Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War

Pros • Mimes with weapons • Cooperative or head to head multiplay • Imaginative units – i.e. Death Jesters • Engaging unit experience and improvement system • Good storyline to the campaign • Easily learned game system that still holds lots of subtlety • included scenario editor	Cons • small armies • limited tactics • poor computer AI • insufficient documentation • slow turn-pace of the game can result in mistakes made from boredom • can’t examine map prior to each scenario
Bottom Line Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War is an engaging little strategy game. A great introduction to the joys of turn-based battlefield tactics. For Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War, SSi has combined the Panzer General game engine with the Warhammer 40,000 rules and universe to come up with a simple yet engaging turn-based strategy game. Actual tactics are limited, the computer opponent is weak, and while the story that accompanies the single-player campaign is good, it is related in a dull manner. This would doom a lot of games to the dusty back shelf, but not Rites of War. This game benefits from the interesting Warhammer 40,000 universe. The combat units are unique and gain experience and abilities in an engaging manner that keeps the player interested. End results being a great introductory strategy game.

Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature strategy game that I have never played. I shan’t be commenting on the accuracy of the translation from tabletop to desktop. The key, however is that you do not have to be familiar with Warhammer 40,000 to enjoy Rites of War. This is a great introductory strategy game that can be enjoyed by anyone who is looking for an entry portal to strategy intensive gaming.

I remain of the opinion that, although there are some very good Real Time Strategy games that actually are strategy games (such as Fighting Steel or Close Combat III), the most strategic of games are turn-based. It is in these turn-based games that one has a better opportunity to learn and apply battlefield tactics such as maneuver, combined arms and concentration of force. Leaping straight into TalonSoft’s Operational Art of War series is, however, a daunting task for the uninitiated. That is where SSi comes in. The Panzer General series has always been a great lower level wargame series. Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War is an even better place to start.

Limited Tactics

One of the reasons that Rites of War is such a good introduction to turn-based battlefield tactics is that it has limited scope. Armies consist of limited numbers of units and the tactics that are required to win consist, basically, in keeping effective formation and skillful application of combined arms (infantry and artillery troops and anti-armour as well as anti-personnel weapons).

The biggest drawback to the game is, also, this same limitation. Since moving in formation is key to success, the player is limited to moving at the rate of his or her slowest units, which can be quite slow. Gamers, especially those new to this type of gaming are apt to get impatient and move out of formation which often results in the loss of favourite units that find themselves moving ahead and into a pack of enemies without support. These are mistakes that the player knows better than to make, but that are made from impatience. Then again, patience is an important aspect of strategy and budding military commanders need to learn it.

Interesting Universe

The real strength of Rites of War is its use of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The units are colorful and unfamiliar. They consist of things such as Termagants, Dire Avengers, Biovores, Mimes and, the ever terrifying, Death Jesters. Learning the subtleties such as which of all the unfamiliar units are good at busting armour and which are death to infantry, as well as the particulars of unit special abilities may take some time, but is worthwhile. It is the color and character of the units that successfully drives Rites of War. Units gain experience and develop into new unit types with special powers. All of these advances add more subtleties to the strategy of the game and the player is apt to become very attached to his or her best units.

Misfires

There are some aspects that could have used a little polishing, the most glaring of which is the computer AI (Human opponents – supported on MPlayer, have much more possibility, but, at the time of this writing, are still very rare). Rather than attacking en masse or holding fortified positions, the computer units attack whatever they see, as they see it, which results in a weak stream of solitary units breaking on the breach of the player’s formations. The interface is a little slow to navigate and the documentation isn’t sufficient, lacking explanations for such things as how exactly experience is gained and the rules for counter attacking and support fire. Also somewhat irritating is the inability to see the scenario map at other than miniscule size before choosing your units for the mission.

On Target

The odd misfires in the execution of Rites of War do not keep it from being an interesting little game. The excellent unit management and advance system keep it entertaining. Serious grognards (don’t worry, if you don’t know what the word means, you aren’t one) may be disappointed by the limited tactics of the game, but even they may find themselves engaged by the interesting units and enjoying the simple diversion of Warhammer. If you are looking for a quick and interesting introductory strategy game, Rites of War could very well be it.

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