to build a
Chapel-Barracks. Much faster than clicking on each button individually.
- Scouts will immediately head off to capture a strategic point if you set the
Stronghold's rally point to any strategic point. This is better than manually
ordering the scout to capture a point after being built.
- Be prepared for anything. If facing a race whose forces are composed
primarily of infantry (Orks, for example), it is tempting to equip your
squads with nothing but heavy bolters. Bad idea; if your opponent surprises
you with Nobs, you're dead.
- Base your actions on your opponent's movements. Keep an eye on what he's
doing with infiltrated scouts, and build accordingly. If he has many heavy
infantry squads, equip your men with plasma. If he has a lot of vehicles,
equip your men with missiles.
- Plasma is a nice general-purpose weapon, dealing decent damage to both light
and heavy infantry. They don't need time to set up, either. However, beware
plasma's low accuracy compared to regular bolters.
- Space Marines are few in number. All the other races' squads outnumber your
own, so be careful. You can and will get overwhelmed if you aren't careful.
The loss of even a single squad of Marines will hurt you badly, and in some
cases can be fatal.
- Always fill your squad cap to 10/10 before progressing to tier 2. A popular
combination is: 2 servitors, 2 scout squads, 3 marine squads. Another
combination, and my personal preference, is: 2 servitors, 4 scout squads, and
2 marine squads. It's cheaper by 50 req, and you have more squads to capture