Episode 49: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Retro Spectives

In 2004, Relic brought the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 to life with its real time strategy game Dawn of War. Fans of the franchise adored it, and it brought in entire legions of new zealots ready to die for the glory of the Emperor. Dawn of War went on to feature three expansion packs, one superb sequel, and another sequel probably best left forgotten. With so many games and fans around the world, the success of this bold experiment is unquestionable.

But how fun an experiment is it to play today? Is it really possible to fully capture the spirit of the models, the lore, and the gameplay in an entirely different genre? Is Dawn of War’s campaign still fun to play today?

On this episode, we discuss:

• How well does Dawn of War’s story gel with the broader lore of the Warhammer 40k universe? How interesting is that lore, and are there any problems with a story based around unending military conflict?
• Does the focus on controlling strategic points around the map actually lead to a difference in macro strategy and economics? Or is it just a different flavour of mineral patches?
• How well does the game implement squad customisation? Does the game incentivise different kinds of modularity to overcome specific enemy compositions and challenges?

We answer these questions and many more on the 49th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

Looking to play Dawn of War? Find a widescreen fix here

Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Dawn of War OST: Jeremy Soule

Is Warhammer 40k Dawn of War’s gameplay more sophisticated than we give it credit for? Is there a particular expansion we should try that will blow our minds? Have we completely butchered and misunderstood the lore? Let us know on our community text based discord server!