When comparing Stronghold Crusader HD vs Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, the Slant community recommends Stronghold Crusader HD for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Stronghold Crusader HD is ranked 45th while Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is ranked 166th. The most important reason people chose Stronghold Crusader HD is:
Easy to learn mechanics of economy, castle building and army production. Does not overwhelm players with choices.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great for RTS beginners
Easy to learn mechanics of economy, castle building and army production.
Does not overwhelm players with choices.
Pro Deep yet intuitive interface
Many options are available in the game along with good tutorials that introduce the player to these. While not all options are necessary the inclusion of them is welcome for those that would like to take advantage of them.
Pro Unique Gameplay
A unique blend of real-time battles and castle-sim, which the Stronghold series is famous for
Pro Campaign Merges RTS and RPG
The campaign of Dawn of War 2 differs from other iterations in the series as, instead of base-building and steamrolling your foes with an overwhelming force, you are instead placed in charge of up to four hero units, leading them against the vast hordes of Ork, Eldar and Tyranids. During the campaign you will gain experience and thus allocate skill points into four different trees, with every fifth point in any tree giving your units new abilities and powers, as well as equipping your heroes with new weapons, armor and accessories, further increasing their deadliness in battle.
Pro Easier than other Real-Time Strategy titles
For those looking for a title that is a bit easier than your standard RTS, Dawn of War II may fit the bill as there is less of a focus on strategy and the gameplay is a bit more streamlined. The Single Player and Muti-Player components of the game focus more upon the placement of units rather than amassing a singular horde. A single unit in cover can decimate enemy combatants with ease if they find themselves out of position. With the main mechanic being fewer but more powerful units, this makes for an ideal scenario where players looking to get into the genre can easily understand how to play within a few matches.
Cons
Con Lacks polish in some areas
Things like buttons on the bottom of the screen that are not intuitively placed as well as notifications that can not be filtered to the more important. This can detract from the gameplay as it is immersion breaking to have to rifle through inconvenient button placement as well as notifications looking for what you need at the time.
Con Multiplayer is a hassle
A third-party connection app like Tunngle, Hamachi, GameRanger is needed to play the non-steam version of the game and therefore multiplayer games are mostly unresponsive and error-prone
Con Lack of logistical strategy
Unlike in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War I, Dawn of War II does not allow base building. This was a design decision to allow faster-paced combat, streamlining the core multiplayer experience. However, it may be seen as a downside to some if they were expecting the much-accustomed-to logistics of other Dawn of War titles.