Ok, for anyone who doesn't know what Dawn Of War II is, brief overview:
The premise:Dawn Of War II (DOW for short) is a Real Time Tactical game. The game has you fighting off over control of planets as the space marines. You take control of a player named captain, a young, brown haired fellow who has great potential (gee, i've never heard that before).
The idea of the game is that you have to choose what battles you fight, as you can't realistically fight every front at once. What battles you fight will determine what bonuses you get in later missions. The choices are fairly minor but some will be better for certain playstyles or missions. For example, if you're doing defense missions, get the damn turrets.
As the game advances you have to choose which enemies to fight off, but I won't say which because that would be a spoiler. Each race you fight fights differently and you'll need to change your tactics and loadout accordingly. This brings me to the next part of this.
The gameplayNow at its core, DOWII is a tactics game that anyone can play. It has advanced things like cover and other such skills that are absolutely essential on harder modes, but nobody should be thinking "This is an RTT, i'm not used to controlling that many units at once, it'll be too hard". Don't bother, shove it on easy, get used to it. Its easy enough to pick up.
Now before you even get onto taking missions, you'll have to choose what squads you take with you on each mission. You can only take four, so this is important. Some are close combat machines. Others will mow down a horde of enemies before they even get to you. Depending on the enemy type, who you take will be the key to your success. You don't want to take a bunch of pistol and chainsaw wielding jumppack troops against a melee based opponent.
Then it gets a bit more technical. What loadouts do you want your troopers to have. They all get different armours, weapons and accessory's during the missions that boost stats. This is where you can specialise a guy or have him become a jack of all trades. Both are viable, both work. Jack of all trades is easier to jump into, if you're itching for it .
Tactics wise, you can do basic stuff like garrisoning a building for defense, throwing grenades and using abilities. Some abilities have more than one use, think about using them. Smoke grenades are awesome. Alternate purpose finding is a brilliant thing to achieve.
The AI will take cover and retreat if they think they're going to lose. They won't make it a cakewalk, you might be the finest the imperium has to offer, but you are not invincible. On harder difficulties, USE COVER. You'll thank me later. You will have boss fights, these will take everything you have learned and will put it to the test. Make sure you pay attention.
As a final note, a good score gives you an extra mission to do, making choices easier. Its something to take notice of.
TO ENTER You have to write a tiny story, or draw a picture of a cheesy scene in which two space marines find love in eachother's hearts in the middle of the battlefield (Yes, they should both be men). This is mainly to horrify my friend, who is ginger. This means you should probably make one of them ginger with a small beard. I would prefer it remained either implied, or horrifically cheesy, but nothing reaching levels of smut. I am a classy man after all, when i'm not blowing up heretic scum.
I will run the draw on Friday of everyone who has entered. I don't know specifically what time, but it will probably be in the evening, GMT. I look forward to the entertainment I should get out of this thread. Do me proud, bay12.
Also, if you post, let me know if the OP is good. I really don't know if it is. No, i'm not trying to generate free entertainment until X-COM comes out on friday, don't be silly!
Edit: Yes, there is a reason to make the cheesy fanfiction or picture quite good, I might enter you in the draw more than one if it makes me laugh.
Edit2: Christ, either nobody wants DOW2 or my entrance requirements are too high.
Edit3: Hey, does anyone know if a giveaway has actually failed before? I'd be rather amused if this was the first time someones offered a game that absolutely nobody wants.