Dawn of War 2

The Beta is out and we are all looking for new ways to master the Eldar. As always, Space Marines tend to stand in our way. This Strategy Post is my take on how to counter some of the different strategies that are emerging. Replays are added to show execution of the strategies. Enjoy !

Mass Shotgun Scouts

This strategy is what seems to be, overall, the most popular strategy as Space marines. It can be a bit tricky to counter, however, there are some weaknesses that you can exploit when playing against it:

The Warlock
Early Tier 1 is where you will have domination. As a Warlock, I would advice on a 2 Guardian start, followed by Banshees and healing runes. Make sure to have your Warlock outside of the Shotguns knockback radius and suppress the scouts to further keep them at a distance. Start healing runes early, otherwise you risk losing units to the first shotgun knockback. If it's an all out mass, I strongly suggest getting a third Guardian squad after the Howling Banshees, and upgrading all three squads with grenades. what ever shotgun squad the Banshees aren't fighting, use grenades on them. one at a time. It doesn't matter if he dodges them, because at least he wont be firing; your guardians will. Not to mention, the Banshees will have forced a retreat and engaged a new scout squad.

Warpspider Exarch
With the Warp Spider Exarch, it gets trickier. Personally I choose to ignore Banshees, as they wont have proper backup and will likely die before doing any proper damage. Instead I go with 3 Guardians, full generators, and I harass the Marines as much as possible, while I rush into T2 for a Falcon/Wraithlord. You should still be able to take them in Early Tier 1, 3 Guardians will do loads of damage to 1 Shotgun squad before they get into position.

Once the shotgun upgrades starts lining up, use grenades, and your longer range advantage.

Replays:
Warlock Replay: SM_SS___Mass_Shots_ASM_Apoth__WL_.rec
Warlock Replay #2: SM_SS___Mass_Shots_ASM_Apoth__WL_.rec
Warpspider Replay: Sm_SS___Stalling_for_time_vs_Shotguns__Wse_.rec

The Techmarine

The Techmarine has become a force to be reckon with, not only due to wargear boosts, but also because his turrets are allot more viable as you won't have a hard-counter until Tier 2, which comes much later that it used to.

Fortunately, the power cost of the turrets won't allow the Space Marine to field as many shotgun scouts and hit you with an early, stronger Tier 1. Try to harass his generators as much as possible, the better you do, the less turret's you will see.

Once the turrets are out, you should be closing in on upgrading to Tier 2, but until then there are a few things you can do. You can avoid its firing arc, fight outside it and don't let his units lure you into them. You can use Rangers' cloak field, allowing you to get close enough to use grenades or Banshees to take them down.

Replays
Warlock Replay: SM_SS___Tec_Marine__cannons_and_scouts__WL_.rec

Space Marine mass Devastators

The ultimate Turtle strategy, especially now that Devastators have been equipped with anti vehicle. The Space Marines goal here is to slowly but surely take of the map step by step, pushing you all the way into your generators.

The Warlock
The ultimate Turtle strategy, especially now that Devastators have been equipped with soft anti vehicle capability. Try to harass their generators early, as early as possible. You don't want then to advance ahead of you in the tech-race. Secondly, you have to guard your generators. This strategy's weakness is when you reach Tier 2.

Take your time, once you know you have the advantage in power and the race for Tier 2. Slow down, don't push him into his base/relay. Let the game drag out until you get your Falcon. Try do keep him from capping as much as possible.

An important point to remember: a strong counter in Tier 1 is Rangers, they might not one-shot a squad member, but if you get two of them ,your chances are very good of forcing him to reset the cannon.

Warpspider Exarch
With the help of the Warpspider you can warp in and melee devastators, taking them of out the battle for as long as you're fighting them. However, as the Devastators starts stacking up, you will need to rely on grenades or Rangers - you can now actually Fleet of Foot in and throw grenade, without getting wiped out. Otherwise the meta game is the same, push in early game to get a power advantage, then hold ground until Tier 2.

Replays
Warlock Replay SM_SS___Tec_mass_devestators___Umpire1_vs_Buna_Danbong.rec

Conclusion

Beta has opened up new interesting new strategies, and with it comes new counters. Space Marines have changed quite allot, but a few things stay the same. Overall Eldar still offer a stronger early Tier 1, however we can no longer really as strongly on the D-Cannon and Fireprism to save the late game. Thankfully, we can stand our ground in T2, I hope these replays will help your execution in doing just that. Good Luck !

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