Although it does share some similarities with the original, Relic has largely gone back to the drawing board for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. They've done away with what many might consider some of the core tenants of the RTS genre, placing a much larger emphasis on the evolution of a core force.There is a tremendous amount of variety when it comes to the make-up of your squad and it allows you to tailor your forces accordingly. You can, for instance, outfit your commander as a strong ranged fighter or turn him into a durable tank unit for close-quarters combat.They can also acquire special accessories such as melta-bombs and drop pods that they can use in combat.You won't be able to fully max out your squads over course of the campaign which automatically gives the game a tangible sense of replayability.

Gone are the standard base building and unit creation concepts, replaced by four squads of Space Marines, each of which have unique skill sets and leaders which gain experience as the campaign progresses.There's an RPG-lite system where you units accumulates experience for the kills they amass; they will periodically level up, increasing their attributes and unlocking new special abilities.