A Little Race breakdown

[1hit]

As I have posted in my other post, I am new to Warhammer.And since I am new to Warhammer I lack knowledge of the races in this game, and their advantages and disadvantages.If someone can give me a quick rundown of what is what and advantages and disadvantages I would appreciate it.


P.S.-I been playing Warcraft since the first one, so if someone wants to compare the rundown to stuff in Warcraft it would help me understand better.

Thanks for your help! :bandit:

[Gastrian]

Its good you are refering to WC as its a rip-off of the WH40K universe.

Space Marines are genetically enhanced humans, normally they'd fill the role of humans but more realisticall they'd fill the role of Knights, lesser troops like footmen aren't available to them. They are strong, tough good in both close and ranged combat but are limited in numbers they can also be expensive.

Eldar are essentially space elves. Fast, good shots and good in close combat though they are the weakest in both strength and toughness. Apart from their core troops guardians (meat shields) they are extremely specialised, they have dedicated heavy weapons and close combat troops which only work in their given role. They also have the most advanced and powerful technology.

Chaos are essentially space marines who worship dark gods, while Marines have better and more varied vehicles Chaos have access to daemons.

Orks = Orcs with guns nothing else really needs to be said about them.

There are more details than this but it conflicts with the NDA I signed up to.

[GreatSamaman]

Here is what Shadione has said in an interview found here (http://www.totalvideogames.com/pages/articles/index.php?article_id=5895&page=1):

There are 4 playable races in the game: Space Marines, Chaos, Orks, and Eldar.

Space Marines are the most conventional and versatile force. Their units are well rounded, good at close combat and at range. They’re tough, and can adjust to any combat situation on the fly. Their units are all very elite and so cost more and take longer to field, so they generally field smaller numbers than most of the other armies. They also rely heavily on their vehicles, and have the largest selection of vehicles of any race in the game. While they lack the huge, 30-foot tall daemons of other races they make up for this with devastating abilities, like orbital bombardment, and the ability to drop units almost anywhere on the battlefield. They also have the most powerful single infantry and vehicle units in the game, the near-unstoppable Terminators, and the massive Land Raider transport tank. They’re the easiest army to jump in and play, because their units and weapons are easy to understand, and their numbers are low, meaning less management. The challenge and fun comes in the versatile tactics that their units and broad array of weapon options provide.

Chaos is an elite mob of daemonic warriors who rely on very powerful, but expensive, units and in some cases mass numbers to crush their enemies. Chaos field horde units like cultists to engage and distract their enemy, followed with versatile elite warriors who take advantage of the enemy’s confused state to destroy them. Chaos use many surprise tactics like summoning daemons directly onto the battlefield. Chaos love to stare their enemy in the face, and so have more powerful close combat options than Space Marines. And when all else fails, Chaos can field some of the singularly most powerful units in the game, including Obliterators, and the Bloodthirster, a monstrous greater daemon. The downside of Chaos is their high unit cost and long production time. A mistake can be very costly with such an elite force. Chaos is the race for the player who likes power tactics, likes huge and powerful creatures, mobs of infantry, and cool abilities. If you can handle all that power, they can be a devastating force on the field.

Orks are for players who like to use straightforward tactics and ‘lots’ of units to overwhelm their enemy. Orks have the lightest armour of any of the races, but can be fielded in the greatest numbers. They are a fast, hard-hitting, close combat focused army that uses brutal fire support like artillery and the mighty Squiggoth transport to throw their enemy off-balance, and then sweep over them with a horde of troops. Orks are also a very aggressive and dynamic force which can generate an enormous amount of firepower (albeit very inaccurate firepower) from every unit, structure, and vehicle, even while on the move. Orks are a great force for the player who likes fielding a massive, chaotic army without worrying about what each particular unit does.

To overcome their enemies the Eldar focus on their high speed, high firepower, and affinity for deception and misdirection. Unlike the versatile, well-rounded Space Marines, or the close-combat focused Orks, each Eldar unit has a specialised role that they excel at. These specialisations make them very strong at what they do, but also very weak when they are out of their element. Each piece of the Eldar army must work together in concert to assure victory, but when they do it is a sight to behold. The Eldar also rely on high-speed units and transportation systems. They can teleport infantry units and even entire bases between their Webway Gate structures, cloak their bases, and have the fastest vehicles in the game. They also have powerful psychic units that are able to lay waste to anyone who opposes them. The downside of this army is that its units are fragile compared to the other armies. The Eldar are ideal for players who like sneaky tactics, powerful abilities, and combined arms tactics. They are one of the hardest forces to master, and represent a good challenge for the advanced player.
There ya go. If you really want to find out more about the races, and the 40K universe and such, then this belongs in the TT/Fluff forum, so I'm moving it there. The only other people who could give you the real nitty-gritty of how the game plays, are the current beta testers, and they can't violate their NDA's. :D

[1hit]

Thank You!

[Athair]

Tau are a young race (compared to the others) and are technologically advanced. They are VERY poor in CC so hire Kroot Mercenaries. The Tau are famous for The Greater Good and dedicating themselves to it.

Tyranids (nids) are aliens from another galexy. They finished off that one (or more) and are heading in to eat up our galexy and steal our DNA to make new Nids. Nids tend to be either cheap and numerous, or very powerfull and less numerous.

Dark Eldar are Eldar who are Evil(er) and take delight in capturing and torturing others. DE are low in toughness and strength. Their basic guns are weak, though some of the others pack a punch, and they are one of the fastest races.

Imperial Guard are the human troops. They are the basic defenders of the Imperium, having billions of troops and thousands (about) of factions. They can field a large number of troops and/or a large number of tanks.

Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, and Chaos Marines are explained above.

Oops, forgot Necrons
Necrons are robots who got enslaved by the C'tan AKA Star Gods (Big star eating beings). They are a static army, relying mainly on a large force running into and crushing the enemy (althogh, as with any other race, you can make a fast one). They are the oldest and most technologically advanced race. They lose the battle in TT if you kill 75% of what are deemed to be "Necrons". In addition, they hate all life, and hold a grudge against Eldar.

[chocolate]

Oh, but I wanna. In any case, heres a rundown on some other species not in the game.
Tyranids
If you have played Starcraft, think Zerg. They attack in massive swarms of insect like creatures, very powerful close combat warriors (genestealers are spectacular), with a little long range weaponry. Additionally, they tend to mutate and change a lot. o represent this in the tabletop game, you can create new strains of a particular species (give it wings, make it faster, have bigger claws, etc.).
Imperial Guard
These guys are the footsoldiers. Since each regiment is different depending on what word they were raised, there isn't a good "vanilla" idea. The closest and most numerous is Russia in WW2.
Sisters of Battle
Nuns with guns
Necrons
Robots with incredibly powerful long range weaponry, and the ability to get back up after being shot a lot. Think ancient egypt, futuristic robot style.

[DarthVaygr]

The Eldar sound like the Vaygr of HW2, while the Space Marines the Hiigarans. However, neither of them are portrayed as the *bad bad BAD guys*

[HeraldofNurgle]

Yeah I thought the exact same thing actually. Specialized versus Well-rounded, just like the Vaygar and Hiigarans.

If you are intrested in Warhammer 40000 beyond DoW, then I highly recommend this site (http://www.criticalhit.co.uk/w40krp/appendix.shtml), there's oodles of info there for those looking to learn about the universe GW has cooked up. And go to www.games-workshop.com if you want to know something about the Table Top game.

[Lanquis]

Space Marines- genetically enhance human warriors
Eldar- an ancient psychic race
Orks- a barbaric horde race with definite social hierarchy
Chaos- the dark deamonic and evil race
Imperial Guard- basic humans with guns and armour closest to our armies in the modern world
Sisters of Battle- like SM only girls and not genetically modified
Inquisition- they keep chaos from warping humanity
Tau- a young vigorous and technologically advanced race
Dark Eldar- eldar who like to enslave and torture stuff
Necrons- robotic bad dudes enslaved by the C'tan
C'tan- a race of star gods of which 4 remain they want to 'harvest' all life
Tyranids- they also want to harvest everything but are not robotic and evolve very quickly
Kroot- a race of vicious canabalistic headhunter types (they are sort of good guys though)

btw Dante dont mention squats around the Games Workshop people, it will only end in tears! :D

[Dante]

You forgot about the most powerful of the races...The Foreboding Squats! The dwarves of space! The harbirngers of doom to all who are taller than them! haha actually they were an army but got eaten by the nids! yeah just thought you would like to know...

[ReyvnDarKnight]

The Eldar once had a homeworld. Their power resided within their psychic abilities and technological advances. And they used and abused this power by seeking hedonistic pleasure in all its depraved forms. As their power grew, so too did their worship of their god Mensha Khaine the Blood God grow. This hedonistic frenzy reached such heights in power that a new Chaos Lord, Slaanesh, was given birth. And he proceeded to lay waste to the Eldar Homeworld and surrounding star systems. The Eldar cried out for relief and Mensha Khaine arrived to protect his people. A great fight erupted between Khaine and Slaanesh. Though Khaine was powerful, Slaanesh was fighting for survival and killed Khaine shattering his body into several pieces. Survivors of Slaanesh's attack left the Eldar homeworldd and gathered the shattered remains of Khaine and their culture. As a result of the birth of Slaanesh and the resultant destruction, the Eye of Terror was created.

To save their culture, the Eldar created Craftworlds. Starships the size of planets that move through the universe as the Eldar seek a homeworld worthy enough to settle. Each Craftworld took a piece of Khaine with them and that piece became known as the Avatar of Khaine. This Avatar is a giant metal statue sitting on a throne in a great hall. More about the Avatar later.

To protect themselves from their heonistic nature, the Eldar developed the Path for the Warrior which served two purposes:
1. Provided a standing army ensuring that everyone was trained enough to fight an protect the craftworld.
2. The Path provied the discipline needed for the Eldar to renounce their heonistic ways and protect themselves from Slaanesh

Now as you can see, the Eldar are beings of extremists. They took their psychic hedonistic desires to such an extreme they destroyed their homeworld. So too did they take this new discipline to an extreme level. The path is followed deeper and new troop types developed and specialized (ie Dire Avengers, Howling Bashees, Swooping Hawks). The path can be followed to such an extreme that the Warrior can become an Exarch who leads that paticular group.

In times that require great power to repel a paticular force, the Avatar is awakened and he leads the army of the Eldar against whatever force threatens the Craftworld.

Though the Path was a salvation for some Eldar, others were unwilling to embrace this new discipline. There was dissent and a civil war erupted. These Eldar renounced the Path and fled the Craftworlds. They would cointiue to embrace their hedonistic search for pleasure through psychic and technological means and this group became known as the Dark Eldar.

The Eldar has a history that is as rich and in depth as the Imperial history.

[orkdom]

you could try looking at the races section of the main DoW website...

[Caldias]

Just to clarify, the Kroot are most definitely NOT cannibals. They're carnivores. Cannibalism to them is like inbreeding to us.