I am new and need help with how to start

[JoonKimDDS]

I have played other RTS games including starcraft, CNC, warcraft, company of heroes...etc.

I just played dawn of war II and getting owned really badly in Multiplayer.

First of all, how many races are there?
what are very distinctive features of them?
(for example, in Starcraft, Zerg was weak but fast, terrran is defensive, and protoss was expensive but strong and slower)

and how many heroes per each race? and what's their characteristics?

what should I do to increase my skill? I played campaign but it seems campaign is totally different expereience than multiplayer.

[Bowkers]

Wow, those are long quesitons buddy :)

It may be worth reading the beta archives-this will give you some idea of what each race can do, what each individual hero can do etc.

Help (http://forums.relicnews.com/forumdisplay.php?f=244)

Of course you'll need to sieve your way through it, but some of the threads there are good guidelines.

But for your easier questions there are 4 races: Space Marines, Eldar, Tyranids and Orks.

There are three heroes to each race.

SM= Apothecary, heals your guys, Techmarine builds stuff like relays and turrets and Force Commander which is good in melee etc.

Eldar= Warlock, offensive hero, Farseer, casts spells disrupts stuff, Warp Spider, teleports and good at melee, can transport other people's armies in.

Tyranids= Hive Tyrant, attack hero, Lictor, disruptive hero(stealth), Ravener-can burrow tunnels behind enemy lines.

Orks- Warboss-offensive, Kommando, stealth, Mek, builds turrets and Waagh banners.

Brief I know, but browsing will help :)

Hope it helps and good luck.