With Dawn of War 2 having been released a couple of days ago, many of you have now discovered its addictive multiplayer component. And undoubtedly a lot of you have also stumbled across the fact that there are a lot of highly skilled players to be found in ranked matches already. Many of these players, such as myself, have participated in the beta and have formed a better understanding of the various races in their time spent testing.
So for those of you who are newer to this game – or those of you who are simply looking for a little help with their play – I’ve written a couple of guides to get you started on the right track. Based on my own experiences with the beta and full release version of course.
This is the second post in the series and serves as a guide to the most recognizable and most commonly played race in Dawn of War 2: the Space Marines.
Heroes
A game of Dawn of War 2 starts with selecting your hero and the Space Marines offer three excellent choices. All of them have their uses and while most players will opt for the extremely useful Techmarine, neither of the remaining Heroes is really any less effective when used properly.
The Force Commander is your archetypal offensive hero: deals lots of damages, takes lots of damage and generally just stomps through anything in front of him. Its a fairly hands-off hero who can hold his own for a long time in battle. A good tactic is to use more resources on upgrading this hero than you usually would, because when upgraded with force shields and massive melee hammers – this guy can literally decimate entire armies (of weaker units).
The Techmarine is another popular choice for two good reasons: turrets and teleporters. Just have him swath a turret down near a defensive position and your enemy will have a hard time breaking through early on. Adding a teleporter near your defensive troops allows them to reinforce on the battlefield and really turns the tide in your favor. The Techmarine himself doesn’t generally do much damage, but can soak up a fair amount of it.
The Apothecary is a little underused, but isn’t any less useful than the other heroes. This hero is basically a decent melee unit with healing capabilities. Not as powerful as the Force Commander or directly useful as the Tech Commander, but his heals can really help your forces in a pinch. It’s also a nice trick for keeping your troops alive in the early game and his regenerative aura heals them back up quickly.
The Apothecary is a useful support hero with healing abilities
Teamgames
In teamgames you should expect to play a rather traditional strategy-gaming role: the steady push onward. Space Marines are the slowest race in the game, but also very resilient and powerful, making them perfect defenders and frontline warriors.
You will be required to capture and hold victory points, while more mobile races like the Eldar and Tyranid cap more far-away resource nodes. You’ll also be a welcome source of anti-vehicle firepower with your Tactical Marines (equipped with rockets), Dreadnoughts and Plasma Cannon Squads.
But don’t sit still defending a single victory point, unless you’re stuck defending the odd one out (the one that’s equally close to both teams). If you’re not defending that one, then you can afford to push on through to the enemies closest point. Taking it slowly point by point until you hit their victory point and march your powerful, but slow, vehicles in to overwhelm their defenses.
Early game
Move in while you start training a Tactical Marine Squad or Devastator Heavy Bolter Squad. Take a nearby victory point and dig in, then slowly move up cover-to-cover pushing whatever enemy approaches you back towards their own base. You can’t push hard and fast like the Eldar, but you can win any straight battle early on due to your more powerful armor and guns/melee prowess.
Scouts are your fastest moving unit and ideal for taking resource points, especially when upgraded with the infiltrate ability (usually tier 1 – shotguns) allowing them to uncap (but not re-capture) points while invisible. Their damage is relatively low, as is their armour, but two groups of them with shotguns and infiltrate can be a real pain for any foe who failed to build infiltration detection units.
Devastator Heavy Bolter Squads are standard machine gun units: take time to set up, vulnerable when attacked from behind or the sides, but incredibly powerful when deployed frontally. They’re a more powerful suppression unit than the Eldar Shuriken Weapons Team and can kill infantry relatively quickly, but they still need to be deployed by your main, more mobile, force for protection.
Tactical Marines are the mainstay of your army. They can be upgraded with anti-cover (flamethrower), anti-infantry (plasma gun) and anti-vehicle (rocket launcher) weaponry once you hit tier 2 and they excel in each role. They can even hold their own in melee relatively well and this makes them an ideal early unit for taking on any hostile force. If you do get routed by an enemy early on even with your Tactical Marines, then it most certainly means you’ve been outplayed.
The Assault Squad is a unit you’ll usually opt for a little later in the game. More than one of these expensive units is overkill unless you’re facing melee-heavy forces, but one squad of them can really wreck havoc on enemy defenses. They’re perfect for destroying deployed machine gun groups, as their jump jetting on top of their target disperses anything nearby, throwing off their aim as well.
One thing you should always keep in mind during the early game is that you have the advantage. Eldar are completely outclassed unless the player is skilled and Tyranid and Orks can give you a run for your money, but only if you micro worse than they do. Don’t let this get to your head, because you’re not invincible. You can advance relatively unchallenged early on, but that will change soon.
Tactical Marines are the mainstay of your army
Mid game
Now that you’re up to tier 2 you get access to the units all Space Marines players are most feared for: Devastator Plasma Squads and Dreadnoughts. You also gain powerful anti-vehicle capabilities with rocket upgrades for your Tactical Marines. If you had any trouble breaking through infantry-heavy forces before, then you can now field Razorbacks which can tear through them quite easily and are particularly effective against suppression units.
The Razorback is often used, but not always particularly useful. It has a decently powerful machinegun that is useful against numerous and weaker infantry forces (Eldar, Tyranid) and it can reinforce nearby friendly infantry, but it’s fairly slow and relatively quickly taken down by most forces so you need to keep an eye on it. Nice for on-battlefield reinforcement, but not a frontline unit, nor one you really want to build more than one of unless facing genuine suppression/Eldar Guardian/Tyranid Gaunt spam.
Dreadnoughts are very useful vehicles, because these powerful walkers can squash any infantry force. They come with flamethrowers by default, making them very effective against infantry in cover or melee range. It’s not quite as powerful against fast moving vehicles, because they can keep it at a distance quite easily and take your Dreadnought down at their leasure. Amongst Walkers it is currently the toughest around, beating Eldar Wraithlords thanks to it’s tougher armor (and the beta patch). You need to be careful when fielding these against Ork players, because Tankbustas can devastate them in no time at all.
Or you can use Devastator Plasma Squads, which are good for killing … well … anything. They fire rather slowly, but every plasma blast literally rips open the ground it strikes on, sending infantry flying in all directions and vehicles to the scrapheap. It’s somewhat similar to the Eldar D-Cannon, except it’s a little bit less powerful, it’s Tier 2 and it isn’t as vulnerable because Space Marines can soak damage well.
There really isn’t much of anything you need to watch out for in this stage. Your forces are solid, powerful and can handle pretty much anything. Just don’t lose any, because all of them are expensive. Keep holding your victory points and keep slowly pressing your enemy back – and you will be fine.
Late game
The Space Marines feature only a single late game unit and it’s the Predator tank. A powerful tank by any right and not very expensive to build, but it’s vulnerable if you let it get too close to the frontlines and it’s nowhere near as powerful as the Eldar Avatar or Tyranid Carnifex. Useful, cheap, but surprisingly can’t ‘tank’ a huge amount of damage.
This is the stage of the game where you need to be on your toes and play your best game. If you let the game drag out too long then Eldar and Tyranid players will gain a decisive advantage with their powerful Tier 3 units and superunits. Orks aren’t quite as tricky to take on, because they’re in exactly the same boat you are in (except it’s an even weaker tank).
If you already hold the advantage then keep reinforcing your defensive lines, but if you do not then you need to press on hard now. If you let up then the opponent will gain time to build even more powerful units and only place you in further trouble. You may want to try going around your opponent with sneaky scouts and capping points behind enemy lines to turn the tide of battle back in your favor.
If you can get a Terminator squad or Venerable Dreadnought on your side (depends on hero choice) then you definitely want to save up for them. These units can totally turn your relatively weak late game around, because they can wreak havoc amongst any army, Tier 1 through Tier 3.
For the Space Marines, ranged combat is their forte
Best practices
- If you use a Techmarine then place your turrets in strategic locations. Have them face where the enemy will come from, but covered by low rocks in front, or a wall or cliff behind them.
- Teleporters are best placed behind turrets so that your units can retreat there for quick reinforcements and then head back out under cover of your turret. Another good location is on your side of a victory point.
- Don’t underestimate your Scouts, especially when upgraded with shotguns. Their shotguns actually blow enemy infantry units away, effectively taking them out of the battle. This can turn a properly microed Scout squad into an effective frontline fighting force.
- Use your abilities to call in troops. Whichever hero you choose, you can always call in Terminators or Venerable Dreadnoughts. These are all units well-worth having. Tactical Marines can be called in when in dire need, but might not be the best use of your resources.
- You can afford to be a little later in advancing to tier 2 than your opponent when playing Space Marines. It’s not advisable, but you won’t be quite as screwed as you would be when playing Eldar or Orks in the same situation.
- Scouts can repair your vehicles, so make sure to retreat that damaged Dreadnought before it dies and have a Scout squad patch it up for another go.
- Your scouts are effective for luring enemy forces into a trap. Infiltrate and send them towards the enemy, fire and retreat them back toward your point and watch your opponent fall victim to your powerful Bolter/Plasma squad killing zones as they follow you in.
- Razorbacks may be fairly weakly armored units, but they are great transports. With Space Marine units being so slow, a Razorback can help to improve your mobility and allow you to strike in unexpected places.
- Scouts can gain grenades when upgraded which allow you to disperse enemy troops easily. They’re not as powerful as Eldar Guardian grenades, but useful nonetheless.
- Ranged combat is your forte, but most of your units are durable and can hold their own in melee as well. An easy way to avoid melee combat is equipping a Tactical Marine squad with a flamethrower, or having a Dreadnought around.
- Don’t bother with hit & run attacks, your units aren’t designed for it, because they can’t run.
I hope this guide has helped you improve your Space Marine game. If you’d like to express your thoughts on any of the tactics and tips provided here, or if you would like to expand upon the list above, please feel free to leave a comment!
See you again in two days for a new article – and a new race!
You can read the other DoW 2 guides in this series at:
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Ive tried to play well with the Space Marines in the beta but never got the hang of it.
After reading the post before, i think i will give the Eldar a try first and if that “epicly” fails, ill try the space marines.
The Eldar aren’t a particularly awesome race to start out with, because they’re the most difficult race to get the hang of.
You should probably stick to playing a few campaign missions first and going online with the Space Marines again. Or give the Orks, which will be covered here soon, a try.
Thanks for the guide, very useful as a DoW beginner.
Thanks for this guide Droniac – just won my first match with space marines :-)
Congratulations Danny!
Hopefully it’s a prelude for what’s to come ;)
Hi nice review one question though do you have any advice as to how to beat the tyranids as the space marines ive tried almost everything but anytime im facing the nids i get…. well messed up, but against eldar or orcs i always win, are the nids just better or is there a certain stratagie i should use, i apreaciate the help
The tyranid are a melee and infantry heavy race, which relies heavily on strength in numbers. So the best way to counter them is to field a force that is strong against these kinds of units.
So upgrade your scouts with shotguns (knockback is excellent against groups of infantry – and good for taking down warriors) and have your Force Commander fitted with proper melee gear. Also make sure you have the Iron Halo upgrade for the FC’s shield ability.
Fitting out a Tactical Marines squad with flamethrowers is a good way to tear through those gaunt masses. An Assault Marine squad is a nice next pick with their good knockback effect on landing and ideally used to pick off ranged units to the rear of their army (Zoanthropes, Warriors with ranged upgrades, etc.).
As you advance you’ll want to make good use of your Assault Marines Thunder and Lightning upgrade to gain access to Melta Bombs. These are useful against the Tyranid Carnifex – as are Tac Marine rockets. Have a Tac Marine squad with plasma upgrade as well for dealing with raveners – and a Razorback can help lay down devastating anti-infantry fire.
Predators later on for overwhelming ranged power. Devastator Plasma Cannon Squads can be used to keep them at bay, but are much more easily overwhelmed by Tyranids than other races.
Great stuff :P. but one question: how do you get custom badges?
I know this is off subject but how did you get a custom badge for the Taurans? I take it this is your Chapter you’ve come up with? I would love to be able to do it for my chapter.
Thanks:)
Actually the Taurans chapter is one of the chapters you could get with a DoW 2 pre-order at specific stores. I got mine from Amazon (UK) which came with the Taurans, a couple of extra singleplayer weapons and a number of additional colours.
As far as I know there isn’t any way of adding custom badges to the army painter right now. From what I’ve heard it’s because Microsoft doesn’t like it (Games for Windows Live integrity bull). So right now you’re limited to whatever came with the game.
really gd guide i use the techmarine al the time just for the turrets i think iv found i nice way to set them up i think i would lov a game with u som time if u dont mind owning a noob lol names el_husso for steam account and el husso for xbox live account.
I always find Space Marines a little expensive for multiplayer. I can’t seem to get a hang of it.
For example, if I play against Orks (Medium CPU), they will try to overwhelm me with their version of the Dreadnaught and tactical marines with rocket launchers aren’t strong enough to take them down.
Is there a way to play Space Marines more cost efficiency?
Im stuck against the carnifex in multiplayer, especially if armed with a venom cannon, as they have a ridiculous ammount of health and seem to be pretty much impossible to take down if there is more than one. This is made worse if supported by adrenal gland warriors who tear up any kind of response you have. I have tried both rockets and predators and both seem to have nowhere near enough effect to take them down. Also im almost definatly sure that melta bombs have no effect against the carnifex.
Hey, Droniac!^^Thanks for this ridicously good guide, it helped me alot with my space marines!I actually win more often, thanks to your guide that showed me a trick or two:-)
I actually find Marines to be too slow in multiplayer, especially in head-to-head. I find that their slow and expensive units just don’t cut it when the enemy captures points a lot quicker than me. I’ve tried a methodical advance, but i just get quickly overwhelmed by the enemy getting resource superiority. And of course, this means that my upgrades and new units are slower than when i play other races. Also, i understand that Tac Marines are meant to be better than other races in early game, but they honestly don’t feel any better. Nids tie them up in combat easily and Eldar seem to be able to out shoot them. Any ideas on what im doing wrong? Maybe im just being unlucky with my opponents, so far all seem to have been 40+ ranking while i’ve not even got a race above rank 3.
@Ben – the rank 40 opponents are probably a big part of it. Strategy games, unlike shooters, are extremely experience dependent games. As you play more, your chances of winning improve dramatically because you get to know your chosen race and its abilities better. In shooters this is (at least initially) less of a factor and ‘pure skill’ comes into play more. You’d have to be both very skilled and quite lucky to beat a rank 40 at rank 3.
Another part of it is that very experience. As a rank 3 you probably haven’t played too many matches yet. After you have more matches under your belt, you’ll find that your play improves. Tiny things will happen like tweaking your movements on certain maps to be more efficient, cranking out units in a more specific order, switching up to better hero upgrades, etc. This will all come slowly, but eventually you’ll start to see that your game really is improving and you’re holding out better against these opponents – or actually winning more often.
The final bit is just using the right tactics at the right moment – which requires a fair bit of strategy gaming experience (to implement properly). Apart from methodical advances you can try focused attacks on single sides – and expanding from there on out. Another potential move is to fall back (fake) front line defense troops to let the enemy charge your stations, only to run into your real defensive line. Then after you’ve smashed his advancing forces, you can quickly capitalise on his momentary weakness. But keep in mind that none of these tactics will be especially effective against a rank 40 player, who is likely to have seen them all employed numerous times.
In those unfair situations, your best bet is to just save the replay and see what he did to beat you. Watching (your own) replays is always good, because it helps you identify weak spots in your own tactics and strategies. And watching those of better players allows you to pick up on the more subtle moves they utilize that can make a difference in the end. A good website for replays is gamereplays.org, they have replays (and – importantly – replay forums) for just about every strategy game, including DoW 2.
Good luck.
Hey great guide. It is very useful but i have a suggestion, include next time a section on how to destroy Avatars and Carnifixes. I have problems on killing those to monsters. I use the space marines but cannot seem to dent the two beasts. If you can give any advice thanks. I am lvl 15 with the space marines and still have trouble beating the eldar and tyranids. And one more question when you lvl up what do the armors do???
This guide is without a do, perfecto!`!`!, Man, this is were its at. Thank you so much for this.
Version 1.4 is about to be released (this summer) with a wealth of new maps, and more importantly: loads of balance changes.
I might add some updated DoW 2 guides to account for balance changes after this next patch. Until then: take into account the fact that the balance has changed since the writing of these articles, so some of the unit recommendations may no longer be valid.
Great guide dude:>
It really helped me alot when i first started out , But your not mentioning the dreadnought assault cannon very much… When i play with a dreadnought it’s bound to have one before it even left the base(When facing tyranids/orcs or someone using alot of infantry),
Just click the Iwin button it gives when facing alot of infantry and watch the magic happen:>… (a good tip is having 1-2 marine squads supporting with some anti tank weapons and they can smash up a hugh number of enemies in no time at all).
Well maybe it’s just me thinking this… But a assault cannon sure does hurt ALOT when used in the right moment: >
I’m a fairly new fan of DoW. I actually went so far as to buy the most recent 40K book series. For the most part, I love the Hell out of the game, but I’ve never been very good at it. I was wondering if you might be putting up a more extensive guide on microing, or if you knew of a good guide somewhere, for the Space Marines. I’m fairly set on them, and don’t plan to change races. Thanks dude.
Hey mate,
I bought DoW2 yesterday since it was on sale, and comes with this new patch. I played some 3v3 with two friends, all of us vs AI. Seems we can beat 3 Hard AI but two Hard and one Expert always seem to get the better of us.
So I googled for a game guide and guess where it pointed me =P
Looking forward to your updated version of this. Though the tops above look like they’ll be useful regardless of the changes that happened. I definitely don’t utilize the units as I should.
Hey Cyrris,
It was well worth the purchase I hope? Last weekend was 50% off on Steam and I got more than my money’s worth for twice that amount ;)
Dawn of War 2 is very much a game of utilizing your units properly. It’s not quite as ‘hard counter’ as most RTS games, so you can win even if you don’t have the correct counter units built. A lot has changed in the recent patch, but that hasn’t.
The updated version looks like it might take a while. Quite a heavy workload nowadays and there are a number of entries I’m looking to finishing first. But I might be able to sneak an updated Eldar (my race of choice, until the Tau arrive) guide in there somewhere :p
Oh and to Daniel:
I’m looking into a series of become-a-better-rts player articles. A series for FPS players will come first, but it’s being worked on at least. Micro improvement tips will be featured :)
I just used Assault Marines and Terminator armour on my commander for the first time today.
I think I stand a better chance already!
OMG thank you. I’m a little late getting into DOW2 and its completely confusing coming from DOW.
I can actually win a non-campaign game now. Thank you.
Thanks a heap. I can actually win games now I got 5 straight wins. Instead of getting 5 losses in a row.
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