Wait, a proper WH40k game? Turn based dawn of war shenanigans?

[FarAway Sooner]

I think it's totally a question of the lifestyles of your potential game players.  I've had MUCH more luck playing PBEM with friends of mine in recent years!

But then, I have two small kids and many of my game-playing friends also have small kids, so the forecasting of free time is much harder and the windows for free time are much narrower.  Combine that with my closest buddies live in 3 different time zones, and none of that is conducive to the sort of leisurely gaming experience I like via IP.

If your own situation is different (e.g., you have grown kids that you like to play with and you all have sufficient flexibility in your schedule), I can see why online gaming would be better.  It is more social, which is the whole point of games. 

It's just not very doable for a lot of blokes.

[jomni]

I like PBEM++ for the same reasons above.  It allows to set up a game quickly with random people without searching forums.  Automates the process of loading files.  Play at your own leisurely pace. 
If both you and your opponent are actually in the same timezone and sitting in front of your PC.  You can churn out turns quickly and finish the game too.

[Grim.Reaper]

Regardless of the multiplayer, has anyone played the game and any thoughts?  Looking at the official forums, barely anything discussed....strange for release day.

[jomni]

There's more chatter in the Steam boards.

[Cyrano]

Very first impressions (of course I bought it):

It's BA, that's for a fact.  Actually feels a bit more like BA run through P&S, but I feel the old man should get the credit.  Same isometric view, same issue I've always had with this engine in terms of missing the fun at the lowest level.  Glad they kept the shift-3 view available.  There are still bizarre glitches in the system that should have been ironed out by now -- poorly displayed briefing text among them.

The graphics are disappointing.  I was not expecting DoW III, I get it, but this is a strangely dark and unlovely game.  Part of the problem is certainly the institutional-blue color palette of the Space Wolves.  The combat animations are perfunctory and the uninspiring.  I like the "squish" when units are killed, but the flamethrowers in particular are a couple generations past their prime.  What's really distressing is the float-y, puppet-y animations of space marine squads as they move.  These are my boys and this animation was phoned in.

The troop offerings appear very slim -- as far as I can determine, you get Space Wolves and Orcs.  Going into the skirmish mode and finding such a limited array of troops was disappointing.  Clearly we will pay to get other troops...and pay well...

Related to the above, I think one's enjoyment of this initial release will depend dramatically on one's love for the wolves.  I confess I've always found this chapter silly -- I'm a Blood Angel guy from the days of the Corvus armor -- and if you don't grok their specials, there's much here that will be lost on you.  I do not particularly appreciate their specials and this obviously limited my tactical capacity.

I've much more to learn and do, but it's feeling like a middling release at the moment.  It's not "Fire Warrior", but it's a long walk from even games like "Final Liberation" which (he said being a jerk) had live MP.

[Nefaro]

Related to the above, I think one's enjoyment of this initial release will depend dramatically on one's love for the wolves.  I confess I've always found this chapter silly -- I'm a Blood Angel guy from the days of the Corvus armor -- and if you don't grok their specials, there's much here that will be lost on you.

Sooooo.... I'm not the only one!

Knew there were more around here.

[jomni]

In the Steam forums, Slitherine mentioned that Games Workshop has a say on the factions that go into the games. 

Sanctus Reach is a very specific part of the lore and so we have to have factions that with that. We do want to expand it out but we have to work within constraints and then approval from GW for any new factions.

Some more planned factions.

the developers from Straylight Studio have mentioned the ambition to expand the game by adding the Imperial Guard and a Chaos demons faction.

That might come in the future but at this point we're open to many possibilities.

[MikeGER]

 i only had time to play two short skirmishes yesterday eve. 
(small map , 1200 points, so only a hand full of units)

actually i like the art design of the units and the landscape when the UI is not overlaying , it captures the table-top-impression of plastic-figurines and placed table top objects (and so i can overlook the animations as toys-coming-to-life battling it out then expecting 'real time footage' streamed from the 'real' 40k universe)

i wish the range the camera angle could be tilted to horizontal would be less restricted. (hold right mouse and drag let you change the angle but not much) 
or a free-cam mode gets available with an additional Shift-'Key' command (beyond Shift-"3" ) lets call it 'free-cam artists-mode' to generate table-top-shots at eye level with a spacemarine figurine and looking slightly up to the towering big machinery  ....if there is a problem with a skybox needed then, just all black would be sufficient

     

[jomni]

i only had time to play two short skirmishes yesterday eve. 
(small map , 1200 points, so only a hand full of units)

actually i like the art design of the units and the landscape when the UI is not overlaying , it captures the table-top-impression of plastic-figurines and placed table top objects (and so i can overlook the animations as toys-coming-to-life battling it out then expecting 'real time footage' streamed from the 'real' 40k universe)

i wish the range the camera angle could be tilted to horizontal would be less restricted. (hold right mouse and drag let you change the angle but not much) 
or a free-cam mode gets available with an additional Shift-'Key' command (beyond Shift-"3" ) lets call it 'free-cam artists-mode' to generate table-top-shots at eye level with a spacemarine figurine and looking slightly up to the towering big machinery  ....if there is a problem with a skybox needed then, just all black would be sufficient

     

You can mod the camera restriction. But there is no sky rendering in the engine.  The method below works for Pike and Shot and Sengoku Jidai. I suspect it works for this one too.  But let me know if it isn't because I don't have this game yet.

Settings are in mapview.txt if it exists.  Just modify the numbers to your liking.

[MikeGER]

You can mod the camera restriction. But there is no sky rendering in the engine.

THX  :) 
found it  (MAPVIEW.txt file in the Data Folder of the install directory) 

Life in plastic, it's fantastic ;)

F2 for screen shot generated a .tga file  ...just a quick prove of concept, not about the units or artistic impressions

now i only have to hide UI before the screenshot, i am sure there is a option somewhere too...

[JasonPratt]

That steelcloudy background color is just fine for the skybox: it's a miniature's game after all.

Admittedly we're kind of spoiled by Dawn of War (and moreso by its Company of Heroes followup) which quietly allowed players to tilt the camera around if they found the controls -- and there was a skybox sort of! 

I played the tutorial mission, and part of the first mission of the first campaign last night. It is indeed rather Battle Academyish, as Armageddon was very Panzer Korps/Generalish -- maybe moreso, since my impression so far is that the Korps engine was tweaked a lot more.

Still, as a first foray into modern tabletop it could be a lot worse. The graphics look explicitly like model trees etc. The selection and operation UI is a little clunky.

I don't yet regret paying full asking price.  O0 :))

[HoodedHorseJoe]

I think it's quite a pretty game, all things considered. It's easily the best looking game they've done and yeah, it may barely be comparable to DoW I/II, but they've still done a good job.

Only thing that really disappoints me on the visual front is some of the ranged weapon effects. They're a bit naff.

[Skwerl]

I played for about 2 hours last night - the first campaign mission and a couple of skirmish battles.  Cyrano is right, it is BA.  Fortunately I love BA and I think it is a fitting vehicle for Warhammer 40k content. I do wish there were a few more factions, but I'm sure DLC is on the way.

[Jarhead0331]

I"m enjoying it so far for what it is. Definitely fills a needed gap in digital gaming. Its not DoW and its not supposed to be. I think its a positive sign that GW is moving toward recreating an authentic table-top experience for PC gamers.

[Nefaro]

Does it only have a linear campaign?