The RTSC Guide to Dawn of War
Part 4: Squads

DoW Basics

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Builders

Squads are the heart and soul of this game. Infantry is organised entirely at squad level, except for hero units like Leaders, and occasional monstrous God units, who belong in a different category. In most RTS games, squads are simply convenient groupings of units; but Dawn of War pushed the concept into a whole new realm. The number of squads you have in play can sometimes be more important than the actual number of solider's in them. A Squad is a group of individuals that take orders and operate as a single entity with a single purpose. You issue orders to them at group level. Individuals can't be selected, or have orders given to them, or be targeted (except with special cases: e.g. like Grenades, the Imperial Guard's Assassin or the FarSeer's Mind War spell). Everything is worked at squad level. Apart from the Orks, your infantry uses a Squad Cap, and your population is limited by the number of Squads, not the number of guys in them.

If a squad is ordered to Attack another, then all the guys in that one squad will only attack the members of the target squad, ignoring all else. It doesn't matter whether they're scattered across the map or mixed up randomly within a huge melee, your squad will completely ignore all other units until the target squad has been wiped out. This also applies to vehicles and structures. They won't defend against enemies not covered by your orders. They'll cap a Strategic Point with single minded focus - to the death. You'll never once lose control over your units and they'll never once disobey orders, however suicidal or broken their morale may be.

Individuals still function on their own, and have their own personal AI that does its best to achieve the squad's objectives. Sometimes, depending on circumstances, you'll find a squad with members unable to complete their orders and taking the initiative based on their Stances. But above all, they're part of a single minded group that's moving, shooting, fighting and occasionally freaking out together.

A squad moves as fast as its slowest member. This can mean that attaching a Hero to a squad can sometimes slow it down, or in the case of the Imperial Guard's Priest, actually speed it up. Squads also have a habit of stopping what they're doing - even in the middle of a massive fight - until all their members have caught up and fallen into formation.

If there are any special skills, spells or abilities found amongst the squad, then they are used by the squad as a whole. This includes the throwing of grenades.

Squad Details

Here's a basic Space Marine squad, fresh out of the Chapel Barracks. It starts off with four dudes with standard issue Bolter guns. They have no bonuses and no special skills, unless you've researched some global upgrades. In the case of the Space Marines, you get four guys with guns. You can reinforce the squad up to a maximum of eight.

The blue health bar shows the current Morale of the squad, and you'll see it floating under the assigned leader of the squad. Individual green health bars are seen on all squad members. You also see the collective health of your squad, shown in green in the game GUI (right) when you select a squad. The GUI also shows you what your squad is classified as (in this case, Space Marines are Heavy Infantry) and to the right you'll see the unit types that the squad is best at countering (Infantry).

In the GUI, you'll also see basic Melee and Ranged damage that the regular members of the squad can inflict. These numbers only show DPS, or Damage Per Second per individual; and doesn't show the squad's collective output, or the effect of any heavy weapons, squad leaders or attached Heroes. In this case, Space Marines can shoot between 32 and 39 points of ranged damage, or inflict 28 to 34 points of melee damage with their knives. Between the four of them, that means they shoot up to 156 points of ranged damage, or melee with up to 136. However - these numbers are substantially reduced by enemy armour piercing values, accuracy and rate of fire. The GUI is quite misleading on this count. But more on DPS later.

Fully reinforced

Fully reinforcing your Space Marine squad simply doubles the number of guys in it (Space Marine squads max out at eight Marines). As a unit it becomes much stronger and more durable, with double the firepower and health points. But it can still only do one thing at a time. In a one on one duel, it'll certainly have a better chance of survival with more members - but this is assuming your opponent is as dopey as you are! It's certainly easier to push around smaller number of squads, and fully reinforced ones are generally more successful - but only one on one.

The game GUI will still show the same damage numbers, since these only show the firepower of an individual, not the whole squad. The squad's overall morale remains unchanged as you add reinforcements or heavy weapons.

Multiple Squads

Instead of fully populating a squad, you could have Requisitioned a second squad for similar cost. You still wind up with eight Space Marines, except now you can two things at once. One squad might simply run around and cap flags while the second harasses the enemy; or in a fight, one squad ties up the enemy in close combat, while the second can stand back and blaze away with its ranged weapons.

They're exactly the same force as a fully manned squad, but by giving them two completely different roles - close combat disruption and ranged killing, you can achieve far more effective results with better efficiency than trying to simply bludgeon your opponent with sheer numbers. Sheer numbers can be neutralised by good tactics, well timed disruption and superior teching. Out-squadding is the subtle art of having a lot more squads than your opponent, and using your "extra" numbers to either do more stuff behind their back or outflank and/or overpower their forces - sometimes with less guys and inferior tech. If your opponent has more Squads on the field, then they've probably got an advantage - assuming they can micromanage their forces better than you.

Heavy Weapons

Taking this even further, you might choose to equip a squad with Heavy Weapons. Heavy weapons either change the role of the squad, or enhance its existing abilities. Space Marines are very popular because the huge choices of weaponry makes them incredibly versatile. By adding a Rocket Launcher to a squad, you turn it into a vehicle killing demolition squad; while Plasma weapons turn it into a mobile assault squad, and so on. Equipping the ranged squad with Heavy Bolters makes short work of any enemy troops; while the second squad ties up troops so that the HB's can operate entirely undisturbed.

When you assign a heavy weapon to a squad, it transforms an existing regular into the heavy weapons specialist. A heavy weapons unit is worth the cost of the basic reinforcement plus the cost of the weapon - so equipping weapons where squad members are dying like flies is generally a stupid thing to do, both economically and militarily. Heavy weapons (or any unit upgrades, for that matter) can grant you some impressive bonuses, but that means building Power production and spending resources on teching. Resources not spent on reinforcements or extra squads. As usual, you'll have to play that decision by ear, and again, experience and practice is going to be your best guide. Experiment. Try things out.

By using these different combinations of squads, stances, heavy weapons and hard counters, you can extract some stunning victories over what might seem at first glance overpowering odds. Of course, there's nothing to stop your opponent from doing the same to you!

Specialised Units and Mixing your Forces

While the Space Marines are pretty much good at just about anything you assign them to, a lot of units in DoW are specialised. For example, this Tau squad of Fire Warriors (far left) is an excellent, long ranged shooter squad. They can swiftly pick off targets at considerable range. Unfortunately, they'll die at the drop of a hat and get killed very easily in hand to hand combat. They're extremely susceptible to disruption.

On the far right are their close combat comrades, the Kroot, taking on a gang of flying Ork StormBoyz. The Kroot are brilliant at close combat, but have very weak ranged weapons and but have a tendency to get mown down by ranged fire (although currently, they are a little overpowering). They fight the Orks, allowing the Fire Warriors to blaze away without interruption, using their best weapons for the job.

In the middle is an upgraded Tau Listening Post. The Tau in this picture are conducting their defence using the LP2's weapons to help swing the fight. On its own, the LP2 would have probably been destroyed and its firepower would be inadequate. On their own, the Fire Warriors would certainly have been wiped out by the melee orientated, highly mobile StormBoyz. And on their own, the Kroot would have a bit of a fight on their hands, although they'd probably win it. Point is, why suffer casualties and take longer to win the fight when your forces work so much more effectively and faster together? The longer you delay, the easier it is for the Ork player to get reinforcements into the fray, or tech up, or slow you down further by overwatching the StormBoyz. Put all three units together, and magic happens - the Stormboyz simply won't stand a chance and are wiped out quickly - or driven off with severe casualties.

The whole art of using squads is to maximise your fighting abilities, and use the strengths of each squad's different role to cover the vulnerabilities and weakness of other squads. Keeping the ranged units away from close combat troops; using close combat troops as a "meat shield" for other units; dropping jump troops into lines of shooters; using fortifications to help swing the fight, and so on. Naturally, there's nothing to stop your opponent from doing the same to you. And the game really takes off when two players who have got their tactics and units together engage in an evenly matched duel - this is usually where the best wins and defeats come from.

Squad Leaders

Most squads can add a Squad Leader. In the Space Marine's case, its a guy called the Sergeant. A Squad Leader is a superior version of a squad regular; in game lore he's a seasoned veteran with loads of experience. Squad leaders take longer to add and cost more; they're much tougher and harder hitting veterans who act as powerful melee units and all round bullet soaks. They bequeath bonuses to the squad; nearly always improve morale, and in some cases, they might also do things like improve weapon accuracy or even add extra health points to all the members. Some squad leaders come with their own special spells which can be applied to the squad. Space Marine Sergeants, for example, come with the Rally spell, which restores lost morale if his squad breaks.

Squad leaders are integral; you can't separate them from the squad. They value-add to it. They get their own line of specialised upgrades and can be upgraded to wield nastier weapons like Plasma Pistols or fearsome Power Swords. A squad with a Squad Leader usually lives longer under fire than one without, even if it has more members - but you've got to have the resources to spend on them and their upgrades. what's more, any squad bonuses or abilities associated with the Squad Leader will die with him, leaving the squad bereft. That means Power and teching again. Resources spent on improving a squad might be resources you could have (or should have) spent elsewhere. It'll also delay your Tiering as well. Decisions, decisions!

You'll periodically see small coloured squared tucked away under the squad's health bar. The yellow square on the left indicates the squad enjoys an Armour Bonus. In this case, its a researched tech, (seen by the glowing skulls on their shoulder pads); if they were standing in Cover they'd score a second yellow square showing an additional armour bonus that's stacking on top of the first. Most squad bonuses tend to stack. The light blue square on the right of the health bar shows this squad is enjoying a morale bonus as well. A small red square would be an attack bonus. The small number 1 under the health bar shows the squad is keyed to a numbered shortcut. Numbered shortcuts are essential for any unit micromanagement in this game.

See Also: Imperial Guardsmen Sergeants and Boneheads, Chaos Aspiring Champions, Eldar Warlocks and Exarches and Ork's Nob Leaders.

Attachable Heroes

Most squads can attach a Hero. Here we have the Force Commander (centre with the gold backpack). His immense powers of combat and mighty spells further enhance the squad's morale and striking power. He's like a Squad Leader in that he adds some serious bonuses to a Squad, stacking on top of those that the Squad Leader bequeathed. Most Heroes are better in close combat than ranged combat, and their durability and killing power makes them ideal for leading a charge and breaking the enemy lines.

The squad, in return, acts as a "meat shield" to the Force Commander. Its a slightly odious concept that W40K thrives on: expendable troops used to protect valuable heroes and special units. Attaching a Hero to a squad is a good way to preserve his health and make him more effective. No leader, regardless of how powerful they are can survive massed focus fire for long; putting him a squad makes him much harder to kill. For Orks, attaching the Big Mek to a squad is essential; for nasty bruisers like Chaos Lord, its not so critical.

But its a trade off: unattached, a Hero and a Squad can do two different things with all the advantages that that provides - but he'll be vulnerable. Attached, the Hero and squad can only do one thing at a time, and the big boss can get disrupted along with the squad he's attached to. Assigning him to lead a back line Rocket Launcher squad might not be a good idea; but this all depends on what you want to use him or the squad for. If you wanted to use his ranged Orbital Bombardment spell, then keeping him tucked on the sidelines is probably a good idea. If you wanted to use him as a front line unit to break through heavily armed enemy lines, then attaching him to a squad of Marines with melee orientated Flamers or mobile Plasma weapons would be a better move. And at the risk of repeating myself, practice and watch replays. And experiment.

Both the Sergeant. and the Commander get individual green health bars, with one of them showing the morale of the squad.

Fully Kitted Out

Here's a Space Marine squad again, this time fully reinforced and upgraded. It has ten members: eight regular Marines, five of them equipped with Missile Launchers; a Squad Leader and an attached Hero. This makes this particular squad more suitable for anti-vehicle or building demolition duties, but you can mix and match all kinds of heavy weapons in the Space marines to perform all kinds of different combat duties. As a general rule though, most players tend to equip a squad with just one type of weapon.

A fully fledged squad is quite a serious investment of resources. This Missile Launcher squad would have cost 1025/110 including the Force Commander. That's about a third of your entire build tree's Requisition cost! A serious commitment of resources like this should have a damn good reason for being done. NEVER just do stuff because you think its cool or you just like parading your favourite units. By the time you're "ready" - and you never will be unless your opponents are mugs like yourself - and got this lot fully kitted out most games are almost over!

In the early stages of the game, there's a good chance you should be teching, or tiering, or adding extra squads, or using your resources to help capture and fortify the map, instead of squandering all that time and effort building a nicely filled out squad. DoW runs too hard and fast to wallow in the luxury of building to perfection. People who stay in their bases to "polish armour" lose games for their team mates as surely as people who drop. You need to be out of your base, with your team mates, especially if you're "not ready" and your squads are still half finished. Even a single half made squad can sometimes save the day if everyone pitches in.

Even worse is the halfwit who fails to cap their points, blows all their early Requisition buffing one or two squads, and then squawks about being "not ready" when the enemy starts harassment or sniffs out that they're the weak link in your team's chain. Invariably you're reinforcing on the way to the front, or just getting as many squads as possible into play as soon as possible, skipping reinforcements, techs and heavy weapons to do so.

You'll notice five half filled amber bars below the Missile Marines: these show reload or "setup" times. Missiles, like some other heavy weapons, require a few seconds grace to be "set up" before they can fire a round. This is important: anything that has a set up time must not move, (not even by the smallest step!) otherwise the weapon is disturbed and has to be set up from scratch all over again. This makes ranged squads with Heavy Bolters or Missiles easily "disabled" by any close combat units.

Know your squad shortcuts!
Just relying on mouse clicking WILL lose you games. Learn these keyboard shortcuts and watch your game improve! These ones seem to apply to all armies and situations...

TAB

You can have multiple units selected but access to only one unit's special abilities at a time. The whole selection will perform basic move and attack commands, but one will be highlighted where you can access any available special abilities such as spells or grenades. Hitting the TAB key cycles the highlight forwards through the selection. Hold down SHIFT and press TAB to cycle backwards through the selection.

Note: you can have far more selected units than are visible in the menu.

Reinforce (R): Queues up a reinforcement in a squad. There's space for six items that can be added to a squad at any time.

Left click on the Reinforce button to add an extra member to a squad, right click to activate Overwatch on that squad. This also applies to any unit producing structures.

Queues up a Squad Leader (i.e. a Space Marine Sergeant, Aspiring Champion, Exarch, Nob Leader, etc.) to your squad. Just like using R to reinforce, although the L shortcut is a little misleading. Squad Leaders help with morale, strengthen a squad's attacks and defences, and still leave room for an Hero to be attached. You'll need to reach Tier 1.5 before you can use them.

ATtach or deTach a Big Boss to a Squad. Select a Hero of any type, hit T and then click on the available squad you want them to lead. Conversely, if you select a squad with a Hero already in it, T will detach him. There's usually a second or three's lag before he leaves.

Only one Leader can be assigned to a squad.

When you Detach a Leader, both Leader and the squad remain selected. Hit TAB to cycle quickly to the Leader, especially if you're trying to switch your boss from one squad to another.

DEL

DELetes a selected structure or instantly snuffs one selected unit or squad. If you have multiple items selected, it will kill the highlighted squad (use TAB to cycle through your potential victims). Repeated presses are required to bump off the rest.

For buildings, it will ask for confirmation. When you destroy structures (be they unfinished or not) you will get back only 50% of the resources that were needed to make them. For a Headquarters, its only 10%. Its a smart move to cancel any researching upgrades or add-ons before you blow the structure.

Pressing comma cycles to the next inactive squad or vehicle. By "inactive", this is any armed squad or unit that hasn't been given any orders by you. i.e. it isn't capturing a point, it isn't in transit somewhere or it isn't attacking something. Sometimes, "inactive" can be a squad that has taken the initiative (based on its Stance) and automatically engaged your foes.