Warhammer 40,000:
Rites of War

DEVELOPER : Games Workshop
PUBLISHER : SSI

Rites of War serves SSI in two functions. First, it adds to their Warhammer line of products. Second, it adds to their five-star general series. See the problem here? Using the two-year old Panzer General 2 engine, which in turn is based on the classic, but ancient (in computer years), Panzer General engine, they slapped on a face lift with a couple Warhammer unique features and are calling this a new game. Personally, they should come out with the General engine and release everything as an add-on. But to sell it as a new game?

For those not familiar with the General engine, it is a strategic level wargame. Single units actually represent multiple soldiers/vehicles laid out over a hexed-based map. Combat resolution is handled by the computer and is based on a variety of factors. Each victory gives the player, as acting ‘general’, glory points. Glory points are than used to purchase more and increasingly powerful units. Your units also gain experience and travel with you to the next map.

What makes Rites of War unique to the Warhammer PC world is that, finally, we have access to the Eldar. The previous games always pit you in the role of the glorious Emperor’s Space Marines battling against the Orks (Final Liberation) and Chaos Space Marines (Chaos Gate). RoW is a departure as you use the forces of the ancient and powerful Eldar against the Space Marines and than the swarms of the Tyranids. In the stand-alone missions, you have the option of using any of the three races that come with the game, but no switching within the campaign (though you may add the Imperial forces to your Eldar army). Also of note, there are Imperial units, Sisters of Battle as well as the Blood Angel space marines (no Space Wolves).

The campaign has the forces of Eldar returning to a world they once populated. Now infested with ‘humans’, you are in charge of the cleansing. As you progress through the 24 missions, your units will gain experience and eventually become Exarch’s (powerful units). This is one of the main draws of the game, watching your unit’s gain experience and grow in power. As Exarch’s gain power, you have the opportunity to purchase up to two skills for them. They include Crushing Blow (+4 to Melee attacks) and Invisibility (as long as the unit doesn’t attack, it remains unseen). Units have varying statistics that include strength, defense, movement, melee and range attacks, etc. They also differ with special abilities that include armor piercing, fear, and rapid fire.

Units are broken down into eight categories: Tactical Units (Dire Avengers, Warp Spiders, Terminators, Termagants); Scout Units (Harlequins, Marine Scouts, Lictors); Assault Units (Striking Scorpions, Terminator Assault Squad, Genestealers); Aerial Units (Swooping Hawks, Jump Marines, Gargoyles); Devastator Units (Dark Reapers, Imperial Missile Team, Venom Warriors); War Machines (Falcon, Land Raider, Brood Leman Russ); Artillery Units (Bright Lance, Whirlwind, Biovores); and finally Psyker Units (Farseer, Librarian, Magus). It is extremely important to use the units correctly if you want to see them gain experience. Artillery units can bombard at range, but have weak armor. Devastator units have the ability of Support Fire, meaning if an ally is being attacked, they will add their firepower to a counter-attack.

As you begin the game, you are presented with a well voice acted briefing. After reviewing the mission objectives, you head into the army management screen. You have a limit as to how many units are allowed in the scenario, so you need to choose wisely. The right mix of units is essential, but does vary according to the missions needs. You use your Glory Points to purchase units and have a barracks area to place bought units not currently being used. Before you head into the scenario, you have the option of purchasing a strategy. Strategies are unique to RoW and add to the General series. They include Orbital Barrage (a strength hit to a chosen hex) and the Virus Bomb (affects non-vehicle units). There are a total of eleven strategies that are unlocked with each victory. As you head into the game, you have the opportunity to arrange the formation of your units within a defined starting area. Than, using scout units, you move out. Terrain affects movement greatly, so use care when deciding the road to travel. Missions are usually composed of taking and holding certain locations, but do vary with certain objectives being clear the map or assassinate a leader. As your units scour the map, artifacts are to be found in some of the structures. These artifacts can be given to different units in the management screen. The interface is a breeze to use, but that’s due to the limited amount of commands you have to issue. One of the bright points of the game is just how different each unit ‘feels’ on the map. Scouts have a noticeably huge movement allowance, tanks can dish out the damage and enemy units rightfully fear a psyker (whenever possible, they go for your psyker).

Here is one of the problems with RoW. The scripted AI is pathetic. In otherwords, here’s a winning strategy for ya, free. Take your units with the highest defense and form a line. Behind them, place your support units (they have a range of two squares). Have your psyker in the center and a couple of aerial units to fill in the weak spots and just wait. The enemy ALWAYS comes for ya. After you whittle the wave down, all that’s left are a few scattered units that hang out by the mission objectives. Sorry to spoil it for ya, but that’s about it. And after you get the more powerful units, the game only gets easier.

The graphics are also so-so. The unit animations are nothing inspiring and happen to be an outright resource hog. They require a 4MB-video card to move smoothly. The terrain features are all rather bland, with mission objectives blending in. Everything is flat 2D. I mention that because a new Panzer General is in the works that will use polygon graphics, which makes me wonder why they didn’t try ANYTHING evolutionary with RoW. They also failed to capture that gothic look so prevalent in the Warhammer universe. The sound effects could use some variety. The music on the otherhand is great. I even looked up who composed it I was so impressed.

Besides the 24 campaign missions, you have a number of stand alone scenarios with which to play as the other races. The interface includes an Mplayer hook up. A quasi-map editor is also included. This just gives you access to the 24 maps from the campaign with which you can change mission objectives and place units. The three difficulty levels just mean you take more damage from attacks and deal less.

As all the complaints suggest, this is a very poor entry into the PC Warhammer world. But even so, there is something interesting in its simplicity. Combined with the experience system, you’ll find yourself playing ‘just one more mission’ before you hit the sack. But that requires you to first get past all the other problems, which might prove to be just too much for most. I had to in order to effectively review the game and found the time enjoyable, but short-lived. If you are a fan of the five-star general series and/or the Warhammer universe, you might like this game. All others beware.

If you like to comment on this review, please post a message at the forum.
Reviewed by Anthony Sage