Dawn of War: Squad System
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Squad System
In Dawn of War, most infantry units operate in squads rather than lone units. These squads are complete production centers for a particular type of unit, allowing the addition of more squad members, the upgrading of weapons, or the addition of leader units to provide special capabilities. For almost every purpose all the members of a squad are treated as a single unit - members of a squad will move and fight together at all times, squads gain and lose morale as a whole, and if any unit in a squad is engaging in melee combat then no member will be able to use ranged weaponry. With the exception of the Ork race, which uses a special population system, population usage is also determined by what squads are fielded and not how many individual units are present. So for the Imperial Guard, two Guardsmen Squads always take up 4 infantry cap as long as they are on the field, even if both have only one member remaining, while one squad with twelve members would only take 2 cap.
Reinforcing
Reinforcing a squad will add a single new member to the squad. Reinforcing usually costs the same as each individual squad member cost when the squad was purchased, but some units may cost slightly more to reinforce, such as Space Marine Squads, or significantly less, such as a Guardsmen Squad. Overwatching the reinforce command will automatically bring the squad to its maximum size, but keep in mind this may not always be the best option. Many squads which can upgrade heavy weapons rely on them to provide the vast majority of their damage, so if not every member of the squad can be upgraded with a heavy weapon, the regular members of the squad may not serve much purpose other than acting as a meat shield for the upgraded members. Whether or not this is useful depends on the squad and the player's preferences. Generally, if the regular squad members have the same weapons range as the upgraded heavy weapons, the squad size should be maxed out. Otherwise, extra squad members should only be added when more important expenses are covered first.
Heavy Weapons
Some squads allow individual squad members to be upgraded with heavy weaponry. Purchasing a heavy weapon for the squad will replace a single squad member's weapon with a new, more powerful one. Only the weapon type purchased, ranged or melee, is upgraded; although the animations for the other mode of combat may change, the damage and all other properties of the unit remain the same. Most squads can only purchase a limited number of heavy weapons, so heavy weapons should be selected to match both the other unit types in the player's army as well as the units fielded by the opponent. The heavy weapons available to a squad are listed on that squad's page, and a full list of the heavy weapons available to each race can be found as part of the hotkeys page.
Squad Leaders
Most squads allow special squad leaders to be added, although generally not after extra requirements are met beyond those necessary to build the squad itself. Squad leaders can provide many different bonuses to their squad, including extra morale, health, damage, or even special abilities. Squad leaders should always be added as soon as they are available. They typically have at least as much firepower as the regular members of the squad, and the extra bonuses can dramatically increase the effectiveness of every member of the squad. Squad leaders are listed on the squad they are built in, and all of the available squad leaders are listed on the hotkeys page right below the squad they are part of.
Attachment
Some lone units have the ability to attach to squads, whereupon that unit will act as if it was a regular member of the squad, including using the squad's morale as its own (or become morale immune if the squad is), though it will still retain the use of its own abilities, will not count toward any squad member or leader limits, and can not use the squad interface to be reinforced if it dies while attached. This arrangement can be ended at any time by unattaching the unit. If all the members of the original squad die and only the attached unit remains, it will automatically become unattached. Only one unit can be attached to a squad at any given time. Not all squads will accept attachments, and not all lone units can attach. For example, the only Tau units that will accept attachments are Kroot Carnivores and Kroot Hound Packs, and only the Kroot Shaper can attach to any Tau units, as the Tau Commander and Ethereal are unattachable. The benefits of attachment can vary from unit to unit. Some units provide powerful bonuses when attached, such as the Imperial Guard Priest. Fragile units such as Sanctioned Psykers may attach to squads to increase their survival chances in heated combat. Some units have the option to be attached, but are frequently more useful when unattached, such as a Chaos Lord.
The Dawn of War Player's Guide
The Dawn of War Player's Guide - Thought of the day: Knowledge is power, guard it well. | ||||||||
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