Unit Icons
Each section of health within the thin border box represents 500HP. Four sections of health within a thick border box represents 2 000HP. Knowing this information allows you to quickly discern roughly how much health your troops and enemies have remaining.
Units also have icons above their health bars for status effects. Crossed swords signify they are tied up in melee. Yellow shapes like circles or square crosshairs mean the unit is under the effect of a doctrine, the shape telling you which one. A striped soldier icon means your units have Stealth. Pink lightning bolts above Eldar means they have battle focus. The Ork Skull means they are under the effect of WAAAGH! Crossed wrenches mean an Ork unit has Scrap (Their unit icon will also have a plus on top of it).
The pink bars that appear above HP bars represent shields and are one of the most significant mechanics in the game. Each faction has a pushing mechanic tied to them - Eldar Webway Gates grant battle focus, Ork Boyz have their own active WAAAGH! ability, and Space Marines gain shields when they emerge from drop pods and also when they have a banner present.
Dawn of War III's infantry come in squads, which lose members the more damage they take. The less members they have, the less damage they deal. They need to pay resources at a barracks to reinforce their lost members. A squad with a shield active will not lose units until the shield is depleted and their HP bar reduced. Having a shield advantage in a fight means your squad is retaining its full potential while the enemy is losing theirs. Utilize shields as much as possible in every pivotal fight.
