Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Anniversary Edition

This game is decent, but not recommending due to thinking that DoW 2 is overall better.

I know that's a controversial take, lost of fans of this series prefer the first for greater variety, more factions, and the base-building layer. I found the base-building pretty surface level; Although I would have preferred that they kept it for the sequel, rather than removing it outright. I do find the unit variety rather generic. Apart from squad upgrades, most of the units come down to a simple increase in power over time as you unlock more technologies. I think relic really came into their own with Company of Heroes, which came out after this one, that had more involvement in unit selection, hard counters, a better cover system etc. And since DoW borrows heavily from CoH, it's the entry in this series that I personally prefer.

That said, if you just want huge battles with lots of factions, and some pretty feature rich modes (Soulstorm has a pretty great campaign) this is a very solid game.

probably one of the best warhammer games of all time, and in the top 3 rts games for sure, make sure to grab the unification mod for like 20x the content as well

Very fun game wish there were more variety for the skirmish and wished all the chapters were different

The best introduction of the 40k universe in a RTS form, completely made 3d graphics actually fun and enjoyable to watch. Pathing can sometimes be a pain but that's always an issue in every game of this genre this issue only shows it's face when modded and flooding a small choke with units.

How popular was this? Very popular so popular it spun into the Dark Crusade and Soulstorm, please end the experience at that point because they completely screwed themselves after with questionable mechanics and design changes.

So basically anything before Dawn of War 2 is a strange mixture of base crawling (C&C95) and some worker units. Resources are meshed together with map control and this forces engagement. The first entry is more single-player focused where Dark Crusade and the expansions basically unlock a new race to play on multiplayer but Dark Crusade is like the hub giving you most of the Races on multiplayer but the campaign for Crusade is the same. Expansions like Winter Assault are stand-alone campaigns similar to the original Dawn of War 40k RTS.

It's like a over the top movie with you helping to command the Blood Ravens who are a new Chapter of Space Marines nobody in the fanbase really heard about at the time and they were created basically for the game.
The unit animations are, probably some of the best in the RTS genre... Everything is stylish, gore orientated, and much of the time you will lose simply because you are distracted by watching them fight.

It's not as limited during this time where Warcraft 3 made design changes because of it, here buildings are cool to see being built! Everything from spellcasting, any type of ability on a unit.

It's just awesome!

If Starcraft had style of variety, but C&C95 had animation and style for 2-dimensional graphics on a RTS.
This series blew it out the park with 3D Graphics at the time, so much it became a nightmare to play it online... Server issues at the time created huge issues to a community which was extremely loyal but also dealing with not being able to enjoy the game with friends online. It was a sad experience but whenever you could play online, especially Dark Crusade, boy was it a blast!

You have lots of Caster Abilities, Passive, Unit Composition and a cover system built into the terrain of each map, every inch of the gameworld is fought for and the campaign if cheeky and off-key at times, is executed properly and enjoyable while dated today.
There is also a Morale system which is different depending on after this game races interact with this in a different way in my opinion (Imperial Guard morale breaking is not a good thing).

My favorite thing is playing Imperial Guard, using Artillery and the special abilities to just crater half the map blowing and rag-dolling orks everywhere getting huge air-time! Guardsmen are moving inch by inch backed by tanks!

The different factions are all fun but they are not easy to get adjusted to! Keep that in mind..

The camera FOV will take getting used to, it's simply that old and monitors at the time were not usually at that aspect ratio so fixing this can and will create new problems and will make the game feel even more strange trying to fix it by zooming out.

Keep in mind, the game was zoomed that way for performance and to show off the animations and units. Zooming out creates a weird experience in my opinion.

Wish the community wasn't as tryhard online though like in the old days, people played this like a tabletop but in real-time allowing 5 minutes before conflict to allow each player to build something up or utilize some form of tactic or tech instead of rushing.

So if you are a fan of the RTS genre this will be a cool experience but the multiplayer is on the sleepy side unless you have friends to play it with the experience greatly varies today unlike when they released.

Btw the animated trailer was popular, game is a vibe of its own!

While the game is ok, the lack of modern resolution support is daunting. You always need to change a 4K display to 1920x1440 to play, and there are still black borders.

Scaling is not one of the strong suites of this game.

Warhammer: Dawn of War was my first introduction to the Warhammer universe, and I was immediately captivated. The game's atmosphere, intense battles, and rich lore pulled me in right from the start. Even without prior knowledge of the universe, the story and the unique factions were easy to get into and made the experience exciting. The gameplay is fast-paced and strategic, keeping me engaged the whole time. Overall, it was an amazing first step into the Warhammer world, and it left me wanting to explore even more.

this game suddenly wont stop working there is no means of fixing it

amazing as an RTS. Really liked the Campaign, skirmish and for getting into the Warhammer universe

Bit of an outdated RTS, but mechanically and technically still holds up till today. Which is impressive.

for some context on game time, i played 99% of my time in the total war mod solo and with friends, probably sitting around 150-200 hrs total so I type the following with a heavy heart:

before the update, i would have absolutely said anyone who likes RTS titles and warhammer should get it, but from looking at the price now, im 99% sure it was increased. when i bought the entire series of DOW im pretty sure they were all individually less than $10 and now suddenly i see that the OG DOW is 35...? nearly the price of space marine 2? yeah, big pass to anyone who didn't buy it before the upgrade. GREAT GAME, but games workshop is on some shit for the price hike.

The martyr's grave is the keystone of the Imperium.

Mankind stands upon the brink; on the one hand lies a realm of unimaginable power, on the other awaits darkness, death and utter damnation. Only those that follow the guiding light of the Emperor may save their souls.

These were bought in a 4 pack so I'll review all four.

ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

A great place to start. with four unique factions to start with, each with their own gimmicks.

WINTER ASSAULT.

Gameplay is the same, but it does add the imperial guard who were mere npcs in the previous game. Now, you can show those damn xenos the true might of the imperium.

DARK CRUSADE.

Adds the Nercrons and the Tau, and has a new campaign mode that allows you to choose one of all the factions to play. And adds a bit more stuff to the game in general.

SOULSTORM.

Adds the Sisters of Battle and Dark Eldar.

All of them have an army painter so you can paint your very own chapter/regiment/legion/warband/clan/whatever.

Rating: FOR THE EMPRAH!!!

Works on my machine®. Good story for an RTS and the gameplay is solid (so solid that Relic has been copy pasting this game for decades).

One of the classic RTS games with a very mordern feel. To my view, it surpasses both DoW 2 and 3.

First Warhammer game I have played and first RTS style game I have played and I'm really enjoying it. The game is fun and easy to learn the visuals, considering this was made 21 years ago, look great in my opinion. The voice acting is good and I think the story, so far, is interesting even though I think I amnt that far into the game. I've enjoyed it so much so far that I even went ahead and got the second on in advance, but not the third one I heard not so great stuff about that one. That all said I'd recommend this game even if you're new to the genre of game and story because I was and still am as well.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War what a glorious RTS game!
For some guys/girls this game is just a Golden hit from the past, but for me it is a game that will be Immortalized in
my memory from my childhood till the rest of my life.

Every time i play this game it's like a trip to my good old days of my childhood... in that time i had a beautiful memories of a time long gone... This old game let me relive those memories to the fullest.

However, I highly recommend this game to anyone who will see this review of mine, My brother/Sister just buy this game and make memories that will be Immortalized in your life for years to come!

Right, let's get one thing straight. Real-time strategy games have been feeling a bit… stale lately, haven't they? Build your base, hoard your resources like a neurotic squirrel, amass an ungodly blob of units, and then maybe, just maybe, roll over the other bloke after forty minutes of tedious micro-management. Yawn. We've needed a kick up the backside, a shot of adrenaline straight to the genre's weary heart. Enter Relic, brandishing the holiest (or unholiest, depending on your allegiance) of sci-fi licenses: Warhammer 40,000. And crikey, have they delivered.

Dawn of War isn't just another RTS wearing a fancy Games Workshop coat. It fundamentally rips up the rulebook we've been playing by since Dune II. Remember turtling behind layers of defences while your peons dutifully chipped away at Vespene gas or Tiberium crystals? Forget it. Here, resources – Requisition and Power – bleed from Strategic Points scattered across the map. You want the good stuff? You have to take it. And more importantly, you have to hold it.

This single design choice transforms the entire experience. Dawn of War is relentlessly, gloriously aggressive. Sitting back is suicide. You're constantly pushing, probing, clashing over vital locations in brutal, messy firefights. It forces confrontation from minute one, creating a dynamic ebb and flow that feels less like careful chess and more like a particularly violent pub brawl involving chainswords and plasma cannons.

And the combat. Oh lord, the combat. Relic hasn't just slapped health bars on 40K models; they've captured the sheer visceral brutality of the tabletop. Space Marines stomp with palpable weight, bolters roar, and Orks charge with reckless, WAAAGH!-fueled abandon. Squads don't just politely shoot each other until one falls over; they get stuck in. We're talking brutal melee animations, sync-kills where Dreadnoughts punt poor infantry across the screen, and enough blood and dismemberment (turn it off if you're squeamish, you big baby) to make a Khorne Berzerker blush. Watching a squad of Assault Marines jump-pack into a horde of greenskins is pure, unadulterated carnage, and it’s fantastic.

You command squads, not individuals (mostly), which streamlines control without sacrificing tactical depth. Reinforce them on the fly, upgrade their weapons, attach leaders like Sergeants or Apothecaries – it feels right, it feels 40K. The four launch factions – Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, and Chaos – are wonderfully distinct, not just in looks but in playstyle. The hulking, shooty Marines; the swarming, ramshackle Orks; the fragile but potent Eldar; the corrupting, daemon-summoning forces of Chaos. Learning their intricacies is half the fun.

Graphically, it's a stunner for its time. The unit models are dripping with detail, the animations are superb (especially those kill moves), and the environments feel suitably war-torn and gothic. Sound design is equally beefy – the voice acting is spot on, capturing the over-the-top gravitas and lunatic shouting the universe demands.

Is it perfect? Not quite. The single-player campaign, while a decent romp showcasing the Blood Ravens chapter, feels a tad like an extended tutorial at times. The narrative is functional rather than revolutionary, mostly serving to get you from one scrap to the next. And occasionally, squad pathfinding gets a bit wonky in cluttered terrain, leading to frustrating traffic jams when you desperately need that Devastator squad to just shoot the damn tank. Base building is also significantly streamlined, which might put off die-hard traditionalists, but honestly? Good riddance. It keeps the focus squarely on the fighting.

But these are minor quibbles in the face of what Relic has achieved. Dawn of War is a brutal, fast-paced, and incredibly satisfying RTS that finally does the Warhammer 40,000 license justice on the PC. It hacks away the genre's deadwood and replaces it with relentless action and tactical bloodshed. Multiplayer is going to eat lives, mark my words. Forget turtling. Forget harvesting. Prepare for war. Real war.

An essential, blood-soaked evolution for the RTS genre and a triumph for Warhammer 40K fans. Go buy it. Now. FOR THE EMPEROR! (Or whichever dark god/alien entity tickles your fancy).

This game not only got me into
the WH40k universe, but also
PC building.

I remember in 2004 watching the intro
video to the first DoW game and my
jaw hitting the floor, having me
never knowing about this game
universe beforehand.

This pretty much got me hooked on
WH40k instantly.

Fast forward some time later with the
epic release of Dark Crusade (2006).

I remember buying a copy regardless
of my parents PC requirements.

Bro at the Game Stop even told me,
"make sure you have a DVD drive"
and I just nodded my head,
even thinking to myself,

"I know I have one, right?".

Went home, put the DVD in the disk
drive and the disk just kept spinning
but not reading...

I guess didn't have a DVD drive like
I had thought I did, nope it was just
a CD drive lol.

I remember having to borrow my
neighbors DVD drive from his
computer to even install the
game.

When I did finally install DC, boy did
it run like total poop on that old Dell
Dimension 2400, like near slide-
show level fps.

Little did I know this experience
would open Pandora's box.

So I started reading and buying parts
from Newegg and Circuit City left and
right with money I saved up over that
time.

But no matter what I changed out up to
that point, it still didn't run the game
better.

The only thing I saw that was left to
change was the CPU, so I bought a
for real, brand new, Pentium 4
3.0GHz single core CPU from
Newegg.

Man I was stoked, this is going to finally
fix the game running like crap, so I got
the CPU in the mail, installed it and
slammed the power button to a...

What the heck... Just a black screen?!

Damn...

Turns out the Dell's BIOS, rejected the
CPU upgrade.

Despite this failure, I realized that
something better was at hand.

I had enough parts to build my own
gaming computer from everything I
changed out on the Dell, minus a
few extra, but that was no biggie.

So I order the extra parts.

And on the opening weekend to the
first Iron Man movie (May 2008) I
had successfully built my very
first gaming computer.

The rest is pretty much history afterwards.

Me and my friends spent entire summers
playing this game and I continued building
desktop computers since as a side hobby.

It's fun and honestly, it would have never
happened the way it did, had I not bought
this game back in the day.


First PC Spec's:

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz
GPU: PowerColor ATi X1550 PCi Video Card
RAM: WinTek AMPO DDR2 667MHz 4GB's (2x1)
Mobo: BioStar 945GC-M4 (Socket 478)
HDD: Western Digital 120GB Caviar Blue (Ribbon Cable)
PSU: Antec Basiq BP350 (350Watts)
Case: CoolerMaster Elite 340 Micro ATX
Fan's: Antec TriCool 1x 80mm 2x 120mm (Red Led's)
CPU Cooler: Rosewill RCX-Z200
Extra's: Creative Labs SB0790 PCi Sound Card
OS: Windows XP Home 32bit

BURN THE HERETIC, KILL THE MUTANT, PURGE THE UNCLEAN

Warhammer has been a series that has been on my mind for at least some time. I was thinking of getting into it, and my interest started to increase when I played Magic: The Gathering with my Necron deck. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War (DoW) is an RTS game, and I have never really played an RTS that much. At first, you would think that a game like this would be more hardcore, but to my surprise, this game is very easy for someone who has never played an RTS before. I was able to understand the mechanics of the game, and I was able to play at my own pace.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Good story that stays true to the Warhammer lore
  
• Fantastic RTS gameplay that lets you control a massive, powerful army
  
• Very fun base building, where you can build powerful machines and buildings
  
• Amazing soundtrack
  
• Nice grim dark graphics that feel like Warhammer
  

Cons

[*]Sometimes units will get stuck or move in odd ways

Story

Ork forces are attacking the planet Tartarus; as such, the Imperial Guard (or Astra Militarum) and the Space Marines Chapter, the Blood Ravens, have been sent to take out the threat. However, unknown to the Space Marines is that the forces of Chaos have also taken root there. Chaos engineered the Orks' invasion so they could pursue their operations without trouble. Sindri Myr and Lord Bale are trying to find a key to an artifact to give them power and spread chaos. The Eldar has also mysteriously joined in and seems to know more than meets the eye on Tartus.

The story for the game is good, it keeps in line with its lore that any Warhammer fan will love. The game has four factions: The Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, and Chaos, although if we are going off by technicalities. The Imperial Guard does count as a separate faction, so five in total, if you want to count them. The characters in the story are all good, and I do love the voice acting used. Some good one-liners go hard for no reason, like when you hear, "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment”. Just hits so hard for no reason, and it’s something that I feel you can just easily pass by.

Gameplay

DoW is an RTS where you will be building an army to take out the enemy base. Now, typically, an RTS would make you build resources to get more units. In DoW, that is the case here by building generators, however, you can only build a certain amount. To get more power, you will need to capture strategic points; the more you capture, the more resources you can get. This can help you build more buildings, so you can get more powerful units. You will need to fortify your strategic points and spend some power to upgrade them. This will give you more power and will build a turret to protect them. If you don’t do this, the enemy will just be able to capture your strategic points easily. Your buildings can also receive upgrades as well which will cost power, but they can supply your units with more powerful weapons or abilities.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3465618711
When controlling your units, some of them will be divided into squads. Usually, your squads start at a certain number, but you can reinforce them to have more units in the squad; they will cost power to reinforce, though. If you get a certain upgrade for your buildings, you can make your space marines carry more powerful weapons like a missile launcher, plasma rifle, or flame thrower, to name a few.

There are at least two types of units in the game, human units and vehicle units, You can only have a certain amount of each unit on the battlefield. To be able to have more of them on the battlefield, you will need to get upgrades for more carrying capacity at your base. Your buildings can also be upgraded to include more abilities for your units. You will need the required resources to get them, though. So, make sure to get the maximum amount of generators up and capture more strategic points. Fortifying them will give you increased resource production, and upgrading them will apply a turret gun to protect itself from being captured. As mentioned before, I do recommend doing this as the enemy will easily capture them again if given the chance.

In your base, you will have Servitors that will help build your base buildings when you capture and fortify a strategic point. You can make them build some buildings on that point, which means you can make multiple bases. The base building in this game is very fun and one of my favorite things to do in the game. Simply because I just like the idea of building something, to help me get more powerful units like Dreadnoughts.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3465619448
Each faction in the game plays differently from one another, although you can only play as one faction in the base game. The second expansion for the game, The Dark Crusade, lets you play as multiple factions, with seven in total. When you buy Dawn of War, you get three expansions included with the game. Those are Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, and Soul Storm, with each offering their own stories and factions to the game.

The only issue I really had with the base game of DoW is that some units have a chance of getting stuck in corners or whatnot. This really only happened when multiple units or squads were trying to get around certain things, like other vehicles or whatnot. Dreadnoughts and other vehicles can also get stuck. But this issue is easily fixed; all you have to do is move said unit or click on something else, and it will move normally. Not a huge issue, but something worth pointing out regardless.

Graphics and Performance

The graphics for DoW are fantastic; they capture the dark setting of 40K very well, and the areas look very nice. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM., I had no issues while playing, and the game ran very well for me.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3465619095

Final Verdict

As someone who has been getting into Warhammer, DoW is a fantastic RTS game that I highly recommend for everyone to play. Whether you have played RTSs before or are new to them, DoW is very easy to pick up and play. If you are having trouble understanding the game, watching some YouTube videos or even a Let's Play can also help you learn the game more. It’s something I ended up doing, and I was able to get the flow of the game down perfectly. I had a ton of fun playing DoW, and I look forward to what the other games have in store for more RTS gameplay.

[quote] Skyknighter's Sleepless Nights shall be forever remembered for making the finest reviews for The Emperor[/quote]

it's kinda WC3 with Warhammer juice sprayed all over it, but it's fun!

Masterpiece.....Perfectly balanced base building strategy game.

Despite its age and the odd visual glitch, this is a fantastic RTS and I would urge any 40k fan or someone interested in getting into 40k (as I have been) to pick up and play this game. Campaign is good and skirmish is fun. Hard to find any multiplayer games but that was expected given the game's age and population. Still, cannot recommend this game enough!

I am playing this game for the first time over 20 years after this game came out. I can imagine that when it came out, it was an amazing introduction into the 40k universe. However, at this point and having played so many other RTS and games in this universe, this game isn't that great. The basic premise is capture and hold locations to build resources. The campaign is Blood Angels only and is exactly what you would expect if you are familiar with the universe. I had hoped for more campaigns but that is likely to my comparison to Warcraft and other RTS games of the time. This would probably be a good game if you've never played another RTS and enjoyed the universe but otherwise, there are so many options that are better. At this point, this game is very cheap, so it's worth the cost, I'm just not sure I'd ever touch it again.

''Walk softly, and carry a big gun.''
That's it. This is the review. Now kill those xenos.

RTS stealth mission in the very beginning killed it for me i do not care bro

Complete joke of technical support. There's no way this "anniversary edition" should be sold when it doesn't even work on modern hardware. Luckily I purchased this game years prior to the change (when it actually worked). I was hoping to experience the 40k universe like I did years ago, but until they manage to get this game working for Windows 11, its a 0/10 for me. What a shame

What is there to say. I f you love this genre you will have or played this lots already.

Dawn of war 1 is an insanely good RTS title that still shines on its genre than most recent titles (which isn't much). If you like strategy games then i highly recommend this title which is not only fun but also a great way to be introduced to the franchise since this game contains nine factions from warhammer 40k except the tyranid (its on the sequel Dawn of war 2) and alot of units you can command and battle in in four campaigns.

i have spent over 100+ hours on dark crusade and another 70+ hours on soulstorm so i did burned a lot of time in this series Especially on the campaign of dark crusade since its pretty awesome.

Upon completion my life has now been left empty. There is a void so deep in me not even my wife can fill it. The only thing that can is Dawn of War. Yet, Dawn of war 2 sucks, and Dawn of war three does not even deserve to be mentioned in this review. This game... once gave me purpose. Now I am forsaken by the Emperor.

Got bored this summer season and don't know what to play.

Luckily, its the same time for steam sale and got this Warhammer 40k series.

So Hype and a very good game in RTS genre.

Great if you like RTS, Outstanding if you like Warhammer.

Good lore and story but gameplay-wise just frustrating. I recommend playing on easy just for the story-line campaign. Units path-finding is horrendous.

So depressing that nothing came even close in 20 years since this came out.

It is a old game but it is a great game after all it from the golden age of RTS games

I never thought I would get into this game so much.
But here we are many many years later and its still my no.1 Favourite game... Well, this and the other DoW games... Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, and SoulStorm.
I play them all in turn, with each race and I have done several times now.

тут сюжетка конечно не прям креативная, просто миссии где тебе нужно как обычную катку сыграть и уничтожить все здания противников, но она как ртс на удивление приятная, так что очень даже пойдет

Brings back good memories. I remember swapping between this and Half Life 2 when they came out. Replayed through this and still holds up after all these years.

Wow, this sure is a blast from the past! It's amazing how well it has held up despite being 20 years old. I'm used to rude awakenings, where that awesome game of memory turned out to be ... less so without the rose-tinted nostalgia. But Dawn of War is still a remarkably good game despite the aged graphics and interface.

My only real complaint is the pathfinding. Holy jeepers, it is PAINFUL how bad troop movement works when you have maxed infantry and mech units in play. No matter how carefully you try to space them out, any attempt at moving in anything resembling formation is doomed. There's always that ONE guy stuck behind other troops, which makes the whole squad run around in front of everyone else and causing cascading gridlock.

If there is a modder somewhere that has addressed this, please share - I'd be most grateful!

It's dawn of war. Its probably one of the best base building RTS games ever made or at least a high water mark for the genre to this day. The combat, the music, the pacing, even the story campaign hold up as very solid experiences years later.

I remember picking up the physical disc of this game at a carboot sale, and I had no idea what joy was in store for me and my brother! We ended up falling in love with the game from the get go and to this day, I can still say I love booting up this fantastic game and replaying through the nostalgia hit in single player or multiplayer PvP with friends.
If you have tried DoW 2 or are just curious about playing the OG, I urge you to do so. It is such a fun game and a real blast!

If you enjoyed this review, I am starting up my own curator page and group and would love for you to join / follow!
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45328416/

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ajmfreviews

old, very fun skirmish and campaign

Solid entry to the DOW franchise. The game has aged pretty well.

Just an amazing game. Played for the first time in 2025 and fell in love with it

Hear your troops scream for the Emperor and your ears go deaf to multiple artillery blasts is what makes this game stand out than other RTS. Mind the imbalanced choices for each faction is closely tied to their respective lore

after playing 40 hours of dow 1 I can say that this game is a masterpiece. pls pick this game up when you can. It is a perfect representation of 40k. It is probably the best game to start with to get into 40k. I do think that a little research is required to play but not that much. I recomend you watch weshammers 40k timeline,it will give you some much needed background information. OH, THE VOICE ACTING AND THE WRITING ARE PERFECTION.

RTS reddit slop. Only good RTS was Warcraft III. Stay away from everything else that devolves into ridiculous high APM ADHD. This game barely runs on modern systems too, and the mods that are the 'definitive' experience bricked the game when I tried them.

Yes, just YES!

Yes for Nostalgia
Yes for Gameplay
Yes for Story
Yes for the God Emperor!

Simple to learn, and allows for different player strategies. Good introduction to the setting with a solid story and voice acting performances. Army painter is also a fun addition. Visuals are dated, but the character models and environments are well made.

10/10 it's like having a real WH40k mini army and making them fight in real time warfare.

Best franchise. I hope they release fixes for this franchise (Dawn Of War 1 Series) and provide Steam Workshop support as well as improving base games for Mod compatibility like what EA Games is doing to C&C franchise. Dawn Of War, C&C, Act Of War, COH ... shall not die.

Still fun to play in as 20 years ago

This is a great series with deep lore. I started playing with Dark Crusade. One of the biggest drawbacks is the lack of quality-of-life improvements. Pathfinding can be frustrating, with units frequently getting stuck on each other, and the game even requires mods for proper widescreen support. That said, the campaign is newbie-friendly, especially since you play as the Space Marines—the most balanced faction—and the AI in this installment is notably weak. Despite its flaws, it remains a very fun game. The voice acting is superb, and the campaign story is engaging.