Dawn of War: Soulstorm-Faction Tactics

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Okay, been playing campaign mode with the Space Marines a lot lately. I have to say, I really enjoy them. Being able to Deep Strike in what is effectively an entire garrison of troops (late game), or even in early game, being able to drop Terminator/assault Terminator/Marine Squad and two terminators at any place not covered by Fog of War is... decisive.

Here's what I do, feel free to citique and offer advice:

Early Game:

My first gank will be the Orks, because I seriously don't want them getting their feet under them. Plus, they are conveniently located nearby, and usually between me and the Tau, so they're being forced into a two-front war.

For the first few maps, I build Scout/Servitoir/Scout/Servitoir so I can make sure to build everything that needs to be built fast, but still be able to capture points. First scout comes out before I can get a marine squad to capture nearby strategic points.

Early in the mission, I like to get 4 plasma generators going before I start on tech 2 upgrade, plus the Chapel Barracks and Armory. Ideally, I'd like to get some of the marine unit upgrades (bionics) going as well, because it drastically increases their effectiveness, but this depends on how my resources go and how aggressive my opponents are.

By the time I've got Tech 2 upgrade done, I've probably spread out, using my scouts to go to wherever the opponent isn't and continue snapping up strategic points, with a servitoir following him dropping down Listening Posts as the points get captured. This provides me with enough resource flow to keep going, and also denies opponent the chance to run in and capture. If he attacks over there, I know where he is, so can either flank, or run something in to defend.

Hopefully, I've bottled up the opponent by the time I get to Tech 3. He's still too tough a nut to crack, but I've effectively blocked him from getting the resources he needs to get the units he needs to turn the tables. Stalemate. Build my Orbital Relay and upgrade the building that cranks out my mechs so I can get a Land Raider into play.

Now I've got my mobile reserve. If he hits me hard somewhere, I can instantly react to curb-stomp whatever he can throw at me. Hopefully, I won't need to, but hey... options are good. At this point, I either use Assault Marine Squad to jump into the middle of his base, drop the Assault Terminator Squad + both Dreadnaughts next to his main HQ, and roll in everything else to distract them from the fact that I'm in ur base takin' out ur HQ. If I've got a Land Raider, he's got Grey Knights with Librarian attached (unless I'm fighting stealth-heavy opponent, in which case they are likely elsewhere keeping my units from being decimated by stealth), who are used to spot the HQ for the drop.

If the Tau are feeling their wheaties, I may just leave them alone after I take out the ork stronghold, letting their attacking let me earn defensive wargear bonuses earlier. I'm generally not too concerned with them, since I've basically blocked them from getting any major honor guard units, and I seriously don't want to take on their stronghold until I have a LOT of honor guard, because the 'break in' SUCKS.

I want the Sisters and the Guard first. I love their stronghold bonuses. They dovetail perfectly with my mid to late-game strategy of 'show up in overwhelming superiority and curb-stomp opponent before he can get deep into his tech tree'.

So I take both sisters and Guard and consolidate Karuva I. Now I'm ready to rock and roll. Forward Bases mean I can get Tech 2 upgrade within seconds of the start of combat. Also, by this time I am starting to purchase Deep Strike, as it is now cheaper, thanks to the Guard. Granted, I can't Deep Strike into a Stronghold fight (more's the pity), and I can't afford a lot of them at this point, but hey, more units to start off with is good.

Mid-Game:

So I go back and take out the Tau and consolidate that planet as well. So now, either go for the Chaos Marines and Dark Eldar (quite in character for the Space Marines), or go for the Chief Librarian and Hellfire Dreadnought over by the Eldar and Necrons.

Late Game:

Whichever planet I consolidate first, I get ready to go after the final one. Now my tactic, with so many honor guard units, is to go straight after the stronghold, rather than grabbing everything first, particularly if I can catch their hero unit out of base. non-stronghold bases I obliterate quickly, rushing one of their bases with my deepstrike units after I find them with my Honor Guard speeders, then catch the second one in a vice grip between the deepstrike units and the ones coming fresh from my base, often times not even having time to build my 'mobile reserve' of terminator/assault terminator + apothacaries and two terminators in orbital relay.

Here's my standard squad breakdown:

2 Marine Scouts. To these, I attach Skull Probes, upgrade to stealth, and maximum upgrade sniper rifles. These I use to take out offending hero units, and to flank around and capture unattended strategic points while his attention is firmly on my main force. By the time he tries to expand again, I've got the rest of the map pretty much under lock and key. Mid-game onward, these are the Honor Guard scouts, so they don't take up infantry control points. Otherwise, these are the first military units I build.

3 Space Marines (early game, I build them, and may only have 2. Mid-late game, these are generally deep-strike marines). I like to attach my Force Commander to one, and a Chaplain to another one, using them in tandem to create some truly vicious infantry, with the third having an Apothacary.

I've got a couple of 'standard' upgrade patterns.
1) 1 flamer, 3 Plasma Gun. This is the anti-heavy infantry setup, designed to chew through anything that isn't a vehicle.
2) 2 Heavy Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers. This is the 'garrison' setup, designed to be able to defend a location, preferably from heavy cover. Also used in assaulting bases, as the missile launchers are highly effective vs buildings.
I love the Sargent's Rally ability. It makes the Psyker almost worthless. It is also of supreme importance when facing any morale-damaging foes (sisters and dark eldar are the worst at these).

Terminator/Assault Terminator When ready, I drop them right into my base. Then attach an Apothacary each, and fully reinforce/upgrade, and run them back into the barracks. This is part of my 'mobile reserve'. Also, effectively jump units with their pocket teleporters, which gives them surprising flexibility for units so generally slow in movement.

I love Dreadnoughts and Hellfire Dreadnoughts. Most of my vehicle cap is spent on these bad boys. If I'm fighting the Orks, I've generally got more Hellfire, but especially late game when I have enough infantry that they don't need that kind of support, I'll go straight Dreadnoughts to destroy buildings quickly. Typically I Queue one up in my Orbital Relay with a second sitting at 100% ready, just waiting for the queue'd one to get dropped to be instantly ready to also drop, effectively having two ready to drop anywhere I want.

I sometimes have a predator tank, with only the turret upgraded, but depending on how fast I get going with deep strike, I may not bother with this, grabbing more Dreadnoughts/Hellfire Dreadnoughts, who are more tactically flexable through the Orbital Relay.

I like the Land Raider, but it's really not necessary, specially not late-game, when I've got so many units to play with so quickly. Often times, I can clean up a 10 defense non-stronghold before I can really get my Land Raider out and in combat. Honestly, it's not that much more powerful than a Predator tank with the main gun upgraded.

I don't like the artillary unit for the Space Marines. It really isn't all that useful, it's range is only so-so compared to other artillary, and requires Tech 3, by which time mobility is more key to my strategy than artillary, and you can only build one of them anyways, and they cost 5 points. That's as much as a Predator tank, which is faster, has better armor, and can be used to punch in to deepstrike in my mobile reserve to eliminate any opponent base much easier than the artillary can.

Other than Space Marines, I've briefly played the Sisters of Battle. They're... exceptionally nasty. When you can get your opponent in range, but not in melee. Their artillary is nasty, with the ability to strike anything not shrouded by fog of war. The Sisters don't have the flexibility that the Space Marines do, needing Celestial units to go anti-armor (although they are exceptionally nasty in that regard, with 2 multi-meltas and two meltas plus the two 'sargent' unit upgrades), and lacking the mobile plasma gun that I use to such effectiveness with the space marines. The Immolators are nasty, and the Penitent Engine is vicious in melee combat. The Seraphim's faith ability is absolutely nasty, and putting it on a jump-capable unit is just plain wrong. I can jump them into the middle of several squads who have had their morale broken, and not only restore morale, but also give them further boost to everything, and the Seraphims aren't bad at mixing it up themselves.

So, anyone have any advice for me? Any tactics you'd like to share?

[A Rainy Knight]

I'm a Space Marine fan, too. Their drop pods let them use some quite frankly cheap tactics on the stronghold missions where you have to destroy a particular building.

I simply hold my ground against the enemy using Marine squads with heavy bolters and missile launchers and a few Dreadnoughts until I have an Orbital Relay. Then, I split my vehicle cap between Land Speeder Tempests and standard Dreadnoughts. I tell the Relay to build two Dreadnoughts, the Chapel-Barracks to build one of each Terminator Squad, and then I build up some more Marine Squads and Dreadnoughts inside my base. When everything's done, I fly every Tempest at once to the targeted building along the safest path possible. Once they're there, I teleport in both Terminator squads and drop-pod in the Dreadnought. The second Dreadnought I ordered at the Orbital Relay immediately drops into the empty slot, so I drop it in too. While my Terminators and Dreadnought establish a foothold, I load my remaining Marines and Dreadnoughts into the orbital relay and essentially drop my entire army inside the enemy base. Hooray for quasi-cheating! :smallbiggrin:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I'm a Space Marine fan, too. Their drop pods let them use some quite frankly cheap tactics on the stronghold missions where you have to destroy a particular building.

I simply hold my ground against the enemy using Marine squads with heavy bolters and missile launchers and a few Dreadnoughts until I have an Orbital Relay. Then, I split my vehicle cap between Land Speeder Tempests and standard Dreadnoughts.Why land speeder tempest? I've only found them of use in the Eldar stronghold where you have to destroy the generators.
I tell the Relay to build two Dreadnoughts, the Chapel-Barracks to build one of each Terminator Squad, and then I build up some more Marine Squads and Dreadnoughts inside my base.Protip: Drop terminator squads in your base, fully upgrade/reinforce, and attach leaders, then run them back in your barracks. They're much nastier that way.
When everything's done, I fly every Tempest at once to the targeted building along the safest path possible. Once they're there, I teleport in both Terminator squads and drop-pod in the Dreadnought. The second Dreadnought I ordered at the Orbital Relay immediately drops into the empty slot, so I drop it in too. While my Terminators and Dreadnought establish a foothold, I load my remaining Marines and Dreadnoughts into the orbital relay and essentially drop my entire army inside the enemy base. Hooray for quasi-cheating! :smallbiggrin:No need to use Tempests to spot a target, Assault Marine Squads jumping in work just fine.

I'm having trouble with playing the Eldar now. I thought they'd be more powerful, but the Necrons are able to keep all my units tied up and not able to use my flexability like I'd like to.

[A Rainy Knight]

I use Tempests because they can fly over pretty much any terrain and skip over most of the enemy forces, while vanilla Land Speeders and Assault Marines have to use a series of jumps and get left vulnerable if they have to stop in enemy territory.

Necrons and Orks are my other two favorites. I like the Necron's single-resource, single-production building system, and the Necron Lord is beastly.

The Orks are just funny enough for me to play as them again and again. :smallbiggrin:

Also, what are the Chaos and Dark Eldar strongholds like? They're the only two I have left to take out.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I use Tempests because they can fly over pretty much any terrain and skip over most of the enemy forces, while vanilla Land Speeders and Assault Marines have to use a series of jumps and get left vulnerable if they have to stop in enemy territory.

Necrons and Orks are my other two favorites. I like the Necron's single-resource, single-production building system, and the Necron Lord is beastly.

The Orks are just funny enough for me to play as them again and again. :smallbiggrin:

Also, what are the Chaos and Dark Eldar strongholds like? They're the only two I have left to take out.

Chaos is a lot like the Sisters... you've got to take out four buildings before you can assault the main base. Attempting to enter said base before all four are down results in auto-gib.

Eldar are a PITFA. First you attack what you think is their base, they warp out. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SEE INVIS GUYS TO TAKE OUT THE WEBWAY GATES nearby or he will use them to trash your base while you're running around. Any major excusion needs either scouts with attached skull probes or someone with an attached Librarian (you should have the honor guard librarian by now, it's on the same planet as the Eldar are).

Take one marine squad (and some kind of detector) east, grab that strategic point. Do a quick reconnoiter and trash the webway gates nearby without getting into the east base. Build a turret or two on the ramp near the strategic point, and another one NE of your base to block that route.

Basically, it tells you to go take out the east and west bases. Big mistake if you do. Your force should go SOUTH to where the strategic point is. Bring detectors. Stomp webway gate flat, take point, drop tower on it. Head EAST. Yes, it looks like a dead end. Find the damn webway gate over there or they'll just take it back.

Okay, now you're building in main base as well as having a major force down south. You should be to tech 3 by now, but the only relic point is waaaay out of reach (DO NOT try to jump the 'gates', you won't like what happens if you do). Catch the West base in a pincer movement. Bring troops up from the south around to hit them from behind while your other troops are taking the direct route from your base, and you're dropping in your drop forces as well. Stomp them flat, scan the entire area to find those booping webway gates.

Now take out the Eastern base. Same concept, scan and rescan for those webway gates. Remember, their builder unit can teleport longer range than an upgraded terminator squad, so you have to keep your guard up, or they'll port one behind your line, build a webway gate, and hit you at the worst possible time.

Okay, now that you've taken out both east and west base, time to go after the teleported base. Load up all your troops like you're about to do a massive drop strike, because you are. Run your tempests up to the base, decend and destroy. And scan for those booping webway gates.

Now they taunt you some more. You're getting energy readings. Go send those tempests (with Krak bomb upgrades) to find the illusion building and wipe one out. Move your guys up just enough to get a message about taking down their turrets. Check your objective map, send the tempests there, blow up the generator. Now send your tempests to blow up the other two. And re-scan your rear areas for more webway gates.

Okay, now it's end-game. Run your tempests into the final base. Alpha strike, drop everything into their final base. Thrash and win. Make sure to have detectors. And if they had any webway gates you didn't find, they're using them to attack your base right now.

Oh yea... and take out any webway gate you come across. I don't think I said that enough times.

[A Rainy Knight]

I like the Orks now that I've taken the time to play as them. I've won most of the early battles against the Tau and Marines by viciously rushing them with Slugga and Shoota squads paired with the Warboss and the awesome Honor Guard Killa Kan.

By the way, it just occurred to me that I don't know what the Space Marine stronghold looks like since I was playing as them for most of the time.

Anyways, I'll probably take out the Marines first and use their Deep Strike ability to make my rushes brutally effective. If I think I can the Tau, I'll do that next, but I'll also have my eye on the Sisters for their Forward Base ability. Forward Base = Waaagh Banners as soon as I touch down. Deep Strike = Lots o' boyz to go do some crumpin'! Hopefully an Orky rush like that will be able to overwhelm most of the non-stronghold bases. If not, I'll probably try to tech up to the Flash Gitz, Nobs w/Power Klaws, and Killa Kans using my rushing force to buy me time.

It doesn't seem any less funny to me every time I hear my Killa Kan shouting, "They call me Stompy!" or "Time ta chop things up!" :smallbiggrin:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I like the Orks now that I've taken the time to play as them. I've won most of the early battles against the Tau and Marines by viciously rushing them with Slugga and Shoota squads paired with the Warboss and the awesome Honor Guard Killa Kan.

By the way, it just occurred to me that I don't know what the Space Marine stronghold looks like since I was playing as them for most of the time.

Anyways, I'll probably take out the Marines first and use their Deep Strike ability to make my rushes brutally effective. If I think I can the Tau, I'll do that next, but I'll also have my eye on the Sisters for their Forward Base ability. Forward Base = Waaagh Banners as soon as I touch down. Deep Strike = Lots o' boyz to go do some crumpin'! Hopefully an Orky rush like that will be able to overwhelm most of the non-stronghold bases. If not, I'll probably try to tech up to the Flash Gitz, Nobs w/Power Klaws, and Killa Kans using my rushing force to buy me time.

It doesn't seem any less funny to me every time I hear my Killa Kan shouting, "They call me Stompy!" or "Time ta chop things up!" :smallbiggrin:

I've been playing the Eldar lately. They seem pretty weak vs an early zerg rush. Unfortunately, their only opponent on the planet they start on are the Necrons... who excel at early zerg rush. Particularly in their stronghold.

I took out the Necron's stronghold, although it was a near thing. Never got a chance to get the Avatar into play, but at least I managed to keep Webway gates around the four vital areas, then went around with 3 walkers + 2 fire prism's, using the webway gates to transfer the Warp Spiders and Fire Dragons from place to place.

The ability that probably saved me the most is the ability to move my turrets to whichever webway gate needs them most, and the ability to move units from one webway gate to another.

[Ganurath]

By the way, it just occurred to me that I don't know what the Space Marine stronghold looks like since I was playing as them for most of the time.It's a jungle/swamp environment where you start near the south corner, the main base is in the north corner (with cliffs blocking a direct rush,) tempest production in the west corner, and rhino production in the east corner just past the relic. There are these buildings called deep strike beacons scattered throughout the map outside these bases, including one just outside your starting position that will likely be triggered if your starting force is big enough. If you let them live too long, a bunch of Space Marine squads or a couple squads and a Dreadnought will deep strike in around the beacon. In this mission I fostered my love of jump troops by giving them the best anti-building gear I could and had them jump adjacent to the beacons, blasting them before they could give coordinates. For Orks, though, you may prefer Tank Bustas. I never really played Orks in Soulstorm, so I never had a chance to compare firsthand.

In answer to the question about the Dark Eldar stronghold, it's suprisingly easy. You start out with the raid package like in the Tau base mission, and you pretty much scour half the map like this picking up reinforcements from Dark Eldar cages (the ones with smoke inside.) When you finally reach the base point, you can start establishing a position are your objectives are revealed: You want to kill the Dais that will be raiding you at regular intervals, but can prevent the Dark Eldar powers from being used by destroying specific Soul Cages.

Here's the easy part: The Corruption Soul Cage is off the path the Dais takes to raid you, just outside the area where your defenses should start hitting it. Destroy the Corruption outpost, and have some vehicles sit there, preferably melee. If you're Space Marines, though, just have two regular Dreadnoughts in the Relay instead. When the Dais comes to raid, bring your vehicles in behind the Dais to cut off a retreat for repairs. I killed the Dais on the second raid using this tactic with Defilers as Chaos.

[A Rainy Knight]

The Eldar seem like an awesome race to me on paper, but then I realize that the resources that I would be spending on Webway Gates could instead be going to lots o' big shooty guns and choppy klaws wit' fire runnin' through 'em.

Whenever I play as the Eldar or Tau, I always feel like I'm constantly spending my resources dry. I mean, Fire Warriors at 70 requisition a pop? I like the Tau and Eldar units just fine, but the sheer economy of Ork hordes appeals more to me.

[Ganurath]

The Eldar seem like an awesome race to me on paper, but then I realize that the resources that I would be spending on Webway Gates could instead be going to lots o' big shooty guns and choppy klaws wit' fire runnin' through 'em.The investment is worth it to have all your buildings covered by cloaking and three fully reinforced squads of Howling Banshees and Fire Dragons in the webway. Heck, having a lone gate outside your perimeter under cloak is awesome once you have your containment force in the webway. If you see enemies coming by that gate, select it and empty all. Have Fire Dragons target vehicles while the Howling Banshees lock up enemy infantry, and you have successfully contained the enemy attack. The best part is that you can use this same force to defend any area of the map under your influence while you're working on reinforcing those Warp Spider squads and researching upgrades.

Oh, did I mention I favor the Eldar?

[A Rainy Knight]

The Eldar are exceptionally good at covering a wide area with just a few forces, yes. But my personal strategy is to build myself up over a small area and strike quickly before my enemies can outgrow me, so the Orks suit me pretty well. I just never spread myself over a wide enough area to really justify the expenses of the Eldar.

Plus, just a few battles into the Campaign, I can easily have a Warboss, Big Mek, and Killa Kan on the field within the first few minutes of the game. Throw in a squad or two of Shootas and Sluggas, and you've got a pretty terrifying rushing force. The computer is a lot better than me at managing the giant late-game conflicts, so I like to end things quickly. The Warboss, Big Mek, and Killa Kan can each easily handle an early infantry squad, and if things progress a bit farther I can cheaply throw in some anti-vehicle power with Tankbustas and Wartraks. For longer battles, I would probably be better off with the Space Marines, though.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

The investment is worth it to have all your buildings covered by cloaking and three fully reinforced squads of Howling Banshees and Fire Dragons in the webway. Heck, having a lone gate outside your perimeter under cloak is awesome once you have your containment force in the webway. If you see enemies coming by that gate, select it and empty all. Have Fire Dragons target vehicles while the Howling Banshees lock up enemy infantry, and you have successfully contained the enemy attack. The best part is that you can use this same force to defend any area of the map under your influence while you're working on reinforcing those Warp Spider squads and researching upgrades.

Oh, did I mention I favor the Eldar?

Why so many howling banshees? One I can see, but three?

Also, can you even HAVE 3 banshee + 3 fire dragon and still have enough population control for your Warp Spiders? I thought the dragons and spiders were 3 pop each...

[Ganurath]

Why so many howling banshees? One I can see, but three?

Also, can you even HAVE 3 banshee + 3 fire dragon and still have enough population control for your Warp Spiders? I thought the dragons and spiders were 3 pop each...1. Thirty individual Howling Banshees is enough to lock up any enemy infantry near the Fire Dragons, ensuring that they're able to burn down any enemy vehicles.

2. With the exception of Harlequins and the Farseer herself, all Eldar infantry squads cost 2 pop. Unless there's been a mod post-Soulstorm I don't know about...

[Ghal Marak]

Awesome! I've always had trouble as the Space Marines. I'd move too slow and let the enemy get a good setup. You see, I'm a Guards player with emphasis on Kasirkin assults with Vehicular support. Most of the good stuff is Tier 2 & 3, so I simply turtle up until I am able to broduce two Leman Russ and the Baneblade, then I ride to victory. :smallsmile:

Again, the problem is I have to wait and bide my time for that stuff, so it's hard from me to adapt to a faster pace army. Most of the time I can win through, it just takes a while as I bull my way through their forces.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Awesome! I've always had trouble as the Space Marines. I'd move too slow and let the enemy get a good setup. You see, I'm a Guards player with emphasis on Kasirkin assults with Vehicular support. Most of the good stuff is Tier 2 & 3, so I simply turtle up until I am able to broduce two Leman Russ and the Baneblade, then I ride to victory. :smallsmile:

Again, the problem is I have to wait and bide my time for that stuff, so it's hard from me to adapt to a faster pace army. Most of the time I can win through, it just takes a while as I bull my way through their forces.

Yea, the guard is pretty much "If I can build a Baneblade, I can win, otherwise I loose" kind of faction. Makes Stronghold battles a PITA, since several of them have Relic Points so far away that you might as well just beat the darn thing. Usually, I skip it entirely on places like the Necrons or the Tau.

The important thing about the Space Marines is that Space Marines can be configured to be a threat to almost ANYTHING the opponent uses. They are highly configurable and extremely effective heavy infantry, particularly when upgraded at the Armory.

Also, the Land Raider is nice... but not the 'OMG I MUST HAVE' that the Baneblade is. A Predator Tank with the central cannon upgraded to twin-plasguns is almost as effective.

Ideally, with Space Marines, it's Move It Or Loose It. Expanding is vital, NEVER get caught up min-maxing one part of a map to the exclusion of the rest of the map. You want that steady resource stream.

Key points to remember:

Marines are strong units, but primarily so when upgraded fully and with something attached to them. Sending out raw un-reinforced un-upgraded marines is a waste of resources. Reinforce fully before deploying, at a minimum.

Assault Marines aren't really all that handy. You get some Veteran Assault Marines as Honor Guard, they do well for all your jumping needs, and don't take up population cap.

You can drop Terminators into your base camp, fully reinforce and upgrade, and attach leaders to them, THEN run them back into your barracks for deepstriking. Attaching the Chaplain to one and the Librarian to the other one makes for a lot of fun.

Scouts are handy early-game, but once you get the honor guard scouts, mostly not worth it. Scouts + Skull Probe + stealth on both + sniper rifles = fun vs hero units.

Grey Knights are surprisingly not too useful except as something melee that can tie up other melee opponents while your marines shred them, except against Chaos Marines, in which case they will stomp all over any demon unit they care to field. They're also handy against the Avatar of Khane the Eldar like fielding.

Dreadnoughts are going to be your workhorse vehicle. Predators cost too many resources to be deployed in numbers, and your Dreadnoughts can be Deep Strike'd into the thick of things. Hellfire Dreadnoughts are handy as support platforms vs swarms of infantry (e.g. Orks or Necrons), but they don't do NEAR the damage a Dreadnought will do vs vehicles and buildings.

*NEVER* 'upgrade' a Dreadnought's weapons. Their battle fists are WAY more effective at what they do than the lousy weapon upgrades they get, which basically turn them into a horridly overpriced and underpowered Hellfire Dreadnought.

Early Rush is perfectly viable with marines. 2 fully upgraded Marine Squads, one with your Force Commander, is a serious threat to a base. One has a Flamer and a Plasma Gun, the other has a Heavy Bolter and a Missile Launcher (assuming you haven't upgraded in the armory to having 4 heavy weapons per squad), and a single Dreadnought can rip a base, or most attack forces, to shreds. Quickly.

If nothing else, an Early Rush will tie up your opponent. Let 'em die, go ahead. Keep reinforcing them, to make them last longer. All the while, you're back at your base, getting to Tech 3, finishing up your Bionics and Sight upgrades, building your Orbital Relay, loading two Dreanoughts in it, upgrading your Terminator squads, and building more marine squads with nastier weapons and attached leaders.

Now that your troops are almost dead... deep strike. Now they've got Terminator Squad, Assault Terminator Squad, 2 Dreadnoughts with a 3rd on the way, and 2 MORE Marine Squads, with attached leaders, showing up to play. In the middle of their base.

When they thought they had almost fended you off, you completely wipe out their weakened defenses and proceed to lay waste to all you can find.

That is how I play space marines.

[hanzo66]

The Dark Eldar base was quite easy for me after the part of freeing my comrades and finding my builders. All you had to do is blow up Asdrubael Vect (Dais of Destruction), who for some boneheaded reason insists on soloing you single-handedly and then scramming for repairs once you dent it. I played it with the Tau, where I just teched up on Mont'Ka, got my Hammerheads ready. When he came, I was ready. I not only had my Hammerheads devastate him, I had my Ethereal Air Strike him all the while making sure my infantry kept him trapped. After that I let my Barracudas gun him down before he even made it back.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

The Dark Eldar base was quite easy for me after the part of freeing my comrades and finding my builders. All you had to do is blow up Asdrubael Vect (Dais of Destruction), who for some boneheaded reason insists on soloing you single-handedly and then scramming for repairs once you dent it. I played it with the Tau, where I just teched up on Mont'Ka, got my Hammerheads ready. When he came, I was ready. I not only had my Hammerheads devastate him, I had my Ethereal Air Strike him all the while making sure my infantry kept him trapped. After that I let my Barracudas gun him down before he even made it back.

Yea, first time I beat it on accident. I didn't realize that blowing that thing up would win the battle.

The next time, I dropped a couple of dreadnoughts behind him when he tried to escape. And both Terminator squads. And a Marine squad with 2 missile launchers and 2 heavy bolters. Go ahead and try to run, you'll just die tired.