[CR] Wrath of the Blood Ravens mod

[Fulcaris]

the squads from the book are like this
Command Squad - Davian Thule-ps he carries a relic blade called wisdom which is given to aramus after the death of governor vandus
Chaplain Palmarius
Librarian Nivian
Scout Squad Cyrus(6 scouts) all have sniper rifles

First Squad Tactical Merrick (after the death of Merrick Aramus takes charge) (9 marines including Merrick excluding Aramus)
Third Squad Tactical Aramus AND Tarkus (7 marines) heavy bolter and flamer
Seventh Assault Squad Thaddeus (9 marines) all bolters and chainswords
Ninth Devastators Avitus (8 marines) heavy bolters and meltguns but i guess you can ignore that
if you really need it i can name every single marine in the squad

[ezryder914]

Mission- Secrets of Angel Forge. I always get stuck in this mission and can go no further. The mission gets hung up on the cut scene, where the Farseer shows up with 2 Grav tanks and 2 walkers, and they are suppose to break down the gate, yet the wall is never destroyed, and the cut scene never ends. They just keep hammering away, over and over, and nothing happens.

Help is greatly appreciated, thank you.

I was getting hung up in the same place, except they did break down the gate. After sitting and watching the gate for 4 minutes I started to suspect something was wrong.

I found (after the third time of watching a wraithlord standing at the busted down gate) that if I hit the ESC key constantly once the cut scene starts, the cut scene would end shortly after the Farseer went off screen. YMMV

[DeusImperator]

Wow that is great, but I take the game-fluff before that of the book. So FC, Thaddeus, Avitus and Tarkus are of the 4th company. Cyrus remains of the 10th And Thule carries a heavy bolter . Why not Alexian's blade, no one can tell.
Merric got demoted to IG sergeant.

So Aramus's squad got a flamer and a heavy bolter?
Hm Avitus had Multimeltas ?

I do not have ANY idea why that bug with Angel gate occurs. However with me it takes a lot of time to blow Angel Gate down.

EDIT: I tried angel gate.
First time it froze, and i used Windows program manager to quit.
I replaced the save with the back-up
The mission run flawlessly the second time.

Edit : Predator fixed, this time for real.
Plasma cannon reload time and damage increased.
Dreadnought barrage fixed.

[IGBoy]

Isn't Aramus the name of the Force Commander that we play in DoW2?

[DeusImperator]

I don't think so.

Aramus was a 5th company Tactical Sergeant who spent his previous mission on a campaign against Tyranids , which earned him his promotion to Sergeant. He was promoted to commander after Thule "half-died".
He is described as native of Meridian, a noble, who got recruited with Thaddeus. He is also described as being a darker-coloured version of Thaddeus.
I'm not be sure, but I think he arrived with Captain Thule. I'm not sure on that.

The FC was fighting against a humanoid foe (most likely Chaos) on the planet of Hadrius, and he was promoted by the Chapter Master before the Hadrius campaign, but the promotion did not arrive prior to the Aurelia Crusade due to lag.
The commander is at least a hundred years older than Thaddeus, and most likely not a native to Meridian. He also has a lighter hair colour than Thaddeus (So definetly not darker than him ). He arrived with Tarkus.

They just don't seem the same person.

[Fulcaris]

he wasn't promoted to the rank of captain he assumed command because he was the highest ranking marine on board the armageddon (first squad sergeant) i dont remember if he was promoted to captain in the end though

[Gorb]

The FC was fighting against a humanoid foe (most likely Chaos) on the planet of Hadrius, and he was promoted by the Chapter Master before the Hadrius campaign, but the promotion did not arrive prior to the Aurelia Crusade due to lag.
The commander is at least a hundred years older than Thaddeus, and most likely not a native to Meridian. He also has a lighter hair colour than Thaddeus (So definetly not darker than him ). He arrived with Tarkus.

Where did you get all this information? There's a lot of assumptions in there, along with some incorrect points.

Where does it say the generic FC is at least 100 years older than Thaddeus? Why do you assume he wasn't recruited from Meridian? He also has a darker hair colour than Thaddeus; Thaddeus himself has a rather pale complexion and rather fair hair.

[Fulcaris]

its from the books gorb

[SpardaSon21]

Weren't the Blood Ravens books written by C.S. Goto? Ignore them.

[DeusImperator]

I assume a humanoid foe because if I remember correctly, he was fighting against Artillery dug up in the mountains. Which is not something tyranids have or do.

http://www.dawnofwar2.com/us/info/squadleaders
Both the FC and Thaddeus got dark brown hair, but the FC got a little blonde in it (or dye). I think Aramus had black hair, but I'm not sure.

Every marine in DoW2 has a fair complexion, except Jonah .

Thule and Avitus are 400 years old. They have two service studs. Service studs stand for 10(in old fluff), 50, 100 or 200 years. Now Avitus is 400 years old and has two. Do the math. The FC got one. That is somewhere between 200 and 399. Thaddeus is 80 years old. 200-80=120.
The promotion is from loading screen, along with the enemy artillery. On the FC's last mission, he inserted via walking (because the artillery was "inaccessible both to drop pods and thunderhawks) and took out the Artillery, without loosing a SINGLE Sm.
He is not from Meridian since the loading screens make a point out of it Thaddeu had been the first BR to be from Meridian in hundreds of years ( 7 hundred perhaps? ) .

Aramus was promoted after the recovery of a Relic ( a scroll?) which cost almost half of his squad and his Sarge.

Also, under Aramus Typhon and Calderis was destroyed. I'm not sure on it, but Tarkus was not a sarge and most likely died.
In Chaos rising , Tarkus and both planets seem to be OK.

SpardaSon21, I'm not ignoring it, just the parts that conflict with DoW2 the game. There are canon parts in both Robertson and Goto's works.

[Gorb]

I don't use the squad portraits from that site as a source of information, given that Thaddeus actually has two squad portraits, one of which showcases him having fairer hair than in the image shown on the Squad Leaders page (which is outdated, given that it dates back to before the release of DoW 2). The second squad portrait is located ingame, and also his ingame model shows him as having fair hair.

As for service studs . . . they could mean anything. Also, where does it say all of their ages? I've checked that site and it doesn't tell you anything about their respective ages. And Avitus only has one service stud in his squad portrait there (and ingame, IIRC). The FC/Aramus has one, Tarkus has two, Cyrus has one and Thaddeus doesn't have one. This could put Thaddeus and the FC at similar ages, especially since the Aurelian conflict meant they were low on reinforcements, and if Thaddeus was due to receive a service stud he probably wouldn't have gotten one because there would have been no time to implant it.

And in the novel, it's not confirmed that Tarkus died. Marines can survive in the cold vacuum of space, so if we accept the fact he made it off the hive ship then it's possible he could have survived. As for Typhon and Calderis being destroyed . . . they weren't. They were stripped and Tyranoformed by the Tyranids. From the only footage we have of those planets so far (from the Dev Diary) they are shown to be rather Tyranoformed. This would match up with the events in the book.

[DeusImperator]

I'm still right, because of the loading screen said so.

On service studs:
Avitus has two too. Cyrus got one. Tarkus got two.
Cyrus calls Tarkus the Elder brother of Avitus and Thaddeus. That means he is older than Avitus.

What else could service stud mean? How much they like mudkips?

Calderis was being destroyed by the orks in the book, not the Tyranids.

A world can not be stripper AND Tyrannoformed. It is tyrannoformed, than stripped.

[Fulcaris]

It is assumed that Tarkus is dead and died in the hiveship along with the surviving four members of his squad after he was left on Typhon to oversee the evacuation of the civilians on the planet.
and Aramus and Thaddues were both born there because in the sparring halls of the Armegeddon they where talking about it and it says the Aramus is from the high hab spires and Thaddeus from the streets

[Gorb]

Deus, link me the image of Avitus from the website you linked to me as the evidence behind your arguments. It will show Avitus with one service stud.

Calderis was being destroyed by the orks in the book, not the Tyranids.

A world can not be stripper AND Tyrannoformed. It is tyrannoformed, than stripped.

I'm sorry, read the book again. Where does it say "the Orks blew up Calderis". The planet was not destroyed; the Warboss was on a recruiting mission much the same as Davian Thule was with regards to his Blood Trials.

As for your other statement, that makes no sense. Tyranids strip a target world of it's native fauna and wildlife, and then begin the Tyranoforming process that turns it into a ecosystem that can support Tyranid lifeforms.

[DeusImperator]

Alright enough offing. As for the studs, the other one is closer to the cybernetics... I'm sure there is two. I made an ingame screen shot that clearly shows it, but I hope my word is enough.

Tyrannoforming is transforming the planet's native fauna into tyranid one. Stripping it of life comes after it...

I think the Ork warboss's recruitment was that he bombed the planet to death. The best (thousand? ) feral orks got selected and thus lived, the other ones died with the planet.


I'm thinking I'll first mod in Gordian and Martellus. Is it possible to spawn multiplayer-like heroes into the campaign via drop pod? So that they could be upgraded for free with multiple gear like Bolter, plasma gun, etc?

EDIT: Does anybody knows how to make the Force Commander always use his special attack? Because without battlecry he has no chance at all against tyranid warriors.

Update: Gordian and Martellus spawn all right, but they have invisible weaponry. I'm working on it!

I'm trying to give IG flamers and plasma guns.

Perhaps I'll add Jaylo's ogryns to the IG Drop pod if he does not minds it.

[DeusImperator]

Update:

Gordian is working all right, and Martellus is almost done ( a few abilities need editing).

Gordian has a power axe, plasma pistol and a healing aura.
His abilities are : Conversion Field(like Iron Halo), Toxin grenades, combat stimulants and are of effect heal (same as standard rally).

Force Commander no longer has Toxin grenades.

Martellus has a plasma gun. His working abilities include Vortex and EMP Grenades and Conversion Field. I'm trying to get him repair vehicles and spawn turrets, but these do not work yet.



Some wargears are fixed. (level requirement the same as item level).

[Syrus101]

Deus with the back up for Angel Gate what is it? I'm currently stuck with that situation too

great mod btw, great fun just wish I could find a way to either bypass the mission or solve that glitch/crash

[DeusImperator]

I do not know. It had been present since before I even touched any files related to it.

I am at a loss why does it happen. Some people don't even have it.

However there is a way to bypass it.

1.First, go to My Documents->My Games->Dawn of war 2 ->SAve Games.
Make a RAR of your save game.
2. Go and play the mission. Try hitting ESC (escape) button while the Angel Gate movie is playing, it might help. If it freezes, quit any way you can.
3. Extract the RAR copy of your save game. THis should reset your campaign to Angel gate.
4. Angel Gate will run without errors . This always worked for me.

[ezryder914]

Update: Gordian is working all right, and Martellus is almost done ( a few abilities need editing). Gordian has a power axe, plasma pistol and a healing aura. His abilities are : Conversion Field(like Iron Halo), Toxin grenades, combat stimulants and are of effect heal (same as standard rally). Force Commander no longer has Toxin grenades. Martellus has a plasma gun. His working abilities include Vortex and EMP Grenades and Conversion Field. I'm trying to get him repair vehicles and spawn turrets, but these do not work yet. Some wargears are fixed. (level requirement the same as item level).

So these (and other?) fixes/changes will be in ver 1.4?

[DeusImperator]

Yes, they will be in.

Guardsmen can use frag grenades, Karskincan use krak greandes, and now both have 2 plasma guns per squad. These plasma guns are weaker than SM ones. Overall, the Guard is now worth their accessory slot, especially if there is a lot of cover to use.

Command Drop pods drops around level 4-6.

Martellus is fixed, he can now repair tanks, and has Iron Halo, Plasma, Vortex and EMP grenades.
I'm considering the removal of EMP grenades from Tarkus.

The boss bug is fixed. I think a self-multiplying ranged damage increasing aura on the scouts did that.

[Syrus101]

I did as you instructed but its still a no go

so my question is this, do you make a back up before you do any of the Angel Gate missions? or after you close it?

[DeusImperator]

After I close it, just before I start the second mission.

[dowshield2]

I got it to work by placing some turrets & mines at the gate, in the cut scene the eldar fight the turrets & hit the land mines, this slows them down and the game continues as normal ( works in co op mode, didnt try single player )

[Masterchief1170]

Deusimperator i realy like the compilation of the mods you are curently on and me and my friend are waiting to play it so much can u specify a release date of this mod ?

[DeusImperator]

There is already the 1.3 out. 1.4 will be out in less than a week.

So you put mines before Angel gate? I could increase the gate's Hit points.

You managed to get the mod running on COOP? You must have some great net connection.

[DeusImperator]

Version 1.4 is here:
http://www.easy-share.com/1908735004/WotBR14.rar

It adds Apothecary Gordian and Techmarine Martellus to the game, deployable by drop pod that drops around level 6-7.

Gordian is armed with a power axe and a plasma pistol.
He has an area of effect heal ability, combat stimulants that increase a marine squad's damage, toxin grenades that deal damage over time, and Iron Halo.

Martellus is armed with a plasma pistol, and he can repair vehicles.
He has Iron Halo, and can throw Plasma, Vortex and EMP grenades.

The Force Commander no longer has toxin grenades, and has a better chance of using his area-of-effect melee special attack.
Davian Thule and the Commander are now tougher.

Minor bugs and spelling mistakes are also fixed.

[SpardaSon21]

Great Mod DeusImperator. Now my Marines really feel like Marines, and the enemies are in the massive numbers they should be in. This mod really makes me feel like I'm leading an elite SM strike force. Only problem I'm having is that my squads aren't leveling that much, they're all only level 3 and I'm already heading back to Calderis to defend Argus Gate against the Orks. That wouldn't be a problem except all my wargear is level 4 or 5.

[DeusImperator]

Hm I usually get there on level five.
Leveling is slower due to the massive amount of enemies in the game.

[SpardaSon21]

Well I am using the alternate mod which has fewer enemies. That could be a reason why.

[miketwistam]

K, i've installed the alternate one, and one the first mission i'm encountering orc squads of 44 units. is it right? O.o i mean, this supposed to be the light version, but the numbers are the same. or is it so only on first mission?

[7lynx6]

I use your normal 1.4 version mod. In the Ulthué Idranel map, Idranel don't leave the fight. Her live points falls to 1609 and stay. Is it a scar bug?

[DeusImperator]

I did not encounter the idranel bug before. She never did that to me before. Could you please send me your save game file? Put it on rapidshare.
Also, did you start a NEW campaign for 1.4? That might be needed.

In the alternate version there are a few bugs still, like in the first mission where scar files spawn maximum squads.
(I edited some scar files that effect squad spawn to spawn understrenght squads, but perhaps I'll have to look into it again).

Spardason : That would make sense. I'll look into it alongside Miketwistam's problem.

[miketwistam]

btw Deus, have you any success in modifying Traits?

[7lynx6]

It is a new recruit campaign created with your normal 1.4 version mod.
You can download and try my save at :
http://rapidshare.com/files/322561243/WotBR14.sav.html
I saw that i the first mission, the truck don't escape and it's life points fall to 13 and stay. It's not a problem because when i destroy the cave access, it ends the mission.

[DeusImperator]

Thanks, I'll look into it.

I can modify some existing traits, but I got exams untill the end of January.

EDIT:
I can't seem to be able to use your save game. I'm sorry, I think I would need your profile for that. A pity.


The road to 1.5

Changes done : Space Marines ranged weapons damage reduced by 20%. Wargear level requirements fixed.

Planned changes:
More gibbing. SM weapons are extremely deadly, and remember, bolter rounds are explosive armor piercing rockets. They leave a mess. Also, hopefully the less corpses will reduce the lag.


I got to Idranel, however my save was from 1.3. No bug, but I'll have to wait for the 1.4 started character to get there.

[Dante2015]

Hi, I'm using your mod and have recently encountered a problem - gutrencha won't spawn when i go to kill him. I've tried waiting for a few minutes as I did for angel gate (I've played the game through once already with this mod, this is a problem that has literally just turned up).

I have no warning file or anything, and I've played through this mission several times now, even reinstalling the game and the mod (and updating the mod to it's latest version) and waited each time.

I know your busy and all with exams coming (I have january exams too...I guess I shouldn't be playing games), but I was wondering if you'd encountered anything like this, and if you could help shed some light on my problem.

Dante2015

[DeusImperator]

Hm what was the original mod version of the save when you started it?
Try moving your units all around the boss area, some of the boss spawns are very tricky.

I know I'll need to make a fully 1.4 new game, I'll do that as soon as I can.



Fixes: Sword of Purity, Blighted Armor awargear level and level requirements fixed.
Finally every entry that says "Vulcan" for the Salamander's home planet has been fixed to say "Nocturne" or refer to the Primarch Vulcan.

Weapons now do more gibbing damage.
Bolters, power axes/swords, chainswords, Dreadnought fists and plasma pistols : 30% chance to explode enemies.
plasma cannon, plasma gun and missile attacks : 100% and 90% chance.
Assault cannons, Power fists and Thunder hammers (all of them) has a 40% chance.

Davian Thule health, melee combat damage , melee combat special attack chance increased. Melee sync kill chance reduced to 10 from 25.

All Eldar infantry damage and health increased.

Space marine missile weapon damage slightly increased.

Carnifex damage and health reduced (now it is on the same level as a Wraithlord).

[Dante2015]

I started a new game and used a different name for my commander and it seems to be working fine today *shrugs* weird thing . I'm gonna try it again with the name i was using originally and see if it's still acting up.
I went from 1.3 to 1.4, but that was only after it started acting up.

[DeusImperator]

I have tested Angel Gate again. It froze the first time, and I pressed ALT-F4 . It exited and saved the progress. Even loot I think.
At the second try it worked without any error.
The gibbing reduces lag in my experience.

Merry Fistmas to you!

[Dante2015]

I find just leaving angel gate on for a few of minutes (go fix myself a drink or something) and it usually gets through it - does the gate have a ridiculous amount of health?

Merry Christmas to you too! lol

Thanks for a great mod :-D

[arn13]

I too had problems with Angel Gate. But I somehow managed to "force" it to work again. I forgot exactly how I did, I think it had something to do with repeatedly pressing the pause button. Again, I'm not exactly sure.

The game was then working fine until I encountered the same problem Dante faced with the Ork warboss not appearing. Except it has to do with the very last warboss. The one Angelos mentioned to be the Ork in charge of the entire horde. I've been running around the area hoping I'll trigger the script to make him come, but nothing. I just quit that mission and continued on playing regularly. However, I have a feeling that that mission is part of the main storyline :/

Other than that, I'm loving this mod. Squad sizes are a tad bit large, but it doesn't really ruin the gameplay. But now that Gabriel's Codex mod is released, can we expect it in a future version of your compiler mod? The combination of these four great mods would be just... bliss.

[DeusImperator]

I have already asked Gabriel Gorgutz about it, and he gave his permission. (We agreed to help each other)
However first I think I should let him "balance out" his mod. I might make the SP marine bolters like he did his bolters (Flashy-er, more loud and violent explosions).

Arn13, what squad sizes you mean ? Multiplayer? Single player enemies? (There is an alternate version with smaller SP enemy squads)

The ork warboss is not a main quest mission, but he should spawn. I touched no file in his script or scar.

[arn13]

I have already asked Gabriel Gorgutz about it, and he gave his permission. (We agreed to help each other)
However first I think I should let him "balance out" his mod. I might make the SP marine bolters like he did his bolters (Flashy-er, more loud and violent explosions).

Of course.
Knowing that there will be one is good enough for me

Arn13, what squad sizes you mean ? Multiplayer? Single player enemies? (There is an alternate version with smaller SP enemy squads)

Oh no, it's not the amount of squads that appear in a map, but the number of units that make up those squads. But it's not that big of a problem since I recently managed to tweak the sizes for myself (changed Guardian squad size to 20 instead of 25, Ork boys to 30 from 40, etc.)

Speaking of MP, I noticed that the game speed is significantly faster than that of SP. Is that normal? It's kind of funny seeing Space Marines dashing across the map.

The ork warboss is not a main quest mission, but he should spawn. I touched no file in his script or scar.

Hmm, that's strange then.
At least he's not that important to the main storyline.

[Akaelik]

I hit the Secrets of Angel gate mission and once the cutscenes have finished I get hit with a recurring scar error. I tried deleting the scar folder but found out Stean apparently does not install it. any suggestions?

[DeusImperator]

I and some other people encountered the problem before.
It can be solved by:
(My one) Quit the game and play Angel Forge again. It always runs error free the second time for me.
Other people managed to get the mission running by hitting the Escape or Pause buttons repeatedly as the cutscene plays.

Also, check if you have no other mods installed. It is extremely unlikely, but maybe they clash.

Arn13:
Hm it seems you have only slightly changed the campaign unit sizes. My alternate mod changes it to around 15 boys from 40. Perhaps there should be a "medium squad sizes" version too?

The faster units are Aliblabla's idea from Project WARhammer. I also made SP sm faster.
Fluff-wise, SM can run with 60 kilometers per hour, and their average marching seed is 45km/h. I think the same stands for Eldar, as they both have super-fast metabolism and speed.
There are some fast Orks and Nids (though not all I think).

[Akaelik]

I do not have any other mods to conflict with. I have tried to quit and re play but the scar error persisted... on the third attempt I lost my save altogether (I have not yet tried backing up the save file yet but that is next on my list.

I would try removing the scar folder but since steam apparently doesn't need it... no such luck. 8( I'm trying to acquire a non-steam version to see if i can tinker with it


Other than that and a few other minor quirks, you have a very welcoming mod on your hands... many kudos to you and the modders who built this

[Dante2015]

tried gutrencha with the same name again and it worked perfectly with him spawning as soon as i walked into the target area - it appears it was just being random.

[DeusImperator]

Apparently random errors happen quite a lot in DoW2.
It appears to be unstable with mods.

It happened with the DoW2 codex edition launch too.
I played it without errors, but some people couldn't even get it started, or crashed to the desktop upon entering the MP game.




I asked Gabriel Gorgutz if I could use some of his stuff, and he agreed.
However I'm not sure if this is final.

[DeusImperator]

1.5 changes already done:

MP overhaul:
FC jump pack is fixed.
Stern and Vanguard graphical update.
Tyranids got general weapon damage boost.
Extra gibbing added.
Larger squads have been reduced to smaller ones. This does NOT effects overall army size.
SM squads are more expensive. (+20 or 30% cost )
SM Tacticals upgraded with missile launchers can now change krak/frag grenades like a Fire Prism changes its firing mode.
Krak missile damage reduced.
Plasma cannon charge-up time removed. Overcharge ability added.
More HP for tyranid warriors and raveners, lictors.
Carnifex moved to tier 2.
All sergeants have helmets added, and more ornate armour.
New ork unit : BURNA BOYS!
Mek hero starts with big shoota, and can get rokkit launcha.

Devastators re-construction:
Now starts with 2 heavy bolter marines, who can upgrade their gear to Missile Launchers or Plasma cannons.
The squad can add either two plasma cannons, or two missile launchers or 2 heavy bolters.
I'm working on getting the sergeant to equip the weapons used by the two original squadmates (banner will be removed).
I hope this Devastator squad is more "customizable" , while retaining the fluffly awesomeness of Long Fangs or Avitus-style BR Devastator squads (every sm has a heavy weapon).
Heavy bolters are good against infantry whenever they are bunched toughether or drawn out.
Krak missiles are good against vehicles, Frag missiles against blobs of infantry. Both missiles knock back the target.
Plasma cannons are awesome in every way, but they are inaccurate against moving targets (and I can't fix it yet).

Plans:
With the Fex moved to Tier 2, there are 3 free tier 3 slots for the Tyranids.
I think there will be a unique secondary melee commander, the Warrior Alpha (which has a very sick weapon skill in new codex). He will be a close combat commander similar to the SM Chaplain.
The other elite could be a Carnifex Alpha. A tougher and deadlier version, with the improved multiple bio-plasma attack from campaign.
The third slot is free. If somebody got advice, I'll consider it.
I'm also considering the option of an assault cannon for the Venerable Dreadnought.
New upgrade for shootas : rokkit launcha, it gives them a few rockets for light anti-tank firepower.
Give the Fire Prism the same shield as the Falcon has.
Make the Brightlance and D-cannon an upgrade for Suriken platform.
New Eldar units? Dire Avengers would be nice, but the WS already has the shooty role.

[Faceless]

Love this compilation mod. Makes the SP campaign fun again. Question: is it possible to mod in more than 4 squad slots for campaign missions? It would be nice to take everyone all the time, given the numbers faced.