I'm such a DoW n00b

I made a horrible discovery last night... I still play Dawn of War like a n00b.

I first noticed last week when I made a the switch from Tau to Imperial Guard between games. As I played the game, I noticed that my build queues had come to a stand-still because my squad cap had been reached. And I spent a whole lot of time reading through the tiny pop-up descriptions (in the heat of battle, no less) trying to figure out where the IG would increase their caps (both for infantry squads and vehicles). And that was when 3 things occurred to me.

1) I was way out of my element because I was unfamiliar with the IG game. But that I'd have to figure it out sooner than later.

2) I suck at macro-management: when when I was able to increase my active units, I was too busy micro-managing my primary attack force that I did not bother much with deploying more units into the field.

3) I'd definitely have to start looking at my build-order. Obviously I'm doing something wrong if I'm always starting out defensively. How is it that everyone else has the ability to be on the attack so early on? I need to be able to pick and choose which upgrades are most important, which units I should flood the field with, and how to pay for all this with resource points.

There's not much I can do about the first two points short of "more practice." But last night after finishing a lengthy skirmish game (off-line; to avoid embarrassing myself in front of live opponents), I sat back and starting to seriously think about what I'd done right and what I'd done wrong.

Things I did right:
Start pumping out the regular Guardsmen squads. The great thing about IG is that there're very few squad types and 90% of the army consists of the basic enlisted human soldier. You can't go wrong with filling up your build-queue with these guys. Just watch your "requisition" because early on in the game you're capped at only 3 squads anyway; no point reserving requisition for them so soon.

Build the Tactica Control building somewhere safe (behind the HQ for instance). This is the building that researches upgrades for the basic troops... so there's nothing more irritating than to lose it during an early rush-attack. Putting it behind the HQ means the Guardsmen can bunker themselves inside the HQ and provide a defensive fire.

Establish a wide perimeter. I tried to build my "Barracks" as far out as possible from my HQ. Takes advantage of the "tunnels" between buildings to move troops around. And basically "cuts them off at the pass."

Things I did wrong:
I keep forgetting to build "Power-Plants." Troops don't need Power, but research and building their upgraded equipment does. I frequently found myself waiting for Power to accumulate while Requisition was through the roof.

Should've built a listening post right away at my furthest captured resource point: this would've allowed an even wider perimeter than I had. It's remains unknown if it would provided any useful cover fire, however.

Things I learned:
Chimera tank transports can be useful in more ways than one. First, it has it's own weapon (hooray for nothing). Secondly, it provides a moving platform for troops to ride in - so it's an additional "life" to expend before the troops get shot at). Third, and the best of all: you can cram 3 squads into a 1 tank. That's A LOT of concentrated firepower pouring out of it... and it frees up a lot of space on your hot-key grouping. Excellent bargain. Bring a few of Hellhounds with you and you've become a rolling wall that will crush any opposing infantry.

Keep on researching. Later on as the skirmish wears on, I will likely stop building more of the basic units and have resource to spare. I will use this time to load up on upgrades that I don't even know what to do with. Despite having my skirmish last over 30 minutes, by the end I still hadn't even developed the technology to deploy Lemun-Russ tanks. And maybe one of these days I'll figure out how to deploy a Baneblade.

It's just strange to realize that I've been playing DoW for over 2 years now (over 1 year for Winter Assault). I'm not an inexperienced player... And yet until now I have failed to grasp the one concept that makes a good player: understanding the strategy behind the game. Until last night I never stopped to consider a past failure and learn anything from it. And I've never analysed a past success in an attempt to duplicated it "next time." I think I've taken a small step into a larger world.